Hello. Just back from the hospital with a lovely 2-day-old DD.
She didn't take to the breast until a couple of hours after being born but we managed something on the side-lying position with the help of the midwife. Then had another 'feed' on the same position after that, followed by 24 hours of great upset as she wasn't latching on and getting very frustrated and me very disappointed and stressed out. Then finally she latched on last night (after 24 hours of being born) and it was great. However, she isn't latching on the other breast, finds it very hard. Probably because my nipple is not that pronounced and she can't get her head around how to do it. This is resulting to my 'good' nipple getting quite sore as she's only feeding from there now and she's on for a good 40-mins to an hour.
So, question: does anyone have any good tips to encourage her to latch on the other breast?
Other problem: like I said, she's only been able to latch on on the side-lying position. That's fine for now but obviously I'd like her to bf in the cradle position as well so I can eventually go out and stuff! I've got a C-shaped nursing pillow. Is that a good way to start trying her on that position again? Any other tips?
Final (HA!) problem: right now we're sort of following a 3-hour pattern: say she feeds from 10 to 11, I'll then get her to feed again at 2, then at 6 and so on and so forth. Is that about right to start with? Should it be more often? I'm not sure if every 3 hours means from the start of the feed or from the end.
I know I should have asked these questions at the hospital but I was so stressed about her not feeding at all that I forgot. But now these things seem very important! I'll give the bf helpline a call as well but it'd be great to have some experience from mums here.
Oh, final question: do you change the nappy after each feed?
Thanks for your help!