Breastfeeding second baby: resources and tips for the first weeks

[LaVitesse2022]

Any recommendations for good books? Or other resources people found helpful in the early days.

Pregnant with DC2 and would like to be as prepared as possible to make it work this time. Particularly anxious about first few days and getting breastfeeding established.

Not particularly BFing related but I found Baby Calming by Caroline Deacon very helpful and it works however you feed your baby.

There’s a list here of local BFing Groups, although it might not be 100% up to date so check with them before you go. And do go before LO arrives, if you can. They can usually be a goid source of support and you don’t have to wait until there is a problem. Going along and having a and a chat is a great way of meeting some local BFing Mums

Have the numbers for the Breastfeeding Helplines handy and do ring them, no matter how silly you think the question may be. Some Mums put the numbers in their phone.

If you google the name of your local Hospital and “breastfeeding support” it should tell you the details for your local Infant Feeding Team.

Have a read of What to expect in the early weeks and ask your MW if there are any prenatal BFing sessions on and take your DH/DP with you. Mine very much understood that his role was looking after DC1 and providing food and drinks for me in those early days

Top of your list will be someone to look after the other child, unless they are already at school. The more time you can spend in bed with the new baby, the easier it will be. You may also want to plan in some mix feeding so that you can spend some time with your elder child while someone else takes care of the baby.

Combi-feeding is fine but try and remember that the research says that if you have formula and bottles in the house, you’re more likely to give up on BFing.

Plus you can BF and do things with DC1, like reading or Play-doh. Although they might end up watching more CBeebies than you’d planned but that can happen however DC2 is fed

The article juggling a newborn and toddler might help

This is all helpful, thank you. My main concern is definitely my first born and whether I'll be able to get the concentrated focused 121 time with the new baby that's needed to master breastfeeding. I know it can be a very time-consuming thing, certainly at the beginning and to get it established. Most things I read on establishing bf seem to assume there's only that child to commit to. I suppose it's trying to protect that time with baby at the beginning to us on the right footing. Then it should become easier.

How old is dc1? Did you BF first time?

I didn't find BF too bad the second time. Post section I could barely move anyway so sitting in the chair feeding was fine, I wouldn't have been able to play with the other child.

One thing I did was snuggles and book with the older one when BF the youngest.

Will you have support in the early days?

It sounds like you didn't sucessfully breastfeed the first time, but just knowing what newborns need and the difference between tired and hungry saves you so much time and thinking in the first weeks that I think you can hope to have more attention for things like latching.

DC1 is 2.5. I didn't breastfeed the first time, only pumped for the first 4 weeks.

Yes, my mum and then my MIL will come for a few weeks between them, though my husband will only be able to get a couple of weeks off. So hopefully I'll be able to get bf established before it's just me and DH