How do exclusively BFing mums do it?!

[Newmum288]

Serious question. I’m pregnant with my 2nd. I would love to EBF but pumped with my 1st, largely so that we could ‘split’ the nights and I could sleep for 4/5 hours in one go before taking back over. I want to EBF my 2nd and not pump, but is there some sort of hack to this?! I know postpartum mums are basically superwomen but seriously how do people manage if baby feeds every eg 2 hours?

I just fed when needed. Baby was sleeping in 5 hour stretches at night by 9 weeks so it wasn’t too bad. Don’t expect that it will be awful!

I was a single parent it was easier than faffing with bottles in the night. I could bf and cook tea/do something with dc1. I did express as I was feeding twins and when I went out it was quicker /more discreet to bottle feed one /bf the other but rather than expressing after every feed I built in one express a day after the school run /while dt slept and built up a supply from being a week old.

Just did. Tbh I wish Id fed bottle formula late evening so dh could have helped.

I had a baby that slept well after the first 6 weeks or so
Baby did wake up but not constantly and I managed to drop off pretty quickly after (apparently breastfeeding helps with getting back to sleep).
I did go to bed super early and my partner did pretty much everything household wise so my only job was looking after the baby. I imagine that can't happen with a second child!

This

Basically was very sleep deprived for the first few months!
Co-sleep, feed lying down, take naps during the day. Give up your evenings for a while and just go to bed early.
My eldest was in school part time so I would have DH take her in the mornings whenever he could so I could stay in bed with the baby and have another hour or two of sleep before getting up to go pick her up.
The newborn stage is only a couple of months really although it feels like forever, by 3 months babies go longer between feeds and if you’re lucky just feed once overnight. With my 2nd I dream fed quite successfully so just one night time wake up.

exactly what I did with both Babies

I'm in awe of anyone who pumped! My kids (and especially DD) fed constantly, and I was never able to pump more than a couple of tablespoons. I whenever I tried pumping, I ended up doing literally nothing but breastfeeding, either directly, or expressing, for hours.

I coslept, but also was extremely tired all the time as my kids were terrible sleepers (and worse, DD took a long time to go to sleep whereas DS was an early riser).

I ebf both of mine. Co sleeping, and the second is mentally easier because you know it gets better. You need to purely focus on your recovery and the baby. Both you and your partner need to be on board with this. Either my now exh or my mum did the morning nursery runs for our eldest for the first 6 weeks so I could sleep in the mornings.

Yep, sleep with baby.

Co-sleep (in the spare room, just me and baby), wear baby in a sling when they’re little and you have stuff to do, take baby everywhere you go.

You just feed every 2 hours, all 3 of mine did this and not just newborn, it's hard but you just get used to the broken sleep. I did co-sleep with all my children too. It's hard when you have to be up with other children to get them to nursery/school on time (my husband left for work before we were up) or when you have your second, not being able to nap in the day like you can when you've only 1, my eldest are only 18 months apart so that was tough, they never napped at the same time. I was in a tired fog for years.

I tried to pump with mine but it felt like too much hassle so I exclusively BF both. Honestly after the first 6 weeks it was so easy.... I coslept with boobs almost out so baby kind of found them as needed and I would half-doze while she fed. It was unfortunately every 2 hours for ages so I had to learn to fall back to sleep quickly after feeds. During the day, I loved having to stop to sit and BF... It allowed me to have much needed rest and catch up on TV. That'll be tricky if you have a toddler demanding stuff but they'll adapt. My oldest was very understanding when I was BFing (though she was 4 at the time) and still is (I have a boobie-obsessed 2.5 year old so we're still going).

I loved not having to prep anything except nappies when out and about. I breastfed everywhere and felt so free.... In parks, on trains, at the library, while watching fireworks, in the middle of the forest. I really miss those days.

I coslept and didn't go back to work.

Same, I fed both my babies this way. Just co- slept. I was seriously sleep deprived though!

Co slept once I felt baby was old enough.

I didn’t co sleep with either DD until they were about one, after that I basically slept topless and they were attached to me, with newborns I was getting up every 2-3 hours to feed and put them back in their moses basket, DH once said to me ‘when you get up to feed her I stir, I’m not sleeping well.’ He’s generally a good egg, I never let him forget that comment . When my first was tiny I occasionally woke him up to change nappy, wind and swaddle

Dh slept in spare room. I co-slept withohr babies but with dc2 we had a bedside crib so i could put dc2 down but still right next to me. That felt safer.

if you actually share bed with the baby, there is lots of good advice about how to set the bed up safely, and don’t share with a partner who sleeps deeply or drinks alcohol as it’s too risky etc.

Also I would definitely say you need to really see EBF as the priority task - not something you squeeze round housework or cooking or grocery shopping or meeting friends. So if you find it tiring then you nap in the daytime when the baby naps. I found that much easier with dc2, I relaxed a lot more even though arguably I was busier (school run long walk twice a day for dc1).

Finally it was much easier with dc2 - I knew how to help baby latch effectively, how to burp the baby and also figure out when my baby was feeding to sleep (dd1 was a chronic comfort feeder! She would often just drop off without me noticing which was a bad habit).

This, but with both my babies one after the other

I never pumped. I co-slept with both of mine and slept while they fed at night.

I am no superwoman but I bf both through to 6 months exclusively when I went back to work (and then combi fed to month 11).

My main tactic was repeating “it’s just a phase, it’s just a phase” alternating with “sleep when you’re dead”. The idea of faffing around with bottles in the middle of the night is dreadful though!!

I went to bed super early like 6pm and husband sat up with the baby watching tv - brought her to me when needed milk and then I was straight back to sleep

we usually swapped around 1am so I’d had around 7 hours sleep (few interruptions for a quick feed)

then I could get through the rest of the night ok! And husband could get enough sleep for work.

A supportive partner was a massive part of it for me. Breastfeeding was my priority so he completely ran the house when my youngests (twins) were newborn and cluster feeding - sorting the older one, doing most of the housework, making sure I had food and water at all times day and night, contact napped so I could get longer stretches of sleep. I breastfed all of mine for over a year, no pumping. I couldn't have done it without him.

It's important to remember that babies don't breastfeed on a schedule (e.g. every 2 hours) for the first several months so, like someone above said, it isn't something you can fit around other tasks easily. You just get comfortable feeding wherever and whenever they need to. Clock watching is a route to madness.

Only co slept for the odd nap - seemed the safest solution all round.

I breastfed mine both until 1 year old.

They were good sleepers, so I’m no help there but I did have a hands free pump - Fraupow - which meant I could do the school run with the eldest (driving and pumping is a game changer) and ironing etc.

Weight fell off me too with the feeding and pumping. We waited until both babies were 12 weeks old before giving them a bottle of expressed - but tbh I always fed them myself and they went with me everywhere. The expressed bottles were solely for when I wanted my hair/nails done, a bath etc and DH had them.

Miss those days but not enough to have another one.