Can I just say I have huge NOORKS and I BF my baby

[slushy]

On other threads I have heard so many women say there hv said there boobs were to big to breastfeed, and that they would not get them out in public so I wanted to make people aware that you can do it and once you get the hang of it it makes no difference so try to keep up the good work.

I am a 34ff I breastfeed in public you can still cover your boobs (just need a bigger cover ) my boobs do not suffocate my children however the way I was shown how to bf did So I have three main positions I feed in.

1 I hold the baby in the crook of my arm and hold the boobs with the other.

2 I lie on my side with the baby lying on my hand and hold my boob with the other hand

3 I lie on my back and lie the baby across my belly to feed

I also take my breast to the baby rather than the other way around and have had endless problem with MWs saying I don't have enough nipple in (I have rather large ones) but when I put enough nipple in baby chocks. I have not had sore or cracked nipples and my feeds never hurt (I know I am lucky)

Can anyone else with big kahunas post here to give other women hope and a bit of advice on anything you found helped with the huge norks and feeding.

I've never heard of anyone saying they'd been told their boobs were too big to BF! I'm a 30F (went up to a 32GG during pregnancy) and had no problems either. It took a bit of practice feeding in public but I think that would be the same for any new mum regardless of boob size. I used to wear a vest top under a t-shirt and hoik one up and the other down so there was only a tiny gap.

Do you think it depends on how - ahem - pert you are, though?

I'm not very, and although I did breast-feed, I always found it very difficult.

(Was 36G when BFing last time).

Well I'm a 36J and have no problems at all

BFing in public no problem

I have heard it said that people think that you will have problems if your norks are too big, but in all honesty the most common remark made about breast size is that your boobs could be too small, you won't make enough milk. Both views are, obviously, utter bollocks.

I must admit I am a little jealous of my friends lovely pert 34D's, she can bf her baby one handed on the move as her nipples don't point downwards... that said she is a) 10 years younger than me b) a good 3 stone lighter and c) bfing her first child.

Yes sweetnitanitro I have heard of many women who struggled to feed with large boobs on all the feeding threads in AIBU there is at least one woman on each who was unable to feed because of large boob . So thought perhaps a useful thread with tips might help. So thought I would put what difficulties my large breast had caused and how I solved them and was hoping others would do the same.

hold on booboobedoo I don't believe mine are particularly pert. What did you find difficult and how did you solve it?

It's all a bit blurry as I was learning to do it in a haze of PND which didn't lift until DS was about a year, but I found I always had to bring my breast to the baby (as you said you did), which made my back hurt.

Also I read in so many places (and was told by so many advisers) that I must get the whole areole in the baby's mouth. Louis Armstrong would have had trouble getting his chops round them, I tell you!

In retropect, I think I read too many books and was advised badly.

I didn't solve it, really.

Actually I found the same problems and when the mw latched my ds the advised way it really hurt. If it wasn't for my mum who actually knew what she was talking about who told not to listen and do what feels right I think I would of failed.

Maybe people need to learn different positions for different shapes. Breast size is not universal and position and latch should not be one size fits all.

So sorry about your pnd. It was my MW walking along telling me I was nipple feeding ripping my breast out of ds mouth and re putting it in which ds gagged on so I then had to spend another 10 minutes getting him attached.

DD much easier just told the MW I didn't want any help thanks .

I'm a 32G post-weaning so was probably 32GG/H during breastfeeding, and I fed everywhere. Co-slept, fed lying down (saved my LIFE during the sleep deprivation stage), fed in public, no issues ever. I don't even have a set of tips because I don't know what, if anything, I did differently from the small-of-nork.

And I am very very very not-pert!

I'm a 36J to and didn't have any problems BF DD. Ocasionaly I did have to use both hands one to hold brest the other for baby.
Feeding lying down was probably easier for me then some people with smaller boobs as I could do both sids without haveing to roll over.
When she got bigger I could put her on a pillow on my knee and not hold her at all, which was great for eating and reading books.

Thanks ladies I think it is sad that some women are told they can't feed because there breasts are too large. Just hope that some will read this thread.

I was able to feed off both sides lying down too . Out of interest ladies did you switch feed or feed of the one side? I feed off the one side. I don't think I actually did anything by the book .

I could not feed without holding the breast and sort of 'rolling' the nipple into DS mouth, no matter what the midwife told me.
Difficult to latch onto a nipple that's pressed against the stomach.

I too was constantly told by mws that my latch was bad because too much nipple was showing. Even though the latch didn't hurt and DD seemed fine with it.

Cue a few sessions of trying to get "enough" nipple into an increasingly frustrated DD. Until DP pointed out that my nipples had got so big even an adult wouldn't be able to fit them into their mouth .

You have to wonder what the hell the MW was thinking with advice that spectacularly crap.

V. helpful thread - thanks slushy.

I'm due with my second in November, and you've given me a bit of a boost.

I shall just trust my instincts a bit more, and try not to get hung-up on advice clearly aimed at the smaller-of-nork.

cantthinkofagoodname I asked my hv this (we have a great relationship she pops round for a chat) she told me that 90% of hcp did not bf so cling to the rules like they are sacred because they don't really know what they are doing.

The nipple thing really bugged me when I latched ds there was no pain when mw latched ds it was agony especially frustrating having to constantly re-attach a hungry ds every time a interfering well meaning hcp came past.

I think the cleaner who had bf helped me more when she whispered just do what feels best.

x-posted I am glad I helped booboobedoo I hope things go easier with your second my second was much easier.

oooo mine are huge too (like really enormous haven't daren't get them measured but last time I was a 38JJ, and now wearing breast feeding bra Large, plus plus plus. And my nipples point at my tummy button. Have alwasy fed my nipples into the baby's mouth which is much easier. And I need to hold my breast up when feeding otherwise too heavy for my back. It can be done!!

'oooo mine are huge too (like really enormous haven't daren't get them measured but last time I was a 38JJ'

Am currently carrying around 38GGs. Not a problem. My nipples point downwards as well.

And my goodness they look nice in the maxi-dresses at the moment!

i am 36I at the moment (they were about 2 sizes bigger than this when milk came in) and am bf my 6 week old DD with no problems...now!

We had a very rough start though, because I was trying to follow the usual advice about position/latch etc which just didn't work for me. My MW was perching DD on a pile of cushions and man handling my boob and nipple and it was getting both me and DD into a state.

After 2 days of DD not latching on, me having to express and being beside myself that i may not be able to feed, I was put in touch with a brilliant BF counsellor who I will be forever grateful to, and she sorted us out within 5 mins of meeting me.

Basically, she took one look at my ENORMOUS norks and said you just need to let them hang!

She just placed DD on my knee without pillows and I just let my boob fall naturally into DD's mouth (are you getting a picture of how saggy my boobs are !) Because there was less manipulation of the boob, I was more relaxed and so was DD.

She also taught me the nipple flick technique which worked really well for the latch. It's hard to explain but I pulled my nipple away from my DD with my thumb until her mouth was wide open, and then I fired my nipple into the top of her mouth and pushed her quite forcefully in close to me. This worked instantly and DD has latched on ever since and is bf beautifully as I type!

The counsellor did say that bigger boobed women do struggle if they try to follow the usual advice and I think it's really sad that a lot of midwives/hv don't know simple techniques that could make all the difference.

yy the traditional tummy to mummy across the body just did not work for me so rugby ball hold/lying down was v effective