any breast feeding experts help me from scratch?

[mad4mybaby]

Ok first of all can i ask no one to judge me, just to give me some help and guidance as this is quite diff to me.

i am 32 weeks with ds2 and when i was pg with ds1 i was ADAMENT i wouldnt bf. I decided to do it for a few days until the milk came in. Its just something i have never liked the idea of, in fact it repulsed me. Not other people doing it just me. Anyway when ds1 was born MW helped him latch on and he fed no probs and didnt even hurt and i thought ok i can cope with this for a few days. Anyway cut along story short ds was v ill and he was put on medicated milk so i couldnt carry on (but i was glad at the time as it took my guilt away as i COULDNT even if id wanted to).

With ds2 im sort of the same mentality in that i still dont like it but want to try to do it longer, and probably express. So this is where i dont have a clue as never paid any interest/read anything about it.

Firstly i am going to get a sterilisor and bottles in. Is and electric pump better than manual? When BF fails, is it the baby thats doing something wrong or the mother? I mean latching on etc? Also i will get breast pads but what do i do about bras? I dont have any bf bras and dont really want to spend money on more bras..

any friendly advice welcome!

DH has always had both DDs in the morning while I went back to bed for a couple of hours if I've been up in the night and has never needed a bottle. Lots of babies are at their sunniest in the morning. I really think that you that you will feel better rested than you anticipate having BFed a close by baby in the night, rather than getting up to make bottles.
Good luck

Also, Next nursing bras are lovely.

doing the actual bottles was never an issue with ds1 in the night as we took all the sterile bottles up with the measured water already in them and had the powder measured out into little pots and i never did any of that milk warming malarky.

for me the problem is/was that i get very little from expressing. so i woudl need to express about 5 or 6 times for 20 mins each time to get enough for one feed, even when the boys were tiny.so once you add on the time to set up the pump, express, take it all apart to sterilise it etc that was about 3 hours work. hardly worth it to miss one night feed.

but lots of mums seem to get on better with teh pump so I hope you are one of them

i was also very keen to avoid formula as we have a strong family history of atopic disease ie eczema, hay fever and asthma. that made me really determined to bf, even when DS1 had severe reflux too.so far the 4yo has only had mild eczema and the 2.5 yo has nothing IYSWIM. although they may develop things later of course

i understand the body conscious thing a bit. with my first baby i used to send dh out the room when i was bf for teh first few weeks. but as other have said, it wears off after a while. it took longer to get used to bf in public but now i will do it anywhere [brazen hussy emoticon]

i really hope it works out for you. every day and week that you are able to bf is such a benefit to your baby and you

i know they say a couple of days but do you 'know' when it stops being colustrum and your proper milk comes in?

Hi Mad4mybaby

You can tell when your milk comes in as the poo changes colour, it goes from black/ green/ to golden yellow seeds, and it doesn't really smell that inoffensive.

Try and stick with the bf, its easier, cheaper, better and you can do it lying down!! If you're worried about the morning feed you can lay baby next to you, let him latch on and then drift back to sleep. You also have a hand free when breast feeding so I find you can read, type etc so makes life a bit easier.

Good luck with it, its a shame you don't live in Gloucestershire we have some great breastfeeding support groups that would really help.

thanks guys for the kind words, it is helping, i even ordered some bf bras today!

So just re iterate for me in case ive already asked, can you express colostrum? Or is there not enough of it?

not really enough IMO. It would be lost in the bottles and your LO wouldn't get all of it. Plus in the early days your LO's stomach is tiny - about the size of a thimble or something! - and will feed very often to keep filling their little tummy.
It also helps with bonding/latch/babys ability to BF etc if you keep putting them on the boob when theyre that tiny.
Plus they love feeling the warmth of you against them as they were inside you for so long!!

go for it, skin to skin is soooo nice. sneak away for a private feed with your baby at least once a day, it is your special time with them feed in bed lying down too, very snuggly esp. good at their bedtime when they can have a sore tummy and writhe if you hold them.

sing to them when you feed, it relaxes you, which makes the milk flow. breathe deeply if it hurts, try to re-latch if it keeps hurting. breathe deeply anyway, it helps milk flow too.

if they drop off when feeding, gently pull away slightly, not to detach, but just to restimulate the tongue, and even if they have dropped off they will start again. this way they fill up and sleep better.

a sign thet they need feeding is lots of wiggling, tongue movements, thumbsucking etc. don't wait for crying, you have left it too late then. by feeding on demand you learn to recognise the noises they make soon, and then you are communicating. good for managing stressy babies - if you stick to a routine you might be so fixated on the clock that you miss their cues. good luck.