Breastfeeding - what I wish I had known!

[noitsachicken]

Hi,

I am after a bit of help please.
I am a peer supporter at my local breastfeeding support group, I am writing a short flyer/leaflet listing all the normal things about breastfeeding that no one tells you about!

Such as cluster feeding, growth spurts, frequent feeding, milk not coming in for a few days.
We have so many mums coming in who are worried because they do not know these things are normal!

Can you help me please?

What do you wish you had know before you started, what would have made you worry less?

Thanks

I wish I'd just concentrated on feeding more those first few weeks. I tried to do too much too soon and it certainly had a detrimental effect on bf for me. No one told me I needed to rest, eat lots and lots and to keep an eye on my fluids. There was probably lots more but they spring to mind first.

Sounds like a great idea

Just to relax and feed your baby, that is your main job for a while.
When your milk comes in your breasts feel like they are on fire. That feeling does not last (remember phoning a friend worried I would feel like that for as along as I breastfed!).
Breastfeeding is great way to instantly de-stress.
You can keep going when you go back to work.

Feeding your child makes you feel like superwoman. When you see them growing and thriving on your milk it is amazing.

It is wonderful. I look back on times feeding my daughter snuggled up together in the middle of the night and know these memories will be with me forever.

Tongue tie!

It hurt! For the first few weeks, I'd count to 10 each time DS latched on because even though we'd had his latch checked and everything was good, it hurt! But after a few weeks it stopped hurting and was brilliant and easy and bought me an extra 15 minutes in bed every morning!

Also that it is normal for it to take a while to regain birth weigh. I was OK with this but DP kept worrying that we should use formula (anxious after witnessing traumatic birth).

Great thanks.
Keep them coming!

Tongue tie will definately feature!

Your breasts don't run out of milk, it's made constantly.

Something about bf prem babies, I'm not exactly sure what as I tried and failed twice but the midwives were less than helpful and I was expecting my prem babies (35w) to behave like term babies which was unrealistic

Yy to tongue tie.

Drink loads of water. I totally forgot how much liquid I was losing while feeding. It didn't help with my constipation.

A link to kellymom.com would be helpful!

That 'feed on demand' means that as a minimum you feed when the baby gives feeding cues. I was totally confused by the midwife telling me to feed my slightly jaundiced baby 'every three hours' one minute and then 'on demand' the next. She meant of course 'make sure you feed him at least every three hours and sooner if he asks', but I really really couldn't get my head around it- I know it sounds obvious, but my sleep deprived brain couldn't compute!

That breastfeeding doesn't necessarily mean you can eat as much cake as you like and still lose your pregnancy weight (learning this the hard way). Sorry - selfish post

That the pain was like razor blades being scored down your nipples. That the pain was far, far worse than labour and birth. That nipples drip blood as well as milk. That blood poisoning from infective mastitis exists. That no NHS HCPs would have a clue how to help.

That breastfeeding could come close to killing me.

Not to believe any bf guide (or hcp) that says a baby "should" be feeding X times a day by age Y, like 5-6 times a day by 4 months, etc. As long as weight gain is good and mum and baby are happy, it's not a worry if baby wants to feed 10 times a day until 6 months old.

Keep your fluids up, I got very bad dry skin with dd. Now with ds I am more conscious of drinking and have not had a problem. Also that it is completely normal to feed every 1-2 hours. DS actually feeds 3 times in 90 minutes quite often and he's 12 weeks old so not even newborn anymore

That it takes for fucking ever

Oh and growth spurts don't just make babies hungry!

That you should not have expectations that the baby will sleep through the night in the first 6 months, and that feeding in public is uncomfortable and finally that as soon as you are past a couple of months people start asking you when you are going to stop!

The symptoms of thrush. I was very lucky to see the excellent nurse practitioner at my G.P surgery who diagnosed me and sorted it out quickly. One of my friends had a miserable experience and struggled for months and it was only after giving up feeding and chatting in passing with me sometime later that she realised she had probably had thrush the whole time.

That it shouldn't hurt - first time it did and I accepted it but stopped early, second time round I can hardly feel dd feeding.

That sometimes it just easier then others...

Bloody hell stargirl, that sounds awful.

Things I wish people had told me:

• it's normal for a newborn to feed up to 20x a day
• it's a waste of time to chart feeds eg with an app unless your baby isn't gaining weight / making wet nappies
• breastfed babies don't always poo very often, this is fine
• the best way to hold the baby varies depending on the shape of your boobs and size/shape/position of your nipples
• skin to skin is not hippy nonsense
• if you plan to freeze milk in preparation for your return to work, you need to create over supply by pumping and manage the over supply properly otherwise you get sore leaky boobs
• all breast pads are a bit crap
• buy a properly fitted nursing bra, it will make you feel better about your enormous droopy boobs
• keep putting stretch mark oil on your boobs after the baby is born

Oh, resources for getting accurate information about medications that are safe while feeding.

Oh, and breastfeeding is exhausting. Baby will latch on and you will immediately feel thirsty and tired.