The Breast Feeding Support Thread

Teeley

Lucuma wrote: »

I also did Clare Boyle beforehand and she was brilliant. If I had my time again I'd spend the money on a private Lactation Consultant. It's so worth it. Then you don't have to worry about hospital staff being available etc. It's such an important thing it is worth the money for 1 session to get you up and running.

Agree!..worth every penny. I got one at 6 weeks..only regret is that I didn't get her sooner.

ncmc

Hi guys, I have a 3 week old and I have to leave him for a few hours this Saturday. I have plenty of milk expressed as he was in neo natal for the first week. I was thinking of leaving him 2 x 4oz bottles. Does this sound like enough? I'll be gone a max of 4 hours. I just don't want to defrost a load and it go to waste. I'll be gone a max of 4 hours and can come home earlier if needed. TIA!

spottybananas

Is it frozen in 4oz amounts? Usually people recommend thawing maybe 2ozs or 2 x 2ozs and then more can be thawed if needed, rather than thawing one big batch that may then go to waste.

jlm29

Usually 1- 1.5oz for every hour you're away is recommended. I found my older two only ever drank around 3oz in a sitting!

detoxkid

I'd leave 2 x 2 oz bottles to be sure. Worst case scenario more can be defrosted if needs be

IvyTheTerrible

My 16 month old doesn't take bottles, and she has never used a soother. She still breastfeeds in the morning, evening and in the middle of the night if she wakes up but I feel like she's just using it for comfort rather than for thirst as she stops quickly, messes around, goes back on and repeat for as long as she feels like.
The problem is, she's getting lots of teeth and feeding her is really starting to hurt (especially my right boob for some reason). I'd love to wean her off but I'm not sure how. Would I be mad to give her a soother?

detoxkid

IvyTheTerrible wrote: »

My 16 month old doesn't take bottles, and she has never used a soother. She still breastfeeds in the morning, evening and in the middle of the night if she wakes up but I feel like she's just using it for comfort rather than for thirst as she stops quickly, messes around, goes back on and repeat for as long as she feels like.
The problem is, she's getting lots of teeth and feeding her is really starting to hurt (especially my right boob for some reason). I'd love to wean her off but I'm not sure how. Would I be mad to give her a soother?[/quote

Personally I say go for it, whatever makes life easier for u. I started giving my daughter a soother when I was weaning her (also at 16 months!). It worked a charm. She only takes it at nighttime and I'd say I'll get her off it handy enough ( unlike my 3 year old who is took a soother from birth and is totally addicted!)

Cakerbaker

ncmc wrote: »

Hi guys, I have a 3 week old and I have to leave him for a few hours this Saturday. I have plenty of milk expressed as he was in neo natal for the first week. I was thinking of leaving him 2 x 4oz bottles. Does this sound like enough? I'll be gone a max of 4 hours. I just don't want to defrost a load and it go to waste. I'll be gone a max of 4 hours and can come home earlier if needed. TIA!

My oh used to just defrost milk under warm running water as needed. Maybe be possible to do this instead of leaving too much and wasting some.

jlm29

IvyTheTerrible wrote: »

My 16 month old doesn't take bottles, and she has never used a soother. She still breastfeeds in the morning, evening and in the middle of the night if she wakes up but I feel like she's just using it for comfort rather than for thirst as she stops quickly, messes around, goes back on and repeat for as long as she feels like.
The problem is, she's getting lots of teeth and feeding her is really starting to hurt (especially my right boob for some reason). I'd love to wean her off but I'm not sure how. Would I be mad to give her a soother?

my middle boy, who is 19 mo, never took a soother. My milk dried up around 14 mo because I was pregnant. I tried a soother for comfort then and he was having none of it, so your lg might not take one either. I started giving him a bottle of cows milk then going to bed. He loved it for a while, but a couple of months ago, just stopped taking that. I'm so glad now that there's no soother to be trying to get off him. While he was bottle crazy for a while, I really regretted giving it to him because I thought he'd never give it up!

If I were you, I would probably try to avoid the soother, though I would give it if times were tough! If you could use rocking, singing, anything else to comfort, it would be easier in the long run. My boy is, (at last!!) lying down in his cot at night and going to sleep with minimal fuss!

scarepanda

I don't know how your freezing your expressed milk. But when I'm putting some in the freezer I leave the bag on its side so that the milk is not to thick anywhere which means that it's defrosts very quickly. I used never, or at least very rarely leave milk out ahead of time because it was so easy to defrost and therefore I never risked loosing some because it was unused.

catrionanic

scarepanda wrote: »

I don't know how your freezing your expressed milk. But when I'm putting some in the freezer I leave the bag on its side so that the milk is not to thick anywhere which means that it's defrosts very quickly. I used never, or at least very rarely leave milk out ahead of time because it was so easy to defrost and therefore I never risked loosing some because it was unused.

Exactly this. I freeze mine in 2oz bags laid on their side. Hubby pops it in warm water and it's defrosted in minutes. He says it's quicker to both defrost and warm the frozen milk than it is to warm up a bottle of milk I've left in a bottle in the fridge.

scarepanda

catrionanic wrote:

Exactly this. I freeze mine in 2oz bags laid on their side. Hubby pops it in warm water and it's defrosted in minutes. He says it's quicker to both defrost and warm the frozen milk than it is to warm up a bottle of milk I've left in a bottle in the fridge.

I'm the same as you, only to 1/2/3oz to a bag even though I know she will take 6-8oz a feed

catrionanic

scarepanda wrote: »

I'm the same as you, only to 1/2/3oz to a bag even though I know she will take 6-8oz a feed

6-8oz?!?! Wow, that's a lot for a breastfed baby! I've heard LCs say they shouldn't really need more than 4? How old is she?

I say this in panic because I'm returning to work part-time next Saturday and am frantically trying to pump enough to do him while I'm away, as he's not even six months yet. I have 93oz in the freezer and by kellymom's estimates, that'll only do me six working days!

scarepanda

Aw sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. She's 11 months now and she took 7.5oz the last time she got a bottle. Now she doesn't get them to often and it was at bed time which is normally a big feed for her. Tbh I couldn't tell you what she would take during the day, but I wouldn't say it would be that much going by how much she takes from her beakers during the day. She usually only gets bottles at bedtime.

Btw fair play to you for having so much in the freezer already!!!

rainbow kirby

My son never took more than around 5-6oz in a bottle until he was over a year old. The idea with giving 4oz is generally paced bottle feeding and a very slow teat on the bottle.

texas star

Hi I went through the exact same with my little girl.She would scrap her teeth off the nipple so much so it actually looked like nipple could fall off agony.I used Multi-mam nipple care and found it brilliant.I also told her to open up wide before putting her on the boob.It really was a phase and she's 2 I'm September and just feeds now before bed.Im letting her self whin.For me I'm away alot from her it's our way of connecting.

Give her some capol before bed she's probably going mad with her gums paining and your boob's are a good comfort and breastmilk has anti-inflamory that helps.

tigger123

Hi there,

Myself and my partner are having two breastfeeding issues which we need some advice on:

1) Our two week year old sometimes needs to be awoken in the night for her feeds. When she is awoken she falls asleep on the boob, not always interested in feeding, but we're wondering is she a bit too comfortable? My wife is doing everything she can to keep her awake, but just can't get her interested, and we're getting concerned about her feeding pattern (and not getting a feed every 3/4 hours)

2) Over the last day when she is being fed from the boob, or from a bottle of expressed milk she's hungry, feeding very enthusiastically, but also stops and arches her back like she's in pain and cries out. Has anyone come across this?

waterfaerie

tigger123 wrote: »

Hi there,

Myself and my partner are having two breastfeeding issues which we need some advice on:

1) Our two week year old sometimes needs to be awoken in the night for her feeds. When she is awoken she falls asleep on the boob, not always interested in feeding, but we're wondering is she a bit too comfortable? My wife is doing everything she can to keep her awake, but just can't get her interested, and we're getting concerned about her feeding pattern (and not getting a feed every 3/4 hours)

2) Over the last day when she is being fed from the boob, or from a bottle of expressed milk she's hungry, feeding very enthusiastically, but also stops and arches her back like she's in pain and cries out. Has anyone come across this?

They can be sleepy like that when they're just newborn but it could be something like a tongue tie that's making it tiring for the baby to feed. I would strongly advise you to get a lactation consultant, preferably an IBCLC. They will do a thorough assessment and make an individual plan with you for your baby. Even if there is no tongue tie or anything like that, they will help with things like positioning and latch to help the baby feed more effectively.

If you have to wait for an appointment, some things to try in the meantime to wake her up while she's feeding are blowing gently on her face, tickling her feet, squeezing her shoulders gently, wetting a cloth or cotton wool with cold water and wiping her face, neck, arms or legs. She will probably still keep falling asleep but just keep doing these things every time she drifts off on the breast until you're happy she's had enough.

You should also try burping her frequently during feeds. That will wake her and may help with the back arching if it's wind that's causing that as well. The lactation consultant should be able to diagnose what might be causing that, too.

A poor latch, which may or may not be caused by a tongue tie, can cause both sleepiness and bad wind so an IBCLC is definitely the way to go.

Also, I know it's hard but, if your wife can, try to keep the baby at the breast as much as possible and minimise the expressed milk in a bottle.

jlm29

The arching the back could well be wind, as above, wind her regularly.

Has your baby regained enough weight to be back at their birth weight? Is she having plenty wet and dirty nappies throughout the day? If she's gaining weight, and there's no concerns about milk transfer, I wouldn't worry awfully if she's going longer than 3-4 hours between feeds- she might just be having enough at other times. Enjoy the rest!

Again- at just two weeks, unless it's absolutely necessary- I'd stick to just breastfeeding, and avoid expressing. Pumping early on can contribute to oversupply- the milk coming too hard and fast at the baby can be uncomfortable for them! If you are bottle feeding, look up paced feeding- sometimes the flow from the bottle is a bit much for them too!

Teeley

waterfaerie wrote: »

They can be sleepy like that when they're just newborn but it could be something like a tongue tie that's making it tiring for the baby to feed. I would strongly advise you to get a lactation consultant, preferably an IBCLC. They will do a thorough assessment and make an individual plan with you for your baby. Even if there is no tongue tie or anything like that, they will help with things like positioning and latch to help the baby feed more effectively.

If you have to wait for an appointment, some things to try in the meantime to wake her up while she's feeding are blowing gently on her face, tickling her feet, squeezing her shoulders gently, wetting a cloth or cotton wool with cold water and wiping her face, neck, arms or legs. She will probably still keep falling asleep but just keep doing these things every time she drifts off on the breast until you're happy she's had enough.

You should also try burping her frequently during feeds. That will wake her and may help with the back arching if it's wind that's causing that as well. The lactation consultant should be able to diagnose what might be causing that, too.

A poor latch, which may or may not be caused by a tongue tie, can cause both sleepiness and bad wind so an IBCLC is definitely the way to go.

Also, I know it's hard but, if your wife can, try to keep the baby at the breast as much as possible and minimise the expressed milk in a bottle.

From my own experience, this reply is brilliant advice. A lactation consultant is worth her weight in gold!

Loveinapril

Teeley wrote: »

From my own experience, this reply is brilliant advice. A lactation consultant is worth her weight in gold!

What kind of prices are you looking at for a lactation consultant? I am due my first baby in November and am really intent on breastfeeding. The hospital do a two hour course that I am booked in for. I will attend one or two local Ciudiú meetings closer to my due date. I was looking at doing a half day breastfeeding prep class with a recommended private lactation consultant that costs €80 but am wondering if I would better off waiting til the baby is here for a private consult at home. Money is super tight so could only really do one or the other.

waterfaerie

I paid €90 for a home visit which lasted at least 3 hours and she also provided plenty of follow up by phone and text for no charge.

scarepanda

I went to the hospital run class and it was nothing to write home about. The hospital LC was also nothing short of useless when I needed her the most and I came so very close to quitting on day 3 because of her.

Next time around (hopefully) I'll be going to the breastfeeding support classes around here before bubs arrives and I'll have more, better research done about local LC that I will call as soon as I have any issues. Tbh as long as the cost isn't a stupid price, it's worth spending it at the beginning and getting on the right track early on over trying to struggle through for the sake of a relatively small amount of money - if you end up having to quit before your ready you'll spend it fairly quickly on formula anyways (and I'm not saying that to bottle bash)

Loveinapril

Yeah i heard the hospital classes and LC aren't great, thats why i plan on backing it up with Ciudiú and some sort of private consultation, whether it be the preparation class or the home visit. I have obviously done tonnes of research and reading too. If there isn't that much of a difference in price, I will get a home visit. It would be way better having someone watch me and the baby to ensure we are getting it right.

spottybananas

There's also great online fb breastfeeding support groups, lots of experienced mums and also lc's, midwives and cuidiu members on them. There's a "Breastfeeding Mammies in..." for each county, and another huge Irish group which is always busy and helpful be it 1am or 5am! There's always someone else up feeding on it

The lc in the hospital I went to is useless, I got better help from Cuidiu group, but I was "lucky" in that my son was in scbu so I got some good 1-1 advice there. I also got crap advice there, babies feeding longer than 20 minutes are making a fool of you apparently (cant do roll eyes on phone).

scarepanda

Ya, tbh there's only so much you can prep for before baby arrives. You won't know till then what they're latch is likely, how well they feed, how well your body will take to feeding (I was very sore and I think part of it is just gene's as my mam was the same apparently). There's so many unknowns untill they arrive.

If money is tight, I think I would wait and spend the money after baby arrives, that's if you even have any issues bad enough to see a lc rather than before. Especially if your going to the hospital class (which I presume is free) and a support group. Between both of them you should be able to get enough info to prep. But I wouldn't not spend the money for a session because of money. You'll spend it in different ways further down the line (which are only significant if you really have your heart set on breastfeeding) iykwim.

Loveinapril

Thanks for that. I have the money set aside for a private session and have a fair amount of savings for emergencies but my job doesn't pay Maternity Benefit so am trying to hold onto every penny for any extra (baby) bills. I know tongue tie costs to get privately rectified, etc. My husband is in college full time so I am the only one working! I am anxiety driven and just want ALL the info now, which is ridiculous and impossible.

scarepanda

spottybananas wrote:

The lc in the hospital I went to is useless, I got better help from Cuidiu group, but I was "lucky" in that my son was in scbu so I got some good 1-1 advice there. I also got crap advice there, babies feeding longer than 20 minutes are making a fool of you apparently (cant do roll eyes on phone).

Aw jez some of the advice you get off people is shocking! I used to get 'shes awful hungry' and ' shes feeding again? She shouldn't be eating that soon'. The thing was when she was a new born she was a grazer and would eat quick and usually only on one side, but she would eat often. I have to say it made me fairly self conscious that I was doing something wrong, especially as the PHN had her knickers in a twist over her weight gain!

scarepanda

Sometimes you can have to much information as well as it can stress you out more than it helps! Tbh in my experience, it's just one of those things that you can't predict anything about till baby arrives.
And when your in the middle of it all, dealing with all the emotion, most of the info you will have gathered will go out the window! Make sure your husband knows the important bits of info as he'll be the one with the clearer head!

I remember, my supply was slow coming in because first baby, section and I lost more blood than normal, so bubs was starving on day 2. I was in agony with nipple pain (worse than contractions or section) and had a dose of the baby blues. My lo was roaring coz she was hungry and I couldn't go near her because it only made her worse. It was awful. But in the middle of it all I took a notion that I didn't want her topped up with formula. I didn't and don't have any issues with formula, but in the midst of everything I took the notion that it was all or nothing for me. She ended up getting donor milk. But when I think back to it, it was ridiculous! Thankfully the hospital didn't put me under too much pressure about formula, but in the bigger scheme of things it wouldn't have made any difference what so ever! She was still being supplemented for 18 hours albeit with donor milk. But the notion came from too much info about allergies etc.

ncmc

I definitely wouldn't bother with a LC before the baby arrives. As Scarepanda said, all information will go out the window once the baby arrives. It's no harm knowing the basics in advance, but until the baby arrives, it won't really 'click'. Joining a BF support group now is a great idea, they are a wealth of information and they should be able to help you with issues you may have. You may not need a LC at all.

Plus, bear in mind, you may not have any issues at all! A lot of the posts on here are about people having problems but that's because you're hardly likely to come on here and say 'everything is going great' you only post if there's a problem! So reading too much online may not be a great idea. Maybe I was lucky, but I'm currently BF my second baby and I never had any issues at all. I think my biggest problem with my first was not trusting my own body and doubting myself. I was constantly worrying if she was getting enough, despite the evidence in front of my eyes. I was demented weighing her and even weighing her nappies at one stage! This time I'm much more relaxed and things are going great.

So if I had one piece of advice it would be to relax, and trust your own body. It's designed to do this! Ignore what any body else says. If baby needs feeding, feed it. It doesn't matter if it's only a short time since the last feed, a lot of babies are grazers, especially in the early days. It doesn't mean you're not producing enough. In fact, it's a good thing for bonding and encouraging production.

Lastly, you might be lucky with the hospital LC, there is a woman in CUMH called Susan and she is absolutely fantastic! I'm sure there's some bad ones out there, but my experience with her and indeed the midwives in CUMH was only positive.