Failed breastfeeding first time, might I be able to with second baby?

[DungunGirl]

Hi ladies

Any experience out there?

I didn't produce anywhere near enough milk with DS, he got jaundice and was admitted to hospital.

He never latched on properly either even with all the midwives and proffessionals in the hospital pulling at my boobs!

Has anyone gone on to produce and succesfully breastfeed second time round? Or am I kidding myself...

Dungungirl it sounds like your hospital didn't give you very good information. Expressing 3 times a day in the very early days is nowhere near sufficient to build/maintain a good supply, no matter how massive the machine! And the amount you express is not indicative of how much milk you have or are able to produce - some women cannot express a drop and yet their babies thrive. Similarly, not leaking and having hard breasts is not a sign of poor supply either - I have never had either but never lacked milk.

On the other hand, if your MW were man handling your DS to get him to latch it suggests that a) they weren't very good at their jobs or at least properly trained, as this is very bad practice b) your DS could have been reluctant to feed because of this treatment

Btw, I mean that she could have gone up to 24 hrs after the birth without food - not now, obviously!

I just read the bit about you not feeling a let down ....
I didn't feel a let down for at least the first three months of bf.
There is interesting info about it on www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/letdown.html

Lol, Lady!
I actually had the opposite senario; DD, (my first), was a dream. I had real trouble BFing DS at first (after his initial 2 hour feast in the delivery room). He wouldn't open his mouth wide enough and wasn't latching on properly, and he was a hungry baby. I was too embarrassed/proud to ask for help, as I thought it should be a doddle. When it got that I was too sore to cuddle DD, I asked my MW to help. She showed me a different latch and it was all gravy from there. I think it's just that all babies are different!
BTW, friends have all said they have much more milk second time around. I didn't need pads with DD, but I'm awash with the stuff now.
Persevere! It took my SIL 4 months to get it right!

Major success story here. Lasted 3days first time round and managed a full year 2nd time round! Could have gone on longer but it was the right time to stop for both of us.

Best advice I would give is give it a go and just take each day as it comes, congratulate yourself for every day you manage and try not to be too disappointed if it doesnt work out - it really isnt the end of the world.

Good luck!

Can I also recommend La Leche League - they generally have meetings once a month and you are welcome before baby is born. The leaders are also breast-feeding counsellors, so you could ring one for help without having to go to a meeting if you don't want to.

www.laleche.org.uk/

I too failed, and combination fed for 13 weeks till DS refused it as a stupid idea "just stop messing and give me the bottle mother" - how much milk can you get from a AA cup anyway... so I too am hesitant about second time round.
Do you need to tell your HV and MW to get lost? I felt enormous pressure to introduce a bottle as DS was still 1lb down on his birth weight after 2 weeks. How do you say - I'd rather he kept trying (and starving...?), or is that a sign of poor milk supply and time to give up and get the bottles out?

Thanks for your response @unloadthecheese but we lost our sweet baby at 9 weeks.
Silly of me to think we'd get to meet our baby after two MCs already.

Death leaves pain that no one can heal, love leaves memory that no one can steal.

@Frazzlerock

Thank you @Mille90 - that is lovely and very true!

@Unloadthecheese - not sure why MN removed your post!

Oh hang on,, I thought I'd started this thread! I think our third loss has made me braindead. And I also realise this was started back in 2008