February Valentines 2012

[swanxxsong]

Thanks for letting me know! Haha. I will fix that now, as well as add our newest one to the mix!

 

[swanxxsong]

Err will fix when I get home. My phones being a butt and won't let me edit the post. Grrr haha. Will fix tonight!

 

[ZombieKitten]

would anyone happen to have a good source on breastfeeding? i can't seem to keep Anarah awake when im nursing her and she ends up waking up maybe an hour later because she's hungry. I don't mind feeding her every hour if its what she wants, but i just dont want her falling asleep hungry

 

[swanxxsong]

kellymom and the la leche league websites were what I used quite a bit for advice. And in the beginning, I had to nurse Aria while she was naked (except for her diaper haha) to help keep her awake. Or at least keep her awake enough until she could eat a little bit lol.

 

[tiger]

i agree with swan - nursing with just a nappy helped while i was trying to keep jesse awake.
or if they start to fall asleep, stroke just off to the side of their chin, it starts their sucking reflex again

 

[Jokerette]

Swan great job keeping up with the thread! Don't know how you do it with a newborn! I "think" suzzle and JP both gave birth on February 1st not 2nd, but i could be wrong

 

[swanxxsong]

Ooo thanks Jokerette! I will ask

And well I spend a lot of time on my phone while nursing since Aria is a slow and messy eater so I stalk around best I can.

 

[Jokerette]

Good idea! I got an iPad for the same purpose... I figured u could keep up with my BnB and reading ebooks while nursing

 

[swanxxsong]

Exactly! My kindle and phone are my best friends while nursing or rocking her to sleep.

 

[sparklez]

would anyone happen to have a good source on breastfeeding? i can't seem to keep Anarah awake when im nursing her and she ends up waking up maybe an hour later because she's hungry. I don't mind feeding her every hour if its what she wants, but i just dont want her falling asleep hungry

LLL website has been useful to me and their book 'womanly art of breasfeeding' and youtube videos, used those for hand expressing and nursing in a sling.
For Meghan stroking her arm or foot helps her to stay awake, keeping her skin to skin like tiger and swan said, burping her, changing her nappy if she falls asleep, wipng her face or hands with a flannel. i was told that although it seems mean to keep waking her it's better than letting her fall asleep over and over. As she didn't have a great latch on my left and was not putting in enough effort to get the milk flowing properly - this meant she'd be nusing for ages to get not much milk and she was burning off as many calories as she was getting.

 

[swanxxsong]

That's my big issue now sparklez! Aria is learning to nurse without the shield and her latch on my left is awful! I'm sure it's my doing bc she is capable of latching. Did you find a way to help her latch on the left as well as she can on the right?

 

[sparklez]

That's my big issue now sparklez! Aria is learning to nurse without the shield and her latch on my left is awful! I'm sure it's my doing bc she is capable of latching. Did you find a way to help her latch on the left as well as she can on the right?

rugby ball hold- so she is lying on a cushion on my left, feet at my back, body in close to me, making sure that I'm propped up wih lots of cushions and leaning forwards, as I was tending to relax and let her head drop away from me, lots of relatching if it wasn't right. it's a lovely position as you get great eye contact. we had to use this exlusively for about 5 days then she got much better and will latch most of the time in a cradle hold now. at night our matress is too hard to sit on with my stitches so we use a mixure of lying side by side or the 'laid back' position described in LLL book, she tends to latch best in the laid back position but if we're really struggling I'd go back to the rugby hold downstairs.

my let down has become really strong and twice today i've squirted poor meg in the face when she pulled off! have nursed once in public but not sure I want tha happening while out!

 

[swanxxsong]

Thanks for the tip Sparklez! I will try that next time she nurses since left boob is up next! (she tends to only drink one at a time) I need to get out my LLL book too and reference it more.

I only NIP once so far and I had to use the shield so it was seriously just frustrating. It's such a messy procedure. So I'm really looking forward to fully weaning her. We are making progress but it's kind of slow but steady.

 

[ZombieKitten]

thanks for your advice ladies! i've been nursing her with nothing but her blankie and it seems to keep her awake longer. she still closes her eyes though about 10-15 minutes through, however she keeps sucking and it seems like shes still drinking. i've tried playing with her arms, feet, and chin but it doesn't phase her. I'm not sure if she's actually sleeping or just more comfy with her eyes closed. When I try to unlatch her to either burp her or switch positions she sucks harder so that it makes it harder to pull away. But her eyes still stayed closed

 

[swanxxsong]

That's good though - Aria does the same now. In the beginning she would nurse for 5-10 minutes if she was lucky but she's gotten much better. So I bet she will start staying awake longer soon! And if she's still suckling even if her eyes are closed I'm sure she's grand. Good luck mama!

 

[mumanddad]

Help im bf my lo but i have discovered 2 little blood blisters thos morning can still feed from that side.

I also express due to him being so small and i know how much topups he is getting.

Do yoi think that will still be ok todo as well?

 

[sparklez]

thanks for your advice ladies! i've been nursing her with nothing but her blankie and it seems to keep her awake longer. she still closes her eyes though about 10-15 minutes through, however she keeps sucking and it seems like shes still drinking. i've tried playing with her arms, feet, and chin but it doesn't phase her. I'm not sure if she's actually sleeping or just more comfy with her eyes closed. When I try to unlatch her to either burp her or switch positions she sucks harder so that it makes it harder to pull away. But her eyes still stayed closed

some babies like if you blow on them (but some startle if you do this, Meg doesn't seem to notice) I'd been trying to pull her off and she sucked harder but this can make the latch less effective so I was advised to pull her closer instead when she seems to stop sucking. If she has stopped and you need to ake her off to wake her put your finger in the corner of he mouth and twist it, like you do with a screwdriver to take the lid off paint, this will break the seal and let you detatch her painlessly (has saved us so many times!)

 

[sparklez]

Help im bf my lo but i have discovered 2 little blood blisters thos morning can still feed from that side.

I also express due to him being so small and i know how much topups he is getting.

Do yoi think that will still be ok todo as well?

Blood blisters are fine, even a bit of blood in he milk won't affect him. If you are expressing how are you giving him the expressed milk? if you use bottles early on this can stop him brestfeeding properly but think you can use a cup or a spoon instead. I was told not to worry about the amount she drinks as all babies are different, just make sure you feed 8+ times in 24 hours and keep an eye on nappies to work out if he's getting enough think its 6 wet nappies a day and couple of poops means he's feeding well and if you see red crystals in his nappies that can mean hes not getting enough.

Feel like source of knowledge today! just been so lucky with the brestfeeding support I've been given so passing on the answers I've been given.

 

[swanxxsong]

https://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mom/nipplehealing.html < insight on nursing with blood blisters.

As for the bottles, in my opinion, if it works for you and isn't causing him nipple confusion, go for it. I know I was worried about Aria too - these early babies! - and even though they said if she wet and dirtied enough diapers she was fine, I wasn't satisfied with that. I kept an intensely detailed feed and diaper log and I weighed her obsessively. I also set my alarm for every 2 hours like my life depended on it. Slowly but surely as I saw she was gaining and doing everything "right" and seemed overall happy, I began getting lazy with the log, stopped weighing her as much as I was and didn't need to set alarms because she was giving me cues and I was recognizing them.

But as tedious as they seemed they set MY mind at ease initially, making for a happy mommy and happy baby. So I say do what makes you happy. I am pumping to build a supply in my freezer - nice way to relieve pressure if your baby is like mine and will only drain one side at any given feeding lol.

 

[mumanddad]

He is loving both nipple and bottle thankgod because he needs to have a certain about, he was having alot of problems with hia sugar levals so trying to keep them up x