Any tips for preparing to breastfeed successfully?

[DMCWelshCakes]

I'm currently 32 weeks with DC2 and I'm hoping to be able to BF. I lasted a week feeding DiddyDragon due to medical complications & medication that meant I couldn't carry on. I never got past the stage where it hurts lots & your nipples are raw.

This time I'm keen to be better at it (if I can & we don't have the same problem as last time). Is there anything I can do before the baby arrives to make it easier?

Thanks for all advice.

If your nipples are really sore then get the latch checked - something might be wrong. Soreness is not inevitable - it might hurt for the first 10 seconds or so of each feed but after that if it's still hurting, something needs changing.

Get the phone number of the La Leche League helpline, and bookmark this talk board, and at 3am when you're getting to the stage of thinking "I can't cope, I'll just give a bottle" ring a helpline, or post on mumsnet instead (indeed, ring/post before you get to that point too! But it's a more helpful last resort than giving formula is, in the long run)

The book The Food of Love is good at explaining what's normal and what is a problem, and it's easy to dip into.

Ask for lots of help and support to get the latch right from the first breast feed.

Google biological nurturing for a laid back approach that lets the baby find the breast and latch on in a relaxed manner.

Have the bf helpline numbers to hand or added in to our mobile phone contacts.

have a read of the following sites:
kellymom.com
drjacknewman.com - really great video clips of good drinking and other useful stuff.

Find out where your nearest breastfeeding support group is and go along now and introduce yourself. They'll be able to give you some pointers too hopefully.

Hopefully you'll have an easier birth this time and can ask for lots of skin to skin after the birth and time to just cuddle your baby without lots of medical interference.

Hope this helps- it's just off the top of my head at the mo, so lots more to come no doubt.

Oh and you'll get loads of help and support on this forum of course!

err, that your mobile phone obviously!

Bf support group, bf support group, bf support group! Go before you give birth.

Someone to 'look after' you for the first few weeks.

Mn bookmarked.

Yes, and someone to look after Diddydragon, depending on what age they are now so that you can just glue yourself to the sofa and feed.

Get the book 'The Food of Love' by Kate Evans - it's brilliant and hilarious.

Have the national helplines and a local BFC's number somewhere really handy (like next to the phone next to a good place for feeding!).

Find a local support group - BfN have them in a lot of places and it's an alternative to seeing a BFC by appointment.

Make sure your partner knows you want to breastfeed, that it is important to you and good for LO and that it is normal for it to be tough at first.

Get lots of help, have lots of easy food, snacks, drinks and toys for Diddydragon (love it!) handy and be prepared to just sit on the sofa feeding for a few weeks. It's not the end of the world if Diddydragon watches CBeebies more than usual for a couple of weeks!

Bookmark/favourite this forum, Jack Newman's website and askdrsears.com now so you don't have to remember when you're sleep deprived.

Just think about how much easier it is! Thats what got me through the first six weeks of bits dropping off my nipples, and toe curling pain whenever she latched on.

It still wasn't as bad as having to deal with the hassle of sterilising, and making up bottles, or in a sleep deprived haze.

I am so glad I stuck at it, as it is so easy now (DD is ten months)

Thanks!

DiddyDragon is (despite her nickname) fairly tame & quite good at amusing herself now that she's 2 and a half. She is quite nosy though & likes to "help" so I may need more methods of distraction than normal for the first few weeks. :) DH is very supportive of me wanting to BF this time round (and was very supportive last time too, to be fair) & will help with whatever I need him to do to make it happen.

And thanks for the info on books/helplines etc. I never got as far as any of this last time so I feel like a 1st time Mum in that respect.

And clearly, the 1st bit of advice that I'm now following that I didn't know about last time is:

Thou shalt always consult Mumsnet when unsure in child-related matters.

Also have faith that with the right support your body can do it!

I co sleep with dd2 which means we all get some sleep as now we just latch on and I go back to sleep!

Find a support group. There is 1 that meets in my local childrens centre.