Breastfeeding - so when did it get easier for you

[rascal1979]

My LO is 12 weeks old after being born 9 weeks prem. I expressed whilst she was on SCBU for 8 weeks before she finally took to breastfeeding. She is now feeding well but only from my right breast so have to express the left after each feed(although she is gettingbetter on the left and has had a couple of feeds since Thursday and I try her at most feeds on the left before offering the right). In the main I am happy with how things are going and I know that only being just over 3 weeks into actual breastfeeding it's early days but just wondered;

1. When does latching on get better? at the moment it's a bit hit and miss. Sometimes she latches on straightway and other times she flials around and seems to have forgotten what to do for upto 15 min before latching on.

1. Do you ever get used to the sleepless nights? when did your's start sleeping through?

1. Will the fact that she was prem mean that she will have her growth spurts at her actual or corrected age?

1. When does the whole breastfeeding thing become second nature?

Any comments on these questions and any other general BF comments will be greatfully recieved!

Well I think you've done incredibly well with a really tough start so congratulate yourself for getting this far.

If you haven't already, I really, really recommend you go to a bfing clinic and see a bfing counsellor. We really struggled with latch and spending two hours there, with them taking my DS off the boob and me putting him back on over and over again ingrained a good technique and then we were really away. Once that's sorted, it really will become second nature and you'll be able to feed walking around which just seemed impossible to me at first.

My DS didn't really start sleeping through properly until about five months and that was with at least one night feed. Now he's a year and he goes through. It gets much, much easier after the first few months.

I don't know about the prem baby thing as mine was full term.

Good luck - I take my hat off to you for doing so well so far

Hi! not an expert, i'm at wk 12 with my 1st dd, but...

1.it is getting slightly better for me now, but still not 100% of the time. Friends have told me that everything started to click around the 3/4 month mark. fingers crossed!

2.my dd can do about a 5-6hr stretch and apparently thats quite long for a bf baby, i know a lot of people on here say they're still every 2hrs. feeding lying down is always recommended but i have never mastered that!

3.not sure sorry!!

1. soon i hope!

rascal, things started to get better for me around the 12 weeks mark, and I had my BF epiphany (where it all slotted into place and became a breeze and when she was able to latch on properly first time every time) at about 16 weeks. It has just got better and better since then, and now at 9mo I can't imagine stopping.

My DD started sleeping 6 hours from about 9 weeks, and now mainly goes all night (this goes awry when she is having a growth spurt though), but I know that I am very lucky in this regard

I can't answer about the growth spurts for her actual or corrected age I'm afraid, but no doubt someone will be along who can

It has been second nature from about 7mo, but I know it slots into place much sooner for some women and babies.

You have done fantastically well to get where you are now, and I hope you are getting better support from your HV after last week

Can only speak from my experience of bf DD who was born 2 weeks after due date so did not have to deal with premature baby but:

1. I would say we really became more adept at the latching on at around 8-10 weeks.

1. DD is now 14 months (still bf) and has yet to sleep through - last night she was awake between 2 and 3:30 .

1. Don't know this one am afraid.

1. I would say I was totally comfortable at around 4 months.

Like your baby, my DD also preferred 1 breast to the other - still does - I have that lopsided look at the moment!

Good luck - sounds like you are doing great!!

Thanks for all the replies. We've just had a feed on the left side for 15 min followed by 12 min on the right! She's very restless today tho so currently have her ina wrap sling and she seems to be more settled.

I'm ghoing to a bf support group on Tues - been asked to go along as inspiration to the pregnant ladies who are going to be there. PLanning to get my latch checked as although she seems to feed well and def can hear her swallowing etc she doens't always seem to open her mouth really wide to latch on. ie can see a fair bit of my areola above her top lip - which I think is okay as she needs to take the bottom bit in and seems to do this i think and her mouth is still so tiny next to my rather large nipple

Also planning to go to another BF support group at the hospital where babyrascal was on special care as the BF counsellor that got us started with the feeding has a group there later in the week. I'll then decide which (or maybe both!) I prefer and try to get there every week or as often as I think I will need!

I'm not finding BF that much of a hassle TBH and I am really proud of Babyrascal for all her efforts, just feel that it's not fully 'clicked' for both of us yet but reassuring to hear that we are still in the early stages and it should 'click' in the coming weeks/months. Hope to feed until she is atleast 12mths old so sure I'll be on here alot with my never ending qu's and seeking reassurance.

LackaDAISYical = Not seen the HV again. Wne to get her weighed on Wed and the other HV - very nice - said that my HV had said to let him know when I cam,e in she went to tell him and he said fine but didn't come out to see me - !!! think I may have scared him off. Seeing him again in a coupl eof weeks unless I cahnge my mind although might just see him to give him some facts on BF ....infact might gather some 'correct' info and print off to give him to read up on!

lol rascal, you show him

keep up the good work; you will be an inspiration to lots of mums, especially those on the SCBU. Many women would have given up before this, so you should be very very proud of yourself, and of baby rascal of course

just had a peek at your profile. She is beautiful

Sounds like you are doing a great job Rascal! If she was 9 months prem you are really only on week three in her terms? It will get easier. For me it took at least seven weeks till things got properly settled and even then it was tough when we had growth spurts etc. I'm still feeding her now though (she's 16 months) so that's proof you can get through it.

It does eventual feel as natural as breathing, but it does take time. But you are doing fab - keep it up!

Congratulations on your little one and well done with the bf - your experience sounds pretty normal but I appreciate with a prem maybe you wonder a bit. Mine was not prem but as I recall:

1. 4 months - BIG difference, so much easier re latching on.
2. No! and 14 months when we eventually cracked and did controlled crying technique as we were dead on our feet, it was fine waking 2 or 3 times in the night before I went back to work though as I got used to the rhythm and could sleep around that and also chill out more during the day.
3. Don't know but not sure it matters, if your baby has a growth spurt you know about it anyway!
4. Probably at about 5 months.

I remember 4 - 7 months ish as a really golden time where I could take DS out so easily in his buggy and he would not get bored (hadn't started crawling then) and I did not worry about taking food around as bf would be fine for the time out.

Although having an 18 month old is great too!

Hopefully you are on the verge of the end of the toughest bit bf-wise with your DD, good luck with it all and hope all these posts help

Oh also at about 4 months I felt comfortable bf lying down, before I could not get a position that worked so if that was the same for you, worth giving it another try.

Well I have utmost admiration for your perseverance, and by the sounds of it, your success at bf!

1.My ds, 12 weeks old, his latch didn;t get better until about 7 weeks. But, I would only say we've sorted it fully in the last couple of weeks as I only stopped using nipple cream 4 days ago!

1. I think the sleepless nights do get easier as you get used to less sleep, it just depends how much less sleep you have to cope on.

1. I'm sorry, I've no idea about this one.

1. I'm on number 2 and I'd like to know the answer too!! It does annoy me when you read that bf takes a couple of weeks to get really established; well if you're remarkably lucky it does. For the rest of the bf population I think it's a lot longer. It made me feel a failure with dd as I never really got the hang of it after bad advice about giving bottles aged 2.5 weeks . I don't yet feel it's 2nd nature with ds, but we muddle through each day and it works on the whole .

So Hang in there, you're doing brilliantly!

Hiya, I think as some of the others have said, 4 months seems to be when it gets easier & becomes second nature. I used to help DS latch on my pressing down on his chin to help him open his mouth wider.... probably not in the manuals, but worked for us! Also, he wasn't keen about feeding from the right side but a BF counsellor showed me how to use the rugby hold which helped & was only necessary for a couple of weeks before he was equally adept at feeding from both sides.

As for the sleeping through, it was down to once a night feeding by 5 or 6 months. He slept through from about 10 months when I couldn't stand the sleep deprivation any longer & went on feeding strike, refusing to feed him (just cuddles instead) before 6 am! Only took him 3 days of this before he decided he could sleep through the night really

Good luck

Thanks to you all for your kind words and encouragement. Mumsnet (and my fab BF counsellor) have really made a difference and I feel that I really couldn't have got this far without either of you!

I'm going to visit a friend tomorrow who had her baby 3 weeks ago and started off BF however due to lack ofinternet use (ie doens't go on mumsnet!) and support she has started introducing EBM and formula and water within a week of being home so is really starting to struggle with BFing and is on the verge of giving up. Despite wanting to exclusively BF when she was pregnant

I don't want to pressurise her as she is bound to be feeling despondant about the situation as she really wanted to BFeed. However will hopefully get her to come along to the BF group on Tuesday for extra support. Just feel annoyed that she wasn't given much support at the hospital and from the midwife/HV after she came home as I'm sure with it she would have carried on.

I'm so glad that I persevered and that I am as bloody minded as I am . In a way being on SCBU for so long helped me to be more determined to BF as I hate being told that I can't do something - which is kind of what happened when we were on SCBU - and if someone doubts me I just get all the more determined to do it! That and the fact that the amazing BF counsellor and one of the SCBU nurses gave me so much support that they helped me through some really dark times on the road to fully breastfeeding.

Babyrascal is being a little star today and has had two consectutive feeds from both breasts so that's two feeds from the left today - usually lucky to get one! Hopefully we are starting to turn that corner of 'established breastfeeding' not expecting too much tho and have decided to generally go with the flow.

Oh LackaDAISYcal - thanks for your comments re pics - I think she's rather cute too but suppose I am biased!