Latch advice and pumping advice!

[Brightxeyes]

My son was born on the 20th! We had very good latch from the start, he wanted to feed straight away after birth but I started after stitches were complete as I was struggling to move about really to get comfortable to begin breastfeeding whilst being stitched.

He was on the breast for 6 mins and latch felt comfortable, midwife was there the whole time with support and advice so I knew it was a good latch and feed.

I tried again and had a pretty good on and off half an hour unassisted!

I had on and off good latches, kept persisting! Sometimes he would just be too tired, but I was trying often as he had to have tests for his blood sugars before being discharged!

I had a couple of good matches at home and then suddenly it was painful, couldn’t get more than the nipple in, mouth not opening wide enough etc.
Tried and tried and had to give him some formula because I could tell he really needed something to keep him going! He’s only 4 pound 10!

My boobs blew up today and I actually managed a less painful latch (boobs are painful anyway) but it looked and felt a lot better and he seemed to be more content!

I then got to work with the manual pump because I am still worried he’s not getting enough as I’m not 100% sure it was the best of latches.

I expressed a fair bit on my first go, almost 2oz and he’s drank 1oz in the last few hours. He’s been very sleepy.

I need general basic advice on how everyone does pumping. How much should I pump for one feed (will be pumping ahead and storing in bags!) for a newborn? (He was born at 37+1 and weighed 4 pound 10).

Is it still around 6-8 feeds I should aim to have pumped per day? I just need to know what to aim for as I want to pump ahead. I know on the breast it’s average of 8-12 feeds minimum over 24 hours. But with pumping I’ll have measured out certain amount won’t I? So how much and how often?

Still going to try him on the breast directly but I’m in such pain I NEED relief so I may as well get a bit ahead on pumping!

I’m worried about how much he should be drinking per feed? So far every feed, on breast, formula, pumped breast milk, he’s gotten sleepy very quickly and gone to sleep. The only time he’s continued suckling whilst asleep is obviously directly on the breast. Hed regularly have three suckles in a row every 30-60 seconds or so.

I need to know what I’m aiming for really! Any advice greatly appreciated!

 

[FutureBabyG]

You're doing great momma. The best advice I can give is do a weighed feeding. Weigh him, feed him until satisfied, then re-weigh him. That will tell you how much he is getting from you. If you feed him a bottle, you need to pump everytime he is feed. Personally i try to pump longer than a feeding because my babies have always been more efficient than my pump in telling my body to produce. I always make sure I get what my baby eats out too when i pump. So if baby eats 2 oz every 2 hours then i need to pump that. The general rule is baby should eat 1-1.5 oz every hour baby is away from mom. Also i have been educated on paced feedings and using the slowest flow nipples to keep baby satisfied with breastfeeding. Babies can get lazy of they get a fast flow and work less from the bottle. Use lots or nipple cleam! Works wonders. Good luck. If I missed something let me know.

 

[noon_child]

Ok so you are in the UK. This means that there should be lots of help available to you (there might be a bit more or a bit less depending on volunteers in your area). Under 28 days old you can request advice from the infant feeding team at the hospital - they should come out to visit you. Midwives and Health Visitors don't get as much training on breastfeeding as you'd think they should but members of the infant feeding team get a lot more. There should be a number on your notes. If you call the National Breastfeeding helpline National Breastfeeding Helpline | Helpline you can speak to someone there who can help you. La Leche League and/or NCT might well have volunteer Breastfeeding counsellors in your area, who will do home visits whenever they can. I've also done a quick Google and found Breast Feeding Support in Birmingham : Birmingham Community Healthcare support groups (I hope it is still up to date, but your Health Visitor ought to know your local Breastfeeding Support - and if she/he doesn't then they need to find out for you).

It can be easy for people online to want to say "Do X" and you'll be fine, but having real people in front of you who can let you cry and rant, who can observe feeds (even if it means waiting an hour till your baby wakes up and then staying to watch and help for another hour), who can ask questions and help formulate a plan of action with you that will work for you - well that makes ALL the difference.