Breastfeeding help

[ValleysMumma]

Hi all,
I’m due in 10weeks, 2nd baby.
My Son is 10 this year so it’s been a while and I wasn’t able to BF him due to complications at delivery.

I want to breastfeed this time around but as I’ve never done this before, I have some questions…

Do I need to buy a pump? All websites say differently, is it worth buying one or waiting until after?

I’ve been told BF is super painful at first, is this true? I just want to prepare myself for the inevitable if that’s the case.

I’ve also been told to buy cold pads for my breasts along with nipple cream, does anyone have any recommendations for these sorts of things?

Thank you!

Do not buy a pump - wait until you establish feeding.

Stay in bed as much as you can and give baby easy access to the breast. Drink plenty of water and make sure your other half knows this is what you want as you will need their support.

Breast milk is easy to digest so the baby will want to feed more often than bottle fed babies.

Get the hospital to check latch and give you support. Are there any local breastfeeding groups?

Good luck

Breastfeeding is all about good attachment. Do some reading on it so you are prepared. Expect baby to feed on demand this could be every 2 hours it could be every 4 hours. Feeds can last 10 min can be an hour. Cluster feeds can be long

If you get a good attachment it's not pain full but yes sometimes it's hurts.

I wouldn't use a pump immediately wait a month or so. If you are pumping get a good one. I had a medela it was excellent. I borrowed one from my health visitor team for a month then bought one. It did help

Be prepared to feed anywhere and in front of others otherwise feeding will restrict your life.

I'd buy one of those silicone pumps that you just squeeze lightly and place on the breast to relieve engorgement. They are cheap and easy to use even if not needed much. I wouldn't buy a more expensive pump unless I knew I'd need it.

I struggled with BF initially but my baby now latches well and is EBF, after lots of support and a tongue tie removal.

1. look up la leche league International and The Breastfeeding network and ask your midwife about local specialise breastfeeding support.
2. look at their resources on Positioning and Attachment
3. get yourself a breastfeeding pillow and some lansinoh or Boots/other own brand nipple cream
4. do plenty of skin to skin with baby. Don't have any visitors that you're not comfortable breastfeeding in front of (at least not visiting for more than 15 minutes). Prioritise time with baby to let them latch and feed well.
5. ask for support in hospital -they have specialist feeding teams.
6. they will be able to advise if they think pumping is necessary. If it is I'd suggest you hire a hospital grade pump to begin with. They can deliver next day mainland UK.
7. the best advice i had was "it's natural like walking. Not natural like breathing" - it takes some practice and there are often some stumbles along the way.

Very best of luck

No to buying a pump yet. I did find a Haakka silicone collector useful though. Lansinoh nipple cream was a lifesaver for me. A little painful at the start when they got latch but after a few weeks it was a breeze.

Ps try (I know it's easy to say) to relax and enjoy.

I wouldn't buy a pump either.
Learn how to manually express - you can practice with collecting colostrum once you are at 37 weeks. I didn't manage to collect any and didn't need it but it gave me chance to figure out manually express which helped a lot when I had engorgement when my milk came in.

I was very leaky and underestimated how leaky I would be so ended up buying two sets of reusable pads so I would recommend first using disposable ones and then buy reusable ones if breastfeeding works out and you know what your needs are. It also meant that at first a silicon haakaa like pump fitted my needs. Then she developed a bottle aversion. After we got her over one period of this I got a manual pump as I didn't struggle for milk and this was enough. She later developed another bottle aversion so I never really expressed enough to warrant paying a lot for a pump.
I introduced a bottle around 3 weeks and my friends that waited until 6 weeks weren't able to make the switch. My daughter had reflux and allergies and these were behind the bottle aversions. We probably used bottles too inconsistently too which is something I would do differently if I was to have issues again.

I would like to pass on the experiences of my grandmother too as she had issues with breastfeeding. She never produced enough milk. She and a difficult time with her first born as he had a heart defect. With my mum and auntie she didn't have enough milk for them. Fortunately her sister also had babies of the same age and topped them up. You read people all the time saying our grandparents never had these issues. They did they just had a village in the same circumstances and they could help out. I also have the glass bottle that my paternal grandfather with fed with back in the 30s in my display cabinet. I wish you every success this time around and any breastmilk is wonderful but if it doesn't happen you have tried your best. Good luck!

You don't need a pump initially. Later on I chose to get one.

Breastfeeding can be painful to some, establishing a good latch is really important. Fwiw I never had any pain in the early days or at any point, ever (though I think this is uncommon) and I'm still bf my 17 month old.

Don't bother with a pump. In the early days you probably won't have time to use it! I found it mildly useful later on to express milk to put in his porridge, but it's really not necessary at all. Some women just can't express efficiently with a pump, but a baby can get loads of milk out.

It's NOT super painful at first. Your nipples will get increadibly sensitive almost to the point of pain, but if you're experiencing pain then the latch needs to be adjusted.

Lansinoh nipple gel (sorry I've spelled that wrong) was all I used, but honestly I didn't need a lot of it! Just now and then when I had several days of painful latching. The pain just disappeared, and you don't have to wipe it off before the next feed.

All the best - I had a horrendous two weeks with my son and then after that it all fell into place and it was a breeze! If you are struggling I would strongly urge you to give it at least this long before making a final decision to continue or switch to formula. Call the breastfeeding hotline, go to breastfeeding support groups, make full use of services like this when you need to talk to someone.

Thank you everyone for your support.
I will definitely take everything onboard.
I have bought a BF pillow, lasinoh cream and some colostrum collectors. I have ordered a Hakka too just for the beginning.

In regards to renting the hospital grade pumps, does anyone have any recommendations for how to do this? I just want to be prepared incase I need to do this.

Thank you all again!

My hospital hire out pumps for two weeks if you need one, to give you chance to buy one. That means they give you a good one, show you how to use it well, and you’re familiar with it before you go home. They’ll sort it, if you need it.

Pumping in the early weeks can cause issues so Ferrell it’s not recommended until later on, unless it’s needed.

Silver nipple cups like these are a godsend:

Koala Babycare Silver Nipple Shields NickelFree - Silver Cups Breastfeeding for Nursing Newborn - Protect and Soothe your Nursing Nipples - Made in Italy - Medical Device Class 1 - Tri-laminate Silver amzn.eu/d/hxmkjJR

I found these better than nipple cream.

My experience of the hakka was
Uncomfortable pulling on my breast OR not enough suction, it falls off and milk goes everywhere. I gave it away, it wasn't worth the tears.