Advice needed on 1st few days of breastfeeding

[Tuesday5]

Im 34 wks pregnant with my 2nd and trying to find out as much as I can about bf before my baby arrives. Had a nightmare time with my 1st which resulted in me only bf her for the 1st week, mainly because I thought feeding her myself would be a breeze, how wrong was I. Anyway ive been reading a book that says in the days before your milk comes in you should expect to feed roughly every 1-3 hours for maybe 20 mins at a time but posts i have read on here advise to feed more regularly for only short periods and build to up longer for when you milk comes in. Im confused, pls help!!

be guided by the baby
in the first days if you offer the boob every time they squeak you won't go far wrong (though if they are sleepy / jaundiced etc you may need specialist advice)
This may turn out to be 20min every hr, or a whole hour every 3hrs, depends on the baby.

have you met your local NCT bf counsellor? If you have a baby cafe get down there - if you need advice or help later it's much easier to ask someone you know already than a stanger.

Not sure if i have a local NCT class/counsellor but there is an NHS one round the corner, might visit next wk, Thanks MrsB

I'm with Mrs Badger on this. Everytime my ds's so much as beeped I offered a boob and it was almost always gratefully accepted. As for how long and how often well ds1 used to feed for an hour every three hours and ds2 fed for 5 minutes every hour. Alhthough both fed very little in the 24 hours just slept.

Go with the flow and if in doubt feed 'em!!

Have to say ds2 is 14 weeks now and I still find it hard to believe that he can get all the milk he needs in 5 or 10 minutes (not feeding every hour anymore - thank god!!!)

oh, and the more you keep a brand new baby skin-to-skin (ie cuddled up with you), the more frequently they're likely to come to the breast, hence the quicker your milk will come in.

Tuesday - my most used phrase in the first few weeks feeding my DD and DS was, 'S/he CAN'T be hungry AGAIN' Both mine used to feed for up to an hour and a half at a time and there are some nights when you will barely sleep at the beginning because of the constant feeding. As MrsB and others say just offer a feed whenever they squeak even if you can't believe they can be hungry again and try to be consoled by the absolute certainty that it is just a phase and soon enough they will feed for less time and go longer between feeds. I would say the first 2-3 weeks are horrendous, by 6-8 weeks things have improved and by 4 months it is an absolute joy.
Best of luck and make sure you come on here for advice if you need it

all i know is that i think i buggered it up by expecting to do too much in those first days... next time i'm staying in my bed and the world can come to me. the very best of luck with all that's to come, it must be very exciting.

Ok so lots of skin to skin, take it easy pref in bed and feed, feed, feed on the guide of the baby. Thank you, as long as i'm prepared this time for whats to come!! Fingers crossed

over the next few weeks, cuddle a cusion in a bf position at meal times and practice eating with one hand. It will come in really really useful.

make sure fridge and cupboard is stocked with tasty healthy treats

explain to your first what bf will be about and perhaps think of things to involve her/him in the process; perhaps he/she can be in charge of winding

lol, that bit about the cushion must be a joke.

please tell me it's a joke.

Aitch, you shuld have come to the b/f classes and see what they knit!