A daft question about breast-feeding.

[McSnail]

I've never had what you'd call small bosoms. Now I'm pregnant they're obviously much bigger, and I assume when the milk comes in they'll be gargantuan.

Is it harder to feed a baby if your boobs are massive? I worry that there'll be too much boob for the wee one to cope with, and I'm going to have to develop some complicated holding technique to prevent child from being smothered. I also worry I'll never be able to breast-feed in public discreetly.

I have large norks and in the beginning I did it tricky. However, once we got the hang of it I did think of it as a bonus, if I'm honest.

At baby group I could sit cross-legged on the floor, baby on lap, with a boob so big he could latch on without me needing to hold him, leaving both hands free for my tea and biscuit. As he got older, ie toddler size, I could lie in the bath and whop my nork over the side of the bath for him to have a feed. How is that for convenient!?

When he was a newborn the rugby ball hold worked best for us, but you probably need to try a variety of holds to see what works best for you. I also found it helpful to gently hold the top bit of my nork out of the way of his nose.

I don't think this is a silly question, btw! The NCT breastfeeding counsellor was really helpful for me in getting a decent hold that we were happy with. The local NCT bumps and babes had a drop in service with a bf counsellor on site, so that's where I went.

Thanks - reassuring. I suppose I just find them so cumbersome, I just assumed it would be a problem!

mcsnail mine are fairly big (dd pre-preg, e now) but they never really got much bigger than a cup size or so during pg or early bf so it might not happen anyway.

I was a 36K when feeding DD and managed fine. Rugby hold worked well, but could also feed across body and lying down. Size was never a problem when feeding...
Sling wearing on the other hand....

I've got quite large norks, and have bfed 3 babies. It's hard to get the discreet bit worked out at first, but it does get easier. Like llareggub, I used to put my finger inbetween her nose and my boob so she could breathe when her head was smaller than my enormous breast!

Thanks folkies - I've posted this on the breast-feeding forum too (which I didn't even notice before. Only ever post on this one!)

some women with big boobs find that putting a rolled up towel under the breast helps to lift the breast enough to assist with latching and avoid smothering the baby with the breast.