just dont understand.....

[counting]

Awesome!!! Keep it up with the compression. There will be ups and downs still, but sounds like you are on the right track Go Mama! Good work.

 

[Emz1982_in_uk]

Yay

 

[pcsoph2890]

I did speak too soon...... the second boob she cried after searching herself, kept rearranging her, then she chomped down on my nipple, which hurt, so I gave her 3floz of expressed bm, which she drank straight away and then cried and still rooting for more..... I couldn't latch her again as nipples.sore so had to give her a bottle.of which she drank a full 4floz in one go..... seriously I need to start producing so.much milk soon to keep this up.for.her....

 

[Emz1982_in_uk]

Your supply may start decreasing during the times she has bottles. The more you feed the better the supply. What did the doctor say? Or is that later this week?

 

[mummytobe_93]

I just wanted to let you know about my BFing experience so far. My Lo is now three months old and the first few days after her birth i breastfed but was concerned she wasn't getting enough so I started expressing and then she would refuse the breast. I then exclusively breast fed for three and a half weeks, I would pump every three hours day and night (exhausting!) I then decided to get her back on the breast and believe me it took a good week to get her to do it properly and lots and lots of tears from both of us. Now I love it! I ditched giving her expressed milk and formula and eventually I would say after the first two or three weeks it got so so much easier! I breast feed now without even thinking. She's currently going through a growth spurt and fed last night from 11pm-5am but i know she's getting milk and I know is completely normal. She also does it a lot for comfort Ita like sucking on a dummy for them!
As soon as you've sorted the thrush out you need to ditch the formula and bottles for a while so you can really establish breast feeding. Ita the only way I got her breastfeeding again, over timeshe will become more efficient and you'll look back and this will all just be a distant memory. Ita obvious you want to breast feed and are committed so don't let your OH put you off or make him doubt yourself, you're doing a good job

 

[stacergirl]

Pscoph-first off I wanted to say congrats on your LO! I remember you from the May ivf buddies thread! Second, thank you for your post! My son is 3 weeks too and has been on my boob every hour for about 30 min for the past 24. Hours. It's been rough. I hope everything works out for you!

Ladies-you are awesome! I'll definitely be checking out these links! I know my baby is getting milk and was eating every 3 hour until yesterday when he started nursing much more. Everything I've read says growth spurt. But I'm hoping these videos help me become better at BFing. Thank you!

 

[pcsoph2890]

Well the dr was as much use as a chocolate teapot.
She had apparently never heard of ductal thrush, she hadn't even heard of milk let down..... after then my confidence that she know about bf kinda disappeared!! She had a feel of the boobs and said she couldn't feel anything, well I could've told her that. She looked blank when I described the symptoms I had.....
So going to get a second opinion as last night it did hurt internally and my nipples felt like someone stuck a hot poker up from behind through them..... this is definitely not normal, so gonna stick to my guns and get someone who might know what they are alking about....

But on a positive front last night during the night she quite happily took the boob and nodded off straight away, so was quite hard to see whether she was feeding properly, but it doesn't matter now as its gone by.
Gonna feed her this morning and then off to the bf support group so will ask the women there about more effective feeding...... I've got to crack it sometime Soon. Gonna even put the Nipple shields on to make I don't get too sore during the day....

I start off each day really positive then the nipples painful and the thought of her chomping on them Insessently all day fills me with fear that I'll be back to where I was in the beginning!!

 

[pcsoph2890]

So I'm feeding her and watching the videos at the same time and she does nibble quite a bit....
So how do I make her into a good eater????

 

[counting]

You use breast compression as soon as she starts nibbling, and I think you may have a latch problem.

I know you may have been told your latch is perfect but your nipples shouldn't be so sore you can't BF after a cluster feeding. Which leads me to believe you could improve your latch. Another hint is that she nibbles so much, if she isn't latched on well, she may not be getting adequate milk flow causing her to nibble rather than get a whole mouth full of milk.

To begin with, do your nipples ever look like a tube of lipstick after you BF? By this I mean, when they are pulled out from nursing, does one or the other side have a slant or angle. This is the first sign that a latch that may look perfect is too shallow. This is one sign but not the only one that someone has a lath problem.

Also, I know a baby led latch is recommended by some, but I think you may want to take more control over her latching so that you can ensure she gets a deeper, more effective latch every time.

Some resources to help:
https://www.nbci.ca/index.php?optio...5:when-latching&catid=5:information&Itemid=17

https://kellymom.com/ages/newborn/bf-basics/latch-resources/

I find the animated latch on the top of the second page super helpful in showing how to latch baby on.

Another thing that can lead a baby to have fussy, shallow latch is how you hold baby's head. To begin with, many moms want to gently cradle baby's head, cupping the back of it and gently offering the breast, moving breast to baby. You should ALWAYS have your fingers supporting her neck and not the back of her head. Babies don't really like the back of their head touched so doing that can cause them to fuss a fair bit and not be able to find a comfortable latch. The other thing I'm sure you've heard before is always bring baby to the breast, not breast to the baby. It might seem a bit rough, but when baby is hungry, make sure her mouth is open very wide like a yawn. You can do this by gently stroking nipple from nose to chin over her mouth. When her mouth is at it's widest point, supporting the back of her neck with one hand and holding your breast in the other hand(cupping it so that your hand forms the c shape) Quickly press baby to the breast as seen in the latch animation on the second page.

Don't give up yet- you are doing so good!

 

[pcsoph2890]

Counting..... thanks for all this info, you are an amazing font of Info...

So been to my bf support groups an spoken to the health visitors and bf support workers 're her nibbling, I have been given some more advice 're it pretty much what you have said previously. Also to start a feeding log to see if a pattern can be spotted. I may just have a grazer baby (which doesn't surprise me as hubby is a total grazer too)
Today she was constantly on the boob from 9am to 1130am give or take 10 mins here and there when she delatches herself gives herself a few minutes rest then cries out for more, and the 10.mins it took me to drive there.

Plus the bf support and hv were stunned at the doctors response to me saying i had ductal thrush even more so that she didn't know what let down was.... So they are bringing me some info to tAke with me to show them, plus they will be having words with the dr in an indirect way to inform her about ductal thrush and things to do with breast feeding (so at least that is sorted)

I can't do cold turkey 're the ff as I need to reduce it gradually as my supply won't be able to match it, so with the feeding log I'm doing I'll be able to see how much I give her, when and over what time frame so my supply can get better and ff can reduce.

But yes occasionally my nipples are squished - this tends to be when she has been on for a considerable time (after an hr and when she is half heartedly sucking, I try to de latch her as it starts to smart at that point, so I have learnt to reattach her properly and she resumes her feeding again....
're holding the head, don't do that anymore, was told after I was visited by the midwives the day after discharge not hold the head, more hold the neck and support that.
Also I bring the boob to her and do the Nipple to nose technique!!!!

 

[counting]

Awesome, sounds like you are doing everything you can! Glad you are getting lots of support.

I agree absolutely you can not stop formula top ups cold turkey. You can try the nurse, pump, feed pumped milk, top up with formula technique. That seems to help a lot of moms reestablish supply. The feeding log is an excellent idea too.

Also I previously mentioned a bit about supplemental nursing systems. Has anyone discussed that possibility with you? It is a good way to get supply back quickly. Are you still taking your fenugreek? I find it really helped when I went back to work to keep my supply high.

Your doctor is an idiot. I'm glad you have info to show him and support of the nurses. If you have ductal thrush- you need it treated asap! They should give you a pill, cream, as well as something for baby as she could have yeast overgrowth and pass it back to you.

Also, try bringing baby to breast instead of breast to baby- My son has a lip tie(shallower latch) and a tendency to graze and it really helped. Older babies do well with latching themselves(breast to baby) but little ones typically do better if you bring them to the breast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jq5dWoOGJbM

Good video of a mom showing how to latch a young baby on and explaining what a good latch looks like, etc.

 

[_Lexi_]

Have you been using lanolin cream on your nipples to ease the pain? First few weeks for me were toe curling painful and I started to dread every feed it was that painful (latch was perfect). Using the lanolin cream saved our breastfeeding relationship and still going strong at 9 months. I think the first 3 months she was pretty much attached to me 24/7 and constantly hungry x

 

[pcsoph2890]

Yes using bm and lanisolh cream too...

Nope no one mentioned supplement feeding yet.... taking about 12 fenugreek a day 4 morning noon and night...

 

[Emz1982_in_uk]

Squished nipple definitely sounds like a latch issue. Mine only left used to come out slanted. It took us a good few weeks to prefect it but we got it eventually. Keep trying and keep re-latching of you have to. The older she gets the easier it gets tbh, her mouth is teeny right now so hard to get that wide gape sometimes.

 

[patch2006uk]

Yes using bm and lanisolh cream too...

Nope no one mentioned supplement feeding yet.... taking about 12 fenugreek a day 4 morning noon and night...

If you've got thrush, be careful with lansinoh. It locks in moisture and thrush can thrive. You'd be better with coconut oil or salt water rinses tbh, and plenty of air drying and bra-free time.

 

[pcsoph2890]

I'm more using bm after a feed.....

Just about to start another mammoth feed...... nips feeling a little tender now....

 

[pcsoph2890]

So feeding update she has fed for five mins delatched herself and slept for 5..... this happened about 5 times. Now the last feed she's been fast asleep after delatching for 10 mins scared to move her in case she cries for more again.... is this a good sign???

 

[counting]

Yes!

 

[patch2006uk]

It does sound to me like she could be windy. All they can tell with wind is that they have stomach pain, and all they understand stomach pain to mean is hunger. Get her upright after feeds and see if she settles better that way. I remember with my DS, if he fell asleep at the end of a feed and I decided not to risk burping him, he'd be awake 10-20 mins later screaming and seeming starving. Also if she seems ravenous but won't latch on properly or not for very long, then those are windy signs, too.

 

[pcsoph2890]

Well after 2.5 hrs of feeding her now quite sore and she was still hungry after winding, so gave her some ff which she lapped up. Feel a bit crappy as wanted to just stick to 2 bottles today.

She was literally gulping at the boob then delatching herself. I finally plucked up the courage to put her in her chair to sleep and from then on she screamed, head bobbing, rooting, my nipples were really quite sore by that time, tried to put on the Nipple shields but they just weren't staying on.

Will try feeding her again on the boob in an hr or so before we take her up to bed. But feeling a bit dispondant now that I'm never going to ebf her.... But tmrw is another day!!!