Breast feeding - couple of quick (probably thick!) questions

[Elf1981]

I'm due next month and am going to try breast feeding. To keep DH involved, we've also planned to express. I know I should get a load of information from the midwife once baby arrives, but though I'd get a heads up and ask a few questions:

1. After expressing, how long can milk be kept in the fridge?
2. How long can milk be frozen for?
3. Is it okay to substitue with formula milk once feeding established or should it be purely breast milk?

The third question comes from the idea that bubs is due in October, and in Dec it's DH b/d so my mum has said she'd look after baby for us to have a night out (depends on how I feel at the time I guess!) so I'm wondering if I'll have to express like mad or whether formula milk can be used instead.

4. How common is it for people not being able to breastfeed?

Any answers greatly appreciated, I'm a bit new to this and a bit naive!!

Is there such a thing as your nipple not 'long' enough for the baby to latch on properly? I have not been successful with breastfeeding since the babies came out 4 days ago. Managed to feed them off expressed milk on bottle today. They have also been supplemented with formula via small cup which the nurses help to feed at times.

So am I hopeless with the whole bf thing and just settle with bm in a bottle???

Sometimes in the early days you can be too engorged and your nipples can be quite flat.
They stretch though as your little ones learn to feed. Have you been in touch with a breastfeeding counsellor? They would be much more help than a midwife who generally have very little training in bfing problems.

my nipples were too flat, as described below, in the early days.
Try your best to persevere, it will all come together sooner or later.
I'm not going to tell you it generally takes about a month for things to settle down - for me, it took 2 months to finally get rid of the bloody cracked nipples I had! After that, thoughm it was plain sailing and I carried on for a further 7 months.
My 'equipment' was crap, but I'm so proud of myself now, looking back - the best thing I could have done to give ds a good start! good luck!

arlynab

Mine were pretty flat to begin with but for the first few days ds was really sleepy so he didn't latch on readily anyway and I used a hospital electric pump to express. He was fed the colostrum I produced and supplemented with formula which I was less happy about. However a combination of this, further attempts at ds latching on and using nipple shields, eventually drew them out so that after about 10 days, ds could latch on directly and breastfeeding became more successful.

If you suddenly become very full when your milk comes in (which would make them seem flatter than ever), try expressing off a little before trying to latch a baby on - you could do this by hand if a midwife can show you how, or using a hand pump.

It may well take a week or more of persistence and experimenting with different positions, preferably under advice from a trained breastfeeding counsellor, to find a way which works for you and your babies.

Good luck