Large breasts - help!

[Dreemagurl]

Hi all,

So I have discovered after 5 weeks of breastfeeding that bigger is not better! My boobs have grown to a 34HH and it's not a good thing. My DD is very small (6 llb 2 at birth, now 8llb 2) and I think finds my large breasts difficult to latch onto. Does anyone have any suggestions a) how I can feed her in a good position that still allows me some freedom of movement - I'm having to support my ungainly floppy boob with one hand and firmly hold her on the latch with the other (looking wistfully at my friends with their 'normal' sized boobs casually lounging in the one handed reverse cradle) and
b) how on earth I can bf discreetly in public with these huge things?
Any help gratefully received ad we've come over the usual bf hurdles and I'm actually starting to enjoy the closeness and ability to feed my baby, but being stuck unable to move for up to 45 mins every 2 hrs is NOT fun!
Thanks !

Hi there - I do know what you mean about the one hand on boob, one on baby situation - I fed like that for the first couple of months until I could take one hand off baby - and now he's a nosey 18 wk old I have to keep a hand on him again otherwise he'd crane his neck and fall off my lap if someone interesting walked past!

Does mean my lunch goes cold in cafes a lot, it's true.

I use a nursing cover quite a bit in public (derided for some reason on MN, very very common in the USA and my hometown - where BFing is also prevalent). I like it because then I don't have to worry about being discrete - I can have ungainly boobs flopping around the place if I need to, to get the right latch -and I'm not flashing anyone.

I don't always have it with me, however, and I've got some breastfeeding tops (from motherwear.com, don't know if the UK has equivalent not-too-pricey versions, I hear H&M has a line?) which also help. Some people swear by the vest-top-underneath-a-real top method: you hitch the vest top down under the breast and then the real top UP, and the baby's head covers the bit of boob that's actually out. In that instance, you might still be holding your breast but you'd be holding it through the top layer shirt, if you see what I mean..

Glad BFing is getting easier for you! I found 6 wks so much easier than 2 weeks, and at about 10wks it was practically enjoyable! Now it's easy as falling off a log (or a lap!).
Hope some of my ramble helps. Must go back to bed!

I think it's just a case of practising and finding a position that works. At 5 weeks I wouldn't beat yourself up too much, you sound like you're doing just as well as other mums with 5 week olds. I certainly wasn't casually lounging when DD was 5 weeks and I had to turn the nightlight on to get her latched on at night until she was about 3 mo!

Is there a BF group you can go to where other mums can give you ideas for different positions? LLL groups are good, here is a list of local groups.

Have you thought about feeding your DD in a sling so you can get other things done? I think ring slings are the best sort for BF but I never bothered learning with DD because I liked lounging on the sofa too much I think I will have to with DC2 though!

If your boobs are really full and hard then you could try expressing a little bit so your DD finds it easier to latch on, I had to do this a couple of times in the early days with DD.

Anyway, sorry for no real constructive advice but hang in there, it will get easier for both of you :) especially once your DD gets a bit more strength in her neck.

Thanks for your replies. Have ordered a ring sling and am waiting for it to turn up - although of course the snow had delayed everything including the post! I know 5 weeks is young to have everything sorted in the bf department - I'm just impatient I guess! Hopefully as she gets bigger it'll get easier for both of us :)

Love how on MN there's always someone online at silly o'clock in the morning :)

i have hooooge boobs!

i found the easiest way for me to feed when out and about was to sit on an upright chair (like a cafe dining type chair with no arms) and put my one ankle resting on my other knee to create an extra kind of triangular shape with my leg, kind of in a blokeish fashion!...not ladylike at all, and very difficult to describe by writing down!!!

anyway...what it does it make it easier for your baby to be boob height for you (ie lower that mid chest!) and takes away the need to hold your boob once the baby is feeding.

if at home, i would sit cross legged in a big chair for the same reason...

it worked for me! hope you can figure it out.

with regards to feeding in public discreetly, i used to wear a t shirt over my bra which would pull up to get my boob out and then sort of drape over my stomach to hide it and wear a cardi over the top which i would leave open to drape around the sides and give coverage there. i always wore a clip fastening feeding bra (not a zip one)and would pop that undone under my clothes, get the baby ready to feed...in position, then pop my boob out at the last second, sort of using the bra still as coverage iykwim? when finished feeding, pull the bra up over your boob as soon as the baby gets off and then do yourself up and sort yourself out from the shoulder down your clothes. god this is so hard to explain! with i was able to show you!!!

bf does get easier as time goes on....your confidence will come. i always found it easier to have a friend to chat to when out and about...and don't think to hard about it....just do it!

I have HH too.

I use a v shaped pillow and a chair with an arm on, so that I can rest the pillow and then baby's head on it to feed. This then helps to hold up the boob so you don't have to hold it yourself.

If out and about I have to use one leg crossed over the knee to rest baby's head/my arm on.

I have rather large boobs too.

I found at the beginning the easiest position for me was to sit cross leeged with a pillow or two in my lap, then put my arm through DS's legs and hold the back of his shoulders/neck and the boob in the other hand.

I found at first that my boobs were always engorged and he found it hard to latch on, so used to express a couple of oz's first thing in the morning and then feed him.

I don't really BF in public and not only do I have big boobs but also quite a forceful let down, which DS is ok with most of the time, but when he pulls off it sprays everywhere.

Mine have grown to an F although I think they have grown again as I'm overflowing my problem is having to use the other hand to stop my boob covering her nose which makes me unable to eat at the same time

Nymph,

I found that if I relaxed my hand on his back a little and let him drop back from the breast once he was latch then he would tip his head back a little and it was easier for him to breath.

I was told in hospital to just shove his face right in there and 'don't worry, he'll find a way to breth, his nose is designed for it' but just adjusted the position anyway. I think that you can cause blocked ducts if you hold your breast in the same place all the time??