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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

Want to breast feed. any tips/ ideas as bit worried.

14 replies

girrafey · 07/10/2007 16:22

i am 37 weeks pg with my second and this time i am determined to breast feed. was on my own with my dd and didnt think it was the best thing at the time. however she has had bad health, ( epilepsy, sensitive to food/ additives, skin etc and constant ear infections) So this time i am wanting to try and do breast. My friend breast feed her 2 so i have some idea how hard it can be etc.

I have made big star next to it on my birth plan as it is my second child i dont want to be overlooked as such as a pro.

we have got a nursing pillow as alot of people recommend these to start off with.

i have told friends and close family etc and everyone happy to see it etc so wont have to shut myself away ( dont think that would help me at all if i was struggling upstairs on my own so to speak)

sadly i have no knowledge about how to actually go about it. i know stay relaxed and try and get the latch right asap. but how/ what is the right latch? how long do you do it for etc? sadly there are no classes around here, and my midwife appointments are in and out and health related so dont feel i can ask for a long chat. we havnt even covered birth plan/ partners etc like i had with my first by now.

so i know its hormones etc but i am thinking about this quite abit as i want to feel i gave it a damn good shot.

OP posts:

mamadoc · 07/10/2007 17:53

It is hard to explain latch etc not in person so to speak but maybe the most important thing to think of right now is having skin to skin contact right after the birth and trying to feed right away. It is supposed to be really important to do this and I'm sure it really helped DD and I. We spent about an hour together skin to skin and she just tried to latch on herself without much input from me. It was a bit bobbing on and off but if you don't stress about it, relax and just let your LO have a go it starts off in a good way. (I was so blissed out I didn't notice she had actually pooed on my arm LOL!)
Definitely write this in to your birth plan with another big star. Don't let them wrap the baby up or give to anyone else.

beautifuldays · 07/10/2007 19:35

my best advice would be to ring the nct breastfeeding line and they should be able to give you some of the detailed advice you need. they also produce some leaflet/info sheet type things that show you how to latch the baby. the most important thing however is to find someone (be that a midwife, hospital lactation consultant, or nhs or nct breastfeeding councillor) on hand straight after the birth of your baby to show you what to do. also it may be worth investigating whether you have a sure start breastfeeding buddies scheme in your area as then you can be buddied up with someone who is trained in breastfeeding who is local to you and they will usually come see you ante-natally as well if you want them too. or maybe go along to a breastfeeding support group - both nhs and nct run these, would be a good place for some practical advice and tips. hth and good luck with the birth and feeding your baby

Mossy · 07/10/2007 20:18

Amyjo,

First of all congratulations on your pregnancy.

Second everything mamadoc and beautiful days says.

Just one or two more things. It is great if everything goes according to plan as in your birth plan. However if something happens and you are separated from your baby one thing I wish I'd learned was the skill of hand expression.

(I think hospitals are supposed to teach you to hand express if you are away from your baby but mine - supposedly babyfriendly didn't).

Here's a good link.

Getting baby to latch on well - well, I wish I'd known about breast crawl which is where the baby finds their own latch. Don't be put off by the fact this baby does it immediately after the birth; even if you get off to a bad start, baby can do it days, even weeks after the birth. Breast crawl.

How long do you do it for? Well, I don't suppose there's a "right" answer for that; as long as you want I suppose! I know some people who have done it for six months, and one rl person who is still doing it two years' later. There are some Mums on here who have done it for three or four years.

Take a look at kellymom which is a fantastic web site with loads of great info on it.

Also your local surestart centre might well have some breastfeeding supporters attached to it; might be worth going along to them too.

midnightexpress · 07/10/2007 20:27

Good on you for giving it a go amyjo! I didn't manage to feed ds1 (long story) but have been feeding ds2 for 8 months now, so it can be done 2nd time around. Could you ask your midwife for a double appointment - I'm sure she'd be happy to discuss it with you - that's what they're there for, or point you towards someone who can help. Aklso, it migth be useful to have a look at the Kellymom website - here's a link - there are answers to lots of questions you might have on here.

The other main thing I'd say is not to take the first couple of weeks as an indication of 'what breastfeeding is like' - it can really hurt for a little while, but it does get better, and it also sometimes feels like you do nothing but feed in the first few weeks and that will also settle down after a while - just try and go with it and not worry about the hoovering/washing-up/cooking etc.

Good luck with the birth and feeding.

vole3 · 10/10/2007 04:51

I went for the babymoon approach. Stuff everything else, just hold court in bed with your baby so you can feed whenever you want to help get things established. If anyone wants to visit, stick a list of things they can do for you on the fridge and ask them to help out. I see you have another little one, but if they have a good stock of things to keep them occupied, let them join you and the new baby.

AussieSim · 10/10/2007 05:49

I would heartily recommend that you have Medela Nipple shields on hand in case you need them, some appropriate nipple cream, Medela breast shells (unless you'd rather walk around naked in order to have your nipples in the fresh air healing in between feeds - also much better than breast pad to catch the leakage). Find out about using warmth on your breast before feeding and cold on it afterwards. Also how to massage your breast to avoid lumps. Also at the first signs of red lumpiness and feeling crap head to the GP for antibiotics. The breast feeding pillow is great. Other than that just try to stick with it as it does get easier and once you are in the groove you won't look back. Have a suitably knowledgeable person visiting you regularly in the beginning to give you support and make sure your DH know in advance that he is to be supportive no matter what! HTH Sim

dal21 · 10/10/2007 09:28

definitely have the nipple cream and some sort of protection from leakage - i find the lansinoh cream and disposable breast pads are fab.
nursing bras are also essential - m&s do a double cheapo pack that you can get to tide you over until you can go and get measured after the birth. although mine still fit fine.

re the breast feeding pillows - for me in the early days - it affected the positioning i was putting ds on, was much better once i bfed without.

also - the early weeks can be tough; dont get frustrated, it will come together.

Georgiesmum · 30/10/2007 10:47

Aj, email me incase youve lost it my email is [email protected]

amazonianwoman · 30/10/2007 20:24

I'd make an appointment to meet up with a trained breastfeeding counsellor asap after the birth, even if you think things are going OK in the 1st few days.

Every single midwife I spoke to in hospital over a four day period (after a c-section) told me my DD's latch was perfect, but on day 5 I developed an excrutiating cracked nipple which didn't start to heal until after a fab session with an NCT counsellor - because the latch hadn't been right! Most midwives just aren't trained enough (fab in every other way though I hasten to add!) and don't have the time to sit with you.

I even arranged another session after my second baby was born - well worth it once again

Good luck, it's the best feeling in the world once you've cracked it (excuse the pun)

Rach35 · 30/10/2007 20:45

Defo support the use of Lansinoh - use it after every feed and you won't get any cracks. Read up about mastitis NOW - it isn't necessarily an infection at the first signs/symptoms and you can get given antibiotics unnecessarily but if you DO get it you can be prepared on how to manage it quickly (and symptoms can come on V quickly). Get nursing bras that you can do up/undo with one hand (i have one which is supposed to be easy but actually isn't). Always get a glass of water/something to drink while b'feeding and be prepared to take your time over it! Good luck - let us know how you get on xxx

Rach35 · 30/10/2007 20:45

IamDaisy · 30/10/2007 20:56

Good on you for wanting to give it a go. I gave up after five weeks with my DS foive years ago, but am still feeding DD five months in and enjoying the experience to the full. It hasn't been easy and there have been times when I wanted to give up, but I think "forewarned is forearmed" and I trawled through oodles of threads on here and looked at everything I could find on Kellymom and also bought a couple of books.

I babymooned with DD and that got us off to a flying start. I was in a side room in the hospital for four days after my C-section and that was very restful, plus the MW support was second to none, luckily.

Try The Baby Cafe to see whether there is a BF cafe near you.

.....and ask Mumsnet if you are ever in doubt or having a wobble.

Good Luck!

FrannyandZooey · 30/10/2007 20:58

Have you La Leche League meetings nearby? they can be a great source of support or if not a local group, a leader can talk you through any issues on the phone

0845 120 2918

sophierosie · 30/10/2007 21:12

I found my midwives great around supporting me, in particular being very 'hands on' which some people I know find uncomfortable especially as after all the fiddling about during childbirth.

I also found the second night an absolute nightmare as could not get DD to latch on and without the support of the midwives to literally guide me I think I would have given up - thankfully I was able to feed for about a year. So if your planning a hospital birth it might be worth thinking about staying in for a bit longer to give you more support around the feeding.

Getting baby to latch on is the hardest part - I found the best position for me was to have DD facing into my body and laying horizontal against my body in line with my boobs, once you've done that you can support your arms and baby with tonnes of cushions etc.

I had an emergency C section and didn't get skin contact with DD for about an 45 mins - hour but it didn't make any difference in

In the early days, just feed feed feed - you may feel that you are constantly feeding and you will be, but once your milk comes in you'll get a good supply up.

Good luck!

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