Breast feeding help please

[SeaNanners]

Hey guys was wondering has anyone used a Medela calma teat ? i am using born free glass bottles for LO atm for when OH feeds him or guests want to feed him but he seems to have trouble with his latch after using them

Also breast milk storage containers which works best

If it's confusing him I wouldn't bother letting guests feed him? I can understand OH giving a hand but surely a cuddle will be sufficient for guests?

Well everyone wants to help out were a really close knit family i looked up the medela calma and the bottles and it seems great for us i already have the medela freestyle pump

i also produce a LOT of breast milk baby is only a month old this week and my flow it really increasing at a fast pace i pumped about 4 250ml bottles just for yesterday alone and my colostrum came out think and fast too when i first fed in the hospital OH isn't complaining though my chest looks like Katie price lol

Has anyone used the avent cups at all ? Or the lasinoh bags

Just a quickie - slight hijack. If you have lots of milk and express your supply will increase. If you want it to match baby then don't express and out up with a couple of days of very sore swollen boobs until they calm down and match baby!

No advice except to say you might get a better response if you post this in the Breast Feeding topic as there are some very helpful ladies in there.

Guidelines suggest you stick to bf for the first six weeks to avoid nipple confusion - this may explain why your lo is struggling to latch after a bottle.

Well OH needs to feed him too so we need to express and i don't see how i can't not express my clothes would be soaked with milk if i didn't i just don't know what to store the milk in we have been using Tupperware boxes for the past few weeks i was producing colostrum before he was even born it's a nightmare even the midwife has said i have produced astronomical amounts of milk don't know how to stem the flow though :(

You can freeze bm. And also donate to your local neo natal unit. Your mw may be able to help with that.
In answer to your baby finding it difficult to latch after bottle feeding, it may be easier to wait two more weeks.

Breast milk works on a supply and demand basis. Thr more you breastfeed and express the more milk you make. I know you want your husband to help but how about exclusively breastfeeding for two weeks? That will sort your supply out, stop you over producing and avoid nipple confusion.

You can buy special bags for storing breast milk in to make sure its stored correctly and sterile.

I found the storage bags best. Larger boots do them.

I'm using the Boots own brand freezer bags with no problems. I also had a fair supply in the early days and I'm now donating. That said, by four months, my supply has really evened out to match my baby.

The confusion issue may not last, but you might want to take a break from bottles while a good latch gets established (for the sake if your own boobs). We use nuk bottles, but bought slow teats for the early weeks (they come with medium flow). We sometimes bottle-fed ebm because we were having problems with latch post-nicu.

I use Lansinoh bags, never had a leak!

I agree with the others, nipple confusion common in early days, I would wait couple of weeks and then get DH involved in feeding again. If you want to stop expressing so much, just hand express enough to ease the discomfort & prevent leakage, you're making your body think baby needs all this milk by expressing it off. Otherwise get the details of your local nicu donation scheme. Home Bargains have decent storage bags, and Avent bottles with caps work well too. Both can go in freezer for up to 6 months. You shouldn't use Tupperware, storage containers need to be sterile.

Lasinoh bags look good but what about the bottles ? are they worth it ? i have tried stemming my supply but it won't ease up and get into rhythm with my boy :( its so frustrating and painful when i don't express it leaks out and wets through my pads and onto my top it seems like i need more changes than the baby :( and its mortifying when guests come over and i go wet in front of them i have ordered medela calma teats to try out apparently my breast pump comes with one if i had bough it from mother care i can't breastfeed all the time as i have clothes to wash and everything else to do OH is useless at housework so he feeds LO and i do it all when i can

The little freezer bags are great for storing milk, plus they are sterile which is obviously key.

In terms of feeding, the more you express, the more you will make. I didn't know this and ended up with oversupply. The best way is to express is after a feed and morning tend to be when you have the most milk. I also donated to the milk bank which was lovely!!

It's great that family want to help out. There are lots of ways they can aside from feeding. Cooking, housework, cuddles. I would max out those and nab the feeding for now!

There is a great breast and bottle feeding section under feed the world. Loads of help and support over there

The more milk you express the more your body will produce. If you want your milk supply to settle down a bit you need to stop pumping.

I tried not pumping for 2 weeks and still produced same amount of milk only it was wasted because my clothes were soaked in it was also vvv painful

Can you explain to DH that pumping is increasing yuppie supply so you'll be taking a break from it and just feeding direct? I know you are unhappy with leakage but the pumping is going to make this problem worse by increasing supply. Your baby may start to find it difficult to cope with oversupply as well. Can you go to a bf group to get rl support?

If you leak on the other side while bfing you might want to look at breast shells to collect the milk while you feed. Don't forget that pumping is time consuming too so if you can cut down on that you'll have more time. Having said that, I agree that for the first 6-8 weeks I'd recommend that you feed the baby and DH does everything else! If he's useless at housework now is the time to learn!

Calma tears can be useful for bf babies but they are not like normal teats IME and not as easy to feed with, so you'd have to ' train' everyone who wants to help.

I meant increasing your supply of course, stupid phone!

If you have a breastfeeding support group near you try and go along. They can help you manage your supply and find your own way of doing things.

The breastfeeding helpline 0300 100 0212 or Le Leche 0845 120 2918 are fab.

Your supply is driven by hormones for the first few weeks and oversupply happens for some. Expressing will obviously increase that but oversupply is no fun. It can make feeding difficult, your boobs sore and you are at risk of mastitis.

How is your baby feeding otherwise? Have they been checked for tongue tie?

Yes he is feeding great midwife is happy with his weight gain he is a big boy his age, he doesnt have tongue tie he just finds it confusing that my nipple isnt shaped like a bottle teat

Them I would just stick to breastfeeding for a bit longer until he has properly got the hang of it.