questions about Breast Feeding

[brownlieB]

Hi all,

wonder if some BF pros can answer some of my questions!

First off I BF my daughter but only for a week, and I really wanted to go on longer, but my breasts engorged, she couldn't latch, my DH nan died and as at the time we were living in the in laws house we had his parents staying, and all their family trapsing in and out.

I managed to BF fine in hospital for 3 days then it seemed as soon as soon as I got home it all went tits up (pardon the pun)

Anyway, i'd like to try it again, we've now moved so I can be stricter on visiting, and I have more of an idea what i'm doing, but as Bottle feeding worked for us last time, I have a perfect intelligent healthy daughter, and no bonding issues, sometimes i find myself thinking shall I just ff again.

So here goes.

1) This is our last baby, can I take contraception while BF as there's no way another baby is an option for us and I know you can get pregnant while BF so if you can't I'm having a long chat with hubby about a snip snip... and not to the hair!

2)Are there limitations on what I can and can't eat? i've heard you should stay away from curry because it changes the taste of the milk?

3) This is going to sound really self centered and selfish, but how did you go about going out/socialising? Did you express so you could have a tipple or just not drink? My friend is having hen do it's a full day and night away, LO will be 12 weeks, i'd love to go as it's my birthday too. DH will be fine with LO but obviously he doesn't have my breasts, can I express that much??

4) Once established how easy/hard did you find it to wean baby off, personally I would like to BF for the first 6 months until LO can start solids. PLEASE don't be offended but when baby is walking and almost talking with teeth, I don't want to be still BF especially when by then personally you're a human dummy essentially, that is just my opinion please please don't be offended. i have a lot of friends who BF and i've heard them all say "he/she only wants it when their tired, or they won't settle without my boob. I don't want that.

5) I have a 3yr old who is VERY switched on, how did you explain to any siblings what baby is doing, and stop any jealousy occuring or feelings of being left out.

So they are my questions, as I say it's all just my opinion see it as right or wrong, or selfish or whatever they're just honest things going through my head right now.

Thank you in advance x

 

[kmr1763]

I don't know that I'm a pro, but I breastfed DS til he was two years old, and sm breastfeeding DD!

1) This is our last baby, can I take contraception while BF as there's no way another baby is an option for us and I know you can get pregnant while BF so if you can't I'm having a long chat with hubby about a snip snip... and not to the hair!

You can take a low-hormone birth control. I think progesterone only? Might be estrogen only. This is the only oral contraceptive you can take while breastfeeding. Other than that, condoms, or iuds I would think are your options.

2)Are there limitations on what I can and can't eat? i've heard you should stay away from curry because it changes the taste of the milk? I don't limit my foods while breastfeeding.

I'm sure that there are things that can change the taste, but my LO will have to make do.

3) This is going to sound really self centered and selfish, but how did you go about going out/socialising? Did you express so you could have a tipple or just not drink? My friend is having hen do it's a full day and night away, LO will be 12 weeks, i'd love to go as it's my birthday too. DH will be fine with LO but obviously he doesn't have my breasts, can I express that much??

You can always give formula instead of breast milk while you are gone. Or pump for several weeks leading up to trip so that you have a nice supply in the freezer. Make sure lo has gotten used to bottle-feeding and formula if you choose to give her formula. As for having a drink? The rule is a drink an hour. If you have two drinks, wait two hours before you breastfeed. That may have changed since my DS was little, but I doubt by much.

4) Once established how easy/hard did you find it to wean baby off, personally I would like to BF for the first 6 months until LO can start solids. PLEASE don't be offended but when baby is walking and almost talking with teeth, I don't want to be still BF especially when by then personally you're a human dummy essentially, that is just my opinion please please don't be offended. i have a lot of friends who BF and i've heard them all say "he/she only wants it when their tired, or they won't settle without my boob. I don't want that.

I didn't try to wean DS until he was two, and at that point I could reason with him. So it's probably a different experience for me but I should think the transition would not be too difficult if LO takes a bottle.

5) I have a 3yr old who is VERY switched on, how did you explain to any siblings what baby is doing, and stop any jealousy occuring or feelings of being left out.

My DS is four. He's very curious about breastfeeding and I let him ask questions or sit next to me and run her head while she eats. Basically let him participate when he wants. She's almost a month old and the transition for him has been very smooth.

I hope I helped a little. Before I breastfed DS I was sure I wouldn't want to let it go on long. I got sucked in (haha) and I'm so glad I did. I wouldn't trade all that wonderful bond time for anything!

 

[lisa1980]

I am also FAR from a pro but I BF DS for a year and plan to do the same this time if all goes well.

1) I took Cerazette (progesterone-only pill) from my 6-week post partum check. I had no problems with it and continued to BF without issue.

2) I didn't limit myself with food in any way whatsoever. I ate curry regularly, spicy stuff, pretty much anything I fancied and it never seemed to have any negative impact. In fact, it might be why DS is such a fan of spicy food now!

3) As pp said, you can drink if you wait a while before feeding after. I also pumped from about 3-4 weeks and kept a freezer stash so LO could have a bottle of that if I was planning an evening out or a few drinks. We introduced a bottle at 4 weeks as his latch was great so it wasn't a problem.

4) I may have been very lucky with this but I had no problem weaning him at all. He was used to the occasional bottle and we slowly increased the frequency of bottle feeds versus BF. By the end he was only having an early morning feed and switched to a cup for it pretty easily.

5) I'm also interested in the answers to this as my 2 year old is also very interested and switched on. We've already had lots of conversations about a new baby and how mummy will feed the baby with milk from her boobies etc but I think it's all a bit too theoretical for him to really get it yet. I've bought some books aimed at toddlers to explain about new babies and I'm just going to try to be open and honest about it and include him in other aspects of the new baby's care as much as I can.

I am very much hoping to BF again as after the first few tricky weeks it was so easy and lovely. I am, though, planning on introducing a bottle around the same time and using pumped milk fairly frequency as I think it probably helped with the transition for DS. Fingers crossed this next one takes to it like DS did.

Good luck and I don't think any of your questions are selfish at all....I wondered exactly the same things last time.

 

[Rachel_C]

Yes you can take contraception while BF. Talk to your doctor about it and they'll help you work out what will suit you best.

There are no limitations on what you can eat. If spicy food wasn't allowed, people in countries like Pakistan would be screwed! Most babies are perfectly fine on whatever you eat as part of your normal diet.

You can drink alcohol while breastfeeding... well the only real restriction is that you shouldn't be drinking at the same time as breastfeeding! If you're sober enough to be in charge of a baby, you are fine to breastfeed. Expressing is different for everybody. I would have had to work really hard to teach my boobs to do it; I didn't see the point as I stay with my babies anyway, but if it's something you really want to do, yes you can express and go away. Whether you'll want to is up to you!

I don't think you should think about what will happen at 3 or 6 or 12 months until you're there. You just don't know how you will feel so why worry about it until you have to? I think most people are surprised that a 6 month old baby is not much different to a 5.5 month old so it feels weird to suddenly decide you have to stop! If it starts feeling uncomfortable, think about it then.

I told my 2 year old that I was feeding the baby milk from my boob because that is what boobs are for and how babies are supposed to be fed. She was formula fed so had no memory of breastfeeding herself but she just accepted it. No fuss. There's no need to make a huge issue of it, just explain it as matter of factly as you'd explain giving baby a bath or changing a nappy. You deal with jealousy the same way you'd deal with any jealousy - explaining what you're doing, reassurance, making special time for them, letting them be the big bro/sis and helping you, making a special box of toys and stickers to play with while you're feeding the baby etc.

 

[brownlieB]

Thank you so much guys. The contraception thing was my main issue as I said we're quite decided on this being our last. And I really don't want the situation of any mishaps. The rest I think I kind of knew how to deal with it, but just wanted reassurance.
The time limit thing also is because I have to return to work after 9 months so I'm going to have to wean around then, and felt 6 months was a good starting point, but I know where you're coming from about stopping when it's right.

And in my eyes anyone that manages longer than a month is a pro to me! I have two sets of friends ones that tried BF and stopped after 5/6 weeks for various reasons and ones that carried on right up to 18+ months I even have one friend who breast fed twins!!

I could ask them these questions but sometimes I think an opinion or answer from a stranger is better iykwim? Thanks again xxx