Some questions if you have time?

[jenkins]

Hi all

Was just looking for some pointers please if any of you have the time to help.

At the moment my sister is pregnant and a friend of mine is about to give birth any day. If I have anymore babies I will definitely be breastfeeding.

I have no experience of BF at all as I do not know anyone in real life who has and I FF my lo. I have read a lot about it, especially on here and wanted to ask some questions so that I will be able to support my friend, who is going to breastfeed and hopefully my sister who is as yet undecided. I read so much on here about how ladies have been unable to BF/continue BF for whatever reason and that the 'help' from professionals isn't always good or supportive.

What are some of the most common 'challenges' with BF and how can you overcome them?

What things do people tell you are not normal or a problem when they are actually normal eg cluster feeding?

What is the best way to support a new BF mummy?

Is there anything you wish you had known before BF?

TIA

 

[mia_leacey]

Not sure I can answer all of your questions but I will have a go.

I think the BIGGEST challenge is how to know how much milk the baby is having. So many times I've heard people say that baby isn't getting enough milk. First of all, you just have to trust you have enough milk. If baby is weeing, there's milk going in. Baby will feed all the time, that's normal. Not being able to express is absolutely no indication of what baby can get.
Another major challenge is that you have to just feed feed feed. Lie on the sofa and don't get much done for the first few weeks.

One of the things I was told wasn't normal was baby's dry lips. I was told he was dehydrated and not getting any milk but then my Mum told me it was just a sucking blister and very common as he was feeding so much at first.

Support a BF Mummy with time really. Don't bombard her with visitors. Do everything else physical (washing, cleaning, cooking etc) for her.

I wish I had known how long it takes to get to be second nature but I also wish I'd known how amazing it is. Oh and I also wish I'd known BF babies are slow to gain weight at first, but then they pile it on, but that this isn't sustained.

Good luck to you and your friends. Persevere. It's worth it.

 

[readytotry]

Agree with everything the pp said.

You could also find them a local bfing support group. They tend to be a bit better informed than midwives/hvs whose bf training is not always up-to-date. It is also a good place to go to build confidence with feeding in public.

 

[milosmum]

i agree with pp the breastfeeding support group was brilliant for me other mums and a trained support worker to answer all your questions.
Also i did not realise that it does hurt a bit to start with especially the feeling of let down but it does get easier with time.
Support your friend with food and lansinoh nipple cream and offer to go out with her when she starts feeding in public x

 

[katy1985]

Agree with all pp, especially about you helping with cleaning, etc because she will be glued to the sofa. Run her a bath and look after LO for half an hour so she can have a soak. Let her sleep when LO sleeps while you watch LO. The worst thing for me was all the midwifes kept saying 'if it hurts your doing it wrong' well nearly everyone who I've spoken to has said it hurts, by about week 2-3 when your nipples are cracked and hanging off, but if she can push past this it will get better (people will say that a lot, but it's true!) and defo just trust her body, there is milk in there even if LO's making you think shes starving, like pp said, if there's wet nappies she's getting milk x

Oh and tell her shell sweat at night! People forget to mention these kind of things to you!

 

[Maxy1]

I would agree with what has been said and add

1. A common challenge is ensuring that the latch is correct. Really need to see a video or watch someone do this, and know what indicates a good latch by the way LO is feeding. If someone had shown me this on the first day BFing would have been so much better for me and DS.

2. (a)People told me pain is normal and that it will hurt for the first bit. I was in agonising, toe curling and crying pain (see above point). That's not so normal (depending on pain thresholds, mine is quite high) and if that is the level of pain, then an LC should be consulted. (b) Co-sleeping is not evil and not just something irresponsible people do, it can be done properly and safely.

3. Make sure she has access to lots of water when she is BFing and I really want to reiterate the pp point of helping mum by letting her have a bath/shower and sleep knowing that someone is watching LO.

4. How time consuming it is at the start and how emotional I would become about it.

 

[lollybabe2011]

I agree with what a lot of the ladies said my nephew is 2wks old today, and my sis is doing well, even though she is so far away, we communicate daily. I made her watch the videos by Dr Jack Newman - It was the best for me, makes sure she learns to latch the new one, I never had any problem with nipple except slight intial soreness.
here te link for videos - https://www.breastfeedinginc.ca/content.php?pagename=videos

 

[jenkins]

Wow this is a really old thread of mine that I randomly remembered!!

My sister decided not to breastfeed and my friend breastfed her lo successfully

My new baby boy is 3 weeks old today and breastfeeding is going really well

Just a few normal challenges, I'm feeling very trapped and feel bad for my older son as I just can't do as much with him right now but I know that will get better as bf is more established.

Thanks again for those who answered this thread