[sealeys]

Like a few pp's, it does hurt initially, but it will go away.

If you get cracked/bleeding nipples, get the lanisoh straight away!

RELAX, RELAX, RELAX, RELAX - it doesn't work if you stress too much about it.

Don't worry about volume, they will tell you when they have had enough and they will tell you when they want more.

Finally - having the odd expressed bottle available can help (especially if you have a loving significant other who is willing to get up and do a feed if you are over tired )

Sal

[**Nic**JaylasMum]

Hi all,
I had really bad craked and sore nipples and was told breast milk and airing it would work...the pain killed me and a lovely midwife told me about Lansinoh...use it, it's great

Nic xx

[mamaknits]

I am not an experienced breast-feeder as I have only been at it for a month. these are some of the things I'd like to have known beforehand (not that it would have changed my decision to breastfeed, but it's just nice to know)

1. Despite what everyone says about it not hurting (or that it is not meant to hurt), it does hurt to a certain degree. I had midwives and lactation specialists look at attachment and they didn't think there was a problem, but breastfeeding still hurts at the beginning of each feed.

2. Not everyone will feed for half an hour on each side. My baby didn't - he would feed for 10-15 minutes tops, and only from one side at each feed and was getting enough, based on weight gain and wet/soiled nappies.

3. Breasts leak - even when I am just thinking about the baby!

4. Feeding causes my uterus to contract and the ache is like period pains. I was told by my ob that this gets worse with subsequent children - ugh!

5. Breastfeeding is not a lovey dovey thing for everyone. I don't get any of the emotional sweet as pie responses that I thought I would to breast feeding. I do it because it is good for my baby. In truth, I feel tired and bored during each feed. Recently, I found that I am not alone. I don't feel so weird now.

That's all I can think of now.

celia

[Juni]

I never understood the demand feeding thing (and my bub never demanded, we had to wake her!). It takes a while for your milk to come in and to get it to come in, you need to keep putting bubs to the breast. Bubs may feed, get upset that there isn't enough milk, and cry - get them up and walk with them, try your best to distract them or soothe them, and put them to the boob again in 10-20-30 mins time as there will be MORE MILK! I never understood that I was making more milk constantly and needed to try bubs again within such short amounts of time. Hopefully knowing this will get you through that bit of screaming.

Its also important to look after yourself - eat healthy meals, get lots of snacks and drink plenty of fluids, and get some exercise (no matter how small in the first few days/weeks) to help with your health and milk supply.

Join the ABA now! Even if you don't join, keep their hotline number handy (You don't have to be a member to use the hotline) - phone up and say hello and find out what they can help you with. You don't have to be a member to use the hotline.

Make a booking with a breastfeeding clinic 3-4 weeks prior to when you expect to have breastfeeding issues.. i.e. before you give birth(!).. this is a joke, I'm pretty p*ssed at how long it took me to get in to one to get some help! Don't be afraid to pay for a private lactation consultant - they are worth their weight in gold with the personalised information you'll receive, its nice to have your own cheer squad and it'll (hopefully) save you heaps in formula costs.

[TheFruitcake]

Can't agree with the PP enough! In the first couple of days don't be surprised if you seem to be wedged in a chair or on a bed feeding feeding and more feeding - it doesn't mean you don't have enough milk, it means bub is getting your milk to come in and establishing supply. Have seen WAY too many people start FF after the first day or so as they think the baby constantly feeding means they have no milk, or not enough.

Remember there are growth spurts - it doesn't mean you supply is dropping.

Also that after your milk settles down your boobs stop being so hard and you feel like there is not much in there, but there is, so don't doubt yourself.

Hmmmmm, also that expressing is not indicative of the amount of milk your baby is getting (although I know some people are great at expressing!).

I think that's all I have.

[Obesa cantavit]

1. feed when they are hungry. Dont worry how long their feeds are spaced, just feed them.

2. Im a fan of the "point the nipple in the air and flick into the mouth" technique of attachment. They have good picks in this months mother and baby mag and also the ABA's "Breastfeeding Naturally" book.

3.If you are planning on regularly expressing, start around the 4-6 week mark even if you dont need it then. Its much harder (imo) to start when they are older and get any kind of volume.

and lastly and most importantly:

Not everybody finds it difficult or painfull, so just relax and see how it goes. You might be plesently suprised.

This post has been edited by ~*~Lisa~*~: 30/01/2007, 08:26 AM

[hjv]

Just thought of something I wanted to add about feeding when baby is around 3-5 months. DD1 turned into a total sticky beak at this age and would only concentrate on a feed if I was in a room by myself with no sound and no other distractions ie couldn't read a book or anything. I also had to stand and sway from side to side to get her to feed.
It wasn't that she didnt want breastmilk, she was just too interested in what else was going on and it is fairly commonplace in babies around this age. A lot of people seem to give up around this age and I have often wondered if they think baby is self weaning or something and this is why they wont feed.

It only lasted a few weeks and then things went back to normal.

Helen

[Tassasmum]

9. Don't listen to the people who say buy formula and bottles (just in case). Why waste money unless you actually really need it?

disagree....i had no intentions of needing/using bottles and formula, and when I was discharged at 6 days I still had not got my full milk supply in yet due to complications with pregnancy/birth. I had no money(as dh had a few days till pay day) except $30 dollars, and that doesn't buy you lovely bottles/formula/pump etc.

So I think depending on your circumstances, at least a bottle wouldn't go astray. you shouldn't pre buy formula as it goes off.

Anyway I do agree that comp feeding was my downfall, but no one told me that it was so harmful to my supply, and noone mentioned expressing when I gave a bottle to keep up my supply.

I do beleive that however it works, be comfortable, be relaxed, you are not, and will never be a bad mum. Think of our precious long and short term ttcers who do not have this benefit, and lets be thankful we have a darling children at all to feed anyway that keeps them alive.

I am hoping to fully breast feed this time with not much comping, in fact I have been told to express and store colostrum from 36 weeks so bubs can at least have my stuff before my milk comes in if it takes that long again (10 days!!)

[FortuneCookie]

My tips:

The size of your 1 day old baby's stomach is approximately the same as a regular marble.

The size of your 3 day old baby's stomach is approximately the size of a large marble.

At 10 days old, baby's stomach is only the size of a golf ball.

Babies will need regular feeding as breastmilk is readily digested and metabolised.

The colostrum acts as a mild laxative to help expel the meconium from baby. If you don't feed regularly baby can be at risk of jaundice.

The best way to learn attachment is to see it first hand. Familiarise yourself with breastfeeding before you have baby. Get yourself into a antenatal breastfeeding workshop. Your MCHN should be able to point you in the right direction.

Subscribe to the Australian Breastfeeding Association. Attend the meetings before you have baby and build up a positive, knowledgeable support network to help you through the hard stuff.

Read Breastfeeding....naturally, before you have your baby.

Know and understand the principles of supply and demand.

Enlist your partners/friends support for you breastfeeding. One of the biggest factors in women giving up, is lack of support and information.

Know that even though breastfeeding is natural, it is still a learned skill. You wouldn't buy a new horse and expect to be an Olympic champion at horseriding in the first month! It is a relationship between two, which takes practice and perseverance. Just as you need to learn, so does your new baby.

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. Believe in your bodys ability to nurture your child. You can do it.

Babies born in an unmedicated birth, can and will seek out the breast within the first hour if left skin to skin with mother. Babies have this amazing stepping/crawling reflex which enables them to climb up to your breasts and seek out the nipple, by bouncing and nudging until they attach. This can all be achieved without assistance or placing baby at the breast. If you'd like to know more about this, PM me!

You don't have to offer EBM in a bottle, there are other ways, such as cups, spoons, supply lines, syringes. Using artificial teats may cause nipple confusion.

YOU CAN DO IT!

[bossy-boots]

I would like to add that even though everything may work on your side of the deal ie plenty of milk early on, 'good' nipples, no health complications.... you may just end up with a bub who has trouble attaching for what ever reason (eg jaundice, premmie). That can be hard to understand but be patient with your bub, they learn amazingly quickly and will get there in the end believe it or not.
Also nipple shields are useful for more than just sore nipples-they help with attachment issues and as a bonus can make your bub more open to the idea of feeding from a bottle when you need some time out.
Fiona