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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

What helped you breastfeed successfully?

82 replies

twinklegreen · 24/01/2012 19:42

Just out of interest, if you have breastfed a baby successfully...

Is there anything that you maybe didn't realise at the time, but on reflection really helped you to breastfeed. Can be something that you did or didn't do that helped in any way.

:)

OP posts:
MrsBovary · 24/01/2012 23:40

Lansinoh in the first week when it would have been 'easy' to give up because of the pain. Miracle stuff!
Radio plays for the small hours when I was too tired to read.

YankNCock · 24/01/2012 23:46

Sheer bloody-mindedness

DH who was trained out of saying 'now I don't want you to be disappointed if you can't breastfeed' (NO DH, the only correct phrase is, 'when you're breastfeeding...'

A large group of new mums who all started BFing together

Breastfeeding group at the SureStart Centre

and MN of course!

I'm so looking forward to feeding a newborn again.

rosebery · 27/01/2012 17:57

What a great thread! My dc2 is due in 5 weeks time and these are just the reminders I need.

I agree with all the above (and definitely lansinoh!), and would add that I asked the mw's / hv's to check our technique at every possible opportunity. I'm sure that helped us.

I loved bf and really hope that dc2 catches on as quickly as ds1! We shall see .... :)

mrsravelstein · 27/01/2012 18:02

probably biggest help was that best friend had a baby 3 months before me, and literally showed me at close range exactly how breastfeeding worked.

ds1 arrived early so i hadn't bought any bottles (which i suppose i might otherwise have got as 'back up') and i just had him with me as much as possible, refused to let midwives put him in his stupid plastic box (i hate those things), and it all just happened extremely naturally.

ReallyTired · 27/01/2012 18:09

I think that knowledge is key to a happy breastfeeding relationship.v

www.thefoodoflove.org/

This is a brilliant breastfeeding book with loads of cartoons that will make you laugh when you feel like crying.

Its worth watching videos and going to a breastfeeding cafe or La Leche League before your baby is born.

This is an alternative way of getting a baby to latch on if you struggle with the methods taught by the NHS.

breastcrawl.org/

I also second Biological nuturing.

Wigeon · 27/01/2012 18:18

Belief that I could. Belief that my body is perfect for the task. Belief that my babies and I knew best about when and how much they needed feeding.

Reading stories on here, and from many friends' experiences of breastfeeding, makes me think that some problems with breastfeeding actually stem from women who don't trust their bodies (eg "I haven't got enough milk") or have low self-confidence (eg "I don't know how much they're getting").

Does anyone know if there is any actual research backing this up, rather than my own anecdotal experience and conjecture?

(Of course I am totally aware that some people have problems even if they are very confident and do trust their bodies etc etc).

mrsravelstein · 27/01/2012 18:21

wigeon and from busy maternity ward midwives telling new mums to 'just give them a bottle now and try b/feeding when you get home'... they even tried it on me with 3rd child who was happily breastfeeding at the time. loony.

azazello · 27/01/2012 18:29

Asking for help. I went to every well regarded baby cafe/ drop in etc for the first 2 weeks with DS so found somewhere every day and got them to check my latch because it really did take that long for it to get comfortable and not have mastitis/ thrush etc.

With DD, I relied on the MWs and thought there wasn't anything else I coud do. I was discharged on Saturday and next had help on Wednesday when I was exhausted and emotionally struggling. DD was mix fed, DS has been bf throughout.

DedalusDigglesPocketWatch · 27/01/2012 18:52

Maltesers! By the time my milk came in, my nipples were in pieces and it was agony for the first 3-4mins, and sucking really hard on a malteser helped. There were times when I was nearly in tears at the thought of having to feed again, but I could at least have a pack of maltesers each time.

Then the bf support group and their free sachets of Lansinoh :o

xkatxdollx · 27/01/2012 19:55

You have to want to breastfeeding and know absolutely everything you can about it and the benefits for you and baby then how could you not want to bf and it's free but I kept telling myself this is what's best for baby and there is no such thing as formula if I'm going to feed my baby it has to be breastfeeding and if I never researched everything about breastfeeding and cluster feeding and growth spurts I would have been one of the many that think their milk dried up or that I wasn't producing enough and you need a good support group especially with people that bf if you were like I want to quit and everyone was like ya just use formula you prolly woul

naturalbaby · 27/01/2012 20:10

Bloodymindedness and laziness too!
Assuming that everything was normal, not wrong.

Feeding on demand, with ds2 especially I fed him every time he squeaked, he was such a happy and content baby.
Not having any formula in the house, knowing that the 24hr supermarket/shop was round the corner but totally convinced i would ebf for at least 6months.

Oh the free sachets of Lansinoh! only discovered them with ds3 and had them all over the house.
When I was struggling with ds1 I read an advice leaflet in Mothercare and saw 'tummy to tummy' and it just clicked then.

Schulte · 27/01/2012 20:13

Perseverance... laziness (I didn't want to have to wash and sterilize bottles)...determination. Oh, and nipple shields in the early days.

With DD1, I found the first six weeks or so hard as my nipples were constantly cracked and bleeding. After that, and with DD2, it was the most natural thing in the world. As they say Grin

Tenebrist · 27/01/2012 20:13

Never having formula in the house, so was never tempted to use any. I don't even know how you make it up.

Being in a country where it is perfectly normal to BF for 6 months - almost 50% do it. No hang ups like in the UK about 'embarrassed to feed in public' or old biddies tutting loudly.

Having a DH who supported me absolutely - he took full responsibility for nappy changing when he was home, even throughout the nights. (I did food in, he did food out).

A deep appreciation of crap daytime TV which meant I loved extending feeding sessions, plus not being terribly houseproud.

A relaxed paediatrician (where we live kids are looked after by paeds not GPs) who didn't freak out that DD2 was on the 3rd-10th centile, because she was born small and has stayed small (even now at 9). As long as she was growing and looked healthy and producing enough wet nappies he totally supported me.

Most useless factor - whoever suggested that putting quark and cabbage leaves on swollen boobs needs to eat some of the sodding stuff. It was sooo ewwww.

Schulte · 27/01/2012 20:15

Also... the 'what to expect when you're breastfeeding' book. I read bits of it again and again. It's brilliant.

Kellamity · 27/01/2012 20:19

I attended a breastfeeding workshop that I found a flyer about whilst waiting for my midwife's appointment. She knew nothing about it when I asked her even though it was at the same hospital. I went anyway and it was brilliant. I got no help breastfeeding when DD was born but luckily I was able to draw on what I had learnt in that workshop.

cleanandclothed · 27/01/2012 20:25

Stubbornness. Brilliant midwives who helped for the first 4 weeks. A bf cafe I went to while pregnant and subsequently. Audio books. Learning to do it lying down.

Schulte · 27/01/2012 20:30

When in hospital with my newborn, an African midwife told me that people in the UK make much too much of a science of breastfeeding - it can stress the mum out wondering whether her baby is in the right position, has latched on properly, is getting the hindmilk, etc. She said in Africa mums just get on with it, whether it hurts or not, and they all learn to do it in the end.

Not sure if this is true but it did make me feel better.

BeeBread · 27/01/2012 20:51

Co-sleeping

Skin to skin the times DS got too frantic to latch on

Babymoon - 10 days of staying in bed and feeding on demand

Cake in the afternoons to ward off evening tiredness and to prepare for cluster feeding

The knowledge that when DS fed all night long on his second night, he was doing it to encourage milk production

The knowledge that frantic feeding spells (particularly weeks 3 and 6) were because of growth spurts and not because my milk had run out

ReallyTired · 27/01/2012 21:25

"When in hospital with my newborn, an African midwife told me that people in the UK make much too much of a science of breastfeeding - it can stress the mum out wondering whether her baby is in the right position, has latched on properly, is getting the hindmilk, etc. She said in Africa mums just get on with it, whether it hurts or not, and they all learn to do it in the end. "

In Africa many people grow up with breastfeeding all around them. They know instinctively how to breastfeed because they have seen their mothers, sisters, friends breastfeed. A lot of first time mums have no clue how to breastfeed and they hold the baby as if they were bottlefeeding. Bad positioning results in low milk supply, cracked nipples and an under weight baby.

tralalala · 27/01/2012 21:36

being taught how to feed lying down by a midwife in hospital

reading lots before hand

being told about cluster feeds by midwife and friends

realising it meant I could sit down for ages and not do anything else

tralalala · 27/01/2012 21:38

googling videos is a brilliant idea crochetcircle

TrinaW · 28/01/2012 10:02

My DP - I had horribly cracked nipples and cried at every feed at first. He sat with me for every feed and helped me with positioning/brought me food/distracted me with poor jokes. And determination - you have to want to keep going!

MrsChemist · 28/01/2012 10:09

Bloodymindedness, and lots of support from MW, LLL, HV and a very nice Health Trainer.

sunshineoutdoors · 28/01/2012 10:20

Not being scared in the hospital after birth to continually ask midwives to help me get dd latched on, to check my latch etc. Didn't attempt it on my own until I was really confident how to do it.

Reading a lot beforehand so being prepared for the cracked nipple, thrush, endless feeding during growth spurts and frequency of feeding. With the cracked nipple and the thrush I knew enough to seek help and get any problems nipped in the bud (excuse the pun) before they got too bad.

Yy to lansinoh

Mn, internet and sky plus. Spending a lot of time on the sofa. Chocolate cheesecake.

Schulte · 28/01/2012 17:40

ReallyTired, I also grew up with people bf'ing all around me and I did not instinctively know how to do it. It just means you are more motivated to try and persevere, perhaps. I thought the midwife was right when she said it can hurt for a while until your nipples/breasts adapt. Breastfeeding counsellors are quick to tell you that if it hurts, it means the latch isn't right... it can put a lot of pressure on you when maybe it's just that your breasts aren't used to it yet. That's what it was like for me anyway.