Get your own personal BnB BF Champion and one-on-one BF support here!

[Lownthwaite]

I would love a breastfeeding champion!

My name is Molly, I gave birth to my daughter Stella 2 months ago and have been breastfeeding ever since. When I was in the hospital my nipples were really flat so they gave me a nipple shield and it works brilliantly, she gets plenty of milk but I still feel like a failure at breastfeeding because she has a tough time latching without it. I know she can do it but she prefers the shield so I just dont think we will ever get rid of it. Because of this I have started pumping half the time because I dont enjoy the breastfeeding as much as I did a month ago. My mom who never breastfed either me or my sister gives me a hard time about the nipple shield and it really upsets me. I would really appreciate the advice of a champion. Thank you!

Molly

Hi Sweetie,

I'm going to pair you with Nervous_1.

She has experience of flat nipples, using nipple shields and also dealing with unsupportive family members!

Feel free to continue to use this thread for general guidance and also the main board obviously but I'd recommend you pm Nervous_1 - she'll be more than happy to give you some one on one support.

 

[lynne192]

i would love to join, my daughter was born on 24th august 2012 4weeks early, been breastfeed since day one hoping to make it to at least 12months...

 

[LaRockera]

i would love to join, my daughter was born on 24th august 2012 4weeks early, been breastfeed since day one hoping to make it to at least 12months...

You absolutely will. Wanting it is the most important thing.

Welcome. x

 

[Islander]

less than a week to go til i get my first blinkie so happy...i initally said i wanted to bf for 2 weeks ( i have major health issues and will need to go on serious meds but am putting it off) i managed that so ive said another 2 weeks just taking it one step at a time but so pleased!yay!

 

[LaRockera]

less than a week to go til i get my first blinkie so happy...i initally said i wanted to bf for 2 weeks ( i have major health issues and will need to go on serious meds but am putting it off) i managed that so ive said another 2 weeks just taking it one step at a time but so pleased!yay!

Well done to you, honey.

 

[Jokerette]

less than a week to go til i get my first blinkie so happy...i initally said i wanted to bf for 2 weeks ( i have major health issues and will need to go on serious meds but am putting it off) i managed that so ive said another 2 weeks just taking it one step at a time but so pleased!yay!

Such a huge accomplishment! I remember that too!! Congratulations!

 

[Islander]

ideally i want to get to 6 months but it is unlikely.. i have arthritis ad cant bf on the meds so im just dealing with the pain for now...but obviously when it gets to the stage where i cant walk i'll need to go on the meds again but im doing it in steps of 2 weeks so i dont feel like i am letting me or her down...cant believe i'll be at 4 weeks tho...pretty confident i can do another 4 at least too so pleased...and seeing you guys gives me the an extra push on the bad days so thank you!!!

 

[staralfur]

Aww, congrats Islander, that's so awesome!!

 

[Sproglet]

I could do with some support.

Robyn never latched on properly after birth- she would look like she was but her latch was too shallow to stimulate her to suck. We had to express milk for her at 3 days old (losing weight, jaundiced, not weeing or pooing), and a rather forceful midwife pushed her onto the boob around that time, giving her an aversion to the boob, she didn't latch again until 2 weeks old. By that time I had resorted to bottle feeding.

We overcame the aversion and Robyn now feeds off the breast. However, her latch is far from perfect, and my nipples are soooo sore. I am struggling through because I worry that if we go back onto bottles we'll never get back to the breast a second time. I tried nipple shields but Robyn can't latch on those and ends up pulling them off my boob.

When Robyn feeds (bottle or breast) she clicks and dribbles milk out the corners of her mouth. After a feed she is extremely windy- we have to use Infacol. she also shows symptoms of silent reflux, which I think is related to the wind. With a bottle she frequently folds the teat and pushes it out instead of pulling it in. On the breast, she lipsticks my nipple, and my areolas come out misshapen and pink (they are naturally brown). My nipples were flat, but through pumping and Robyn sucking they are coming out, so I don't think that is the problem.

I have had many midwives, health visitors and breastfeeding supporters help me. But nothing seems to help. Which leads me to thinking she has a physical problem affecting her ability to feed- namely posterior tongue tie. She does have an upper lip tie- not medically diagnosed but it's flipping obvious- making it impossible to get her top lip to fold out when feeding. However, I have asked the HV and she says Robyn does not have a tongue tie.

Does anyone have some advice or even just a few words of encouragement because I'm really struggling!

 

[Islander]

oh sproglet that sounds tough!!i only had one day of bad latch and i was in tears while LO fed so cant imagine how you are doing it - u r so amazing and bave....cant offer any advice but just wanted to say well done you for strugggling on!your a betterwoman than me!xxx

 

[AislingMcM]

Hi all, iv already made my only thread with the following post but just noticed this thread and thought id repost in the hope of some more replies... Im in need of some help and opinions... My daughter will be 16 weeks tomorrow. I have tried breastfeeding without success. I changed to do it twice a day to fit in with my lifestyle. I try feeding her first thing in the morning and last thing at night but at every one of those feeds she doesn't get enough and I always have to give her a bottle, she latches on for a few minutes(maybe 5) then becomes frustrated as if she isn't getting anything. I have tried expressing milk and i seem to be getting only about 1 ounce from both breasts combined. Please help, I really want to be successful with this baby, as i was not with my other 2 children. I don't want to give up but i hate seeing my baby so upset. Its also upsetting me, i feel like I have failed. I really don't want to give it up. Thanks.

 

[charlie15]

My little girl is 9 days old and she has taken very well to the breast and loves it to the point that it totally sedates her! she maybe has about 5 minutes of good sucking then she doses off with little sucks and this can last for 5-20 minutes. This doesn't worry me too much as she's still sucking, but what often happens is that she falls fast asleep and I can't wake her! even if i change her nappy she only has another small feed for a couple of minutes! she is pooing and has wet nappies. The problem is that she won't settle to sleep and then wake 2 hours later, but as soon as i put her down she starts crying and gesturing that she's still hungry so i feed her again and the cycle starts again! This morning i fed for 2 hours in one sitting but she really was only properly feeding for maybe 40 minutes.

Anyone any ideas or experience that could help?? also some additional info that may or may not be relevant but i had an emergency c sec after a long latent labour so think my milk took a bit longer to come in, because of this i used formula to top her up after a particularly bad 2 nights on day 3 and 4 when she was starving and no amount of sucking was meeting her needs then. i still have formula in case but would really prefer to exclusively BF

 

[Jokerette]

Hi all, iv already made my only thread with the following post but just noticed this thread and thought id repost in the hope of some more replies... Im in need of some help and opinions... My daughter will be 16 weeks tomorrow. I have tried breastfeeding without success. I changed to do it twice a day to fit in with my lifestyle. I try feeding her first thing in the morning and last thing at night but at every one of those feeds she doesn't get enough and I always have to give her a bottle, she latches on for a few minutes(maybe 5) then becomes frustrated as if she isn't getting anything. I have tried expressing milk and i seem to be getting only about 1 ounce from both breasts combined. Please help, I really want to be successful with this baby, as i was not with my other 2 children. I don't want to give up but i hate seeing my baby so upset. Its also upsetting me, i feel like I have failed. I really don't want to give it up. Thanks.

every little bit that you are giving her is a gift, and you should be so proud. Are you doing anything to up your supply. Trying drinking lots of extra water, also you can take Fenugreek and Goats Rue. I tried to drink a whole bottle of water every single time i nursed him.

You can power pump to encourage milk too. Pump for 20 mins (even if nothing comes out) then stop for 20, then pump for 20, etc...

 

[loopy82]

I could do with some support.

Robyn never latched on properly after birth- she would look like she was but her latch was too shallow to stimulate her to suck. We had to express milk for her at 3 days old (losing weight, jaundiced, not weeing or pooing), and a rather forceful midwife pushed her onto the boob around that time, giving her an aversion to the boob, she didn't latch again until 2 weeks old. By that time I had resorted to bottle feeding.

We overcame the aversion and Robyn now feeds off the breast. However, her latch is far from perfect, and my nipples are soooo sore. I am struggling through because I worry that if we go back onto bottles we'll never get back to the breast a second time. I tried nipple shields but Robyn can't latch on those and ends up pulling them off my boob.

When Robyn feeds (bottle or breast) she clicks and dribbles milk out the corners of her mouth. After a feed she is extremely windy- we have to use Infacol. she also shows symptoms of silent reflux, which I think is related to the wind. With a bottle she frequently folds the teat and pushes it out instead of pulling it in. On the breast, she lipsticks my nipple, and my areolas come out misshapen and pink (they are naturally brown). My nipples were flat, but through pumping and Robyn sucking they are coming out, so I don't think that is the problem.

I have had many midwives, health visitors and breastfeeding supporters help me. But nothing seems to help. Which leads me to thinking she has a physical problem affecting her ability to feed- namely posterior tongue tie. She does have an upper lip tie- not medically diagnosed but it's flipping obvious- making it impossible to get her top lip to fold out when feeding. However, I have asked the HV and she says Robyn does not have a tongue tie.

Does anyone have some advice or even just a few words of encouragement because I'm really struggling!

You can try self referring if you think she has a tongue tie, there is a list here that can tell you were to go: https://www.unicef.org.uk/BabyFrien...ie/Locations-where-tongue-tie-can-be-divided/ You may end up needing to go private though if you can't convince an hp to refer you, worth a shot though! Well done for persevering, sounds like you've both had a really tough time x

 

[Sproglet]

Thanks- but it says next to my local divider that they accept GP referrals only. My GP says that while her lip is tied, he's seen worse and it shouldn't affect feeding. I am waiting to hear back from a couple of private practices.

But the good news is, it's slowly improving as her mouth gets bigger and her suck stronger.

 

[loopy82]

Thanks- but it says next to my local divider that they accept GP referrals only. My GP says that while her lip is tied, he's seen worse and it shouldn't affect feeding. I am waiting to hear back from a couple of private practices.

But the good news is, it's slowly improving as her mouth gets bigger and her suck stronger.

That's a shame really hope you get somewhere with the private practices. You could maybe call anyway, my local one says referral by a hp only too but I called because my gp wouldn't even look in her mouth as he thought tongue tie doesn't affect feeding. When we went they reckoned she didn't have a TT but did diagnose reflux and prescribed effective meds, things started to get much better from that day on x

Eta, it's great to hear things are getting better anyway x

 

[Sproglet]

At this point, I'm willing to accept that feeding will get better with time, I mean they've improved so much just over the last few days. But I would rather she got seen by a specialist because I have heard of problems down the line (like tooth decay because they can't clean their teeth with their tongue, and speech problems because they can't control their lips and tongue properly), if the specialist also thinks it's not a problem then fine.

No offence, but GPs can be pretty useless because they get so used to dealing with the same old minor problems, they often don't see when there's something else going off, they just dismiss it as worrying over nothing (slight sore point, I have a neurological problem that was dismissed for 18 months before I got a referral to a specialist, at which point a scan showed lesions on my brain).

But going private, will they perform the snip because they think it's what I want rather than what Robyn needs? And because they can charge more money for an extra minute's work?

 

[loopy82]

At this point, I'm willing to accept that feeding will get better with time, I mean they've improved so much just over the last few days. But I would rather she got seen by a specialist because I have heard of problems down the line (like tooth decay because they can't clean their teeth with their tongue, and speech problems because they can't control their lips and tongue properly), if the specialist also thinks it's not a problem then fine.

No offence, but GPs can be pretty useless because they get so used to dealing with the same old minor problems, they often don't see when there's something else going off, they just dismiss it as worrying over nothing (slight sore point, I have a neurological problem that was dismissed for 18 months before I got a referral to a specialist, at which point a scan showed lesions on my brain).

But going private, will they perform the snip because they think it's what I want rather than what Robyn needs? And because they can charge more money for an extra minute's work?

I always feel I need to walk into the gp's office armed with info and be prepared to stamp my feet otherwise I walk out feeling like i've wasted their and my time. Might be worth trying to speak to other parents who have gone private? I would hope that they would do what is in the best interests of their patients and not their wallets x

 

[Jokerette]

I find that really disapointing that your GP wouldnt even be willing to refer you for the specialist to have a look

 

[ShelbyLC]

I am in desperate need of help, advice, and encouragment and I really hope there is someone willing to take me on.

I had my twins two days ago at 29+5. They are in the NICU so I am pumping as much as I can. The night they were born, I pumped 20cc of colostrum. For 24 hours after that, I didn't produce a single drop of anything. Today I've slowly been working my way back - First session I got 1/2cc. Second I got 3cc. Third - 5cc. But this milk is a lot more watery and clearer and I don't know what kind of milk this is or if it's good enough. My lactation consultant told me to only pump for 15 minutes and then stop. But the last few times I've pumped, there's still been a bit of milk left after that point. So I don't know how long I really should be pumping for.

I really just have no clue how things should be going right now or how to best help my babies. I am so worried that what I'm producing isn't right or that I'm pumping wrong. I guess I just need someone to answer the questions I will surely have over the next week or two and some advice/reassurance.

Thank you