The Breast Feeding Support Thread

dublinlady

Need help!
So upset had really cracked nipple last night - couldnt feed thru the pain. As a last resort after several attempts at feeding - my left side was empty - she wanted more - I had to pump from the right - I then gave this one oz to her after the left side in a bottle. She fed after that that night and after using multimamm compresses for a few hrs was able to feed from both sides. Thought that was that. It was literally one oz of expressed milk at the end of a feed. Once!
This morning it took me ages to feed her properly - she kept taking one suck and then off. I tried every position I could with my section wound. Eventually I got her latched on and fed. She then slept fir a few hrs and woke at 1 - I literally spent from 1-4 trying to feed her. Phoned lactation line in holles st who said keep trying but not past 6 hrs as risk of dehydration - then give 20ml bottle and try rest from breast & keep trying. Had he skin to skin for an hr in bed trying & trying making it as relaxing and calming as I could. But she bacame hysterical so I had to give her the bottle - 2oz expressed milk. I then expressed from boobs as they were bulging & leaking. She's asleep now & ill keep trying to latch her on when she wakes but I'm so upset this could be it and that she will refuse the breast I really wanted to feed her a lot longer than this - she's only ten days. And I was so happy to have managed every feed myself so far. I just know she is strong willed Abd was so upset & frustrated she was hyperventilating trying to latch on by the time I have her the bottle.
I don't have time as I have a 15 month old also to express & feed her as it was enough if a struggle just to feed her alone time wise! So if I can't fix this it'll be formula for her. It's not what I wanted and was doing so well
Everything I read about nipple confusion online is really quite negative! I don't have hrs to spend in bed doing skin to skin etc and tried that today without success. I obviously plan on keep trying but like how long do I? 2 hrs per feed?! Then a bottle of expressed? I can't keep that up! I suppose I just want some good news and positivity from experience that this can be fixed!! How to to it ? And how long to expect it to take?
Ill phone the le leche league but literally can't manage a phonecall with all the screaming Etc going on around me so your advise would be greatly welcome!

scrgirl

Oh Dublinlady I could have written this post 5mths ago when my lo was 2 weeks old, exact same problems, I really really advise you to see a lactation consultant, if you are in south Dublin Sue Jameson was who i saw, really brilliant, also Nicola Byrne is suposed to be great too, there are others in north dublin too.
http://www.alcireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/IBCLC-in-PP-13-14.pdf

like yourself I really didnt want to believe we were going to fail, but it looked as if we would as baby literally could not latch. in our case it turned out to be posterior tongue tie, the lc can diagnose and refer to get a snip you if thats the case, but in the meantime she can show you how to latch him on.

I spoke to some great bf counsellors on phone, phn, pediatrician BEFORE getting the lc with very little success as non of them spotted the tt, so we had 5 weeks of pumping and topping up before getting referral, to avoid this just go straight to thr lc is my advice.

We had no probs with nipple confusion, we did "paced bottle feeding" and always finished on the breast so baby got nice full feeling from the boob not the bottle.
http://www.cuidiudsw.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Paced-Bottle-Feeding.pdf

So 5 months later we are going strong exclusively bf, dropped the top us as soon as tt snipped. it can be done, but you will need support, i couldn't have done it without the LC. Its the best €100 I ever spent and saved it twicefold on formula by now! Really wish you every success Dublin Lady.

BTW the cracked nipple and pain is a symptom of tt. There is a tt group on facebook with lots of info.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/breastfeedingwithtonguetie/
http://kellymom.com/health/baby-health/bfhelp-tonguetie/#basic

How Strange

+1 to scrgirl, ring Sue Jameson or Nicola O'Byrne this evening and have a chat with one of them. I rang Sue a couple of times during my first few days and she was so helpful.

This is nothing that can't be reversed so give either of them a call and see what they suggest.

The quicker you get help the quicker it's resolved.

Both are qualified to diagnose tt if that's the problem. Holles St LCs or the Coombes ones for that matter won't diagnose tt as they don't consider it an impediment to bfing do you need to get expert advise from an ibclc LC which both women are.

There's a doctor in sandycove who can snip some tt's so pm me if you get a diagnosis of tt and I'll give you the details otherwise there's a consultant in Clonmel General Hospital who gets most referrals.

I agree that at this stage a cracked nipple and pain are signs of something either a bad latch or tt so it's best to get it sorted as soon as you can. Once you do you'll be flying at it again.

holding

Girls is it normal to have a great week of latching and comfortable breast feeding, and then suddenly the odd day or night when it all goes to crap and is really sore again? I seem to recover again within a couple of days, but every time I think I've conquered it all, I have another bad day/ night.

Another thing - I have a VERY spit-up prone baby. He chucks up both watery milk and curdled posset after each feed, for up to an hour (not constantly, with breaks in between). Has anyone had this, got any tips? Is there anything I can do with the way that I feed him to try to control it a bit, or is there something I can change in my diet - do things I eat even go into the milk? Anyway, any help at all, greatly appreciated.

Dublinlady you poor thing you sound totally overwhelmed, I can't imagine going through that and also having to care for the other kiddie, am surprised you got time to even type the message. Here is hoping that you get the help you need and that the little lady starts latching on and giving you a break.

How Strange

holding the only reason I can think of for the sore nipples on and off is that every so often you get a bit more lax with positioning and how he latches on. At this stage you still need to be very vigilant with getting the latch right every time. Night time feeds can be a problem if you're tired and not watching to make sure he's getting the breast and not just the nipple or that he's pulling on the breast. Other than that the only other reason I can think of is perhaps tongue tie.

A is spitting up too at the moment and my son did it too from 2 until around 5 weeks so I can only guess that it's because they are taking in a lot more milk than their tummies can hold. My son grew out of it around 5 weeks but it's exactly as you describe.

Nead21

Oh Holding i have the same problem with puking and spitting up. It seems to be worse in the morning but can happen all day long. Its horrible :-( Somedays i wonder is he holding anything down at all!

How Strange

We did 3 changes of clothes yesterday because of spit up. That's not even counting changes due to leaking nappies!

dublinlady

Thanks ladies! V helpful as always
I've tried to get in touch with those LC's and hopefully be speaking to one tomorrow!
I def think its nipple confusion as opposed to anything else as ican see the nipple slip up and out of her mouth - pushing her tongue up from the bottle
Couldn't feed her at all but then my hubbie thought of nipple shields, now believe me I think these are the route of all evil as I ended up using them from day one for the whole 14 weeks with A and I tribute them to me giving it up at that stage! Couldn't get her off them! With S we were doing so well up until now and I really thought I had escaped them! However it was that or another bottle tonight so I suppose its a compromise and at least she's feeding from me! Horrendous looking at them squirm and struggle frantic with hunger and them literally being so close to food but just not sucking! Eugh! Today was a very bad day but at least at the end of it I'm still able to feed her myself - who would have thought one oz of breast milk from a bottle could cause so much grief
I never believed ppl when they said that as A took to both so easily - but then again she was using shields!
So I still hope to get it resolved with the LC and if I can't at least I suppose I'm lucky the shields worked! But I still hate them...!!

holding

Thanks How Strange I think you are right, I made more of an effort last night, and it was much better. It's totally not worth relaxing a bit at night when the trade off is so painful. Plus, I can relax better when he's actually on, I just need to remember that.

So glad to hear that that level of spit up is normal, and that other people's babies have grown out of it. About to buy full size adult bibs here for ourselves.

Dublinlady very glad the shields worked.

As an aside, we had our 6 week check the other day and I was told that he was light in weight for his age. Thanks to this thread, I asked the GP if she was using the bf or the ff weight chart, and she said she didn't know (which means the ff one so!). Glad I knew about the difference between the two, otherwise I'm sure I would have come away from there worried that I wasn't able to feed him enough.

foxinsocks

My second was hugely pukey, we went through many many many clothes. She never puked much in one go, it just seemed constant. She was exclusively breast fed until just under 6 months when we started baby-led weaning. At around 6 months she started puking a little less, and around when she was 7 months old we suddenly realised we had entirely puke free clothes. I don't think it was anything to do with what she was eating, she just grew out of it.

dublinlady

Back on track after meeting with LC! So worth the money! Delighted! Thanks for the advise & contacts ladies!

scrgirl

dublinlady wrote: »

Back on track after meeting with LC! So worth the money! Delighted! Thanks for the advise & contacts ladies!

Oh brilliant, what was causing the problem DL?

Nead21

Great news dublinlady

dublinlady

Mixture of a few things! She doesn't think was the bottle - thinks it was just the result of developmental leap - she forgot how to latch - I was a bit engirged & short nipples apparently so have to help her a bit for now - more than I was!
About 3-4 adjustments and she was off!
Amazing considering I was going to be stuck using shields for however long I could have put up with them!
She's certainly making up for lost time now... Thank god OH is off today with A cos S has been feeding on and off for 3 hrs! No shields

How Strange

Fantastic news DL!!!

holding

Dublin lady that's brilliant

holding

Silly question, but does anyone have any tips for keeping breast pads in place? I use the reusable washable ones to soak up leaks etc. At night especially they slip around and fall out, even though I wear a bra at night too.

How Strange

Sorry holding, I've no idea. I'm using the tommy tippee disposable ones and sometimes they fold in half so are completely useless.

Nead21

My litte man has reflux. GP said to use baby Gaviscon and a some water in between feeds. Im worried that i'll be giving him too many bottles and it will confuse him.

The last 2days have been horrible with him trying to get up wind and then he seems in pain when he does :-( The whole thing has really knocked my confidence.

Lola92

Nead21 wrote: »

My litte man has reflux. GP said to use baby Gaviscon and a some water in between feeds. Im worried that i'll be giving him too many bottles and it will confuse him.

The last 2days have been horrible with him trying to get up wind and then he seems in pain when he does :-( The whole thing has really knocked my confidence.

Could you give the gaviscon in a syringe before/in the middle of a feed? I wouldn't bother with the water if he is having plenty of wet nappies already.

Nead21

Yeah i might try the middle of the feed. He is having plenty of wet nappies...so he's not dehydrated (so the gp says anyway).

How Strange

He's def not dehydrated if he's got lots of wet nappies. As Lola92 said there's no need for water if he's got those at nappies. Also agree with using a syringe. Would you give one of the LC's on the friends of breastfeeding a call and have a chat with them about reflux and breastfeeding? Sue Jameson and Nicola O'Byrne are the two highly recommended in the Dublin area.

NextSteps

holding wrote: »

Silly question, but does anyone have any tips for keeping breast pads in place? I use the reusable washable ones to soak up leaks etc. At night especially they slip around and fall out, even though I wear a bra at night too.

The disposable ones that stick to your bra might be good for nighttime? I like the Multimam ones.

dublinlady

NextSteps wrote: »

The disposable ones that stick to your bra might be good for nighttime? I like the Multimam ones.

The avent ones are quite good too - or the lansinoh ones come individually wrapped ( but easy open!) so handy for shoving in bags etc - have 2 stickers on them so stay in place!

LilMrsDahamsta

On the whole breast pads thing, have you tried not wearing them at all and just give the boobs a knock with the heal of your hand when you feel them starting to go? I bought one pack of 20 before I had the first guy and binned the last few the other day, unused (fed him 16 mths, now 4 mths in with no.2); I just found them way too fiddly. I also don't wear a bra at night as I find its the only practical time to allow airflow to the nipples to keep the skin healthy. I found that without the pressure from the bra, I hardly leaked at all anyway.

liliq

I never felt let down until around 16 months. I leaked mostly just at night for the first while anyway but would never realise how much of leaked until I either woke up soaked, or else woke up with my pj top almost crusty from the amount of milk dried into it!! (Lovely! Haha).

How Strange

I had to go to the dentist today and brought A with me. As soon as the dentist saw her he said 'what are you feeding her, she's huge'. I felt so proud saying mother's finest.

She's 1 month tomorrow and I can't believe how big she is!

A proud moment indeed!

Oral Slang

God dreading going back to leaking boobs again, still feeding my little one at 19 months but haven't leaked in at least a year, 15 weeks pregnant now, so can look forward to it in a few months.

holding

Thanks for the suggestions re the pads, have husband picking up sticky back disposables on way home from work tonight. Not sure if I'm ready to try going without them yet! My little guy, we are very lucky, he sleeps 8 hours a night at 7 weeks, but my boobs haven't caught up to this yet and are raring to go in the morning so I leak on one or the other of them. Will keep you posted re the sticky back ones, thanks girls.

Nead21

I just use the sticky back ones from tesco. Dont always wear them but i seem to have one leaky boob at the most random of times!

We have reached 6weeks today and i cant believe it.This was my first target for breastfeeding. Thanks How Strange for telling me that it would get better cause the bf feeding has definitely gotten a lot easier and im so glad i perservered :-)