Question for my friend with giant boobs feeding her 3 weeks old and some wierdy advice I've never heard of before!

[ladytophamhatt]

Ok, so my friend spoke to teh HV today about still being in pain and they discovered that the latch wasn't right.
A breast feeding councillor advised on position and bringing baby to breast etc but my friend is nervous about squashing the baby with her mahooooosive boobs.

Breast feeding councillor said (and this is the weird but) that she should put her boobs in a sling to stop them "hanging" so much.
Not the baby in a sling....Her boobs!!!

Now, I'm not breast feeder but that just sounds mad to me. Wouldn't that restrict the milk production? I knwo wearing a tight bra can affect it so I imagine hoiking them up in a sling would do the same??

If that is mad advice what else can she do?

I'll email my friend a link to this thread if any of you have advice for her so please show her how great MN is.

Thanking you all muchly.

Tis not funny. I was feeding DS on one side in the car the other day and the other side (encased in bra and T shirt) shot milk out at high volocity and splattered the inside of the windscreen. Enough to soak two entire tissues mopping it up

But when it's not shooting out, it widdles out and like widdle, you think it's all done and then a little more comes out

Mine apparently weigh 15 pounds each. I also get hand cramp and elbow pain when holding them.

Maybe someone should market 'nork pads' for your elbows/hands.

I think the sling thing is a non-starter though, it'd give you hideous neck ache having all that weight on the back of your neck wouldn't it?

Your friend could always try developing very good pectoral muscles - that's helped me a bit (well a few inches anyway).

if I'm out and about I always have a blanket and roll it up to put under her if thats a suggestion

rugby hold worked in the beginning when I could build up all the cushions under her but once again not practical for out and about

I used rugby hold while at home - found it by far the easiest and most comfortable way to feed without having to hold my boob up.

While out and about I find I tend to hold my boob up if necessary (this is not discreet, but I don't really care ), or put a rolled up muslin under the boob to lift it up a bit.

i think the weight would be on your back rather than neck, ideally, whomoved.

I have heard of a sling- it's called the "booby booster" and looks like a good idea. It attaches onto a maternity bra. Here's the web address, sorry I don't know how to put the link up on here: www.boobybooster.vpweb.co.uk- hope that helps. I think I'm going to give them a try because I also have very big boobs and my 6 wk old has difficulty staying on sometimes!

i used to keep mine up by lobbing them out of my bra with it still fastened, so the side of the bra would act as the sling. iyswim.

Sling is a fairly well-known option for mothers with large breasts - doesn't always work for everyone, but should not affect milk flow at all (how could it? It's not meant to put any pressure on anything). There are other things to try, too.

You can fashion yourself a feeding bra, apparently, using two ordinary bras.
You make appropriately placed peep holes in bra 1 (oversew or cover edges) then take the cups of bra 2 and sew them onto bra 1 so that you can cover uncover your well-supported breasts and their nipples at will.

Does this make sense?

Another vote for underarm 'rugby hold' here...really works for me

Here is a link of the website refered to earlier in the thread...what an weird interesting thing...Click Here

Tiktok, my image of a sling was like one you'd use for a broken arm so totally covering the boob and restircting it....

The real nork sling isn't quite so medical

Told you I wasn't a BFeeder

Yes underarm hold - I had enormous (.)(.) (J cup!) and a ickle tiny baba (6lb6oz) when born - he was just dwarfed by my norks!
I found that when he was teeny underarm hold worked best. Plus holding my breast as well. We managed, did get cracked nipples at first but saw a BFC who helped me with my position.
LTH - your friend must check how she is sitting, tell her to get a footstool to put her feet up on when feeding sitting down, I did have really bad back ache from supporting enormous norks and holding baby in the right position. BFC suggested the footstool and that did help.

Rugby hold made life so much easier until dd got a bit bigger. It was very exciting when her head got bigger than my boobs -I think it is only now at 7mths that this has happened.

I had massive boobs, I just used to use one had to support underneath and wrap the hand round so I could press the bit where their nose is. my babies heads never got bigger than my boobs. an upturned washing up vowl is great as a footstool and lots of pillows to support baby and prevent arm ache.

i have large breasts. all you need to do is experiment with positions to find one that wirks. i generally support my breasts whilst helping dd4 find the nipple, and bring her to it. boobs are so large she can lie on my lap and feed

lying down to feed is good. but dd4 ends up near my waist

When my mum had us (1976 on!) the midwives referred to it as the

"over the shoulder boulder holder"

I am vaguely jealous, I only reach a D cup when fully breastfeeding, and until then any hint of a shadow forming under my breast is newsworthy.

The underarm/football hold is good, as well as the lying down position (feeding from uppermost boob). Changing positions is good for ensuring all-round milk drainage during the early weeks when supply is still all over the place.
A special breastfeeding pillow is also good, esp the "brest friend" one that clips round the waist.
Discreet feeding in public is impossible, she could try a cover if bothered.
I have just had cortisone injections in my hands for inflamed tendons from 9mths of holding boobs for bf-ing so I do know what it's like, but I hope she won't give up. It probably took me about 3mths to be fully "au fait" with bf-ing.
Has she got a reasonable bf-ing bra? Bravado make semi custom-made ones if she is having difficulty (from www.bras4mums.co.uk who give great phone advice).