Couple of questions re: trying to bf after DISASTER 1st time.....

[becaroo]

Do you think its possible to bf even if you dont eat any dairy produce? (milk, yoghurt, cheese etc)

And does anyone know of anyone else who had no milk but blood coming out of their breasts when hand expressing?

Just not sure it is worth me even trying after last time....dont think my boobs work properly

Hi, I'm sure as long as your diet is balanced you will be making milk no problem. I had a rubbish time first time round and then fed second baby for a year, basically by asking everyone and anyone to help me get it right, and going on the internet and watching loads of latching on videos. You need support and confidence, there will be loads of people on to give you that. It will be fine! Good Luck

becaroo, do you have cracked nipples. Probably the cause of the blood. I had a similar thing. I think the crack was right over a blood vessel meaning that as soon as DS sucked there, it bled profusely.

Don't know the answer to your other question though. I don't think you need to eat dairy to produce milk, but I don't actually know!

If you're keen to bf, it's worth persevering. Could you call one of the bf helplines for advice?

My mum is very anti me trying as she knows what I went through last time. Think my dh would be worried, too.

The awful thing is....I would rather not try than fail again.

You def don't need to eat dairy produce to bf.

The blood was probably from a crack. In the first couple of days you literally produce drops of colostrum - every three hours I could get 10ml after a lot of work.

What happened last time ?

But what do you have to loose in trying ? Just give it a go one feed at a time, and see what happens - just one feed of colostrum gives the baby a big shot of antibodies so thats worth it.

I have a friend and neighbour who is entirely dairy free and tandem feeds her 3 yr old and 19 mth old so it definitely is possible

mamahastwo.blogspot.com/

I'm sure you can BF if you don't eat dairy as the human race survived for millennia as hunter-gatherers who presumably would have been dairy-free .

Seriously, though I had a rubbish time first time around and gave up BF at 6 weeks. I made a pact with myself that second time I would be as informed as possible and get as much help as possible and if it still went tits up again that I would bail out knowing I'd really given it my best shot.

Thankfully baby number two actually seemed to know how to breastfeed properly from the moment he was born, unlike his sister!!

It is definitely influenced by the individual baby. I breastfed my first with absolutely no problems. He took to it like a duck to water. The last thing I expected with baby number 2 was to encounter breastfeeding problems. Big mistake! It was a different story all together. I found the book by Clare Byam-Cook really helpful.

How is it going today, becaroo? I think the advice to take one feed at a time is very good indeed

Thank you very much for all your replies...perhaps with the support on MN I will try

becaroo - how's it going?