A little help...

[Moulder86]

Morning all,

I had my lil one early hours Friday morning he fed for nearly two hours an hour after csection. I've got sore nipples so sometimes I cringe when he needs feeding but I do it and in trying to change things to prevent more sore nipples.

I just have a couple questions, I've heard his tummy grumbling when bf, does this mean he's hungry an not getting enough or is it wind or something else??

In the hospital they said to give him a small amount of milk to top him up as he wasn't settling our next night in, if I still do this at home will it be the wrong thing to do and go against bf???

How can I change the way he latches on without really knowing what I'm doing??

Does it matter he sleeps when he's feeding or should I be trying to keep him awake??

Any help would be grately appreciated xx

 

[Rachel_C]

Congrats. I remember the toe-curling pain of when LO latched at first... it did get better though.

A grumbling or gurgling tummy doesn't mean he's hungry. For you to hear it it must be loud... I'd suggest it's wind! As long as LO is happy though, I wouldn't worry about it. You could try making sure to wind him extra well after a feed but otherwise if he's okay, there's no need to do anything.

I would urge you not to top him up with anything. Simply put, yes topping up works against breastfeeding. If you do it, your boobs won't know to make the extra milk he needs so they won't make it, which means he'll need the top ups even more as he grows. Honestly, a young baby might not settle at night - it's quite common for them to want to feed all night at first, or at least feed for 10-60 minutes, sleep a few minutes, wake again, poo, feed, sleep for 10 minutes etc. If you use a bottle to top LO up, you risk him rejecting the breast too, and that can be difficult to recover from.

Have you seen videos of well latched babies? Dr Jack Newman has some on his website I think and his Facebook page is a good one to follow for loads of great advice.

If LO is still sucking while asleep, leave him to it You should see a little pause every few sucks if he's actually getting milk (can be hard to spot!) or you might be able to hear him swallow if you get very close/get OH to get close. Even if he's not actually getting milk, the sucking will stimulate your supply which is great so let him. If he is not getting milk while asleep and he's not feeding for long while awake, I'd try keeping him awake a bit longer to make sure he's getting enough milk.

 

[sheldonsmommy]

I would recommend against supplementing as well. When you feed on demand, baby is telling your body how much to produce by how much he is eating.

The tummy grumbling is probably him swallowing air. But I find I get really hungry when I BF, and occasionally I can't tell who made which noise lol. Try to burp him often to prevent discomfort.

In the early days I would let my baby nurse to sleep, and it was great. I could tell he was done eating when he would start doing a vibrating suck (hard to explain but you'll know). But if I unlatched him and he still wanted to comfort suck, I'd give him a soother.

Getting a good latch is important to prevent your nipples from getting cracked or scabbed. Try to get as much boob in baby's mouth as possible by rubbing your nipple on his upper lip and when he opens his mouth wide, push your boob in there. If it doesn't work and he gets a shallow latch, stick your finger in baby's mouth to break the seal (don't pull off this will kill!) and try again.

Lansinoh nipple cream was my saviour!!

 

[purpleslurple]

Put on the lansinoh and cover your nipples with cling film after every feed - I did this for about a week and it helped to stop my nipples from cracking and provided some relief.

I promise you that if you can get beyond 2 weeks everything will fall in to place - don't supplement him just offer him the breast as much as he wants it. My health visitor advised me to go and change him when he has fallen asleep on the breast and then feed again - this worked wonders as I assumed he had finished but had only fallen asleep as he was cosy.

I am almost 7 weeks in now and BFing is wonderful!! I was experiencing the same as you at the start and was so close to giving up; I'm so proud that I didn't. Good luck!