Breast feeding advice for new mum please

[hollieholmes26]

My baby is 3 weeks old. we had trouble breastfeeding amd have only started doing it without nipole shield successfully since friday. the health visitor said she should be emptying my boobs. yet tonight she fed from my left boob for an hour and there was still milk coming. she fell off but was still rooting so i put her on the other side. she emptied my right boob in approx 20 mins earlier today. is this happening because my milk supply hasnt adjusted to her needs yet and should i keep her on the on the one side if milk still coming until she is full??? first time mum and finding this all a bit confusing

Ok, firstly have a read of the Kellymom website which has loads of useful info about breastfeeding.

With breastfeeding, your breasts never empty. It's like a river flowing fast to begin with then slows down as the feed progresses. The sucking action of your baby constantly stimulates milk. You should offer one side until she starts to come off of her own accord, then offer the other one (if she wants it) for again as long as she wants. Your supply is probably still settling down so let her nurse as often as she wants for as long as she wants. This could vary quite a lot from feed to feed, but that's all normal.

Finally, congratulations on your new baby

Thank you. That really helps. there are so many different opinions that i got myself so confused as to what i should be doing.

It's very hard to know when breastfeeding how much your baby has taken from a breast. My baby is bigger now and will very efficiently 'empty' a breast, but that was not the case at 3 weeks. If she comes off and is still rooting, try her on the same breast first, to see if she takes more. If she doesn't seem happy with that, then move her to the other. Although your breasts will never fully empty, it is important to have a long feed on one then the other rather than constant switching in order for the baby to get a drink of fore milk, then the more substantial hind milk that will fill her up. Too much fore milk will give her stomach pains. All the best with it - you will soon get into the swing of things!

So my little one has been feeding now since quarter to 11....i just keep going until she gives up. she keeps falling asleep now afterjust over 3 and a half hours and falling off breast, but starts rooting again within a minute of falling off!!! the other night i perservered for 5 hours of constany nursing. This is normal??

That sounds like hard work. She is still very little, so it probably is fairly normal, but it sounds exhausting for you! Is her weight gain good? It may be worth going along to a local breastfeeding support group and asking someone to check your latch. If the latch isn't quite right then it will take her much longer to get what she needs. Have you got a group near you? The children's centres usually run them I think.

Hi Hollie, just wanted to say that I went through all sorts of "breastfeeding traumas" until my son was about 4 months old. Och ... the thought of it gives me shivers. My advice would be - do what you can, but don't let it upset your life. I wish I had transferred my baby onto formula earlier. It doesn't work out for everyone and don't make a cross for your back or feel bad about it.

theres a mothers led grouo down the road. because of the trouble getting her to feed she lost quite a bit and is only 5lb 3oz (birth weight 5lb 11oz). im havimg extra support from health visitors who are coming in every couple of days. we started feeding properly friday and she gained an ounce over weekend. her first gain since birth. In very careful to follow advice and feel for the little fluttery sucks and listen for the clicking that comes with an improper latch. she just doesnt seem to want to stoo feeding tonight!!

hollie sounds quite normal to me. Cluster feeding gets your milk supply up and it's common at night I found and bloody tiring. Could be that your baby is sucking for comfort too.

I found my DD did this and it got quite painful. I ended up using a dummy as she wanted to suck for comfort and my nipes got quite sore even with a so called good latch (in no expert so might have been slightly wrong, who knows, but hv and feeding group said it was fine too). However. I know dummies are not always advised.

I second the getti g your latch checked comments. Just to make sure.

Sounds like you're doing a fab job though and my advise is stick in there. It really does get a lot easier and I find it so convenient because I'm lazy and don't have to gaff with sterilising and packing anything to go out.

*nipples!! Not nipes, whatever they are!!

Sounds as if you're doing really well - well done! If you get totally exhausted, of course formula is always an option, but if you are keen to breastfeed, then I would say stick with it a bit longer, as the first few weeks are always tough when you're learning what to do. She's probably stocking up after her weight-loss, which is why she's feeding so much. If you are confident that the latch is right then I wouldn't worry too much. She is very small too, so her stomach won't hold much at a time. That will make it harder to take one big feed I expect. Keep asking the health visitors for support, and just keep an eye on that latch (that really is the most important start!). In general, if a baby is nappy and gaining weight then you can assume breastfeeding is working, but if the really long feeds continue long-term you should question them with your health visitor or a breastfeeding counsellor, as that is not normal once feeding is established. And, you will be exhausted! For now, just enjoy your cuddles and feel proud when.she puts on weight. I hope you have lots of support to help you catch up on sleep. I know how hard it is! Just finished feeding mine now and going to try for some sleep!

Nappy= happy, although nappies also important!

yeh me too. little one has finally fallen asleep. thanks for all the advice everyone. time for this mummy to get some sleep lol. night xx

Sleep well! I just wanted to add that my baby did some epic feeds around 10 days and then again at 3 weeks, and she never had any issues with weight loss or latch - I think some babies can just get quite 'feedy'!

This can be a really difficult time so well done if you manage to get through it and keep on breastfeeding, and no problems if you don't. I definitely found the first two months of breastfeeding the most exhausting and intense, and it got much easier after that.

Hollie hope you are getting some sleep! I am a bit worried about the help you are getting from the Hv. It's quite wrong to say your baby should empty your breasts. This shows she does not fully understand bf.

There is nothing wrong with switching sides often. (Peta, your explanation of why this should not be done is not right, sorry). In fact switching sides often and deliberately could be helpful to you. Not sure as would need more info. Is it possible for you to speak to a breastfeeding counsellor I wonder? It is horrible to be confused and buffeted by one lot of info and then another but I would say you do need another informed view if you can bear to seek it.

I disagree tiktok, I think it best not to keep switching sides.
An ideal feed would see the baby feed on one side until the breast is empty and then switch to the other side if they still want more.

The only time I switched many times during a single feed was when I felt both were empty and DSs still wanted more and I was a bit desperate.

Having said that, BF is a steep learning curve for the mother and baby. You can easily get obsessed into trying to "do it right" when sometimes it's best to step back a bit, tell yourself that your body WILL make enough milk, it's not the end of the world if you get the sides muddled up.

The first 6 weeks or so can be pretty overwhelming with days where you feel you are only feeding the baby (and other days where they sleep for 5hrs in a row and you panic!), but stick with it and slowly patterns will emerge and then a routine and then hopefully all will be well.

Switching sides deliberately is not something mothers need to do routinely, bonkers - if you think I suggested that, then you have misread me :) . In the case of a baby like the OP's, it might well be one of the first and easiest and most important things to do. It increases volume and intake, in situations where both might have been compromised.

Obv, mothers for whom bf is going swimmingly just need to do what you said - feed on one side until the baby seems to indicate he wants the other.

I remember the early weeks of cluster feeding and feeling like I was just muddling through. I never knew when to swap sides because I couldn't tell if one side had been drained, I just couldn't tell the difference.

A good few weeks on and now I know when one side has been emptied or when I need to put him back on same side for the next feed. So it does get loads better and easier and I'm so glad I persevered through all the cluster feeding which was exhausting at the time. Im sure you will get the hang of it in no time..

Lots of mothers get confuddled by this, tea. Key is, your breasts don't tell you when to swap, your baby does :)

This takes a little while to feel confident about.

After a couple of weeks of continuous feeding for hours every evening I got fed up and I would feed for around 90 mins-2hours and then put him in the sling and walk around, where after a bit of protesting he would fall asleep for a few hours and then feed again. I think he was often really tired but just kept grazing instead of going to sleep which was what he really needed.