Due May 2009 - There's a bun in my oven and it's making me HOT! HOT! HOT!

[FiKelly]

Shiny new thread already!

rek21- you make an interesting point, which i'd appreciate belgian's advice on. My milk didn't come in til day 6 with DD and was really painful when it did. With DS it came in on day 4 and i let him suckle a lot (even when i knew there wouldn't be anythign much there) as i thought this would encourage supply. It did mean i ended up sore (no bleeding though) and he had a little sore chin from the friction (ahhh) but would this have helped my milk come in or not?

pulapula - I wonder if with me it was a combination of bad latch and letting her suck for ages - she really had a demon little jaw. Also had quite flat nipples. My milk came in on day 3 though so there might be some connection there.

Just re-read that and it sounds like DD's nipples were flat (which obviously they were!) but I was really referring to my nipples being flat! Note to self, always preview post

Thanks pula but have my heart set on an icandy pear now. 3 buggies thats exactly the sort of thing I'd end up doing

rek pula this is exactly why i did mixed ffeeding - stopped the screaming hungry baby whilst waiting for horrendous weepy day no 4 (no one told me you get all silly when milk comes in...) and prevented the sore nipples scenario a little more as well

Oh and in a big weepy bucket, home alone watching the births marriages deaths things - for some reason i thought it would be less stressful than the heathrow goodbye programme...silly girl. But the birth bits are lovely

Very useful breastfeeding site I'm a helper with the BfN. I'll reiterate what's been said already. If it hurts in anyway, take the baby off and start again. Get someone to look at your latch and just keep asking. Speak to somebody on a helpline. 0844 412 4664 is the BfN one and 0844 20 909 20 is the National Breastfeeding Helpline, where you get put through to one of a few organisations, whichever is local to you or has somebody who answers.

Pula and Rek I'm still a rookie, but the more you feed the more milk you produce. Supplementing with formula can only delay your milk coming in or delay you producing the extra milk for the growth spurt. In the early days this is one of the major reasons for a good milk supply not being established.

Thanks Jennster I'm sure that you are right, but I think once my nipples were cracked continuing to feed for hours was not a good idea, I needed a plan B that nobody could offer and I think mixed feeding might have been it. Obviously though the best plan would have been not to get into the state I was in in the first place - so as you say getting the latch right is soooo important.

Just popping in before I head to bed. Thanks for all your support the other night. Ds has been lovely since Tues, so I think he was just having a grumpy afternoon!

With ds we ended up mixed feeding for a few weeks, as he'd been in special care and can add another vote for microwave steriliser and tommy tippee bottles.

Will catch up with other posts in the morning, but just wanted to say pula - I might be interested in your friends p+t!

I'm still wondering how I'm going to cope when DS2 arrives. DS and I went to the library today and the little monster darling ran around the place from shelf to shelf picking up books and putting them away on the wrong shelf. I couldn't keep up with him. He hardly ever uses a buggy these days unless we are out for the day and will need it for a nap, so I think a double buggy would be excessive. But how on earth will I cope with chasing after him when I have DS2 in his pram?

We bought one of those little back packs with a lead reins but it took him all of 5 minutes to unclip the rein. I've seen people teach their children to hold onto the buggy but at the moment DS is just too unpredictable. I've bought a sling too, but still can't see me running with a sling.

Aaaargh. I'm having a real wobbly over this tonight.

llareggub, i find reins or a dog lead wrist strap are vital when near roads, water etc with DD and now DS until they get to the age where they understand danger and/or will do as they are told. With DD this probably wasn't until she was 3. I have also just bought a wrist strap which attaches to the buggy.

And the reins I had fasten right at the back with a tricky fastening so no way a LO could undo them.

daisydoo- just seen your post- let me know if you need any more details- i know its black...I will be around tomorrow morning but then away til Sunday night, although don't think she's in a hurry to put it on ebay...

dandy keep those fingers in your ears..

I fed ds as much and for as long as he wanted.. my stubborn inverted nipple on one side did crack and bleed.. but i still persevered with a shield. i was in bristol hospital post ds cs for 4 days then transferred to local mw unit for some tlc and was there for about 6 days. bf the whole time but there were a few times mw suggested a formula feed as i had run out of milk. my supply probs i now put down to my severe anemia. in the end i had to stop as i was getting weaker not stronger.. my body couldn't put me to rights and produce the milk. i was truly gutted.. ds was happy as long as feeds kept coming. it took a v long time for me to get over not being able to feed ds.

llareggub I've had ds wearing reins since he was pretty much able to walk... I decided to get ones that looked more fun than rein like and he never complained about having to wear his 'oooh hooo eeeh heee'[monkey sound effects] as he calls it now. It is a goldbug harness buddy. More recently I have bought a little life bee reins/daysack which has a bit more space inside for a drink & snacks etc. Again the reins handle clip is hard for him to reach when it's on and there is a handle on the top too just in case you need to keep them a lot closer!

off to bed now... just nabbed laptop from dh for a quick post. Night night. xoxox

re sore nipples - Pack several pairs of silicon nipple shields in hospital bag. They go over your nipple & cover the whole nipple & dark area (areole?). It is Godsend for those first few days when baby doesn't know what he is doing and you don't know what you are doing. And there is no milk so all he does is chew etc.

Morning everyone.

I never got on with reins. I can't quite remember how I did things with a baby and a 2yo, but I do sort of remember that ds loved the buggy board and I think for him running off was just too much of a hassle He's always been one for the easy life.

re Bf and sore nipples. I just want to second what Jennster said. Supplementing is not the way forward if you have sore nipples. It will reduce your milk supply. The more baby feeds the sooner your milk comes in. However they do need to be effective feeds and if baby wasn't on OK then the feeds wouldn't have been effective. Anyway, if baby is on OK you should be able to bf for hours and hours without any sore or cracked nipples. It's definitely the latch and not the length of time that is the cause. cote has definitely got a good point about the nipple shields. Although we're not supposed to promote them, I definitely think they are a good sollution if you're that sore you're close to giving up, you'll continue to feed & stimulate your milk supply, while at the same time giving your poor nipps a break and a chance to heal. Milk tends to come in a bit later when you've had an elective C/S, due to not having had labour hormones going round your body and like fi said, if you've (severely) anaemic your milk supply will be affected too. Also buy a tube of Lansinoh nipple cream, brilliant stuff.

Jennster the Kellymom site has improved a lot since I last went on it as a bf supporter (before I was a mw, a good few years ago). It's got some excellent info I liked the bit about herbal remedies and bf.

Morning

I've bought my big tube of lansinoh cream already and will be buying some nipple sheilds again to take to hospital just in case. I was going to buy the normal silicone full circle & teat ones but came across these by medela. looks like even nipple sheilds have improved over the last 2.5yrs! They come in a few sizes for different nipple diameters and have a section of the main silicone circle removed so baby gets nose to skin contact while feeding. Great idea i think.

fi those nipple shields look great. Medela does do some good stuff. I've got my Lansinoh ready too (+ a few sample sachets for my bag that I 'borrowed' from work)

Nipple shields - I'll add those to my shopping list.

Off to tesco at lunchtime for half price tommee tippee breast pump/bottles/sterilizer.

This having a baby business isn't cheap is it?

At least I'll get the tesco points I guess

looby No it isn't, that's why I have several, to get my money's worth out of all those things I did have to buy a new breast pump though. Somehow the handle of my good old Avent one dissapeared. I bought my Tommee Tippee one during the Asda Baby Event they do every so often: £9.99 Better than half price!

i've discovered boots do those shields well in small and large... so points there too