The most helpful thing about breastfeeding you wish you'd known...

[Fishpond]

I am hoping to breastfeed DC1 when he/she is born next summer. I am not a crazy anti-formula woman, but it's very common here in the US to bottle feed so I expect to get a bit of looks and meet a bit of resistance, so would like to go in with the most knowledge possible from (imo) the best experts - mums who previously breastfed.

What do you wish you had known before you started? I plan on not buying bottles / formula in 'just in case' as I have heard that makes it much easier to stop. Family is already telling me that I'll "need to have bottles or else you can't pass it to anyone else"

My Mum'sadvice was good - prepare yourself for six weeks of pain then it will be fine Good luck, bfing is one of life's joys.

Oh, and wear a cardiand a top under, lift top, arrange cardiaround and it will be discreet :)

You can do all sorts of things at the same time as bf, I remember buying car tyres with a baby stuffed up my jumper!

My mum advised me to have nipple shields in the house just in case. DD1 latched on badly the very first two feeds leaving me bleeding and I'd have had to stop breastfeeding all together in the first week if I hadn't had them. Didn't affect milk flow and I needed them for the first eight weeks. DD1 was bf until she weaned herself at 11 months.

All babies are different. Some feed for an hour at a time others just for five minutes. Some babies like to be fed every hour and some four hourly. Breast feeding is not just about food, it's also about comfort and safety and bonding.

Buy a good nipple cream. You can easily & rather quickly become sore. Putting a little cream on after each feed will ease any irritation.

Haven't read the whole thread, so this may have been mentioned before.

Tongue tie is best dealt with as quickly as possible after birth, before it can cause problems with ravaged nipples and low weight gain. Get a plan in place before the baby is born, ie find out where your local bfing cafe where they diagnose tongue tie is, find out what your hospital does about it/how quickly you can be seen. I would even go as far to say that you should find a private certified lactation consultant who could snip it if your hospital is not fast enough.

Hopefully you won't have any problems at all. But if I had been prepared in this way and had my DD's tongue tie snipped within the first few days (rather than at 2 weeks), it may have made the difference between being able to EBF and only being able to mix feed.

In the same vein, though some pain may be normal, intense pain is not. Though feeding a lot is normal, feeding for, literally, 12-hrs a day, yet still coming off rooting and hungry is probably not. Something may be wrong. I was expecting it to hurt a bit and expecting to be constantly bfing, so I didn't realise she wasn't transferring milk/colostrum because of her tt and bubble palate. I may have sought help in hospital otherwise.

Sorry, not trying to scare you, just wish I had been told this before the birth!!

Hope it all goes well!

that what YOU eat can pass through breast milk & cause your baby problems, so a good place to start looking if your DC is struggling with colic, rashes etc

colic - caused by my eating layered veg )everything from lettuce - onion- - honestly, despite my being very about this bit of advice from an alternate health care professional friend, she was absolutely spot on & solved DDs bad colic problem within a day :) - she also said spiced foods & benzoate preservatives can be culprits too - they were, but biggest surprise was layered foods.

Nappy rash/Eczema I list both as that was GPs diagnosis for what was actually Urticaria - this was caused by my eating cheap jelly sweets, which contained artificial colours & preservative - something DD is still intolerant to 9 years later :(

Cold Cabbage Leaves really do help sore engorged breasts - just remember to take them out, before going out to bar, wearing a low cut top, with 2 gay friends who thought it was hilarious NOT to tell

It does hurt, it is time consuming and it is messy to start with but is worth all the struggles once established. I had a breeze with DC1 but it was a constant struggle with DC2, I'm glad I stuck with it though. The best thing I ever did regarding breastfeeding was learn how to do it lying down, you get that much needed rest then. Good luck.

Sorry, just noticed that you're in the US. To deal with tongue tie there, you would need to find an IBCLC-certified lactation consultant in your area to diagnose, who would then point you to an ENT surgeon who would do the snip. The good news is that you might be able to have it done more quickly; the bad news is, you'd have to pay for it!

In my job in the US work provided free access to a lactation consultant (and had hospital grade double pumps to use)

I am planning to breastfeed my baby who is due in March 2012. I attended a breastfeeding workshop last week. Very useful information. Try attending a class.

You will be sat on your bottom a lot, or lying down a lot. If you get bored easily you must get a sling you can feed in so you can walk around.
You will get cold, buy lots of warm and comfortable clothes and have lots of blankets.
Babies feed a lot lot lot. It does not mean you havent got enough milk, they just do feed a lot.
Be prepared for people making comments to you like...that baby is using you for a dummy, are you feeding...AGAIN, be prepared to smile sweetly at them and ignore.
Agree about nipple shields...dont use them, really not advisable.
Lanisoh is expensive. Vaseline is not and it does the exact same thing.
If you are cracked and bleeding, this is not normal, seek help, do not suffer through it.
Do not underestimate how important it is to get help if you need it, because its your baby's life we are talking about.
When you get into it, its the best thing. One thing to remember is if you are finding it hard to feed a fussy breastfed baby it is not necessarily down to the milk and you may give up to find youve got a fussy formula fed baby.
Expressing is quite an art...dont put too much pressure on yourself to do it unless you have to.
Contact the breastfeeding network if you have problems, or la leche or kellymom are all great too.
Enjoy all tHose lovely snuggles while you can!

I have BF 3 ds' and am still BF ds3 who is now 10 months old.

I have been very lucky and found it very easy. But I do think it helps if your partner is supportive.

In the very early days I found that you feel like you are tied to the sofa feeding baby so my dh always set me up a little tray with a jug of water and some snacks wherever I found it was most comfortable to feed, before he went to work.

Reading on a smartphone/ipad is great entertainment, or do it in front of the tv. DS1 BF for 45 mins every 2 hours for the first few weeks so boy did I need entertaining.

Just go with the flow and feed on demand, that way you will have plentiful supply. any attempt at "routines" for BF will limit your supply and is more likely to you ending up having to bottle feed.

Don't buy expensive feeding tops - I found loose tops much easier. I just pull them up and as they are loose they drape round baby and combined with baby just covers everything up. I got so adept at this that when DS3 was 6 weeks old, we took the whole family to legoland and I was even able to walk up a hill, pushing a buggy with DS2 in it, whilst cradling ds3 in one arm, feeding him at the same time.... Needs must when you have 3!!! I would hasten to add that I am a discrete person and do not like to flaunt breastfeeding at all!

Mostly people didn't even realise I am feeding my babies when I am feeding them - they think I am just cuddling a snoozing child!

On the other hand, those new type cover ups which are like aprons or capes that you are supposed to wear over your baby to cover you up just scream "I am breastfeeding" to the whole world and are not subtle at all!

I wish I had known with DS1 just how nice it is to BF lying down in bed. Lunchtime naps and for the first few months (whilst I co-slept) I always fed lying down, that way we both just fell asleep and it led to my children being great lunch time nappers. I have had no problem at 6 months moving my children into sleeping in their own beds....

Drink loads and loads of fluids, and eat lots! don't even attempt to diet if you want to BF - you need lots of energy.

Just because they get teeth does not mean you have to stop. I have fed all mine with a full set. And mine got first teeth at 3 months old. They may go through a few days of nipping a bit when new teeth come through but they soon stop.

hope you are successful!

.... that with highsight and 3 years down the line, I would realise that breastfeeding isn't the be-all and end-all of being a good mum to a healthy, happy baby.

hindsight

Oh yes- my job in the US provided a lactation room with sink, fridge, and a medela hospital-grade pump, too. This was good as it meant that I just had a cheapo hand-pump for home, and when I went back to work (at 6 weeks, sadly) I could pump at work and bring that home for the next day's feed (after pumping a bit at home to build up a stash in the freezer.)

Most US companies are pretty good at following their legal obligation to give you space and time to pump (only payoff I think for the shitty maternity leave here). Definitely worth finding out all about it before you have your baby.

in terms of gear, I loved the boppy pillow and I had a breastfeeding cover which made me feel more sure of myself at first, specially as all my other friends used them. Once DS stopped being so fiddly to latch on (about 4 months, I think) I just used maternity tops. "Motherwear" is good quality nursing gear -and cheap and their basic crewneck 'all around' tshirts were the wardrobe of my maternity leave. They do half-price sales now and then, so worth signing up for their emails for a bit. Don't bother with buying stuff like that before your baby is born, but do have a couple of things that are maternity/nursing crossovers, maybe. Old Navy did a V neck nursing teeshirt that I had in three colours like these but not quite, which made it easy to nurse discreetly (one friend thought DS was sleeping when he was actually nursing!) and covered my post-baby belly pretty well = totally worth it!.

More important than all the preparation in the world, though, is confidence. Your body grew this baby, birthed this baby, and your body CAN feed this baby. Trust your boobs, as my mate used to say. Your baby will feed all the time at first. I mean all the time, every hour, every 45 minutes maybe - just offer and offer and offer. For 6 weeks, offer a nipple at every squawk and whimper, and you will have a great basis for your body to build up a solid milk supply. Don't second guess yourself, don't listen to ANYONE saying anything about schedules or routines or 'he can't be hungry already' - that will come (we landed into a 3 hourly feed by about 9 weeks old) but not at first. At first you sit on your butt and feed feed feed your baby. And don't do a damn thing else! :)

Now I can go away for a day and night and not feed my son, and when I come back if he wants to nurse I have milk. S'crazy! S'awesome! And aww, you're going to have a little baby! Awww!
[getting broody thinking about nursing a newborn again]

BF is very hard work for the first 4 months. People say it gets easier after 6 weeks but in my experience it was a full time job until my DD turned 4 months. You get little rest or sleep. My DD fed what felt like constantly! By 4 months though she was a pro and so was I, it was a breeze after that and definitely easier than bottle feeding as nothing to clean, sterilise or prepare! If you can stick with it, it brings great rewards. My advise to you would be buy a couple of bottles and formula to placate your family and then it's there if you need it and shelved if you don't.

In hindsight I also wish I hadn't felt so self conscious when BF in public. If I have another child I won't feel like this. BF is such a journey and a really unique time in your life. it's very special indeed. Be brave and do exactly as you want to do for you and your baby. Good luck! xx

1.Feed lying down at first till you get the hang of it.

1. Remember tum to tum - babys tummy pressed up against your front so babys head in straight line with theirbody. You don't want to be holding baby as you would do if cradling, ie babys tum facing ceiling because then babys has to twist neck to feed.

Call helplines or other sources of advice before you are totally desperate, as 99% of the time all three you get the numbers for just result in an answerphone, and if you're lucky a callback in the next couple days.

Also half their local bf consultants may have moved without telling them - again a good reason to try to find help before being 100% desperate. It took 5 days to track down a bf volunteer who I had to visit (two buses, hour-long journey, 2-week baby), and I live in London!

Tracking down breastfeeding drop-in clinics before birth rather than after would have been a good idea - especially as they tend to be 'term time only' which doesn't help if you have no idea when school half-terms are! Currently looking up all sources of help before giving birth to no.2 soon!

Haven't got time to read it all, but getting a BF counsellor to go through it with you before you leave hospital - if you have a hospital birth - and with your DP there at the same time so someone else with more of a functioning brain can see the angle and listen to what you need to do.

I fed both of mine and the only time it hurt was at the beginning with DC2 - he wasn't quite opening his mouth wide enough. Other than that, I hardly felt a thing! And I definitely don't have nipples of asbestos!

I worried the first time, not surprisingly and called on the NCT - I think La Leche League is your BF standby in the US isn't it? Call on them, they can offer so much support and reassurance.

I absolutely loved it, even if it did mean I didn't get much sleep! But don't feel guilty if it doesn't work out for you or the baby. Good luck.

Haven't read the whole thread, so sorry if this is repetitive... but my advice would be to just sit down with your laptop and watch a whole load of videos on how to latch your baby on. I know it sounds ridiculous, but in the old days I am sure women would have grown up seeing many, many babies latched on and breastfeeding hundreds of times over - I don't think I ever saw it ONCE until I had my own baby. And I think there is nothing like actually seeing it for yourself. Better still, go to a local breastfeeding support group and ask for a close up demo! If you get the right latch from the start, everyone is happier!

I'm expecting number 2 and just looked back at the little book I kept when DS was newborn.

There were times when he would feed for 5 mins, fall asleep, wake up 15 mins later then feed again for 10 mins then fall asleep then wake up... and so on and so on!

It didn't last for long but again, totally normal!

I also wish I'd known to trust my judgment that my baby was getting the right quantities. The midwife was appalled when I said she only breastfed for 10 minutes at a time when she was a newborn. She told me that the baby should be feeding for 20 minutes on one side then AT LEAST 15 minutes on the other - absolute rubbish! Midwife had a go at me until she saw that the baby was putting on weight and was meeting all the weight targets then she promptly shut up - Baby just had a small appetite!

AND...remember your milk is every kind of refreshment to the baby and sometimes (like us) they just want a drink and other times they want a three course meal.