your top tips on successful breastfeeding for a mummy-to-be?

[babycrazy1706]

hello mummys, can you please leave your tips and thoughts on how to make breastfeeding as successful as possible, thanks in advance.

 

[Maggs]

Be prepared to sit on the couch/bed/chair, etc. and feed your baby and do NOTHING else for the first few hours/days/weeks. Eat as much as you can (porridge is very good for supply!), drink water all day, sleep when you can (look into safely co-sleeping if you're happy with this), take as many offers of help as possible--whether it be someone watching the baby while you shower, someone making lunch for you, someone doing laundry or housecleaning for you, and when in doubt come here and ask someone or anyone because I was in doubt A LOT those early weeks. Every time he cluster fed and wouldn't sleep, I thought my milk was drying up. Turning to knowledgeable people in those weeks made me carry on! And read this...

https://theleakyboob.com/2011/08/baby-explains-normal-newborn-behavior/

Also, not much point in being fitted for a nursing bra until after baby is born in my opinion. Buy good nursing pads, lansinoh cream, and a good nursing pillow. Attend a breastfeeding group if you want as well. They can help check your latch if you're unsure. And make sure in the hospital that you tell them you want to breastfeed and want all the help you can get and they are to not give your baby formula!

 

[susywoosy]

My advice would be to persevere. You will have a few rough days at the very beginning and it would be really easy to go on to bottle feeding with formula, but try and stick it out until your milk comes through as it does get easier and you will actually start to enjoy the whole experience.

I love the time I get with my daughter when I'm BF. Its wonderful and she has really got to know me and vice versa. So much so that if she hears my voice she looks for me, even if she is having fun with Daddy. Nice for me but he has fun too... does the winding and nappy changes!

Look me up if you need a wee bit of support after LO arrives... but BF is so worthwhile xxx

 

[TigerLady]

If I had to boil it down to two words: determination and commitment.

In the end, it was those two things that got me through any and every challenge that presented itself. I was determined to BF and committed to it. I found solutions to any problems or just worked my way through them until they passed. Anything else wasn't an option for me.

 

[plutosblue]

Try not to stress or get frustrated - as long as you do your best thats all you can do. The first week is pretty rough getting into the swing of everything, but as the other ladies have mentioned try to persevere. You may be lucky and have a baby born for booby like mine!

Delegate - when you're feeding, get people to bring you food/drink. Sometimes baby may want to cluster feed and its just easier to lay down and let baby drink while getting everyone else to get on!

Buy lots of breastpads and have towels at the ready! In the beginning I went through loads and the towels are for the nightsweats - yummy!

 

[Braven05]

For some people BFing is easy and for others it isn't! But if you are determined to do it then all the above suggestions are great. I know my local LLL meeting that I go to monthly we have pregnant women who come in just to ask questions and get familiar/establish a relationship with the leaders and other mothers. I discovered the more resources you have the better! It also helps to sit in a room full of women BFing their babies because I'm sure most wouldn't be uncomfortable if you wanted to watch for technique or ask questions.

I felt comfortable once the lactation consultant showed me a position that worked for my LO and then I got home from the hospital and I felt lost. And then my milk came in and I was engorged immediately. And I didn't know what to do. So I asked for help. You can't be afraid to ask for help.

We went through a lot to establish the BFing relationship we have today and I looooove it and don't regret anything (regardless of mastitis, clogged ducts, a breast biopsy, painful latch, cracks in nipples, etc). I also went back to work when LO was 6 weeks so I pump at work and if I had to choose the worst part of BFing, it would be that. I love the bond with my baby and I love providing her with milk, I think its amazing that my body can sustain her. Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy and with BFing!

 

[Lil_Pixie]

Don't buy bottles/formula

I was really lucky that I found bf pretty easy, but I still had myself convinced at 3am when my son had been feeding for hours that he was starving. If I'd have had bottles/formula in the house right then I'd have given it to him. Made the decision to give him a bottle first thing in the morning but things always seem better in the daylight. Of course he wasn't starving, and after we'd both had a few hrs sleep everything was fine and he's never needed any kind of top up.

 

[xsadiex]

Prepare as well as you can, prepare for it to be tricky at first - it took me a while to get a hang of a good latch and this caused me a lot of pain.
So do lots of learning - a good book is 'the womanly art of breastfeeding' by La Leche League - it really helped me with good info and kept me positive.
Lanolin is great for sore nipples.
It will get better, so it's SO worth carrying on I am really enjoying it now
Defintely do not buy any formula, it would make it easier to give up and could ruin your supply.
Good luck xxx

 

[pinkpolkadot]

Be prepared to feed A LOT in the beginning! If you are prepared to not get much else done it won't come as such a shock as it did to me!

Try and put off visitors if possible while you and LO get used to BF it can be stressful trying to get the hang of it with onlookers or knowing people are waiting in the other room!

Get some Lansinoh, I only needed it for a week or so I think but it was amazing for soothing my poor nipples until they toughened up a bit!

Get a breast pump and start expressing once your supply is established etc.., it's nice to be able to have a break every once in a while

Good luck and enjoy it

 

[EverythingXd]

Buy some good books or DVDs, put your feet up and enjoy the rest and closeness with your baby

I used to make a jug of orange squash so I could refill my glass without having to get up! I also watched the whole set of 24 (which is something like 168 hours of viewing) in the space of about 3 weeks haha! Buy in some snacks like chew bars to have handy wherever you feed.

The cluster feeding doesn't last that long and although you may get some cracked nipples or even blocked ducts (I had several), they actually heal pretty quickly with the right treatment - I agree Lanolin (Lanosin? Can't remember!) is great. Also the first blocked ducts I got were by far the worst. Now if I get one it's just a mild discomfort during one feed, I find it & unblock it and it's gone.

And you will surprise yourself how much stuff you can do while BFing. I actually beat my hubby at some football game on Xbox Kinect with my LO latched on feeding - round our friends' house much to my hubby's embarrassment

 

[LauraBee]

No one told me that it hurts a LOT to start with, which seems to be a big reason for women switching to bottles - so if you prepare yourself for sore nipples and rock hard boobs, that'd be good. Also know, it doesn't hurt forever. I don't remember the pain, but I'm told about how much I used to moan about it.

Honestly, if you can just stick out the pain, it's so ridiculously easy after that.