Breastfeeding!

[Twounder1]

I'm having some troubles with my 5 day old ds.
He just seems to have problems latching on :(
Any advice? I have him in the right position, do the nipple to nose thing. He just gets really frustrated. Any advice?

Google or YouTube biological nurturing. Lots of people have problems with nose to nipple and its quite artificial. Worth tryong before baby gets worked up for a feed, you need to be relaxed too. Otherwise get yourself to a breastfeeding clinic if you have any locally.

It's a big learning curve for your baby and takes a LOT of patience to get things right. I used to unlatch my LO about 10 times a feed the first few weeks.

I don't know how much you have been shown/experience with BF so won't talk about it here in case I'm going over stuff you know. BF is so bloody hard but once you both crack it it's awesome!

Have a look at Jack Newman's website.

I thought my LO had a shallow latch but turns out not at all. If there is no pain for you and you can see your baby swallow (look at their throat) should be a suck suck swallow pattern, you should be fine till the MW or HV is in and can check for you.

Stick at it mamma, you are awesome!!!

I should add, let down pain is normal but nipple pain not. I am also assuming your MW is still in everyday? If not give them a call in the morning to come and see the latch and feed.

Don't be surprised if you end up having a couple of long long nights with cluster feeding, it's brutal but normal.

If your baby is having plenary wet nappies it's a great indicator of things going well x

Some great advice on here already OP. Definitely have a look at Dr Jack Newman’s website. He also has some videos on YouTube.

Kellymom is a good resource too. Hace a read of Bfing your newborn: what to expect in the early weeks and Latching Resources.

Agree with calling your MW. If you can, try to get to a Bfing Support Group too. You can also ring one of the Bfing Helplines, have yiu got the numbers?

How are you getting on today?

Congratulations on your lovely new LO too

There is no "right position" OP. Work on a position that works for you and baby. Also relax as baby will be able to feel that you are tense. In the early days I found making a "c" shape with my thumb and index finger around my nipple really helpful.

Hope you had a good night OP, let us know how you are doing.

Don't worry, I'm not one of these formula is evil people, just someone who has been through the crying on the floor cause you want to stop bf but feel some weird sense of guilt about it.

I've been there - it's really tough (especially at night) - but you can do it.

I'd recommend trying to find a breastfeeding support group or lactation consultant (lots of areas offer free support) & getting some help from them. Good luck - it definitely will get easier!

I came across this video recently to send to a friend having her first, I think it is really helpful with technical instructions. I also really recommend lying down or back and supported and supporting baby to crawl up and latch. m.youtube.com/watch?v=y--syZR0u1E&ebc=ANyPxKq0Wp95PkCzac_BHGCezhS0Bnek5_gDKtq017owICuPZKT7f7vVTE6genRREjOlzE0wOEniRrwI79fbUwbiDMhw-PfCEg

How are you getting on tonight @Twounder1?

I used to hold my nipple and squeeze it a bit into the right shape for baby's mouth in the early days

Hi. have you tried using a nipple shield? My baby had such trouble latching on and due to the pain I was in and him not gaining weight I was so close to giving up. I tried a shield have three months on I've never looked back! Worth a try?

I'd second the use of nipple sheilds. Ds is nearly 12 weeks and I wouldn't be going still without them. Only thing is now I'm struggling to get him off them but that really doesn't matter

Hi all, had two really hard days. I had to go to the hospital for his heel prick test today and mentioned the breastfeeding issue. He's all good, no tongue tie etc.
Managed to get home and leave a message with the breastfeeding team. He has thankfully latched on quite a lot tonight but still really hungry. But I guess my milk still hasn't come in yet. I did look for some nipple sheilds but couldn't find any in asda :(

If you're managing to get a comfortable latch you're doing great. Your milk should come in soon but putting him to the breast often will encourage it and help increase your supply when he needs it.

So many of us have been there, like PP have said, crying through it & wanting to quit but feeling too guilty. You're doing a fantastic job but be kind to yourself and don't push further than is good for you. Formula is not evil and combination feeding I honestly believe saved me from PND.

Me too Bobbiepin, I combo fed, only thing that allowed me to sleep for 4 hours straight 👍🏼.

You are doing great mrs, bf is really hard for the first while, in fact - it sucks! BUT it gets better and a lot easier. I took my LO on a 13 hour flight and the only thing that got us through it was magic boobies!!!

I would say, unless you have bad cracking that is painful and bleeding steer clear of the shields, they can fuck things up a bit.

The more bambarino is latched the quicker your milk will adjust. These little tykes know that and hence you get awful cluster feeds every now and again.

You are awesome for sticking with it this long, think of all those amazing antibodies and nutrients you have provided!

Best piece of advice I ever got - when you are on the floor crying your eyes out saying you can't do this anymore - give yourself 48 hours and if you still feel the same then quit. Don't make an emotional decision. Usually by the morning I was ok again and glad I didn't give up. I always allowed myself the time though, it helped - I used to say, at least it is just till Friday... by the time Friday came I didn't want to give up anymore. BUT if you do want to give up then you gave yourself time to make a rational decision and you are doing what is right for you both.....

HAPPY MUM = HAPPY BABY 🍼 (well most of the time!)

x

@mumontherunn are you secretly me? I used to do the same. Wouldn't allow myself to quit when I was tired. Made DH take DD with a bottle ready so I could get some sleep & make the choice when I had slept and felt a bit better.

I agree with take it one day, one feed at a time if you have to. Also, unless anyone in the hospital was a Lactation consultant then don’t put too much stock in the fact they said the baby didn’t have a tongue tie. The proper assessment is a page long with only half of it to do with how the tongue looks.

Twounder he has latched on now- seriously that's it, you're there. He will seem hungry as he will now be sorting your milk supply and sucking it through. Keep at it, sounds like it's gonna be a great success

Is combination feeding okay then? My midwife with dd when I was really struggling breastfeeding told me to stop being so pathetic basically and to never combination feed..
The midwife who delieved ds told me it was probably very necessary and to expect to combination feed because of how big he was. I never know if I'm doing the right thing or not :( do they really get confused?
Thank you all for your replies :) x

I found lying on my side with baby on bed the only way to do it in the earliest days. No other positions worked for us

If you want to it's okay, personally i wouldn't as I prefer to b feed, no sterilisation and cheap.

The size of him won't make a difference, how old is the midwife? That's bad advice. You produce enough milk and adapt to your baby, your baby pretty much controls your supply, it is all very clever. you could get him weighed if worried but factor in that he will have lost some weight as is normal after birth
My baby took a while to latch on, but when he did that was it. First night from hospital (night 3 as had c section) he cluster fed all night. Seemed hungry, but this is normal behaviour. Go on to kelly mom website, it is really good. Also look up cluster feeding on there.
Some people have problems with supply, but I don't think it is that common.

Agreed, supply is often thrown around but very very rarely the issue.

I combination fed purely for some sleep as my LO was very very slow feeder, she would be an hour and a half each feed with maybe an hour or two in between, by day 8/9 I was a danger to myself and to her, I actually walked into the toilet door, fell over my own feet in the hall and was a complete mess! My DH taking a feed gave me the rest I needed to be a better mum.

If you choose to go down that road it may be trial and error,
Dr browns bottles caused chaos with her latch and took my 3 days to fix it but the tommee tippee where fine.

Remember midwives have to officially follow the guidance, if you get a good one they often say - I'm not supposed to say this but from experience.....

My MIL is a infant feeding lead and said 1 comp feed (bottle) a day won't do any harm. It also meant when she was a little older I could escape to the hairdressers for a couple of hours and she could be fed (either expressed or formula)

If you are going combi then the worst time to do it is at night when your prolactin is highest ( have a little read at kelly mum or jack Newman on this).

There is SO much advice and guidelines out there that it makes us lose trust in our own instincts- you know in your heart what is right for you and your baby. As long as there are plenty of wet and dirty nappies, you are both doing just fine xxx

Thank you all x midwife was quite young.
Couldn't believe my eyes. Really lovely looking young Greek man. If only childbirth as prettier 😂 he was a bit concerned that because I've had problems breastfeeding my first and have hormonal imbalance etc that I'd need to combination feed. Dp does try and feed him but if I could I just want my milk to come through. He still seems to be struggling with the latch but I'm supposed to be hearing back from the breastfeeding team today and going to a breastfeeding group this week. At least I know he's getting something though

Best of luck, and I hope everything goes well for you. I'm sure in a couple of days you will have milk soaking through your top at the worst moment and wondering why you were ever worried

Do some reading about combination feeding. I dont know why its not spoken about more. It seems to be breast or bottke and nothing in between. I would (personally) wait for your milk to come in before giving a bottle of formula as you need baby to be suckling to bring your milk in and if you are still wanting to bf then introduce bottles one at a time. After a difficult first month I brought in one bottle and it did both DD and I the world of good. I didn't start introducing more bottles until 4 months as that one was enough for us until then. DD is now 5 months and has 3 bottles a day.