To ask for positive breastfeeding stories?

[Tallpinetrees]

I'm currently pregnant with my first and obviously keen to get as much information as possible to be prepared. I've been asked if I'm going to give breastfeeding a try, and I hope so!

A couple of people have told me their birth "horror" stories, which were quite scary, but I really enjoyed reading Ina May Gaskin's Guide to Childbirth and all the stories of women confidently and quietly (or not so quietly!) giving birth.

AIBU to ask for some encouraging and inspiring stories about breastfeeding?

I have fed two babies. I come from a family (and culture) where everyone breastfeeds. It’s the norm. DS1 latched really well and I fed him for a year. Never had mastitis. One nipple was a little sore at first.
What is hard about breastfeeding is the all encompassing nature of it. Have no expectations and no routines for at least six weeks. Just lie in bed and feed, feed and feed more. When in doubt, feed. It’s tough and the two week mark is really hard when you think WTF have I done.
But I had family and friends and aunts to tell me repeatedly that it was fine and I was doing great and DH was super helpful. And once we cracked it, it was plain sailing.

DS2 is currently smearing Sudocream on himself so i shall deal with that and then continue. 🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️

Not going to sugar coat it for you, the first time & first few months it is hard. Once you get the hang of it though I found it to be a piece of piss & so much easier than messing with bottles.
If there is a bf group near you definitely make the effort to go-the advice & support available at these is invaluable.
Most of all though, if it's not for you then don't worry about it & never feel you've 'failed' if you opt for bottle feeding.

With my first I lived in an area that had one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the UK. The local health authority was working really hard on this, with bf clinics, peer supporters, etc. I went to a breastfeeding course when I was 38 weeks pregnant, which lasted 3-4 hours, and included videos, models of boobs and lots of information, particularly the less positive stuff, like “it can hurt a lot at the beginning” and “you will get less sleep”. It gave me a very real view of breastfeeding and I ended up feeding DS for 10 months, DS2 for 13 months and i’m now feeding DD (3 weeks).
I doubt the course is available now (I live overseas anyway) but I would say information is key. So try and read up before you give birth!
DD has been harder to feed but the boys were pretty easy. I’ve been fortunate.

Ooh me!
MW were helpful in hospital and showed me how to express colostrum to get DS to latch.
Only lost 5% bodyweight and gained weight by day 10. (Had one little cup of formula in hospital while I was getting stitches)
He was jaundiced but stayed home as he never had problems latching and eating.
Painful for maybe 5-10 days but manageable.
EBF for 6 months and still happily feeding at 2.4 yrs.
(I pointed out some baby calves eating yday and he said 'aww, like booboos.' So cute)

I found it all very easy and straightforward. It was only a pain the last few months of maternity leave when I wouldn't have minded a night out but by that point I just waited till he was 1 and could have cows milk.

I would say I've had a positive experience with breastfeeding. I was quite relaxed about it, if it worked for me then great, but I didn't put any pressure on myself.

The midwife latched my son on me minutes after his birth and from then on it's been a pretty incredible experience. I used lansinoh after every single feed, and within 2/3 weeks had absolutely no pain whatsoever. Started reducing after the first week. No cracked nipples, no mastitis, no blocked ducts - though I did use heat pads initially to try and stop this.

3 months in and while I don't bf in public, he takes EBM, the bonding experience is fantastic!

Between me and two of my friends we've breastfed 6 kids for a total of about 20 years between them. The longer you breastfeed the more you'll know of people who are feeding older kids but won't mention it to many folk as it's not deemed 'normal'. There's lots of us out there though!!!

I have had 3 children. DD1 was born slightly early and we had to cup feed her expressed milk until her swallow reflex caught up with her suckling ability. Once she got it though, she fed until all her teeth came in and she was ready to stop. I fed her right through being pregnant with DD2 and tandem fed her with DD2.

DD2 latched on within minutes of my giving birth to her and fed like DD1 right through my pg with DS and tandem fed with him.

DS had jaundice and was premature. But I expressed and once we got him home, he latched and never looked back. He stopped when he was 3 and we were both ready.

So all in all, I have been bfing for about 6 years. I hope that's a bit what you were looking for.

Oh, also, when I was establishing, DH was in charge of everything else including nappy changes and that c made a difference.

I'm currently breastfeeding baby number 2, and breastfed number 1 until she was 14months.

The first couple of days are hard because they need so little milk, and you will feel you're not producing enough. You are almost definitely wrong about this! Then your milk will come in (and squirt everywhere...) and you will be feeding constantly. Your boobs may hurt (mine did, mum's didn't) but this doesn't last - the benefits of being able to plug your grumpy baby straight onto their milk supply without faffing around with sterilising etc is immeasurable! You never have to worry about running out of formula, or about overfeeding. You don't need to buy lots of bottles, them find out the baby hates that brand and start over...

I've loved breastfeeding mine, I think it's brought us closer together. No judgement on those who haven't - we all do what works best for our families - but if you can push through those first weeks is definitely worth it!

what she said^

First 4 weeks were hellish but eased by week 6. Now (almost 7 months on) I’m so glad I persevered. You can easily go out for a full day without planning ahead and sterilising enough bottles/taking enough formula. He never wakes up properly during the night because as soon as he stirs I feed him to sleep (co-sleeping). There’s no need to get out of bed during the night to prepare bottles. I also feel we bonded more easily than I did with my first (mostly formula fed).

In my opinion you're doing the right thing getting informed before the birth!

I have a 12 week old and my BF experience has been really positive.
My friend gave me an excellent book 'The Food Of Love' and I read the first chapters before birth, it's an easy read, comprehensive and funny, and I found it good to know more about latch and what would happen in the first few days, so it's not completely new when you might not be in physical or mental shape after birth!

The main thing for me was knowing that the first 3 days I would be producing such small amounts, and not to worry as that's totally normal, it's almost time for both of you to learn the ropes.
Get a cabbage and put it in the fridge for when your milk comes in on day 3/4, I'm not kidding, that cabbage was the shiz.

I have had an excellent experience with breastfeeding. I have fed all my babies till they were 12 months. They latched on straight away and guzzled. The longest I ever breast fed for was at birth for around 20 mins. After that in 10 mins they were done. Breastfed everywhere and anywhere. Was so happy that I did not have to clean bottles and worry about measuring their milk. They stopped when they were full. Yes my boobs got a bit sore at the start, but it went away. If you are struggling there is help out there.

I was worried about breastfeeding with my first baby and had already decided to switch to formula if it turned out to be difficult. Was particularly worried that the postnatal ward was going to be so busy the midwives wouldn’t be able to help at all (had had warnings about this).

In the end the baby latched on fine first attempt and fed brilliantly right from the start. And the PN midwives offered to observe so many feeds that I ended up turning them away after a while! No pain, baby piled on weight fine, all went really smoothly.

It isn’t this easy for everyone of course but some of us do just get really lucky.

I am still feeding 14mo DS. I found the mechanics of bfing easy - DS seemed to know instinctively how to latch and I had minimal pain and (so far, touch wood) no issues with thrush or mastitis. I also had a champion weight-gainer who was born on 75th centile and is now on the 98th (which happened in the first 3 months) so have not had to worry about supply issues.
Downsides for me were the frequent feeding (every 1-2 hours until 12 weeks), lack of sleep compounded by having a bottle refuser so DH couldn't take over for longer than a couple of hours and a baby who went through a long phase of refusing to feed in public which, combined with bottle refusing, did make life tricky for a couple of months.
I will, however, try to breastfeed again if / when I have number 2. I would do a few things differently: I will co-sleep from the start, offer a bottle a day from the beginning and not obsess so much over how long/often I need to feed for now that I have a better understanding of how breastfeeding works.
Good luck!

I've fed 2 babies. I come from a family of non breastfeeders. People in general weren't happy about me breastfeeding but do you know what it was one of the best things I ever did. Such a big achievement in my life. Fed 1st baby for just over 2 years and 2nd baby for just over 3 years. Would do it all again in a heartbeat.
You have to want to do it and be determined to do it as the first 6-8 weeks is so tiring but I'm so glad I stuck with it. I lost my baby weight too. The bond is amazing and I have nothing but nostalgia thinking about it.

I’m not sure why I thought BF should just come naturally. I actually found it very hard to learn how to do it. But once I did, it was brilliant. I don’t recommend getting support wherever you can. With bf you never have to worry about sterilizing, cleaning bottles, spending hundreds on bottles, teats, formula. Getting up in the night to warm milk, running out of formula on a day out because baby is hungrier that day than normal. Bfing, once you’ve cracked it, is so much easier than bottle in my experience.

Took me about 4 weeks to 'learn' with my first...I remember saying 'I'll do it for another week', never had any bottles in the house otherwise I think I would have given up! It wasnt horrendous tho!....then all of a sudden could just do it without thinking
I did express milk and D'S was happy to have a bottle if I wasn't around which was nice. Fed both mine for a year
Good luck!

I've been breastfeeding my daughter for 2 and a half years now. Breastfeeding was really easy and straightforward in my case but not because I did anything right. I think it was just down to luck! I equally know of quite a few friends who really struggled and ended up having to give up so you can't really predict which way it will go for you and you should never feel guilty if it doesn't work out.
What I personally found:
The pros of BF:

• no hassle sterilising bottles, preparing bottles,etc.
• it's free.
• I could eat whatever I wanted and lost weight easily- not sure if that applies to everyone though (?).
• Health benefits for child. Again, it's anecdotal but my daughter has never missed a day of nursery since starting at 7 months old. She's never ill. Just the occasional mild cold. Perhaps it is not linked to breastfeeding though.

The cons of BF:

• All the pressure is on you (i.e. you deal with the night feeds)
• you have no independence.

...unless you manage to express milk. I never managed to and that has been the bane of my life.

• babies are said to sleep for shorter stretches as they get hungry faster.

I have personally not found in helped me bond with my daughter but again it is all personal, i.e. I think I would have been equally close to her without.

Noone has ever commented on me BFing when out and about.

Hope it goes well for you!

The best advice I can give you is to ask for help.
Make sure the midwives in hospital show you a few different positions and make sure you can latch baby on. This can be different for each breast.
Find out if there's a breastfeeding support group. Makes it so much easier to talk to people going through the same.
Make sure dp is supportive. It can sometimes feel relentless especially in the middle of the night. It's ok to be angry when he's snoring and you're up feeding.

All babies are different. Dd1 was glued to the boob. Fed for ages and a lot for comfort. Dd2 would feed then literally pull her head away.

First few weeks are the hardest. Lanisohl is your friend. If in doubt feed. Babies want that closeness. Some take big feeds and some snack.

It's the best decision I made in parenting. Dd1 weaned at 22 months an dd2 still feedin at 7 months.

It's so much easier than messing about with bottles once you get past the first few weeks. And if you go on to have another then it's even easier. Used lanisohl once with dd2. She latched on and that was it.

Good luck.

And keep coming on MN you will find massive support here.

Well I’ve breastfed two babies, my eldest took to breastfeeding perfectly. Fed every three hours, no colic, pain, latching problems. He would alternate between expressed milk via the bottle and boob with no issues at all. He self weaned around 14 month.

My second again, had no real issues but as he was slightly premature, my milk just was no where near ready to come through so I did experience more aggressive cluster feeds, and he feeling he ‘wasn’t satisified’ due to the fact he cried quite a bit and fed intensely. This evened outover the first 3/4 weeks and by 6 weeks he was feeding confidently like his brother. My youngest Breastfed until 2.

I have three DC and breastfeeding was easy for me. My babies latched on immediately and I never suffered pain or sore nipples or mastitis or anything. I weaned them off (aged between 8 and 12 months) when I got tired of it and that was straightforward too.

I hated expressing though!

I had an EMCS and a baby in NICU. She was tube fed and on oxygen for the first 5 days. I was absolutely determined to bf and that’s what got me through it. I had a lot of support from the NICU team - at the beginning it was super tough and I cried so much but in the end, we cracked it. I fed her for 15 months despite our awful start. I loved BF. I loved the cuddles, the ease, the bond. I never got mastitis, pumped easily. The only issue I ever had was thrush and this time (pregnant with #2) I’ll know the signs earlier. The only thing I’d do differently is try alternatives to feed to sleep and introduce an EBM bottle earlier. Good luck!

I’m from a family of mainly non-beers and an area where they had sone of the lowest rates in Europe. When DS was about 3 weeks old the HV told me I was the only Bfing mum on her books, at all. DS did feed well, I was never saw but he did feed a lot and was later diagnosed with tongue tie. Although he had it and it was exhausting I still feel as though it’s a positive.

DD came along and fed for 5 minutes every 3 hours pretty much from birth. There were times when she upped to every 2 hours, and times when she fed for longer but not many.

My best advice would be to put the Bfing Helpline numbers in your phone, and use them.

Go to your local Bfing Support Groups before LO arrives and have a [cuppa] and a chat and meet some local Mums and Mums to Be.

Read up on Kellymom.

Don’t try to do too much after the birth or go out too soon. Get Netflix, snacks and drinks and feed, feed and feed some more.

Get DH to do the baths and nappy changes if he’s on partnity leave and take LO for a walk in the morning so that you can have a bath.

If finances allow, do supermarket shopping online, get a milkman and a cleaner. Literally, do as little as possible yourself

Non-beers? That should read non-bfers!

Formula is a consistent level of work, breastfeeding is incredibly hard work for a while and almost overnight it becomes extremely easy.

I am one of the unlucky ones that finds the first 6 weeks extremely painful but the ease afterwards makes it worthwhile. Dc1 was fed until 14 or 15 months and weaned himself and dc2 is almost 11 weeks now. It's cheap, less stuff to take out, no need to locate baby warming areas when out, less washing up, fast in the middle of the night, no getting up at night and when feeling lazy you don't have to get off the sofa.