Surely by 14 weeks I shold have sorted positioning - grr.

[alittlebitshy]

My ds is 14 weeks. I persevered and persevered and he is still bf - but with one botth of formula at bedtime (it saved breast feeding for me, I was losing it big time at night in the early days).
I had loads of positioning issues - v v sore. Wonderful bfc helped me loads and it got heaps better, but my previously "good" side has been feeling a b it"chafey" for a few weeks and has progressed to well and truly sore in the last few days.

It is all my issue cos ds is gaining v well (11oz in one week at last weigh in) and is huge (15lb13 10 days ago) - so extremely hungry and with the suck of a dyson .

What can i do to help sort out the soreness? I try to move him along a bit to see if we're just ever so slightly off with latching on but it doesn't seem to help.

Beginning to dread feeds a bit again

hi alitlebitshy!

a couple of questions:

how full are your breasts when you feed him? are they rock solid or softish?

which position are you in? cradle hold? rugby ball?

how long is he feeding for? is it shorter or longer than it was before you started to get sore?

Only rock hard first thing in the morning.
Can only do cradle hold
Is not really any difference in feed lengths - they vary a bit anyway - he's not a mega quick feeder, but he's a lot quicker than in the early days, naturally...

I didn't mention in last post that with my dd (now 5) I ended up mixed feeding her properly (ie prob more ff than bf) and the bfs were only done from one side with a niple shield (so a bit of a mess all in all) thus I'm chuffed to bits it's working this time.

can i just say that you have made it thourh to 14 weeks. that is a great acheivemnet!!
no need to be about only doing cradle hold! usually you don't try a different hold unless there is a problem. have you tried lying down to feed? i used to find that my DS latched on better from that angle.
would you be able to see someone who could check your latch otherwise? a BFC or is there a BF group near you? which part of the country are you in?

sometimes going baack to the basics works as well. make sure his head is back and his chin is pushed into the breast. you shouldn't be able to see any of the areola on the bottom and just a sliver at the top.
lots of skin to skin contact can help to.
hope this helps a bit.

and remember YOU ARE DOING GREAT!!!!

how do I go about lying down to feed? I never tried it cos at tye start the thought of anything different made me wince (once we tried rugby hold and I nearly hit the ceiling with the pain). Sorry if is a daft question ...

Thanks - I am proud and Sometimes feel bad about the bedtime foruma but ti works for us

also another questions. I know about the not being meant to see areola at the bottom, but how am i meant to see under there in the first place? AM I being dense? probably !

Also - not sure we've ever got latching quite right. His head doesn't go back as far as I'm sure it's meant to... argh - it just baffles me how to get it right. It makes me so that so many people manage it no problem then there's me

BF lying down info

I was going to try to explain it myself but i think that might be better. with pictures as well!
keep in mind that like any other position it may not 'work' for you but it's worth a try (it means you get some rest too!)

and so many people don't get as far as you have! breastfeeding is hard! natural yes, but also difficult. both you and DS have had to learn how to do it. and because culturally it's not an open thing we generally don't see women breastfeeding so don't know what looks 'right'.

as for seeing the areola...i was thinking of when you were lying down really. sometimes you can tell in the cradle hold but it's a lot harder to tell without accidentally unlatching!

lol - yeah the number of times I've tried to haul my boob up so I can see the areola and pop ds pops off!! Thanks for that info i'll look at that and try it when I feel brave...

With the lying down position I tend to be a bit more on my side than in the second picture shown. I also feed from the uppermost boob whilst I'm still lying on the same side rather than turning over (I am too lazy too even turn over!).
You could also try the "dangle" position which is literally dangling the boob over ds when he's lying on his back and you are on all fours or semi-lying over him - although these positions are not great for when out & about!
Have you got a special bf-ing cushion? For the cradle hold these make it very easy as babe lies on it with no need for support so you have two hands free for fiddling around with the latch (I do this even after 6mths bf-ing & have the Brest Friend pillow). Have you got large boobs? Just thought this cos you said you "haul" your boob up to have a look! If so there are two accessories that could help: one a little pillow that goes under the boob to lift it up and the other a boob "sling" that fits onto your nursing bra. It would be better not to have to use these as it's another thing to faff with but if interested check the net for "utterly yours breast pillow" and "booby booster".
Of course, seeing a lactation consultant would be a good option if you felt like it, or even a good midwife with experience - ask around other mums/gps/clinics. There may be a bf-ing group near you too that could be supportive.
No worries about the bottle of formula! In future an option could be to pump breastmilk so he could fed a bottle of expressed milk.

hope things are going a bit better for you today