Not sure our latch is 100% but it doesn't hurt - is that okay? plus stupid question about sterilising

[Anglepoise]

Afternoon

DD is 17 days old today and exclusively bf so far. I think it's going okay - she seems happy, and is pooping like a champion and putting on weight. I am also doing okay - I was prepared for lots of problems but so far none of them seem to have materialised. One thing that I am concerned about is that I'm not sure that our latch on is totally correct - I think she should open her mouth wider and take in more of my aureole - but if it isn't hurting me (other than the ten second toe-curl) and she's getting enough milk then should I worry about this? If it was going to cause problems, would they have shown up by now?

Also I'm hoping to start expressing in the next few weeks so that DH can help with feeds. If I sterilise my pump in the evening, can I still use it in the morning or do I have to do it within a few hours of it being sterilised?

Thanks in advance

1st question - if it ain't broke don't fix it! (or worry about it)

2nd question - pumps only have to be sterilised once a day/week depending on who you speak to - I tend to do mine every few days (just washing with hot soapy water after every express) as breastmilk is excellent at avoiding germs. So to answer your Q - clean it before use every time, but don't worry about sterilising too much, once a day is more than enough.

Hiya anglepoise, congrats on the birth of dd and well done on the bfing... I had a pretty poor latch with ds, he would only take a tiny bit of nipple in his mouth, but it didn't hurt me so I persisted. Eventually, at about four months, he got much better. The only downside I could see to the poor latch was that feeding took quite a long time, 2 hours usually, but that speeded up too as he grew. I think so long as your dd is gaining weight and pooing and peeing lots then don't worry.

I used to sterilise my pump once in the morning and then pop it in the fridge, with the pump bits attached and just take it out each time I was pumping, on the advice of an NCT bf counsellor. Eventually I was pumping only once a day, and I'd sterilise my pump really only about twice a week, each time putting the bottles with the pump attachments in the fridge.

HTH

I can sterilise my pump only once a day or less?! Despite what Avent say in the instructions?

Fantastic!

-trying to pump 2-3 times a day, and spending way too much time in the kitchen rather than asleep...

Oh yes. I used to wonder why on earth people pumped at all as I'd pump for nearly an hour, get some pathetic amount out, spend twenty mins or so cleaning and sterilising it all, then feed ds for two hours only to start again. You can imagine how glad I was when the NCT woman told me that.

There are some on here who say you don't need to sterilise at all with breastmilk. So long as you wash thoroughly and leave to dry on kitchen towels you don't need to as breastmilk has antibacterial properties. However I was never brave enough.... not at first anyway. I got much more relaxed the old ds got.

Fab thanks - I feel much better

Interesting about not needing to sterilise with bm - even though DD is a PFB, I'm quite relaxed and can see myself slipping quite fast!

My DS was a bit like your DD in terms of latching on. He always sucked my nipple in like a piece of spaghetti! He used to slurp and smack his lips as he went. I remember the midwife telling me he wasn't on right as he shouldn't be slurping like that. She repositioned him and he immediately slurped twice as fast and twice as loud! I never got sore nips so didn't stress about it. Like another posted said, he's got better and launches sorry latches more correctly now he's 21wks.

I wake up in the morning because my breasts have become fountains! literally, i've had to shout at mrnc to pass me the baby quick because milk is hitting the other side of the room!

if i pump at 8am, i get 100ml in 15-20 min. in the evening, less than half that. I'm currently being treated for mastitis and thrush and hv is coming to check my latch tomorrow, so should be able to continue getting milk into the munchkin one way or another. i think my latch is ok though as pumping only with one breast to give it a brwak for 36 hours didn't help, and lots of people have seen me feed.

was a bit shocked by the hv trainee who had never seen anyone bf before - the hv spent 15 min showing her exaactly what i was doing and how i was a model of positioning, etc.

thanks for the tips headfairy