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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Did you find breast feeding a doddle?

82 replies

Willow2 · 01/05/2005 23:19

Just thinking aloud here really, but how many of us honestly had that "baby immediately latched on" experience? For those who didn't, were you surprised by how hard it was to establish b/f. Did you manage it?

Several friends have just become mums - they are all having a really hard time with b/f, not helped, IMO, by the fact that they were given the impression that problems are more abnormal than normal.

Your thoughts, ladies?

OP posts:
Milliways · 01/05/2005 23:22

I always thought I was incredibly lucky. DD just latched on & stayed there for an hour at a time. Only probs were she kep getting hiccups!

DS was fine to start with, got mastitis after 4 months (Ouch), then ok. If I had had mastitis early on with first child would probably have given up!

Gobbledigook · 01/05/2005 23:24

I really, really struggled but my friend has had not one problem with any of her children (she's got 3) - she just latched them on and hey presto. My other friends all seemed to struggle in some way or other though.

Tinker · 01/05/2005 23:26

Wouldn't say it was a doddle, first week had some problems with her latching on but not many really. Did get mastitis though. But the whole experience wasn't very difficult really. Wasn't prepared for how much milk I'd produce though!

pixiefish · 01/05/2005 23:27

Dd latched on straight away BUT i had serious problems with blistering and mastitis. The mw's at the hospital said that the latch was ok but it obviously wasn't.

Also had supply problems- no milk for a week and then - boobs like jordan. Leaking all over the place especially in bed. TBH it was bloody awful at the beginning but boy am I glad I stuck with it. Still feeding her at 15 months

MarsLady · 01/05/2005 23:29

Yes. Have been a moo cow for years! I was very lucky I think. It wasn't until I started talking to friends that I realized that many people have problems. I thought it was abnormal that I could express 8oz a boob at any time. Then I found out that I was really blessed and I learnt to freeze it. I have always encouraged my friends to push through the difficulties at the beginning cos I wanted them to enjoy it as much as I did/do.

hunkermunker · 01/05/2005 23:30

Took about five weeks before DS and I cracked it. Night feeds were the worst - I used to curl my toes up and cry as he latched on.

Still feeding him and he's 13mo on Tuesday. I'm a stubborn bastard

It's definitely not unusual for bfeeding to take a while to start - looking back, I think I had positional problems, but I think it's also easier to feed a baby with a bit bigger mouth - you don't need to be quite so precise. No idea if that's a load of old wotsit, just my feeling on it

As for breastfeeding support for new mums...it's tragically lacking, IME and IMO. Even when the help is there, in the form of breastfeeding helplines staffed by volunteers, too many women have no idea they exist

Fimbo · 01/05/2005 23:30

I tried with both my children, and couldn't get them to latch on properly. First time round (nearly 7 years ago now) I wasn't allowed out of hospital until I could do it properly!! I would probably have been there for the first year of my dd's life, if it hadn't been for my sil who said she would help me - but I sent dh to Boots for formula and bottles the next day. Second time round, I gave up after 1 day. Although I would have liked to have breastfed my babies, they were both happy with formula and dh could help!!

charliecat · 01/05/2005 23:30

First baby wouldnt even look at my breast, screamed and went bright red and was content right away with a bottle.
2nd baby latched on right away, fed quickly, and was BF for 15months.

gingerbear · 01/05/2005 23:32

Not exactly a doddle, but after lovely midwife in hospital showed me how to hold and latch DD after my c-section, I had very few problems. I did have lopsided breasts due to in-balanced milk production, and sometimes struggled with expressing, but on the whole I found it easy.
I am almost embarrassed to post this as I KNOW I was one of the lucky ones.

Doddle · 01/05/2005 23:36

I was lucky too, instant latching with both DS's. Nipple pain only lasted a couple of days as well.

I guess I picked my name well!!!

paolosgirl · 01/05/2005 23:38

Not exactly a doddle with ds, but I was determined to b/f, read up lots before the birth, and got a midwife to help me the first night. The first 6 weeks are the hardest, until you get the feeding established, but after that it's (usually!) easy peasy.

assumedname · 01/05/2005 23:47

Er, yes. Immediate latch, no pain at all and lots and lots of milk. Same for all 3 babies.

fatmomma · 01/05/2005 23:50

I think hunkermunker is right about the big mouth thing. My ds was born at 36 weeks weighing 4lb 14oz and we had terrible trouble latching on. He was simply too small and weak to draw the nipple out. It took two weeks and a nipple sheild for him to feed properly during which time we had to stay in hospital so he could be tube fed with expressed milk.

We never did get the hang of it and he never gave up the nipple shield although I breastfed him for 7 months. I was always very envious of people who could breastfeed whilst doing other things. DS and I had to have three cushions in exactly the right position with spare nipple shields and muslins at hand - not great for breastfeeding in public!

Gobbledigook · 01/05/2005 23:52

Pixiefish - oooh, you've just reminded me about the leaking in bed - it was literally everywhere for me - I had to sleep on a towel and in the end resorted to cutting up ds1's nappies and using the centre strip for breast pads!!!

Oh and the lovely, lovely cabbage leaves down the bra thing for mastitis and the breast shells to relieve the engorgement...oh how I hated it I'm afraid!!

And expressing, my GOD, how painful for a mere ounce if I was lucky.

Thank the Lord for Cow and Gate!!!

Tinker · 01/05/2005 23:59

Yes, had to sleep on towels as well. And resorted to cut up sanitary towels for breast pads.

ghosty · 02/05/2005 00:11

Both my babies had read the manual/seen the video and knew what to do immediately ... I had lots of milk despite having very big babies and c-sections ... I was very lucky ... slight engorgement from day 4 - 10 but that was sorted with expressing .... sore nipples for the first week or so but I just went with it ... I used to dab my nipples with witch hazel on a cotton wool pad after every feed which seemed to help ....
With DS I gave up early due to PND and bad advice but with DD we did marvellously for 9.5 months thanks to confidence and knowledge gained from this fantastic site and particularly advice and encouragement from the likes of tiktok and mears.
I think for me the key was confidence that my body was perfectly capable of sustaining my DD ... so every time I had a worry (fussing at the breast, crying (dd not me ), green nappy or whatever) I kept telling myself to trust my body and trust my baby ... rather than panic and throw in the towel like I did with DS.

fatmomma · 02/05/2005 00:24

Boots do a lovely soothing spray with witch hazel in it - the great thing is you can just squirt it on so you don't have to touch your poor nips!

suzywong · 02/05/2005 00:27

both my kids latched on in recovery as they were stitching me up

Although I did get cocky with ds2 and wasn't allowing him time to get his wind up and was feeding him in a postion that wasn't the best for him for a while a the beginning.

NotQuiteCockney · 02/05/2005 07:35

I had a hard time with DS1, couldn't get latch working without shields, poor weight gain, feeding for hours at a time, etc. But he had a rough arrival.

DS2 had an easy arrival, and latched on beautifully in recovery, good weight gain, all simple.

chonky · 02/05/2005 07:36

I found it really tough. My dd was a really, really sleepy baby and not interested in feeding AT all, so it tooks five days in hospital to get up and running. Every first time mum on the ward seemed to be having problems though.

No mastitis, but a really painful let down for the first six weeks or so. Latching on really hurt to start with too. I used to get night sweats at first, I reckon it was just my hormones playing up but it made me feel like a menopausal woman with hot flushes!

My dd had reflux and tone problems (still does), so the combination of her being in great discomfort feeding and the fact that she was so floppy making her feel like a real weight in my arms meant I stuck it out for six months and then gave up. I have no regrets about giving it up then, neither she nor I were getting a positive experience out of it.

Hayls · 02/05/2005 07:43

I was really lucky. Dd latched on straight away at minutes old and practically stayed there for 6 months. I never got sore or too engorged but i know that this is more unusual than experiencing some probs like most of my friends did. She's still bf now at 15 months and I'm glad I was lucky as I'm sure I would have given up really easily. I think it was down to dd somehow knowing exxactly what to do and leading me.

hoxtonchick · 02/05/2005 08:07

ds would only feed in the rugby ball position, or sitting up on a cushion next to me to begin with (strange boy!), & i got thrush a couple of weeks in. had fantastic support from my mum, dp & breastfeeding counsellor though, gritted my teeth & carried on. once thrush was sorted out, we had no problems at all & carried on happily for 6 months. i too got used to sleeping on a towel. i intend to feed for longer with new baby due next month.

Papillon · 02/05/2005 08:07

Immediate latch
No problems

dd still bf happily at 18 months

I had a very supportive midwife and homebirth... so that may have helped me feel very relaxed and not apprehensive in the slightest about latch problems... I did not receive any fear factor approaches

Mud · 02/05/2005 08:11

immediate latch - no problems - with all children

Mud · 02/05/2005 08:13

when I say no problems, of course it hurts for the first few weeks when they latch on and start but that is to be expected, and as I expected it it didn't bother me so didn't become an issue and I didn't pull away but counted through it, I think some people get surprised at the natural pain and try to reposition and reposition and so end up with problems. Of course this is nothing to do with developing thrush or mastitis or having a baby who just won't latch which must be terrible