100% breastfeeders - please come and say hello - feeling a little isolated here!

[Miaou]

I'm the only bfeeder in RL in my group of friends, and it seems that much of my postnatal group on here is mixed feeding. I've now reached the point where the tiredness is getting to me and I have reached a low ebb. Many people (out of kindness) have suggested I should begin weaning or introduce a bottle, which I am really not ready to do. Fortunately dh backs me all the way but I would like to chat to other 100% breastfeeders (past or present), just to reassure me that I'm not my own!

Just come and say hello and maybe we can offer each other a boost if/when we are feeling down!

Helen, I'm sorry you seem to be encountering so many problems with your feeding - well done for sticking with it though. Especially when you get negative reactions like you did at whacky warehouse

Frogs, I have emailed you

helen,try expressing a little milk when you are in the bath/shower.i had blocked ducts when dd was little.and like you it was the side she fed from least (she still has a fave side,thinks its the side they are most comfy on that they feed from better)i used to express from sore side whilst she was on the other.hurts like hell,but helps clear them.hope it helps

Thankyou girls im hoping to get chance for a shower tonight so i can try expressing/massaging - ds1 and ds2 have both got chest infections (just dragged them all round to the Dr's) and so they are coughing like crazy, and dd is having ANOTHER growth spurt i think as she has decided to feast as much as possible today and isnt settled yet! - still have tea to do and dp has just called to say he is working late lol - my house sounds bonkers doesnt it, you'd think a blocked duct should be the least of my worries today lol!!!

Hi miaou
I breastfed 3 exclusively and am now mixed feeding no 4.......I think anyone disapproving is either very very weird and uptight, or actually a wee bit jealous (no hate mail please).
I always quietly got on with it....really hated being watched though and had some visitors actually stare as I sat there red in face (on my own sofa fgs) with this huge milky boob and ds slurping away (noisy eater).
Anyhow - have to say that giving a bottle (expressed if you want) is good way of letting you go out, have a bath or nop to loo without worry.......is a huge pressure worrying about leaving baby if you think they may want a feed.
Also, night time feeeds can be real killer and the odd helping hand no bad thing - I am less exhausted this time with the odd bottle (have health issues which mean I need a bit of help or seize up).
You're happy, baby happy so hang in there and enjoy for as long as you like........is great your dh is supportive also

hi miaou - good thread, only just seen it and joining you from the Aug 05 thread too. Ds2 still feeding away like a good un (like yours girlyumomma, mine's a very noisy slurper which can be a bit sometimes!) but I also am feeling a bit knackered by it all. Actually, I think the feeding is fine, but I am trying to potty train dd at the mo and watching her while waiting for ds2 to need me, or having ds2 plugged in just at the moment she decides to poo in her pants is all a bit much. Still, ds1 and dd were exclusively bf until they were weaned and I plan to do the same and hopefully a bit more with this one.

Is there anyone out there whose baby feeds better on pillow? From birth I used a normal pillow with a v-shaped pillow on top to feed dd. I'm trying to do away with them now as it kind of defeats the object of breast-feeding being so convenient (I can't take my pillows shopping with me!)but I find my arm starts to ache as dd tends to feed for a long time despite being 16 weeks now. I also find she fidgets less. I think I have probably spoiled her in a way - she's just too comfy!

I always use a pillow at home. When we're at the shops etc I have ds slightly more upright in a cuddle position so that he is resting more into my arm. Now it's winter you could probably roll up your coat and use that as a pillow?

Hi Miaou, (Haven't read the whole thread) I am 100% feeding dd2 after reading the 'just one bottle' thread on here a while ago (about 100% breastfed babies having a sterile gut which accounts for some of the benefits of breastfeeding), having initially planned to introduce a 10 pm bottle (everyone I know seems to do this, and I did last time). I feel great about it tho, so hope to continue for a good while. She's 15 weeks.

Hi Miaou

Getting back to 100% breastfeeding after a break for antib but will give the occasional bottle of ebm now and again just so he doesn't lose the knack. You are doing really well like everyone has said and yes bottlefeeding and expressing are much more of a pain than bf but sometimes when I am having a hard day I find bf exhausting and painful and just want to give up convinced that everything would miraculously fall into place if I gave him formula quite why I think this I don't know - DS doesn't sleep any better when he has had formula and most types make him sick.

Fells - I used a pillow for the first two months, he is now 14 weeks, and I found it tricky at first without it but now things are getting better. I just found it too much of a faff to know what to do with the pillow when I stood up to burp him and was constantly having to wash it!

Hello Have not managed to read all thread but delighted to see so many bfs out there I have 3 children all bf babies. Currently bf my 6mth old DD.Love it. Most natural, special thing in world to feed your own child yourself

Having a really good breastfeeding day today! DD (10 weeks) is all snuggly and cuddling up to my boob while she suckles - so sweet sorry, just had to share - its not often i have really good bfeeding days!

Aaah... Thats good to hear Helenemjay. My DD( just wants my to feed from my left boob today. She's boycotting the right! I've noticed most babies seem to prefer the left one. Maybe something to do with it being close to the heart?

That's great to hear, Helen! It's good to share the successful times as well as the hard ones. Ds has been guzzling away today too - however it's been a bit hard keeping it in - it's been a very sicky day today!

Aww dd had a very sicky day yesterday! and dd DOES prefer my left side too! -its bizarre isnt it! i bet it is something to do with the heart - awww

Miaou and helen my dd also is a lefty she used to love my right but from 10 weeks (16 now) she switched sides, i think it has something to do with the let down , so i read, i have notice the right is more squrty and the left is like droplets with one squrt. We're 100% ers which is soooooooooo lazy and i love it, who needs all that fafing, not me, my sister in-law does the whole bottle thing and is looks so much harder her ds has to wait for bottle to be warmed where my dd has it ready and waiting.

Only prob being mother in-law loves being able to feed him and makes a point of saying so. (i now know who gets the job of feeding the messy stuff when sold time happenes ha ha) hurrah for no mess

I'm an ex breastfeeder, but just wanted to add some encouragement... Many of my RL friends went down the mixed route, and it is interesting how many of them now say they won't again for number two. At least one child ended up having breastfeeding strikes, and ended up refusing the boob and going on bottles. Many others just seemed to prefer the bottle, and so bfeeding ended up going by the wayside.

My DD had half a bottle of formula (which she refused) in her first few weeks (in the desperate days!!) and that was it for formula until she was almost 6 months and I had to go back to work. She did have some expressed milk, but never really took to a bottle. Makes life so much easier, that I never had to wean her off the bottle!!

It may seem easier now to introduce mixed feeding, but I do think it is a mixed blessing. I managed to bfeed for 16 months, with exclusive bmilk (apart from the half of course!) until almost 6 months, I am proud that I was able to give her the very best start I could, and that I was lucky in that it worked for me. Yes, it was bloody hard at times (and at times, I dreaded bfeeding her) but you get there! So hang on in, and see the long term gains!

Hope this is sufficiently supportive !!

I b/f dd until she weaned herself off me and my milk dried up. Bottle feeding and weaning was such a complete faff that next time I'm going to really try to keep going as long as possible.

I always found it very stressful trying to guesstimate and pack/sterilise enough bottles for a day out and the tedium of ice cubes of courgette. YAWN. Moulis? Who needs them. I think I'm going to go for the self-weaning next time.

Good for you Miaou. You are doing what you feel best in the face of people thinking you wierd. I always ignore dissenters because I AM ALWAYS RIGHT!

silly question maybe but how do you know when they are self weaning? DS is 6 months and is v playful when BF now. He comes off alot, blows raspberries, looks around, then comes back for more. But for eg, his first morning feed, after no night feeds, is also like that. He doesn't act ravenous at that feed like he used to. Is that a sign of self weaning?

Teabags, I worried about self-weaning round about that age when ds stopped seeming as interested in feeding. But I don't think it's the case that they don't want it anymore, rather they have just become much more aware of their surroundings. I think the kellymom website says babies rarely self-wean before 1yr old.
It got quite annoying for me as every time anyone spoke, moved or breathed in the room I was feeding, ds would come off and want to see what was going on! So at the time I resorted to feeing him lying down on my bed whenever possible, and that seemed to help him concentrate on feeding properly without getting distracted. He seems to have got the message and at 7.5mths he is still v. interested in what is going on around him but now I find it a bit easier to feed him in places other than my darkened bedroom! Let us know how you get on with it

thanks Tatties. You have hit the nail on the head! He is exactly like that at the moment and I have been feeding him lying down with a greater degree of success.

Hi Miaou, PMSL @ norkularly challenged, me too

Just finished feeding DD2 at 14 months, the same length I fed DD1 for (both exclusively, though not for the want of trying ~ they wouldn't take expressed milk from a bottle or cup). It does get easier and believe it or not I do look back and cherish the earlier days when my LO's fed so often, it's a special time and relatively short. Before you know it your DS will be less demanding of your time as far as feeding goes and the tiredness will decrease.

Teabags and Tatties, DS was just like this - would look up like a startled squirrel if someone walked past while I was bfeeding, or breathed a bit loudly, or sometimes he'd just get transfixed by my arm or something I thought was equally dull.

It's very rare for a bfed baby to self-wean before a year. But they do get much more distractible. Bfeeding's a series of challenges, I found - once you have it established and aren't fretting about positioning and milk production, your baby starts taking an interest in the world - little blighter!

Kellymom has lots more info about this delightful stage - it does pass, honestly.

Oh, Miaou, I meant to say I sympathise entirely with how it can feel to be a 'lone' breastfeeder.

My trip to Monkeyworld during the summer was great for a multitude of reasons, not least because I found myself enjoying the rare indulgance of sharing the company of other breastfeeding mums

PMSL Badger!