Has anyone used the Thompson Method for Breastfeeding?

[Luna88]

I am a first time mummy to be and feel quite passionate about breastfeeding. I have heard it can be so painful and only 15% of mums continue to breastfeed to 6 months. I have found this Australian method which promises of pain free breastfeeding, which understandably sounds like something every mother would like to experience! It’s called the Thompson Method and they have an offer on at the moment selling all the information including videos and seminars at half price. I just wondered if anyone had used it or knew anyone that had? Is it really as good as it sounds?
Thank you!

I honestly think breastfeeding depends on what brand of baby you get. Once the latch is on its good to go. I found it easy barring the chapped nipples that were easily sorted out.

There is no right or wrong way to breast feed. However some babies fit differently to others.

I haven't specifically reported you I've reported the entire thread as it appears to be a mass advertising spamfest. If you'd spent any time on here before posting you'd realise that with huns and bubbas you may be more suited to nethuns hth

Free Thompson method. Nobody on here would be thick enough to pay for such foolery.

Sorry Hun.

I really don’t know where to start. I purchased the program in my third trimester. The Thompson Method gave me the knowledge and strength to turn down induction and have the birth I wanted. That was my first win. My second win came when my husband and I were able to say hands off to any nurse that tried to assist with his initial latch. I wanted to let him crawl and latch in his own time. My THIRD win was when my baby consistently latched and fed well during every feed despite the nurses telling me to follow their approach. It was only when we were admitted following my baby’s hypoglycemia related to my gestational diabetes that I gave in to the nurses in the hopes that their method would allow Henry to feed “better” and get more milk. I regretted it immediately. I cried after the nurse left following her trying to shove him onto my breast and him biting down with his gums out of frustration and I’m guessing panic - everything had been gentle and in his own time with TTM. I even let my midwife hold my breast and shape it to his mouth even while my heart screamed for it to stop. Everything just felt wrong. I told my husband when he came back to the hospital and we agreed that from then on, if we had to supplement with formula, we would, but no one would be hands on while I fed. The Thompson Method really is pain free. Not just for mum but for baby too. It’s gentle and calm. I asked the nurses after that awful day to leave the room when I fed and even with the attitude I received, it was worth it. I was able to relax, talk to my boy and tell him that it was just him and I, that no one was rushing or pushing, and he would be okay and safe with me. I felt my body relax and he latched consistently. Because my supply hasn’t come in high enough quantities yet, I do have to supplement but his latch IS painless, and whenever I need clarification or help, I go onto The Breastfeeding Club or send a message. TTM is so worth it that I honestly do tell my friends to join and nag them until they do.

Im glad this post has been reported. Its been going for ages now and its just free advertising via MN.

Sounds like a money making scheme. I ebf for 6 months and still bf at 18 months and never found it excruciating at all. I also felt quite passionate about it and didnt even consider formula (not that I judge women who ff) They arent heavily encouraged but I used nipple shields for the first few weeks and didnt get any cracked nipples, just a bit of soreness. Managed to wean him off then at 3 weeks and used nipple cream in between. Good luck ive loved bf my DS.

I reported it too, but sadly they just removed the comment from the "doctor" apparently running this scheme and left the rest of the thread up. Which is a shame as it is blatant advertising of a business taking advantage of vulnerable new mums :(

Thank you for another blatant advertising spam responce

The comments in favour of this scheme are very similar in style ...

It's a service that charges for advice you can get for FREE. If you want to waste your money, go for it, but there are huge numbers of free resources e.g. la leche league, kellymom etc.

If you need advice, there are so many people you can ask for it. Yes, for many mums breastfeeding is uncomfortable - my DD was a bit on the tiny side, so her little mouth wasn't big enough for a decent latch until she was a couple of weeks old. That made things uncomfortable for those weeks.

This thread is just profiteering and targeting vulnerable new mums with advertising that promises a miracle. Very poor.

It's interesting. I also reported a comment that is deleted but not the thread.
The stuff about not listening to your doctors was particularly dangerous I thought.

Excuse me for going slightly off the topic. But does anyone use nipple sheild just to help with baby’s latching? It was impossible for my baby to latch on early due to my flat nipples and after waiting around for 5 days I found this online. And he latched in instantly. BF been breeze since then. Just wanted to know if what I’m doing is right.. id rather have shield’s help than not BF at all
Any advise please..? Anyone else using it and how do you like it

Wow just found this thread after researching the Thompson method and I'm a bit shocked. Was recommended to try it by my husband's cousin who is having her third baby, she tried it because the advice from her midwife and lactation consultant just didn't work for her. From the comments I think il hold off and see how I go as obviously not everyone will have issues from the start and undoubtedly there.are plenty of great free resources to try first. Several of my friends had major issues with pain though which almost put them off at the start which is why I was generally interested in doing my own research and learning before baby comes. I do think this thread seems a bit toxic though towards anyone who choses to pay for additional help. Each to their own.

I wish I had read this thread before I purchased. At least I can add one more testament for others who might be thinking about purchasing this course. I bought it while pregnant thinking breastfeeding is oh so complicated and there has got to be a secret to making it easier, or doable. Clearly I had already fallen for the pitch.

I went through the course twice, took screenshots of the recaps for my personal notes. I did everything. I only hadn’t really spent any time in the group.

Then I had my baby. She was eager to nurse minutes after she was born. She latched and it felt like I had a baby piranha biting me.

I have a baby with a tongue and lip tie. I was in excruciating pain when she latched. So I ran for help in the group. You know what they said? “Watch the videos.” I wanted to say “Uh yeah I had to buy the course to join this group so obviously I’ve watched the videos. Why would I buy a course and not watch the videos? Maybe don’t be demeaning and assume I haven’t done my due diligence before asking for help and maybe don’t waste my time and actually help me and don’t make me suffer longer because you can’t not be lazy and must assume I can’t do things right?” Obviously I was tired and worn and in pain, and my frustration was tangible.

But I rewatched the videos all the same. I pressed on thinking I had to be doing it wrong. I reviewed and watched the videos and kept trying perfect using the Thompson Method. Still it hurt.

I literally cried to my husband in the middle of the night as she latched “Haven’t I gone through enough birthing her?”

I asked twice more for help and only on the third try did I get sent to one of the live Q&A videos. While watching it I found out a very important thing:

There isn’t a method. This course is regular old breastfeeding selling on the basis of fear that it will hurt (spoiler, it will and I wish I hadn’t been fooled by this course into thinking it wouldn’t if I did everything right - I literally felt like I was doing something wrong when I absolutely wasn’t), trick phrases like “Only 15% of women are exclusively breastfeeding at 6 months” (spoiler, babies start solids at 6 months so most women are not exclusively breastfeeding by then), and making breastfeeding sound like rocket science, and worst of all it sells to women who did not have the most perfect circumstances in their birth, making them believe that they made bad decisions or were given a bad hand when the fact of the matter is that breastfeeding is simply hard, particularly at first. It’s excruciatingly painful at first, lip and tongue tie or not. My midwife helped me realize that my experience was not an unusual one. In fact it was normal.

Breastfeeding is not about symmetry, not about not holding the baby on the diaper, not about these ridiculous “Golden three hours”. Breastfeeding is about getting through the most painful first few weeks, nipple butter, and being hydrated. That’s what it’s about.

There is no magic trick. There is nothing wrong with the other methods that were maligned in this course. In fact, on my fourth day of feeling like I was going to die of pain and after doggedly sticking to the Thomson Method, my mom sent me some Le Leche videos. We got her to latch a little differently and a little deeper. It helped a lot. But even with that the pain didn’t go away entirely for another few weeks.

Why? Not only is your baby learning how to latch, your nipples are getting sucked on very hard for at least ten, twenty minutes at a time, many times a day. A baby sucks so hard it gives any of your regular flesh a bad hickey in 0.5 seconds. Seriously, my baby missed once and I felt the blood vessels breaking.

That why it hurts. And it’s normal. There’s an acclamation period, and that’s the nature of breastfeeding. It is hard and it gets easier. I now can feed my baby any which way and asymmetrically without pain. This course does basically nothing other than to bide time until it gets better all by itself and takes the credit for it, when really it’s just your amazing body adapting like a champ to big demands it’s never had to do before. I’m glad I stopped following their advice so I could see that it didn’t actually help me, and at least be able to warn others away from it.

Don’t buy this course. Save your money for some good nipple butter and electrolyte drinks. Those are what you really need.

All the pro-thompson replies on this thread are utter bollocks. They're all written in exactly the same manner.

Honestly this sounds like an absolute scam

@Forgotten447

It doesn't have to hurt though, dd1 did, but she was born in the U.K. and I was left to get on with it, got the impression they would have preferred me to bottle feed when I asked for help. Dd2 born in USA and was helped to latch less than 5 mins after birth (nearer 2 hours for dd1) and no pain at all. I know I had more confidence with dd2 but proper positioning and feeding immediately really helps - you don't need a course, you need properly trained staff in hospitals with time to explain,

@minniemoocher
It does though for a lot of people though. A lot of things have to fall in place for zero pain to be the case without an adjustment period. Mom’s nipples can’t be overly sensitive, baby needs to be lucky and latch deeply right from the start (mine didn’t despite everything Thompson Method advocates for being in place and having a good midwife to help), baby has to not be a monster and instead suck gently (even pumps hurt if you turn them up too high and that is very individual what hurts), mom have reasonable sized nipples compared to baby’s mouth (mine are each a different size and literally one was far less painful than the other), and have no lip or tongue ties present. There’s a reason people say breastfeeding is hard. You’re lucky if it’s a breeze from the start.

Now that we’ve gone through our adjustment period, nothing hurts at all.

Women should know that like childbirth, it is painful but they’ll get through the tough part, and soon they will be nursing without pain. Without paying for a course that peddles hurtful and useless propaganda.

Absolute idiocy. It's truly late stage capitalism to try and monetise even the most primal act.

Hi huns 🙋🏻‍♀️

I was once like you, worried about the awful pain of breastfeeding and how I’d cope.

Then I discovered The Thomson Method (TM) !!!

With just one weird trick I discovered the secret that NHS lactation consultants don’t want you to know !!!

Best money I ever spent - and if you really loved your bubby-wubby you’d buy it too !!!

...

I jest obviously.

Join LLL and you’ll have free support and a network of local friends you can call if you run into problems. Because if you do run into problems you need someone to actually watch you and offer advice. Not a generic video.

Hi 'hun'

How much were you paid for your post?

So I just recently joined the Thompson method. So there are good points but also really bad points.
Good points

1. great overview of breast feeding and how to maximise chances of successful breastfeeding
2. they do have a fb group where you can ask questions.
3. i believe the 3 golden hours is true but there can be exceptions
4. i believe not holding the baby at the back of the next is also great as i do reckon breast trauma happens from this.

bad points

1. Robin thompson recommends things that exhaust you like letting the baby feed till satisfaction but this can be hours and they are only doing it for comfort. and the mother is left with minimal sleep/exhaustion. I personally do not think this is necessary.
2. there is this negative horrible vibe towards hospitals in the course, like they are horrible people out to get you. i personal opinion is they set up fear in the hearts of mothers towards the medical system. i know somethings are not great but honestly hospitals are a blessing to all pregnant women eg. life threatening situations and epidurals if excruciating pain.
3. if you ask a question on the fb group, they only give you reference to a video which sort of gives you the answer (and for exhausted sleep deprived mums this does not help). they also give every excuse why you have this problem. like supplements, your period returning etc... when personally it may be an issue in some instances but not all. i couldnt stand that crap.
4. Robin thompson can be really irritating when answering questions in the fb group. i found her constantly saying i cant answer the question because i dont have all the information (and she would say this at least 20x in the online chat- this irritated me beyond belief, like why cant she just answer the question as best as possible and give all the possibilities). So then if a mum gave her all the information she would say the post is too long and would need to answer the question one on one as not enough time to go through. so really your damned if you do and damned if you dont.

look i personally think i would have prefered not knowing about the thompson method for my first baby.
I have recently found the 'Happy baby code membership from Jen Butler amazing and she actually helps you in her fb group and she is wonderful and not so hateful towards hospitals.