BFing first timer, day 3 tomorrow, a few questions.

[TotorosOcarina]

Hi, my son was born wednesday afternoon. He is my 4th but this is the first time I've sucessfully started to breast feed (and feel confident about being able to go a day more etc....)

Am trying to stop giving him formula, basically when he was born i expected to FF, but i wanted to give him colostrom, so fed him after birth.

He latched on really well and so I gave him a few more feeds. That night I started on the bottles and told DH I wasn't fussed about BFing.

he had bottles wed ngiht and morning.

When the midwife came back (homebirth) it was same one who delivered him ad she asked why i wasn't breastfeeding him as he latched so well and we both looked so happy. That got me thinking at he had BF all day but at night(last night) he had an ounce after each feed as he just didn't seem to settle.

Today he has had ALL BF again :) :)

and seems quite happy but I think when my proper milk comes in i'll feel more confident with cutting out the top-up F.

Anyways, my questions are...

Do I feed from 1 side at a time or both? When I feed him he is on for 10 - 15 mins, he seems to get sleepy and finish, i gethis wind up if he has any but sometimes he just is not happy and is still turning his head and opening his mouth. If he does this should I return him to the same breast or start on the other?

secondly, is it supposed to hurt? I had HUGE pain issues with my 2nd son, it was the reason i stopped. This time i think ive got latching much, much better, i put the whole nipple in the mouth rather than the tip, but i still get that initial 'yeowzers!!' pain for about 10 seconds then it dulls down to an uncomftable but bearable pull.

with my other son the 'yeowzers' pain was there constantly so i think something was being done wrong.

but is it normal for it to be sore? will this go away?

how can i help firm up my nipples or stop them being so tender? have lanisoh(sp?) cream already.

should i 'air' my breasts?

finally i don't have any nursing bras at all as wasn't planning on BFing, so have been braless since birth, will this affect my milk coming in? i am being taken to mothercare tomorrow morning to get a couple but will get some better ones when i know my size etc...

oh and 1 more thing, can i take ibuprofen? or paracetamol?

is there anything i shouldn't take as it will be passed onto bubba?

If you've gotten this far thanks!!

I know its only been a few days but im pretty shocked ive even got this far and i do feel like i could do it for real this time, people talk in terms of months, I'm just thinking days at the moment, one day, or even one feed at at time, but its worked so far :)

well done! as you say every single feed is a great thing and don´t think any further than that right now.

1. this may be something you kind of just have to figure out depending on your supply/flow when your milk comes in. ds2 (2mths) was struggling with my strong let down and oversupply of milk so for the first wee while i fed him from one side, when he stopped get the burp up then back to the same side. only if he then came off again and seemed hungry did i offer him the other. Now he just feeds off one side, comes off once and is finished. Next time, next boob.

1. that sounds like your let down and it can be quite painful, with ds1 those first few seconds were painful for months, with ds2 its already gone, I still get it when expressing though.

1. lansinoh is great

1. don´t think you need to air them unless you get thrush, i don´t anyway!

1. being bra less shouldn´t have any effect that i know of

1. not sure what you can and can´t take i´m afraid but this has taken me ages to type so hopefully someone else can help you on this. you can look for all kinds of info on www.kellymom.com

good luck!

thanks roundthehouses thats really helpful. I can cope with the first few seconds of pains, i suppose it will settle down eventually - its also the fact that the feeding sets off after pains in my stomach too so i feel a bit battered at each feed!!

oh yes i know that feeling! afaik paracetamol is fine i´m just not sure about anything stronger. hope it all continues going well, when bfing works its like a dream!

I had mastitis at week 10 of breastfeeding with my 13 wo DS and my doctor told me that i could take ibuprofen and paracetmol. I was taking Co-Codamol for the first week because of EMCS so I've always thought that ibuprofen was OK. Things cross to the placenta much more easily than they do into breastmilk apparently.

As far as which breast to feed on... in the early days DS only ever fed from one breast and never wanted to swap sides so I'd always start the next feed on the opposite breast. Someone gave me a tip of wearing a braclet and swapping from side to side to help me remember which side to feed from but I can tell by how much heavier one breast feels IYSWIM.

As he's got older he sometimes wants more milk and so will feed from both sides. The advice I've been given is to feed from the opposite breast that you started on - so if he starts on left always start the next feed on right even if he fed on the right at the end of the last feed. It's something to do with fore and hind milk.

best advice i can give you is find a good la leche group, if in doubt ,'keep feeding', if unsure, feed the baby, if baby cries, feed the baby, if you don't know what else to do, feed the baby, and hopefully pain will subside. it is normal to experience some pain, despite all that the literature tells you.

i used lansinoh first time round, didn't the second and found everything healed better without, but this is purely personal choice.

i did air at night, slept on a towel to gather up leakage and never had problems with thrush.

also used nursing bras first time but not second. persoanlly i find it easier to just pop them out over top of normal bra.

as round says, you will know better when milk comes in, but generally yoy try and feed on one side until it feels empty ( hard to tell sometimes) and offer the other side as well if baby still appears hungry.

go with your body and instinct, get comfy, don't rush, try to relax!

That sharp pain when he first feeds may well stop. I felt it for the first couple of weeks I think then it settled down as my boobs got used to it.

I use a rule of thumb that if the baby falls asleep feeding after a v short time (10 mins or less), put them back on that boob when they wake up. If they have had a long, good feed and come off with that sated, blissful expression (they lose this as they get older - enjoy it now!) then that boob's probably finished for now (they never truly empty though - think of them as being rivers, not lakes!) and use the other one next time. TBH though as long as you vary them throughout the day it doesn't matter too much which one you use.

I used to use lansinoh but found after a couple of weeks I didn't need it - your nipples do get used to it and feel a lot less sore.

You can definitely have paracetamol and ibuprofen. Toxnet is a great site if you're ever unsure about any medication.

Not wearing a bra won't do any harm (just might get annoying if you start leaking); wearing the wrong size might restrict your milk flow and increase the risk of a blocked duct/mastitis. Wait til your milk is properly in and then get measured. Personally I like M&S but everyone's different.

One final thing: cluster feeding (the baby wants to be at the breast constantly for hours) is completely normal and does NOT mean your supply is low. The only thing that will mean your supply is low is restricting the baby's access to the breast, or using formula instead of putting the baby to the breast. Put your feet up and relax! Congratulations on making it this far!

Feed on one side until he comes off. If he wants more after winding, offer the other boob. And try to start with the second one first next-time.

Letdown pain eases with time and it gets easier to deal with too when nothing else is hurting and you know it's only a second or two. IME latch takes a lot of work to get perfect so keep working on it and keep getting help. As the baby gets bigger, it gets easier to get a good deep latch anyway.

Bras won't affect milk at all, but you may get sore or more stretch marks. Sleep bras are wonderful in the early days, especially as you don't have to get your size just right.

Paracetamol and ibuprofen are fine. Codeine is usually fine, especially if you've had it before with no issues. The Breastfeeding Network website and Kellymom have info on medicatons when bfing.

kellymom.com is a wonderful resource. I'd also look up local breastfeeding network or La Leche League clinics. And get the NCT bfing helpline number. I used all those exhaustively in the early days and DD is now 5 months, ebf and we're still going strong.

Think that every feed counts and take it one day at a time. I did, we really struggled after a rocky start, but breastfeeding became an easy wonderful thing for my daughter and I.

One final thing: cluster feeding (the baby wants to be at the breast constantly for hours) is completely normal and does NOT mean your supply is low

thats very good to know

thanks for all the advice, will keep coming back and re-reading all this to help me along!

I'll try to answer them as well

1. The usual advice is that if your DC comes off a breast, you wind him, or even change his nappy, then offer the second breast. He might not take it, but don't worry about it. But like roundthehouse, my let down is very strong and my DD sometimes comes off making choking noises. In that case, I'll just offer the same breast again. When your milk comes in, you'll notice at the start of the feed, it's really really thin looking. And later it'll turn to a creamier looking colour. What I do is, if DD comes off and the breast is dripping (or sometimes shooting) very thin looking milk, I'd offer the same breast. If it's thick looking, or no milk is dripping, then I offer the other. Don't get too stressed about the foremilk/hindmilk thing, just relax and you'll find your way around your flow and milk supply.

2. It hurts at the let down, but nothing like labour, just discomfort. For me, it's not when my DD latch on. It's after she sucks for a bit, and the let down happens. And the let down is usually only around 10s, then it goes back to not hurting. What you are describing sounds like your DC is latched on well. You can go to a bf group and see a bf counsellor so they can check your latch. It's also morale support seeing other bf mums.

3. Lanisoh is great. Use it after every feed.

4. I'm a bit paranoid about hygiene so I wipe my breasts dry with a muslin after feed, and then check if the breast pads are wet. I usually need to change the pad on the breast that I'm not feeding from every feed.

5. The nursing bra won't affect your supply. (Unless you wear a too small size). But what you'll find is when your milk comes in, they'll go really really big and leaks like crazy. You'll need nursing bras just to stop your milk staining your duvets and sheets. I was using nursing bras during my pregnancy, thinking they'll be the right size. It turned out my breasts went from a B to a DD so there was no way I can fit my nursing bras anyway. I went to mothercare to get some new ones after making a mess of my bed on the first night :)

All the best with your BF. If it all works, you'll find it's actually very easy to not have to worry about bottles when going out.

As for what you can take during breastfeeding. Do you have the birth to 5 book from NHS yet? Your HV can give you a copy. Inside there's a list of meds you can take. Paracetamol is definitely ok.

I am no expert but managed to bf DS2.

My only input is:

1. It absolutely hurt like hell until about around 1 month in. I used to count from when he latched until it got bearable and slowly but surely it came down from 30 seconds to none. It was toe curling at first. At 2 months it didn't hurt at all. I think the confusion for me was the advice that if you're doing right then it won't hurt (it did for me at first). I second the lansinoh cream - fantastic stuff.

2.I took paracetamol for a few weeks after (post birth stuff pain not bf pain).

1. Cluster feeding is normal. My DS2 bf for what felt like hours on end (one night 7pm til 4am - I kid you not - I kept banging my head on the wall whilst falling asleep - and this is all normal).

I took the day by day approach as bf didn't work out with DS1 so I didn't want too high expectations.

You are doing brilliantly.

My nips were sore for about a week - make sure they're not getting squashed or misshapen (lipstick shaped) and get as much breast into the mouth as possible. I had quite sharp let-down pain for the first couple of months, but it only lasted a few seconds.

Offer both sides at each feed, but don't worry too much if he's not so interested in the second side while he's small. The aim is really to feed off both sides as often as possible - I was rubbish at remembering which side I'd fed from last but as long as you offer both sides lots you can't go far wrong!

Thanks again,

had a really good night last night.

He fed at 10pm and then slept till 2, fed again and slept till 5. Was a long feed at 5 on both sides and then he had a poop and changed him etc so not really sept since then but am really happy :)

the fed on the left side this morning didn't hurt at all and he must have got some proper milk as he was really deeply swallowing and gulping.

i had a wibble at the 2am feed. when he woke i said to DH 'go make him a bottle' as i felt really tired and was a bit out of it, so poor DH went down to make a bottle only to come back to me BFing the baby so he fed from both sides that time as he was turnu=ing his head and was still upset after so he did have about half an ounce of formula with DH but am not too fussed asi almost skipped the BF alltogether but didn't :)

Well done TotorosOscarino- you're doing really well.

Hang on in there

All sounds fine :) but a tip: if your baby has both sides and still seems unsettled/hungry. put him on again - normally no need for the hassle of formula, and you always have milk there...giving any formula in the early days undermines bf and it's a myth that after both breasts the baby has had what's in there.

Many babies are quite happy going from breast to breast - it's normal.

thanks tiktok, i think its the soreness more than anything now that made me give him the F, i think now that im producing proper milk and getting the hang of the latch i'll find it easier to put him back on after he has come off.

I'm just happy I'm still going and pushing through the things that made me stop last time.

What will really help reducing letdown pain is reverse pressure softening - description on kellymom.com website, basically you open the milk ducts and squeeze a bit of milk out by hand before feeding to reduce the intensity of letdown.

Paracetamol should be ok (i took lots before feeding in the first six weeks), ibuprofen is officially ok but lots of babies stomachs can be sensitive to it, my dd got constipation and stomach pain from it and i never took it again.

Good luck!!!