Any top tips on Breast feeding / what you wish you had known beforehand ?

[EnchantingRaven]

Hi all

I’m currently 36 weeks pregnant and hoping to ebf my LO and she’ll be our first baby.

I’m sure this is normal but I feel like I have absolutely no idea what to expect / how I’m going to cope! I’ve been reading a lot online and watched some videos on YouTube which there seems to be a lot of focus on the ‘latch’ & ensuring it’s right.

Does anybody have tips or advice of what you found useful when you just started breast feeding / getting the latch right? Is it clear you can hear the baby sucking and then swallowing? (Sorry if that’s a stupid question)

Does it hurt? I’ve read conflicting info some say it’s toe curling others not so much, is this more so down to everyone being different?

I’m also hoping to express milk so my DP can bond with her too and I can have precious sleep too!, I understand you shouldn’t really do this for a few weeks which is fine but again, any tips on how to cope with feeding on demand? Is it literally whenever she needs it so there’s no limit I can feed her? My HV came around at 28 weeks and told me it will literally feel like I’m BF all day for 8 weeks! (I’ve bought nipple cream and nipple shields incase they become sore.) I wish I asked my HV more questions but I’ve had HG throughout this pregnancy and wasn’t particularly feeling great when she was here so I’m kicking myself now.

I’m really excited to meet her but I’m really worried I’m not going to be able to get the breast feeding right! Any other tips / advice would be great too

TIA

Nobody told me about mill coming in, or more about what it actually entailed. I knew the initial stuff was colostrum and liquid gold, but I didn't anticipate that baby would be attached for so long in the first four days (even though I was producing tons of colostrum, we hand expressed 15mls the day after her was born in less than ten minutes but he just wanted more) and I think had I truly understood this then the first few days would have been so much easier, I would have accepted that boob is the way forward and offered it a lot more rather than getting worked up because baby had just fed and was still crying, I had the tools and should have used them more!

They tell you to breastfeed for at least X amount of time and offer both breasts. This resulted in me trying to feed my baby more than he needed. Again nobody told me about over supply and fast let down. He would feed in five minutes flat and I'd be sat there trying to force feed him for a further fifteen because that is what the midwife and all the websites said! Watch our for green foamy nappies as this could be a sign of an oversupply and baby getting too much foremilk/not enough hindmilk. But this in its own right is another controversial area as some say this simply doesn't happen, whilst I had a doctor discuss the possibility, then there's another theory that milk comes in three different forms. It's all very confusing.

You may go through a period of hating it. It's not always sunshine and roses, even when baby latches and you have more milk than you know what to do with. Sometimes you just hate the feeling, if you can perceive it should pass. At one point I was adamant my baby would have breastmilk but I hated the feeling and decided I would exclusively pump. This didn't last.

If you know something is a miss, and you aren't happy with how a HCPs response, ask someone else. We were told colic, we were told fore/hindmilk imbalance, but we finally confirmed baby has cows milk allergy this week at 10 weeks and went back and requested a referral quite bluntly. Don't be fobbed off. If you know you know.

Most importantly, anything that goes to pot in the first 4/8 weeks just tell yourself this will pass. You're still to foggy at that point to make definite decisions. Good luck x

That CMPA is a thing. Wish I'd gone dairy free a few weeks before giving birth, would have made those first few weeks easier!

Never used any creams or lotions or shields, never hurt.

Wish i'd known about the breast filling and emptying, and that the nipple needs to be in baby's throat, hence nipple not getting sore.

Nipple gets sore when baby chomps on it!

just watched a bit of that video, found it made it all look very difficult and complicated! Eergh!

Make a very comfy seat,have a table close by with everything you need on it.

When baby has growth spurt and feeding can be nonstop and draining your breasts just let them keep feeding even if it feels like there's nothing left,same time 24hrs later they'll be full, almost to the minute, its bonkersnhow your body responds.

Also, make sure you are well looked after for those first months. Rest, water, drinks and food.

Expect that your body will need a while to recover from pregnancy and birth.

I seemed to spend years in nursing bras, hated the bloody things! Invest in some really comfy tops and bras, pretty, or whatever you like to indulge in. Easy BF tops.

Feeding as soon as born to get things going well.

Also,blonds do tend to suffer with the paler skin, areola/nipple, with soreness, from what I've heard when comparing notes.

The sensation of passing glass I never had but I did have the beginnings of a blocked duct/mastitis,was such a painful point and followed the sound advice to keep rubbing the sore spot until it went, and it worked.

To help milk flow; alternate hot and cold (I don't mean alternately freeze and boil your breasts, but hot and cold flannels.for instance, will help with let-down (if you're struggling to pump for example)

My top tip is start bottle early and don't worry about mixed feeding if you need to! A bit of both worked for us as I wasn't a massive milk producer. Despite trying everything! The biggest shock was how long it takes compared to bottle! But much easier for night feeds, and I do think early bf can give their immune system a little boost, though difference is negligible.

Start each feed with the breast you last fed from. Wearing an elastic band on that wrist will be a good reminder ie if you last fed from the left, wear an elastic band on the left wrist as a reminder.

Feed on demand. I became so obsessive about recording the time and duration of each feed on my phone/ notepad however it really wasn't necessary.

Conferred immunity from breast milk lasts on beyond stopping feeding and populates the gut with good flora.

Thers is a myth that it's only the colostrum that gives this.

As a result its great for helping baby avoid any nasty tummy infections/upsets.

I had the opposite, bottles were a huge faff, and bood was massively quicker, where as babies all took ages drinking from bottles and were often sick with them, but never were with breast.

I always thanked our successes with BF whenever I saw all the faff around each bottle feed.

One other thing I would add is to try as much as possible to go with your instincts and feed on demand (as a pp mentioned). So many people give so much info that it can feel overwhelming. As long as you're not in pain and baby is gaining weight, don't worry about what it looks like or what others tell you. If it feels ok and baby is having plenty of wet nappies then you're doing fine. But conversely if your instincts tell you something isn't right, don't let people fob you off.

Loads of great advice on here EnchantingRaven. One thing that helped mine latch on, was to position my thumb and forefinger at the edge of my areola, and squeeze my nipple together like an accordion. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it helped get more of my nipple in their mouth, and saved me a lot of soreness. It was a lovely midwife that showed me how to do it, and I can't thank her enough. Good luck!

Oo top tip I just remembered thanks to the pp using fingers to help with latch on, is to use little finger in side of babies mouth to break the suction if for any reason you need to stop!

It's a bugger pulling a baby off your boob, and hurts, a lot,buy by inserting a little finger at the corner of the mouth the suction/vacuum is broken easily.

So much to remember!

There is so much to remember! But I feel so much better after reading all the replies, really appreciate it. 37 weeks now so feeling very real.

Only other thing I was wondering is when you are BF what’s your approach on alcohol? Im attending a few weddings in summer / late autumn. Obviously I’m not going to get drunk but I’d definately like to have some Prosecco while I’m there!

I’ve read up on the NHS site but just wondered what you all did? i.e express in advance or just avoid alcohol in general?

I had a drink or two if I wanted to. You don't need to abstain or express in advance.

Can i ask a question?

I didn't do a very good job of breastfeeding but I wod like to try again if I'm fortunate enough to have a second child.

My issue was that DS would constantly latch on off on off on off on off for hours especially in the evening. When he did feed nicely for a period of time, it was fine, but the constant relatching every minute or so was frustrating.

Was that normal? What might have caused it?

It's not typical no, it could have been because of a tongue tie, or a lip tie that made getting a keeping a good latch tricky. Or it could have been the shape of his mouth, I think a high palate can cause issues with the latch. Or perhaps something like a fast let down? If milk comes out too quick they can stop and start. It's really hard to tell without an expert being able to observe feeds and see what was going on.

However, babies are all totally different and your next baby may not do this at all. I wouldn't worry about it at this point. It's impossible to say if it would happen again.

You can have a drink, don't worry about it. It's not the same as having a drink when you're pregnant. Have some Prosecco if you want to!

Alchohol will affect the baby,the same as eating weird foods,it upsets their stomach, often quite violently.

Further up thread there was talk of stopping diary intake for same reasons of the effect on baby's digestion and generally

I drink and BF. Never bother to pump and dump. I don’t binge drink spirits or anything. But will have a few classes of wine in a special occasion or the odd cocktail. Baby doesn’t like white wine so it obviously affects taste. But to be honest it’s about once every few months.
Alternatively just give a bottle of formula or expressed milk if you drink.
Once you are in a routine you can drink round the feeds. So once baby down for night and you know you won’t feed again for a good few hours, you can have a 🍷

Alcohol won't necessarily affect the baby, neither do "weird foods". Whether drugs go into breastmilk or not is based on their fat solubility. Alcohol is not very fat soluble so it only goes into milk in very small quantities - about 1:1 with your blood. If your blood was at 0.4% alcohol, you would be dead. At 0.2% you're into throwing up and blacking out territory. So being tipsy or even just slightly over the drink drive limit (0.08%) is absolutely fine, but it shouldn't be every night.

You should check before you take any medicines, but everyday painkillers (ibuprofen and paracetamol) are fine, topical creams are fine, vitamins etc are fine. There are breastfeeding safe antidepressants if you need those. The things you need to watch are decongestants (incl lemsip) and antihistamines - both can dry up milk. Caffeine is OK. Cannabis very much not, even if you're away from the baby for the evening. It stays in your milk too long.

You should only go dairy free if your baby has a cow's milk sensitivity, which is rare.

Never bedshare if you've drunk alcohol.

I quoted 'weird foods' because of very upset stomachs after certain foods, all the times I BF.

Are you advocating alchohol consumption Bertie ? Is this medical advice now?

Why would you think Bertie's post is advocating alcohol consumption? It just explains the process of alcohol entering your milk and what to be aware of.

The NHS says that 1 or 2 units once or twice a week is fine.

That's why I asked a question Assassinated something wrong with that now?

Nope just pointing out that absolutely nothing in Bertie's post could be construed as promoting alcohol consumption.

Saying its ok, does give readers potentially the nod to go ahead with something that clearly has no benefit to a baby? Only possible risks.

I only say this because of the evidence of the damaging effects on developing livers that are now seeing significant rise in liver diseases in young teens.

We also don't know the effect of exposure to even small amounts of alcohol.

I have read research relative to the effects of any such substances and increased propensity/susceptibility in offspring.

Each substance has its own inherent risks when it comes into contact with developing brain.

"Wierd foods"??

What on earth does that mean?

You can have the odd drink while breastfeeding. Just don't get too drunk to be in charge of a baby. Same as anybody.

The odd drink is ok, @Smotheroffive

Go for it ladies 😎