tell me your positive breast feeding stories

[DuelingFanjo]

Hi there. I am expecting a baby which is due in Dec and have been posting in another thread about people visiting after the birth. One of my main worries is that I really want to breastfeed and am worried about getting the privacy to establish breastfeeding successfully.

I think perhaps that I have read and heard a lot of stories about how hard people have found it to breastfeed and might be expecting it to be awful.

So - I wondered if anyone here could tell me about how successful they were with breastfeeding for the first time? I always imagined that I will have problems with the latch, that when my milk comes in ai will feel awful and that getting the technique right will be something I will have to do in private.

What is it really like?

sorry that should be might be expecting it to be more awful than it really is.

Also - I will be tired and recovering from the birth so wonder how much all this contributes to breastfeeding difficulty.

i also expected it to be awful, expected the worst

i needed some help latching DS initially, a blocked duct at 10 days, some supply probs after a hospital stay at 16w, other than that no problems.

Currently tandem feeding him (3) and 9mo DD. While i worried a lot, in reality bf DS was completely straightforward. With DD it has been utterly and completely natural = no engorgement, no leaking, she's put on weight perfectly.

congratulations on the pregnancy will the baby be your first?

yes, it will be my first

Thank you for the positive story. I think I am more worried about the breastfeeding than I am the labour to be honest

re privacy - do whatevwer you need. no visitors in hospital. go off to another room if you qwant to. get dh/dp to politely tell people to go (you & baby need a nap).

haven't you been on MN for ages??

The Food of Love by Kate Evans is brilliant, as is most of the NHS issued stuff IMO. Unless you have particular concerns about your baby's health don't worry about how long or how often they feed for - just feed whenever you think they need it, and if they're crying and you knwo there's no other reason, try a feed - if it calms and soothes them, that's job done

Sorry to use "they" - do you knwo if you're having a boy or a girl?

and MN of course - excellent for bf support. And the helplines.

One thing I did in advacne was to find out about all the bf support groups near me - I had one ready for every week day, if I needed one.

if you get the book, look at page 66. It tells you how to be a good mother.

hey, yeah - I have been here ages but was trying for 2 years

everyone I know has had some problem with breastfeeding and a lot of what I have read hear has scared me!

thank you for the tips RE the book. We've decided not to find out the sex so I call it 'IT'

Arrgghh here not hear!

Oh I see, sorry but double then!

Yes, most (all in fact I think) of the people I knew who had babies in the year before me gave up bf way before they wanted to. Then all my antenatal friends were fine. Weird.
MN helps a lot IMO!
Can I just say please please please get hold of that book?? I know I'm going on about it but I've just had another look and it's fantastic. I am not the author, I promise =- ask MNHQ

will do

thank you - I have found the NHS stuff I've had so far really good too.

I am not the author but think I should get commission!

congratulations on your pregnancy!

I would agree that privacy is helpfull for the stage where it's all new and you are faffing around with your nipples every thirty seconds. Also your nipples may be sore at first and so you may want to sit around with no top on.

I had hoped for a home birth but had to go in to hospital and then didn't get ou for 48 Hours. In hind sight this had the advantaged of me being able to fob visitors off till we got home, and so lots of time to sit around with my tits out, getting lots of skin on skin with my new ds, and practicing a bfing. This was really useful.

I made a point of putting ds to the breast as much as possible...almost constantly when he was awake! This way we got lots of practice latching on, and i didn't feel too bad if i had to take him off and put him back on millions of times. Had i waited till he was really hungry i might have been tempted to let him continue in spite of a poor latch...which would be bad news. Later on, when i felt confident, i have just breastfed infront of people (apart from my granddad!) they just have to deal with it, not that ANYONE has reacted negativly.

I had also been told (though only by one of the army of midwives i met) to hand express collostrum while pregnant to help my milk come in when the baby arrived. I know the milk coming in is mostly to do with the placenta detaching, but i did it any way...mostly out of amazement at my own body! My milk did seen to come in quickly (not a scientific study!) but weather this was the expressing, the skin on skin, all the stimulation off putting ds on the breast virtually constantly...or a combination?

I had been worried about establishing bfing, as, like you, i'd known friends have lots of problems, but it was actually a lot easier than i'd anticipated. And there is lots of support out there and on here! And once you get going it's fantastic. No getting up in the night to make bottles, no faff and expense of buying, cleaning sterilising them etc. It's on tap if you want to go anywhere, no worrying about how many feeds you need to take etc. Not to mention the breast feeders cake allowance!

So, believe in yourself! Tell people to stay away for 48 hours if you possibly can (or strictly limit visits if not).

Get some lansinol cream in advance (you'll want it around day two and you don't wat to be going anywhere then!)

And take every opportunity to put your lo to the breast...with all that practice you will be fine!

Good luck!

oooh breast feeders cake allowance, is this the same as the pregnant woman's cake allowance?

I think I will have a problem with keeping people away which is one of my main worries and was thinking nif I did end up staying in hospital it might be an idea to allow visitors (Mum, MIL etc) and then once we are let out tell them to stay away for a couple or days?

Knowing how they like to chuck you out of hospital quickly it might not work out like that though.

yes, doubled on bad days

Yes, that might be a good idea, let people into the hospital and then make plans to see them in about a week with the implication being and not until then!

FWIW I could bf immediately in front of my mum and MIL so just needed to avoid dad and FIL for a few days Hopefully you'll be the same

And take it one day at a time, too!!

I can also recommend the Food of Love, it is a fabulous book.
Try and get your DP, Mum and MIL to help out around the house, your job is to recover from the birth - which is physically and emotionally draining. And keep putting baby to the breast, don't clock watch, and sleep when the baby sleeps.

Congratulations!

Chocolate hobnobs are good for breastfeeding*

*not scientifically proven but they are yummy

I have had a very positive breast-feeding experience with both my DDs...they latched on quite quicky ((almost straight away after birth)which was very fortunate and I loved the closeness I felt while breast-feeding them and also the major relief!!...both put on weight easily and it was fantastic for not having to get out of bed for night feeds..moses basket next to the bed..lean,shift and latch!.. in company I would use a little blanket to cover my top or a breast-feeding top is equally good or you could just leave the room for some privacy you can also consider expressing..
a tip I would recommend is keeping your nipples well moisturised during your pregnancy and whilst feeding..I used palmers cocoa butter in the jar or vaseline I never experienced any cracked nipples..but did get some leaking (just make sure you have lots of breast-pads on hand!) I fed on demand and that worked for me..just try to be patient and positive

congrats and good-luck!!

what breast-feeders cake allowance..why was I not told???

Mcp it can be backdated don't worry

Hi and congratulations

I bf DD with no problems - i like you was worried about doing it, so much so that i wasnt sure that i wanted to!

However, when she arrived it just seemed the only the only thing to do! After abit of slipping and sliding she latched on and stayed on for an hour and a half 15 mins after being born! Great for bonding!

I got used to it pretty quickly - the midwives were great and showed me how to gently squeeze some milk to encourage DD to latch on! Took about a day and was fine!

had a breat feeding support worker visit (she was brilliant) just to reassure me that i was doing it right (after all the horror stories i was convinced something must be going wrong!) Dd gained weight brilliantly so was defo getting enough milk!

Obviously had a few twinges, sore boobs but this didnt last very long - i found lying in a hot steamy bath or placing hot flannels on them really soothing and let out enough milk to feel comfy again without emptying them and mucking up my supply! Had no major problems!

Fed up until i returned to work no issues!

Re privicay, just politley excuse yourself to another room if you feel uncomfy, people will understand. Just say feel free to change tv channel or help yourself to a tea coffe - i found saying this meant most people realsied i may be a while, and just took the oppurtunity to say oh no you stay where you are, we'll be getting off now anyway!

Found the whole experince wonderful!

Its nice to say that, sometimes i would feel like i was rubbing it in to other who havent been so lucky!

Good luck and congrats again

I've loved it, the first 6 weeks were very hard but after that it's been great. I feel really bonded to The Cub

We're still bf'ing at 14 months.

CongratulationsTiggaxx

Congratualtions! 1st of all have you read all of Ina May Gaskin's books - an absolute MUST - Spiritual Midwifery and Guide to Childbirth, I think the easier the birth the better chance you have of establishing bf.

2nd would really recommend a bf group BEFORE baby is born La Leche League are great and welcome mums to be. It's good to know the facts before and also really helps to have a relationship with your councilor already established.

3rd obviously do what you feel most comfortable with, but once you get the hand of things I wouldn't recommend sitting in a room on your own to bf, I did that with dd1 and it was very lonely!!!!! I know it's a bit daunting but feeding in public really isn't that bad - there was a great thread on here about it a couple of months ago.

Finally - good luck it' one hell of a ride!

Can it be backdated 5 yrs?...thats alot of free cake!! ..

I know what you mean about being able to bf in front of dm and mil. I just personally felt i wanted time on my own with my ds to work it out before 'performing' iyswim. No doubt they world have been willing to help, but i know things have changed alot, bfing wasn't encouraged in the same way when they were having kids, and plus, i'm not great at taking advice from my dm! I know for many their mother may be the best person to support them...but not me* (or my friend who was underminede by her mother and eventally gave up at day three...exactly the same point her mother gave up breastfeeding her... )

I would definatly recommend lansinol (though may not be spelling it correctly) it's pure lanolin, so you don't need to remove it when they feed.

Cake allowance can be swaped for crumpets, providing sufficent butter is applied.

*Roll up! Roll up! Come see all my issues! Free entry!...sorry!