Determined to breastfeed. Any info, suggestions, tips, tricks please!

[MamaBunny2]

I'm currently pregnant with my third, due September 2. I am super determined to breastfeed this baby for at least 6-8 months... if not nearly the first year depending how it goes. With my first two I was very young and uneducated. It's been ten years since my DD was born and I've learned SO much by researching the internet and from BnB ladies.

Here's my "plan" so far: I will be giving birth at the hospital. I'm leaning towards it only being my OH and I (and of course any medical staff) in the room for delivery. I have my two previous births on video and would like this one to be as well so possibly have my (much older) sister doing that for me. Once I deliver they always place the baby on the mother and I'd like to have immediate direct skin to skin contact. I've read that this encourages your milk supply to come in as well as excellent bonding for mother and baby. I've even suggested my OH do skin to skin when he holds our baby after delivery. I'm just not comfortable with my hoo-ha and my fun bags all exposed with a bunch of people in the room, ya know? And I feel the stress from all the commotion from everyone oogling over the baby and wanting to pass it around will interfere with our bonding time as well as the fact that I want to try nursing ASAP I'm hoping my supply will come in, as it took a day or two after birth to do so previously. If all works out I plan to breastfeed exclusively for at least 4 weeks or so then introduce a bottle a week or so before I am to return to work. I should have at least 6 (unpaid) weeks off, maybe an extra 2 weeks paid depending on how I use my vacation time. I know I will have to pump and build up a supply to prepare for when I'm back at work. Not sure if I can start this immediately or if I should wait until a week or two before I return to work?

My biggest fear, aside from baby not latching and us getting the hang of it, is that my supply will diminish. With my first child I was super engorged once my supply came in and I didn't commit to nursing or pumping and eventually dried up. With my second, I tried but became concerned that my baby wasn't getting any nourishment while in the hospital and ended up going to formula. I still tried some at home but we weren't getting the hang of it and I was frustrated and engorged and never really successful I keep telling myself that I'm going to have to be patient and continue trying but I'm afraid I'll fear starving my baby and run to formula.

I appreciate any helpful information experienced nursing mom's would like to share!

 

[KylasBaby]

No advice, but following for tips and tricks as well

 

[noon_child]

I would say that finding out what support is available locally, and in the hospital, to help support you in breastfeeding is a must. Who can you call out of hours? Are there groups you can attend with other bf Mums etc.etc.

Also educate yourself on "normal" bf behaviour vs. "problem". So many people think there is a problem and switch to formula when actually all is normal.

 

[MamaBunny2]

Ah, yes I forgot about the lactation consultants when I'm in the hospital as well as after. Also, my good friend has a LO she recently weaned off of breastfeeding after a year and I had told her she is going to be my teacher It was her first and she actually had issues with nursing in the beginning and her baby lost quite a bit of weight but she stuck with it and was very successful! I admire her dedication and persistence.

 

[apple_20]

Sounds like a good plan. Only thing that I wanted to add is it's normal for milk to take a few days after birth to come in. Baby will be drinking colostrum until then which is very good for them. With ds one came on day 3 after c-sec and with DD it was day two after natural birth.

Main thing is you have support it can take time to get the latch right abd in the early days you will nurse ALOT! Someone to bring you snacks and drinks to keep you going helps.

Good luck

 

[shinona]

Make sure those around you are aware of normal behaviour too so they're not pressuring you into formula when there's no need. Arrange help for the older ones if you need it so you can focus on your lo for the first few weeks.
Get lanisoh (sp?) cream for your nipples, it's a lifesaver and use liberally.
Hang in there, it can be tough in the beginning but once you've got it, it's simple and so convenient x

 

[apple_20]

It is so convenient once they aren't newborns anymore !

 

[MamaBunny2]

I bet! I just think about all the money we'll save not buying formula and the time it takes preparing and washing bottles. Granted, once I go back to work we will use bottles but not as many because when I'm home I will nurse.

So when in the hospital, after delivery, what is suggested as far as attempting? I'm sure the medical staff will take the baby to run assessments and get weight, length and all that. Should I try immediately? What if my milk hasn't come in, the colostrum... what should I expect? I remember seeing it with my DD, it was a clear light color liquid. Do I just work on getting a latch and let baby nurse regardless? Is there any way to help my supply start by stimulating my breasts days before anticipated delivery? And what about my diet? Are certain foods better than others when breastfeeding?

I am a Google addict, but I feel like it's more helpful to see real straightforward answers and experiences from women on here.

 

[noon_child]

I bet! I just think about all the money we'll save not buying formula and the time it takes preparing and washing bottles. Granted, once I go back to work we will use bottles but not as many because when I'm home I will nurse.

So when in the hospital, after delivery, what is suggested as far as attempting? I'm sure the medical staff will take the baby to run assessments and get weight, length and all that. Should I try immediately? What if my milk hasn't come in, the colostrum... what should I expect? I remember seeing it with my DD, it was a clear light color liquid. Do I just work on getting a latch and let baby nurse regardless? Is there any way to help my supply start by stimulating my breasts days before anticipated delivery? And what about my diet? Are certain foods better than others when breastfeeding?

I am a Google addict, but I feel like it's more helpful to see real straightforward answers and experiences from women on here.

Colostrum should be there once LO is born, the act of labour and the hormones released when baby isn't attached to your body anymore are enough to make your breasts produce. Baby nursing is the best thing to stimulate milk production. I never saw any colostrum before I gave birth but LO managed a 10minute feed anyway, so I guess my body made it quick!

Let the delivery staff know you want to breastfeed so they can let you have skin to skin straight away. The sooner that first feed the better as they can get very sleepy soon after and that makes it harder to latch them. However even if LO doesn't feed straight away you don't have to give up breastfeeding. Some babies just take time to be interested in feeding. A healthy term baby doesn't need formula just cos it has been a few hours without latching. Plus you can hand express colostrum in to a syringe if absolutely necessary ( it will literally be tiny drops as baby's tummy is about the size of a small marble when newborn).

 

[shinona]

Get them nursing as soon as you can. I fed #2 and #3 before they were weighed or anything like that. As long as their apgar score is good,anything else can wait. But don't worry if you can't. My first delivery was in theatre with forceps and it was about 45 mins before I got prolonged skin to skin and fed him as I had to be stitched. In that time he'd had skin to skin with dh. It did no harm waiting that length of time. I bf-ed him til a year old. You'll feel like you're feeding constantly for the first wee while but it gets better and is the best thing to establish a supply. I wouldn't mess around with your boobs or special food. Eat well and drink A LOT of water. Xx

 

[bumpin2012]

also remember it is totally NORMAL for a newborn to want to nurse ALL. THE. TIME. seriously. DD pretty much lived latched on for the first 3 weeks. Make sure you have lots of help around the house, premake meals, have lots of healthy snacks on hand that you can easily eat one handed. They seem like minor things but you having these things prepared will help a LOT.

get some Lanolin, and if you can Jack Newmans all purpose nipple ointment (may need a dr script for this) Make arrangements to have a lactation consultant check baby's latch a few days after you get home as well as in hospital.

 

[itsnowmyturn]

Be determined, I had loads of issues with lo feeding, didn't no what was normal, didn't get any support until recently when I moved house and area, I'm like u and don't want to whip em out in front of everyone so wasn't comfortable when ppl wanted to watch me feed her but I explained everything in detail and they.were no help. Lo was losing weight (built back up in hospital following an infection) lost weight again after discharge and took over a week from that to get back above birth weight (3 weeks in total to get above birth weight) she's still now only 1kg above birth weight at 6 weeks. Some times just sheer stubbornness is what it takes, if I wasn't so money tight and refuse to pay for something i make and make better than I can buy it then I definitely would have gone to formula but I'm just too stubborn and stuck with it, still having problems but I still keep going. I have to express as well and find that pumps don't drain my breasts properly so tend to hand express now iv got the hang of it. I give her a bottle when we're out (although im thinking now I just have to get over it and feed her in public) I'd like to not have to express but sometimes it just makes life easier and let's face it when breastfeeding u need any help possible to make it easier

Finally (and I don't want to put u off) don't expect it to be easy, I thought it would be a doddle but she had other plans and I was shocked at how difficult it is, everyone keeps telling me that the first 6-8 weeks are the hardest and then it gets easier from there so I'm holding out hope for that!

 

[bumpin2012]

I've always found a quiet area to feed and not been bothered by anyone. I also keep a pillow in my car and whenever possible I go and feed in the car, mainly because its comfy, and no one really pays any attention. Those who do, can generally be shooed away by a good stare down.

Its quite liberating once you get more comfortable with quickly latching babe. I have large ladies and a tiny baby. There is no hiding

 

[MamaBunny2]

Thank you all. This is exactly what I want and need - real honest experiences and information. I don't see myself ever whipping out my milk jugs in public but would find a quiet corner somewhere and use a cover or small blanket. Everyone is different but I feel a bit of modesty is appreciated and I also am not comfortable with the general public (or some family even) seeing my bare chest, nursing or not. I am going to wait to buy or use an expensive pump until I know for sure it's going to be utilized. Maybe just have a hand pump to express for some relief but I really want to focus on the latch and exclusively nursing for the first couple weeks. I am hoping the difficulty factor doesn't discourage me completely... or who knows, maybe this time around it won't be so hard

 

[itsnowmyturn]

In my experience buying a pump was great to start with (paid over £70) hand pump was useless but when I started hand expressing I don't think I would go back to pumping because I get so much more by hand and I get really bad plugged ducts and pumping doesn't help those. Learning to hand express was probably the best thing I did

 

[bumpin2012]

I didn't buy anything until I decided I wanted to pump. I hate it with a passion, so if I give a bottle, I just give formula. I found the manual pump to be useless, but my body doesn't respond well to a pump in general. The large muslin swaddle blankets make great covers. Really lightweight and breathable, and the bamboo ones by Aden and Anais are so unbelievably soft.

Find a few good Netflix series.

 

[bumpin2012]

Also, my son was a nightmare experience, to the point I wasn't sure I even wanted to try again. Totally different experience this time around

 

[MamaBunny2]

I was afraid that no matter what I try perhaps maybe my body just won't be able to handle nursing Just because it didn't seem to work the first two times, but then again I didn't really know what I was doing. Hoping that this time is totally different for me!

 

[itsnowmyturn]

Go in with a positive attitude, don't buy any formula in as a just in case because then ul be more inclined to use it, every time u feel like buying it just give it one more day and then ul get to the end of that day it's one more day that uv given her the goodness

 

[Maggs]

It's already been said, but the two most important things looking back for me was educating yourself on normal newborn breastfeeding behaviour. It's completely different from a formula feed baby's behaviour. And second, most problems (aside from medical problems) are caused by latching issues. Only a small percentage of women cannot physically breastfeed. So any issues, concerns, pain, etc. go see someone who can watch you feed and make sure baby is latched on correctly.

You will have some very doubtful moments in the early weeks but having a friend or just someone to tell you...yes, that is normal, will be a huge help to you.