I have decided to give breastfeeding a go and now im nervous

[fernie3]

I have two children already both of them were forumla fed. My first was great no problems great growth no illness etc etc. Then came my second, months of reflux and medications multiple allergies and hospital stays for chest infections and STILL at the age of two intolerances to foods which leave him with bleeding skin on his bottom and constant upset tummys. Obviosuly I know that this could well have been the same whether he was formula or breastfed but after a long hard think about it I have decided to try breastfeeding this one to try to at least minimize the risk and give her every chance of avoiding these problems.

I have posted on here a few times before with my concerns about breastfeeding but as I say after a long think I have decided to give it a go and even if it only lasts a day then its better than nothing.

I am nervous now! I feel like all the other aspects of having a new baby I am confident about with it being my third but this I am clueless about!. I have already spoken to the midwife about it and to the health visitor so they are already aware that I want to breastfeed etc and have offered their help.I have also asked to stay at the hospital for at least 24 hours or until I have managed to feed that baby on my own, which the midwife has said wont be a problem at all. I have also been reading around alot about it.

a few question I had though that I cant seem to get my head around are

1. at the hospital how often do you feed them in that first night - with my other two i just got them a bottle every few hours and gave it to them. If I am breastfeeding do I pick the baby up and try to get it to feed every few hours or do i wait for it to wake for food on its own?

1. I have a terrible tablet swallowing phobia (laugh if you want) would it be ok for me to take my own dissplving paracetamol to the hospital for afterpains since I have heard these are worse when you breastfeed.

1. Do i need to take anything in my hospital bag with me to breastfeed?or just take my breasts lol

and finally (sorry for all the questions!) If my baby wont feed in the first few hours is that ok?

hopefully this all makes sense!

sophie

Ach, don't worry about it, FairLady, I'd buggered off and gone to bed by the time you wrote that anyway. Shame DD3 didn't let me sleep, like. Anyway, leaking is very individual, and can vary from child to child, IME. I used to sometimes leak just first thing in the morning with DD1 and DD2, but then was soaking through my clothes regularly with DD3. I blame having to use the hospital industrial-stength pumps to express for her when she was in SCBU .

poledra...glad I didn't offend you ...

my dd fed constantly from about 2 hours after she was born. i couldn't put her down for more than a few minutes without her screaming for milk.

my ds on the other hand fed in the delivery room and then slept for 7 hours til the next morning i tried waking him a few times as i was a bit concerned but he refused point blank to feed and went back to sleep

i wouldn't wake a bf baby to feed unless there were other concerns (ie jaundice causing them to be excessively sleepy), more than likely it'll be the other way round, baby waking you for a feed

not sure how much help paracetomol will be, my afterpains with ds were worse than contractions, paracetomol certainly wouldn't have touched them... am dreading them this time round

bring lansinoh, wouldn't worry too much about breast pads, you won't start to leak til your milk comes in which will probably be when you get home but you might get sore in which case ansinoh is the cream of the gods

if baby won't feed for a few hours that's fine, some don't really want to. what is important is that you have as much skin to skin as possible to help regulate her temp and help with bf once baby does get going.

Well done on this decision! My advice would be to be ready with numbers (La Leche League, breastfeeding councillors etc) just in case. My DD didn't really latch on at all at the beginning and lost too much weight so I had to express which is not ideal at all if you want the baby to bf. Once she got used to the bottle she wasn't interested in latching on so I expressed every feed and also tried to get her to latch on every time before giving her the bottle. Finally after 5 very exhausting days she latched on. It was well worth it though and I am so glad I persevered. I breastfed for 9 months and would still be only I am ttc. I don't mean to scare you but a lot of people told me it could be hard and if I hadn't been told that I might have thought my situation was an exception and gave up... Of course lot's of babies pop out and feed no problem. On the upside because gradually built up her strength with bf I had no pain at all!

good for you for giving it a go. Brilliant advice on here as always. Just wanted to add that you dont have to spend a fortune on nighties specifically for nursing. Just get some with buttons down the front. I got mine from Primark and Dunnes for 3 quid each. Lansinoh is great for sore nips (but you may be lucky and not suffer.) I only leak v occasionally and never with a bra on. I don't need breast pads. Get a well fitting nuraing bra; consider going to bravissimo if you are largesish.
Enlist the support of your partner. Dont let them think they are redundant as you're breastfeeding. You'll need lots of drinks, snacks, the remore control and emotional support/encouragement.
I dont have a specific breastfeeding cushion, just got a V cushion from argos, which does the job for me.
I also would pass on the tip I got from on here about clothing. I find wearing a strappy vest under your normal top when out and about means you can pull one top up and the other down to create a slit for feeding so you're not exposing lots of flesh ( or flab in my case). I felt lots more confident in the early days going out and about this way.

my experience so far:

1. A fed a bit a few times the first night, but didn't sleep much in between. Then I was worried on day 2 as he wouldn't feed for 11 hours, but the staff were most reassuring, just suggested I keep offering every couple hours, and if he hadn't had any more by evening they could help me express, but most likely he was just tired.

1. I'd take own painkillers just in case anyway, just tell them what you've taken. I've heard bf just makes the afterpains more efficient and last less long - mine were less bad than average period pain.

1. Some Lanisoh and also some breast pads as you may still be in hospital when your milk comes in. My big surprise was when the milk came, I couldn't find my nipples because they were underneath all this breast and I couldn't see them! After the initial engorgement they were more like before but finding the nipples wasn't a problem I'd expected! Also good supply of food and drink - I downed litres of chocolate milk!

I just stayed topless in hospital and wore an enormous t-shirt when leaving the bed. I find loose black tops work best - button ones are fiddly. I drape a blanket over my shoulder when I'm out.

If you have difficulty, ask for help/ring helplines before it gets too bad, and be warned the helplines normally get you an answerphone but someone will call back in a few hours (another reason not to wait until you're desperate)

Also remember that people posting here are often the ones who had difficulty - the ones like my SIL who just stuck a breast in her baby's mouth and had no problems for 7 months don't need to. You might find it really easy.

Have you been to your local Babycafe yet?
If you go along they can put you in contact with local peer supporters before baby comes.

I would advocate co-sleeping with your DC in hospital. That way it's easy to feed on demand and helps bonding and access to breasts etc.

I'm sure soluble tablets will be fine. I took an assortment of prescribed painkillers whilst breastfeeding DD which caused no problems.

Breast pads, nursing bras etc are all useful to have. But mainly, I'd recommend taking the number of a breastfeeding counsellor since midwives on postnatal wards often give conflicting and useless advice. Also, between now and the birth I'd read as much as possible about breastfeeding - La Leche books are good and there's one that I'd recommend in particular - "So That's What They're For - A guide to Breastfeeding". I think the more information you have, the easier things will be.

Good luck

i would also reccomend offreing a feed every 2-3 hrs even if lo isn't crying for it - dd got jaudice which prob could have been prevented if i'd woken her to feed more often in the first couple of days.
LANSINOH CREAM!!!! couldn't have got through with out it.