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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

breastfeeding amazes me...

92 replies

Newtothis11 · 27/05/2017 02:30

I found out today our milk changes in hot weather to compensate for what baby needs - how clever is that! BF really does amaze me! What else can we celebrate about BF

OP posts:
HoldBackTheRain · 27/05/2017 09:47

Fenella I understand what you mean. DS was premature and had no sucking reflex but there was only 1 breastfeeding councellor at the hospital I was at (18 years ago). I had a c-section and for a few days didn't know if DS was going to live so that combined with the morhphine meant I was a bit out of it. Nobody discussed expressing with me until a few days in when a lovely SCBU nurse suggested it. I did but struggled very much and all my milk dried up in a few weeks. I never got visited by the BF counsellor despite DS being premature and probably in most need of my breastmilk. Luckily another mum there milked like a cow and had bottles over flowing and let me use some of hers to tube feed my DS with.

I am still angry with what happened to me and DS when I think about it and especially when confronted with people who talk about formula being the work of the devil. But I also agree with most posters on here who are fascinated by how our bodies work and what they do for our babies.

CaptainWarbeck · 27/05/2017 10:05

Okay so the midwife with the breastfeeding and jaundice may actually have been right - exclusively breastfeeding more regularly (>8x a day) clears physiological jaundice up quicker than feeding less frequently. Thought to be something to do with milk moving through the gut more frequently helping:

'De Carvalho and his colleagues concluded that breastfeeding policies at the time, which reduced or limited the number of feeds, may have been interfering with the normal bilirubin elimination processes of the newborn.'

So again, just feeding on demand without trying to stick to a routine is protective.

Wreckingball25 · 27/05/2017 10:05

Thanks @littletwofeet will have a look! She's going to move to mixed feeding for a couple of reasons but would like to still breastfeed once or twice a day for a while Smile

hiimmumma · 27/05/2017 10:18

I had a big baby, 10lb when he was born, in the hospital I was told that he couldn't sustain his weight so would have to have some formula top ups to bring his blood sugar levels back up. I was devastated. I felt like I couldn't feed my own baby properly and I really didn't want him to have formula, especially on day 1!!
It took a whole for my milk to come in too (related to blood loss from the birth apparently) so was told to continue giving formula top ups at home.
He lost more than 10% in the first 2 days and took about 3 weeks to get back to birthweight.
I was so upset and cross that I had to give formula, I felt like such a failure. But by week 2 we were entirely breast feeding and have been ever since.

I did go to a breast feeding support group and it was so helpful.
There were mums there with 6-8 week old babies and beyond too so there is support available later done the line too Fenella but maybe not target at the right people or advertised enough. I certainly agree that there should be help later on and not just on days 1-5. Most people that don't start on day 1 haven't ever intended too. And most people that struggle seem to end up stopping between 6 and 10 weeks so that is where the help is really needed (obviously just generalisation based on my own observations and not true for all cases).

My LO is now 7MO and almost 26lb.
I can't believe I did it all with my own body.
It's the greatest think my body has ever done for sure!
It's so amazing how in sync me and my baby are and how intuitively he knew how to feed and I knew how to feed him (eventually).

hiimmumma · 27/05/2017 10:24

Sorry forgot to add the point of my story.
I felt like a failure but realise now that I of course wasn't. He needed the formula then and some babies do. Some need it more then he did.
I think making sure your baby has the best option available despite what you thought that would be is nothing to feel bad about!

bf1000 · 27/05/2017 10:57

The problem with our maternity care is that the type of support a mum wanting to breast feed gets varies greatly. Every mum and baby should have access to correct support to enable them to have the breastfeeding journey they want. If that means SNS, short term top up with a plan to move on from the need to top up, realistic education on normal breastfeeding experiences, or emotional support. It should be available

But the reality is that often the midwives, health visitors and medical staff are not themselves educated or experienced enough to support correctly and mums recieve conflicting or wrong advice.
that is a travesty and one that everyone should be speaking up about and demanding that the early stages are properly supported so that from now on no mum should be made to feel guilty for not managing to nurse baby or feel at blame. It is the support that is to blame not the mum

Reastfeeding is amazing and the more I learn the more amazed I become. Everyone has the right and not just the ones who manage to get/find the right support or muddle through

Nishky · 27/05/2017 11:02

You are so right bf my mum told me that she really struggled to feed me and there was no question of her going home until feeding was established- she would have two midwives at her bed helping her with each feed- she was horrified at my experience- I was told to ring for a midwife who would come and help me latch on. I rang. An hour later someone came.

littletwofeet · 27/05/2017 11:25

@Wreckingball25 make sure you do 'paced feeding' with any bottle you give or consider going straight to a cup at that age.

There's quite a lot on kellymom. Good luck!

Her0utdoors · 27/05/2017 13:18

Amazing indeed. My 3 year old will join her 3month brother on the boob given half a chance, the other night my boobs were like rocks ( almost never engorged) and I couldn't get ds to drink it all. Dd woke up with a raging temperature and drank the lot so I presume my body had known she was coming down with something.

theclick · 27/05/2017 15:00

This reply has been deleted

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Spanneroo · 27/05/2017 15:23

My favourite thing about BF is the 2 minute warning you get before your newborn wakes up - just enough time to pop to the loo or make a cuppa ready just in time for them waking up for the next feed!

WellErrr · 27/05/2017 15:40

Lovely thread Flowers

Nishky · 27/05/2017 16:45

theclick have you read Fenella's posts?

Sairelou · 27/05/2017 17:58

Captain, are you familiar with Dr Jack Newman? He wrote a fab Facebook post about jaundice recently.

www.facebook.com/DrJackNewman/posts/854196504731397:0

theclick · 27/05/2017 18:19

theclick have you read Fenella's posts?

Yes but that's beside the point. The point is she takes issue to someone starting a thread that she disagrees with. Fine, but that's not the OP's fault, or anyone who prefers BF to formula or needs to use formula or whatever.
Mumsnet is a place for people with differing opinions.

For what it's worth I'm pregnant and when baby is here I'll be using whatever works for me and the baby - I'm not anti-formula either.

GinIsIn · 27/05/2017 18:21

theclick I think your reading comprehension leaves a lot to be desired then. I said in my subsequent posts about half a dozen times that I was referring to one specific comment by one specific poster. Hmm

WellErrr · 28/05/2017 07:05

There was no need to say it at all Fenella. It was a lovely thread which you derailed.

GinIsIn · 28/05/2017 07:21

WellErr - how interesting that you feel that way. I'm afraid you aren't allowed to dictate who gets to express what opinion on which thread. People may not share the same view as you but you don't get to invalidate their opinion. For me it was an intensely traumatic and stressful experience and I object to the implication in the post I mentioned that new mothers "just need to give it more of a try". It was a horrific experience for me and I find that comment offensive so yes, as a matter of fact it did need to be said.

glitterglitters · 28/05/2017 07:25

I love breastfeeding. My dd (now nearly 3) was such a contented baby. She barely cried or anything and as soon as she started having a little cry a bit of boob sorted out. Whether she was hungry, tired or just needed a cuddle.

It was bloody hard work and a lot of my friends gave me a lot of crap about it (oh you're making a rod for your own back, formula is just as good, don't you want your life back?) but I'd do it all over again if I could. And in fact I am going to try to with baby #2 due In a couple of weeks.

I was super fortunate I did my research prior to her being born because I was never told about cluster feeding, jaundice, what indicates an issue etc. But thankfully I had a good support network online and offline.

Hands down proudest thing I've ever done and although I don't think it's the be all and end all of everything, I think that level of dedication and needing to be attached (all my ff friends were swanning off on nights out/adult holidays within a couple of months) is a testament to those who stick with it.

Bluebeedee · 28/05/2017 07:25

I had a difficult time breastfeeding DD with various issues, but yes it really is the most amazing thing. It's a bit annoying that Fenella derailed the thread into a different topic.

Someone told me that as babies can only see contrasting colours when theyre born our nipples turn dark throughout pregnancy so they basically act as a big target!

glitterglitters · 28/05/2017 07:25

Now nearly 2 even*

glitterglitters · 28/05/2017 07:27

Also when you breastfeed your milk can "take on" taste of food you've even. Apparently it can (not always) make weaning onto solids a lot easier as they've already had a range of flavours.

glitterglitters · 28/05/2017 07:28

Also if you have dry skin, baby has cradle cap or a gooey eye stick some breast milk on it. It'll soon clear up!

ComputerUserNotTrained · 28/05/2017 07:42

It's lovely and everything, but in no time at all whether you breastfeed or formula feed has about as much effect on the child as your choice of pram.

boldlygoingsomewhere · 28/05/2017 07:49

I find the whole antibody thing fascinating. It made me feel a bit better on the rare occasion DD was feeling poorly that it was helping her. Before I breastfed, I never realised how it was about more than just feeding. It is pretty amazing and yes I also felt that sense of achievement watching my baby grow and thinking, 'my body is doing this.'

Interestingly I felt most body positive after birth and while breastfeeding in the sense that I didn't give a shit that I didn't look 'conventionally attractive' any more. My body had grown a whole human being and was keeping it alive. That was more amazing to me than a flat stomach/ no stretch marks.