Bf Advice for big breasts (40G) please

[ELB1]

Does anyone have any tips? I have just started feeding newborn DD2 and only seem to be comfortable (and was the same with DD1 so didn;t last very long at bf and would like to try harder this time) if I hold her with one arm and use the other to hold up my boob! If I don't it is uncomfortable for me and DD can't breathe!No free hands is going to be very debilitating.

I also have never got the hang of being discreet - I have to pull up my top, pull doen my bra and literally haul the boob out and up before I start holding it all up while I get DD in position with the other hand - then have to move DD out of the way to get it all back in again at the end.

Other tricky bit is checking the latch - I can't really see!
Any advice would be great!

I used to find it easier having big boobs as i could take them to the baby rather than bringing them up to the breast. Have you tried the rugby ball hold where the body and legs go under the arm pit?
Dicretion i agree is slightly harder but once you get the hang of how you feel comfortabel it will get easier

Can't you put your DD where your nipple naturally is?

I don't recall holding a boob in position.

I have 32K so I sympathise! I have to use pillows to support the baby on his side in front of me and then hold one boob around the nipple, squeeze slightly to make it small enough to go in his mouth and then pull the baby towards the breast.

It's impossible to be discreet over an F cup imho. My bra cups come up so high I have to pull them down and under my boob to release the beasts and then they sort of swing in the breeze if I lean forward .

But utterly possible. I'm still feeding DD1 (2) so once you get it right this time, you'll be fine

Well done for trying again btw.

I put DS on a V pillow, facing me and bring the breast to him abit, inching the nipple (well, further back) and have to hold it was it's too heavy for him. I pull my top up, but if you wear a jacket over you can cover the flesh exposed around your back. Tunics are best. 38G here. In position 1st, unclip bra, hoik up abit of top.

There's a page on the Kellymom site for women with large breasts. I needed to shape my breast to get it into A's mouth and also support a bit underneath as the weight of breeast meant my delicate skin was being pulled. Once he's in place I can then take a hand away.

I can get a breast out behind A and then position him, but I haven't mastered doing the bra up afterwards - I just shrug my top back down and do the bra up later!

I found a 'my brest friend' strap-on cushion invaluable for avoiding backache especially as my wrists are buggered - 9 weeks on I can feed OK without it if I have to.

profile i think has nipple pinch pic! sorry for bad posts, feeding/typing

Make sure nipple is going in a straight line into baby's mouth. If your nipples point down, baby should be tilted onto it's back, if they point out baby should be on it's side, etc etc!

Try the rugby ball position. Works for a lot of Mums with bigger boobs. Make sure baby is tucked right in behind you so you start nose to nipple.

Agree with quadrophenia - I am 34G and found rugby ball hold great while I got the hang of it. Also found really firm special cushion that helped enormously - I was BF twins but think it would work well for you too. Is good at helping with the handsfree thing and great for your back. Once me and babies were more experienced I was able to abandon cushion and answer door to postman with baby (only one I admit!) latched on - he was a bit !

redhotred twins here too!!

i'm an h cup and i used some pillows on my knee with the baby on top
surprisingly comfortable and doable as you can multitask this way (stuff yourself with chocolate etc)

Just an idea- a rolled up flannel under your boob? Just generally lifts and separates! I used it in the early days till we got the hang of things better.

42G reporting for duty I've breastfed three and have always used a pillow to support them and one hand to stop my boob from overwhelming the poor child! I used to think of myself as a bit rubbish for needing these things - until I read on here that breastfeeding with big boobs can be bloody tricky. Then I felt like a champion!
Regarding discreet - loose tunic tops are good, as is a handy muslin to tuck over any exposed acres of breast

Hurrah for all our magnificent mammaries! I was 34F before pregnancy and 34G during and ever since and although dressing them and feeding with them was a pain, the one thing I will say is that they have stayed magnificent and don't look like 2 delfated balloons like my sister's average 34B's. There are some advantages!

I feed DS with him lying on my knee, I hold the boob he's feeding on and the other hand is free if he's not in a wriggle mood. We were much better when I got rid of the cushion as the breast was being distorted to lift to where a normal cradle hold would need him positioned, though I did need it to get through the post-CS weeks. It depends on the shape of the boobs, as much as the size is what I mean.
Discretion - hmmm... I reach in top and unhook bra, then when DS is in position, I reach under top and pop boob out of cup, shape it and then lift top and pop boob into DSs mouth and then arrange to make sure it looks like I'm trying not to expose myself. Long, loose tops that will drape to cover midriff folds are what it's all about.

xx

just try lots of positions till you and baby are comfy. personally i found a cushion was lifting baby up too high and stopping my milk from flowing properly...only found this out once i got engorged on one side, and it wasn't resiolvong after feeds.... kellymom.com is a fab website for all bf questions. good luck xx

40D and I worry that poor DS is going to suffocate when he is latched on! I was told not to hold breast away from his nose, as it can cause blocked milk duct/mastitis and I have already had that once!

36K reporting here! I found that I needed to actually hold DD to the breast as it was bigger than her head! and she would slip off quiet easily. I pinch to latch DD then hold her head with the opposite hand, if feeding on left - hold head with right then gentle pull upward on the top of the breast so DD didn't suffocate! - DD body on my magical 'my breast friend' pillow (it was the best thing anyone ever bought me - straps around the body and forms a rigid table) Support of DD's body was key as between the weight of her and my breasts was ruining my back.

I second putting a flannel under your boob - I used a rolled up muslin square to lift my boob so that latch was a bit easier. Think DH found that tip for me on some website and I was but it totally worked!

Couldn't do without pillows to support ds until he was much bigger either. Good luck!

ELB1, I was worried about how I would bf DD, my norks before pg were 40HH and were humongus when my milk came in. I found it easy if I had a V shaped pillow (Argos/mothercare) and fed DD in the rugby hold position.

I would put one part of the pillow behind me, helps support your back, and the other part of the pillow at whichever side DD was feeding from. I would lay her on it and latch her on. I did not need to bring her head to me as my norks were so big the reached to her

When out and about, I would find a nice comfy chair/bench and lay her across my knees, I didn't need to support her as again my boobs would reach to her.

If I could not find a bench/chair etc, I would sit cross legged on the floor and feed her, again with her across my knees.

Best thing about big boobs and rugby position is that I always had my hands free so I was able to eat, read, and reach for my very small glass of wine

BTW I fed DD for 8 months but am aiming for longer once I have this lo.

34G here...am going to agree with everyone recommending the rugby ball position - once I'd got the hang of it it made things MUCH easier. I used a pillow to support DS, and then once he was on could usually take my hand away. Now he's a bit bigger it doesn't work quite so well , so I have him on a breastfeeding cushion in the cradle hold and I lean back slightly so my boob doesn't smother him!

Discretion...dunno how discreet I am but I don't really have a problem with whipping my norks out in public . I Have a few T-shirts with buttons down the front, so I usually unclip bra, get DS positioned and get boob out at last minute - he's a greedy little thing so then launches himself at boob and covers me up! Although recently he has started unlatching and looking around at the world, gleefully exposing me to the general public!

I've not got the hang of the rugby hold - my nipples stick out at 45 degree angles so to get the nipple at the back of A's mouth I'd need his body miles away from my side!

Baggy tops work best for me for feeding in public. Also A tends to be wrapped in a blanket that I can drape over my shoulder to keep the drafts out - forgot to use it on a station platform the other day and it was freezing!

Rugby hold for me too (36H), in any other position I have to kind of cup hand to side of breast to prevent ds3 suffocating.

Discretion is harder I think for the well-endowed - I'm still wearing some fantastic maternity trousers with a kind of flexible band at the waist that can be pulled right up to ribs while feeding - not so bothered about exposing my breasts, but the rolls of fat below are so not a good look.

I was a 36GG when I breastfed dd. I always sat in a chair or sofa with dd near the armrest. I had a V shaped cushion, I would rest my boob and dd on the cushion and rest my arm on the arm rest. When I got more adapt I would hold her in a rugby ball postion, whilst moving around, but I still prefered to sit near the arm of the couch.

What about the Utterly Yours Breast Pillow? It's basically a sophisticated version of the rolled up flannel idea. It's from America, but you can get it in the UK on the internet, at www.maternityandnursing.co.uk. Check it out maternityandnursing.co.uk/Breastfeeding_Pillows-list.aspx
Full disclosure - I know the person who created it, but I still think it's a great idea, and she created it to address the same problems you have (keeping hands free, helping baby to latch on etc).
Mind you, a flannel is cheaper!
HTH