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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

What do you which you had been told about BF?

71 replies

Stefka · 28/08/2007 13:00

I am planning to BF when my baby comes along in 7 weeks times to thought I better start to get some hints and tips from people. What do you wish you had known about BF before you got started?

OP posts:

meandmy · 28/08/2007 14:45

that it takes quite a lot of practice
when some one elses baby cries your breasts will leak!

princessmel · 28/08/2007 14:47

That its NORMAL for your baby to feed very frequently and irregularly in the first few weeks. That there can be hardly any time in between feeds. Sometimes short feeds sometimes they're on for an hour. Sometimes they want a huge meal, other times a snck or just a nuzzle.

Banish '3 hourly feeding' from your mind!!

But then ds was like the above.
And Dd did do 3 hour gaps from the start. I'm still feeding her 2yrs later!

There you go they're all different.

Good luck.

princessmel · 28/08/2007 14:52

I had that with dd tiktok. I wasn't told about the one sided feeding. Just had to sit it out.
dd had that stuff in the little bottle. Can't think of the name. Orange flavour. Squeezy pipett thing on lid.
Dont know if it helped but made me feel I was at least trying something to help her.

foxymagoo · 28/08/2007 14:55

I should have added earlier on a more positive note - when I look back over the those 3 months I loved the fact that bf slows you down. You are the only one that can feed (unless you express and I never got the hang of that)and I really bonded with ds during those feeding sessions, especially the night ones. I would just stare at his head and stroke his hand - lovely.

You just don't get that with a bottle IMO.

foxymagoo · 28/08/2007 14:58

eek, didn't mean to come across as a bottle feeding basher

ScottishMummy · 28/08/2007 14:58

it is hard it hurts it is so so tricky...i genuineley thought latch on and gogo

and dont worry that every other mumn seems able to eat lunch so composed with one fork hold baby in other hand feeding... whilst u struggle tits out at a cafe table

HonoriaGlossop · 28/08/2007 14:59

well, you do IMO Foxy.

ScottishMummy · 28/08/2007 15:01

awww gawd please can we steer away from the bottle Vs Breast agenda it is done to death and raging on other threads...lets stick to the topic a straight forward query about BF thats all

SydneyB · 28/08/2007 15:07

That there was nothing 'wrong' just because DD fed all day.

That I wouldn't feel the let down for about 3 months.

That I would be SO sad to give up when I went back to work.

Also, wish I'd read a lot more before DD was born - here and on kellymom. I was totally unprepared.

uberalicelongbottom · 28/08/2007 15:09

That it's OK to swap sides during a feed. I had several MWs tell me to stick to the same side for a whole feed and I was finding that it was taking hours for DS to settle. A few weeks later I saw a BF counsellor who told me he was just comfort sucking and to swap sides every 15 minutes. Best advice I ever got. I've never looked back.

Sometimes the bones in the babies' heads can get slightly misaligned during birth (even C/S) and this can affect their ability to bf. I'd been finding that it was more difficult to latch DS on one one side than the other. I took him to see a cranial osteopath who spent two short sessions massaging his head. It made an immediate improvement to his latch.

uberalicelongbottom · 28/08/2007 15:11

One other thing...

That tiktok's advice is the best you can get.

HonoriaGlossop · 28/08/2007 15:24

err I would like to make clear that my "I think you do Foxy" was aimed at her previous post saying you don't get bonding moments when feeding with a bottle.

It wasn't "I think you do" come accross as a bottle basher.

I would not like to be thought to be contributing to the BF/FF debate, being as my views are that we should support each other in this very hard task of motherhood, not bash each other. I just think it's sad that people couch their positive experience of BFing in terms of how much better it is than FFing. I don't think we need that kind of comparison.

I thank you.

SydneyB · 28/08/2007 15:25

Sister in law just had a baby girl and I told her to come on here and search for 'Tiktok' and 'Mears'. Think she was quite bemused. Especially as she's up and running and all fine on Day 5, baby not lost an ounce this birth.. Unlike her cousin.

abidabidoo · 28/08/2007 15:31

That it won't just happen....

That Day 4 is not a good day to invite the in-laws to see the new baby.

That it's better to read up on it (if you're that kind of person) more than two weeks before due date (guess how early my baby was!)

That there is a difference between sucking and swallowing, knowing that made all the difference I couldn't understand why she wasn't putting weight on when she was on all the time!

That midwives can be fantastic and supportive and really help you and baby make it work (and then you name your baby after them) or they can be scary and upset you (when your milk has just come in and you're feeling extrememly hormonal).

That the rugby ball position is worth a try.

That kellymom exists.

That breast compression exists.

That mumsnet exists.

That it takes so long!

That it is wonderful.

TigerFeet · 28/08/2007 15:46

That there would be growth spurts where dd would do nothing but feed for a couple of days at a push

THat there is more than one hole in your nipple (got a bit of a shock when I first expressed )

That it is normal for the baby to prefer one side to the other

Guitargirl · 28/08/2007 15:47

That cluster feeding is normal. I had never heard of that before (and had yet to discover MN) so when DD was on and off the breast for HOURS at a time every night I had my MIL who was staying with us at the time telling me that my milk was not satisfying her and that she was not getting enough, etc. I got VERY stressed about it, was on the point of giving up and tbh it was only my own stubborness that got me through that. If I am ever fortunate enough to have another baby I will not stress about the cluster feeding.

I wish I had known that milk doesn't just 'disappear' in a few days. My milk came in on day 3 and DD did not latch on well and start feeding properly until a few days after that. I spent the whole time worrying myself that my milk was going to run out and that my supply would totally dry up.

And of course how lovely it is once you've cracked it!

mamadoc · 28/08/2007 17:06

Most babies don't go 3hrs between feeds contrary to what the baby whisperer and other gurus say. Cluster feeding in the evenings is normal. Poor old DD would have cried a lot less the 1st few weeks if I'd thrown away the watch and just fed her.

tiktok · 28/08/2007 17:13

Thanks for kind comment, uber - but there is a huge amount of help and experience on mumsnet and I enjoy being a part of it

ruddynorah · 28/08/2007 17:24

that the let down reflex can be rather painful at first.

that it's so easy peasy once established you'll not want to stop at 6 months and do bottles (as i had thought i'd do).

that it's the easiest way to calm a stressed out, crying, over stimulated baby.

bubblepop · 28/08/2007 17:36

that your new baby seems to want it all of the time! 24hrs a day its a constant feeding frenzy the first few weeks.

you need a good nipple cream, like laminsoh (is that how you spell it?)

old people tend to frown upon you doing it in public!

everyone and his dog has got an opinion on -what your doing...and why they did'nt do it!

once you,ve got it established (usually after the first couple of months)you can get quite addicted to it!

you might not want to give it up when everyone else is telling you that you should!

you can be quite hormonal (although not everyone feels like this)

you will feel a wonderful sense of satisfaction, especially in the middle of the night when its just you and your little one snuggled up close..nothing beats it.

shreddies · 28/08/2007 17:59

I second those who say don't have in laws around on day 4, when your milk comes in and you are madly hormonal. You don't want to end up spend hours in your bedroom naked to the waist while your FIL sits in the living room eating your biscuits.

ntsmum · 28/08/2007 19:09

No-one told me how incredibly squirty it is. I'd only have to think about feeding before both boobs would be off like water pistols. I was forever spraying people with milk no matter how fast I tried to get the baby latched on.
And no-one told me that my dog would sneek up and steal my breast pads to eat behind the sofa.

ArtistFormerlyKnownAsSOH · 28/08/2007 19:14

That at 16 weeks old your exclusively breastfed baby could still be feeding every 2 hours at least and on the 98th centile for weight and height. That if this happens you will be very hungry, very thirsty, up 7 times a night and exhausted.

But it'll be worth it.

[DrainedHusk]

Chirpygirl · 28/08/2007 19:19

That is makes you really thirsty and you should keep a bottle of water at hand when feeding with no-one else in the house.
That some midwives think grabbing your boob and shoving the baby onto it makes a good latch.
To ask every midwife I saw about DD's latch, the 5th helped me get it right, the first 4 were no help at all.
To learn to use a sling/pouch/scarf tied in a knot so I could BF hands free when DH had gone back to work and not have to sit starving while she fed! look at the bottom pics here for basics

Original poster

Stefka · 28/08/2007 19:20

Thanks everyone - this is all really helpful. I am realising that I have a lot to learn - Iam not sure what is meant by let down or cluster feeding for example - I better get reading!

OP posts:

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