What advice would you give..

[BethHx]

To a new breast feeding mom who had a bad experience first time round.
I've decided I am going to breast feed Eliza and it IS going to work out.
I have a v active 2 year old also.
I got extremely sore, bleeding nipples first time round and mastisis.

Any advice on how to avoid it this time?
Any advice in general?
Thanks

 

[mara16jade]

It took 3-4 weeks for me to get the hang of bf'ing. Lo lost 11% body weight 5 days after he was born and it was due to poor latch and him refusing to open his mouth wide enough. It'd take me 45mins. sometimes to get one latch and if he unlatched we'd have to start all over again....but he was so tired, he'd fall asleep.

I saw two LCs and went to the hospital 3x to see specialists, and nothing helped. I asked about a nipple shield since my mom brought it up. They said I didn't need one. At his 2 week checkup I asked again about a nipple shield or anything else (i.e. technique ), and I was told I didn't have flat nipples so I didn't need a nipple shield, and if it was not working, I should just pump and bottle feed.

I said F-this and sent my dh to pick up the Medela nipple shield. What could it hurt? I was inches from giving up! And.....PRESTO it fixed everything! It taught him how to latch, and then also helped with another issue I didn't know was going on at first. My let down is soooo strong he screams and fights the breast (and the shield slowed the flow down perfectly). And he never got confused, and never preferred the shield.

So what would I recommend? If someone was having latching and/or massive let down issues (or engorgement and lo can't latch because it's too full/hard)...I would totally recommend a nipple shield.

Oh, and persistence!!

 

[lisa1980]

I was lucky and had no really significant problems with BF.

My advice would be to read as much as you can about normal BF newborn feeding behaviour - kellymom.com is great for this.

The hardest part for me was the cluster feeding early on. My DS was pretty much attached to me most of the time and I kept being told by well-meaning people (including the HV) that he must not be getting enough because he should only want to feed every three hours (who invented this arbitrary time-frame?!). Luckily my mum BF me for a year and I knew that this was totally normal so I didn't let it put me off, but I can see how a lot of mums would be.

This time I also have a toddler so I plan to pop DS2 in a sling early on to free me up a bit. If I can work out how to BF in one then even better!

I felt like giving up a lot in the early days as I was so tired, but honestly I'm so glad we persevered as it was such a special journey to me and I really missed it once we stopped. I was surprised to feel like that as before he was born I wasn't even that sure I wanted to BF (and was adamant that I wouldn't NIP-hah!) but decided to give it a go. I had no idea it would become so emotional and such a bonding experience for me.

I think your experience BF your first will be valuable to you this time round as you have some idea of things to look out for. I'd say that if similar things are happening try to get some really good latch advice (or a nipple shield as pp said) and treatment early on to give you the best chance.

Fingers crossed you have a easy ride of it this time round

 

[missk1989]

To help you nipples i would make sure you are using lansoh on them from day one whether you need it or not but only a very thin layer as wet nipples dont heal. I found that johnsons breast pads were most absorbant to help with that. Also when you have no visitors air them out a bit!
Mastitis usually occurs from being engorged. When baby is a newborn you should find they feed every couple of hours plus a bit of cluster feeding. If you are feeding regularly then you should be okay. I would strongly urge you to avoid pumping in the early days unless you HAVE to. I knnow some hospitals reccomend this from day one but it messes with your supply and you could end up with an oversupply, leading to engorgement and mastitis.

 

[sheldonsmommy]

I agree with missk1989. I found Lansinoh to be extremely effective at preventing further cracks in my nipples.

I would say that even a great latch can cause pain. Maybe my babes just had strong suck reflexes, but I got cracked nipples and it sucks. Lansinoh helped soften them a bit and it was only painful in the first ten seconds of latching, then we were good. Air those puppies out as much as possible.

Also I would suggest some activities that your 2 year-old can do while you are pinned to the couch during an awful clusterfeed. TV was my friend . Also, always keep snacks and a water bottle around you in case a ten minute feed turns into an hour.

I found it extremely beneficial to get away from the kids, even if just for ten minutes. Take a walk, go shopping if you have the time and resources (or in my case window shop lol). You will feel rejuvenated, I promise!

Most importantly, if it doesn't work out and you can't or simply don't want to continue breastfeeding, please don't beat yourself up! Take care of mom first and baby will be just fine