Breastfeeding Talk

[riverraine]

This is a great thread idea and I love all the comments so far. I breastfed DS exclusively for 6 months and then supplemented with formula until 8 months. My goal this time around is one year, mostly for the financial aspect.

DS was pretty easy when it came to BFing. We had a learning curve and it was really painful at the beginning, but after a couple weeks we got the hang of it and he did fine. It was just never something I loved doing, and I really hated pumping and wasn't very disciplined about it when I went back to work, so my supply began to suffer. I'm taking a longer maternity leave this time so I'm hoping that extra couple months of BFing without being forced to pump will help with both my supply and morale.

Also, even though this sounds contradictory bc I hate pumping, I plan on starting earlier and pumping 1x a day to establish supply and build a stash instead of waiting until I go back to work.

[gamergirl]

I breastfed DS for 1 year, then weaned him a week after his birthday. Starting out was rough/painful though, as others have mentioned. I had flat nipples, but thanks to the LC who gave me a nipple shield, we made it work. I ended up using the shield for 10 weeks before DS figured out how to latch without it. Luckily my nipples never went back to the way they were, so I'm hoping to skip that part this time around. I did pump, but not a lot. The LC at the hospital told me to pump every 2 hours until my milk came in, which took 3 days. After that, I would pump one side at night while feeding DS on the other, just to have some milk in the fridge/freezer to use as needed. Because of the nipple shield, I dreaded NIP the first few months, so we'd just give him a bottle of pumped milk while we were out (then I'd pump asap when we got home). I returned to work after about 4ish months, so I only pumped at work after that. Overall I really enjoyed our BF journey, and look forward to doing it again.
Also, on DS's BMB, we had a weekly breastfeeding check-in that was really helpful. : )

[britt]

I BF for 6weeks , with a nipple shield and LC and everything but DD wasn't thriving anymore so we switched to formula. Overall it was a fail for us. It was so hard to stop because the whole reason I did natural childbirth all started from my research about BF.
Not sure what will happen this time. I would obviously like to BF this time but I'm not sure I will face the same troubles .
I feel like most of my problems came from birth, She went right to the NICU, and I fell asleep from a long tough labor . In the meantime they fed her formula there. I didn't get to BF her for almost 24 hours later, they had me pumping in the hospital which I feel like screwed Up my natural suppy which I feel never came in right. (Most of my friends who Bf didn't even use their pump for like 3 weeks PP) She never really got a good latch either which was super painful , I would cry sometimes when BF which I was told of your BF it shouldn't hurt. Anyways one night she was screaming because she was starving and I gave her a bottle of formula and never looked back. I pumped for a little bit but ultimately realized my BF days were over.
Depending on how everything goes for me I would love to BF but I know that fed is best and if it doesn't work I won't be as devastated as last time.

[thatgirlrachel]

Aug 29, 2017 5:40:54 GMT -6 britt said:

I BF for 6weeks , with a nipple shield and LC and everything but DD wasn't thriving anymore so we switched to formula. Overall it was a fail for us. It was so hard to stop because the whole reason I did natural childbirth all started from my research about BF.
Not sure what will happen this time. I would obviously like to BF this time but I'm not sure I will face the same troubles .
I feel like most of my problems came from birth, She went right to the NICU, and I fell asleep from a long tough labor . In the meantime they fed her formula there. I didn't get to BF her for almost 24 hours later, they had me pumping in the hospital which I feel like screwed Up my natural suppy which I feel never came in right. (Most of my friends who Bf didn't even use their pump for like 3 weeks PP) She never really got a good latch either which was super painful , I would cry sometimes when BF which I was told of your BF it shouldn't hurt. Anyways one night she was screaming because she was starving and I gave her a bottle of formula and never looked back. I pumped for a little bit but ultimately realized my BF days were over.
Depending on how everything goes for me I would love to BF but I know that fed is best and if it doesn't work I won't be as devastated as last time.

Your experience sounds a lot like mine - a lot of troubles and frustration in the beginning and when we realized how much of a relief formula was, we just kept going with that. I'm in the same boat as you in that I hope it goes better this time, but like you said fed is best. 

[Taitai]

There has been a lot of great advice and comments here - and I can identify with a lot of what others have been through. I breastfeed DS until he was 25 months...the only reason we stopped (when I was 10 weeks pregnant with this LO) was due to my threatened miscarriage and the fact that my doctors told me I needed to quit the breastfeeding in order to help maintain my current pregnancy. I weaned DS from daytime nursing around 13-14 months and got him on cow's whole milk during the day, but he still nursed once in the morning and several times a night until he was 25 months.

So, I ended up loving breastfeeding and was quite traumatized by abruptly stopping - however, it was definitely challenging in the beginning. DS was so exhausted from my long labor that he didn't latch until the 3rd day. I was so exhausted from pumping every 2 hours in the hospital (to make sure my milk came in and to have colostrum to syringe feed DS) and then trying to get him to latch. It was just terrible. He did finally end up latching thanks to the help from a truly amazing nurse, but we still struggled for the first 4 weeks. I had thrush, clogs, engorgement, and a forceful letdown which would frustrate DS when he was starting. However, around 4-6 weeks, I think DS must have just gotten big enough to figure it out and things were a LOT better after that. Here are my tips:

1) Dr. Newman's All Purpose Nipple Ointment (APNO) - this stuff is magic and you should get it. It is prescription only, but I think it saved my breastfeeding relationship with DS on multiple occasions. It somehow helped me not only avoid thrush, but also helped heal nipples super fast and even seemed to help me get clogs out easier. Loved this stuff.

2). Not all LCs are created equal. Look for IBCLC ones - they are the best. The LC at our hospital kind of sucked and I don't think she knew what she was doing. She was not IBCLC certified and she had me pumping waaaaay too much. I ended up seeing an IBCLC one around 2 weeks, who explained I was pumping waaaay too much, which meant DS was getting too much foremilk and not enough hindmilk....the hindmilk is really important, because that is higher in calories and helps the most with growth and development. If you have an oversupply, however, the baby might get full on the foremilk - which is not as filling/satisfying and can also make the baby more gassy and uncomfortable.

3). Don't make a huge freezer stash until you know whether your milk is high in lipase. My milk is unfortunately very high in lipase, which makes it taste bitter if it has been frozen or in the fridge more than a few hours. Totally sucked, because we didn't realize it until later and had to throw away all this frozen milk that DS refused to drink (even though it is still technically safe to drink, it smelled and tasted icky and I don't blame DS for thumbing his nose at it.)

4). Try to get your DH into a habit of giving the baby a bottle of pumped milk, so you can have some freedom. DS hated bottles and would just drink in small increments until I would get back home. That made it really stressful for me to be away - as I knew DS was horrible about bottles. DS also refused formula (we tried it at 1yr and he literally would spit it out). While I loved breastfeeding - the pressure of needing to be around to nurse DS every 2-3 hours was really difficult, especially when I would need to be in away for 4 hours for a work meeting or something like that.

5) Massage your boobs (but not too hard) when breastfeeding to encourage hindmilk to get to the baby. I would also squeeze/massage while pumping. Helped the process go quicker and I feel like it was good for my supply, because it helped me empty myself better. Just don't squeeze too hard!

6) Kellymom is the best!

That's all I can think of for now, but I definitely think we should do a weekly breastfeeding check-in thread. It is sometimes so helpful just to chat with other moms and see what they are going through or learn their tips!

[moonandback141]

I breastfed for almost 13 months until DD transitioned to cows milk. The last 9 months of that were as an exclusive pumper.

I remember at the beginning almost quitting 383849482 times but I am glad I stuck with it because it did get way easier.

I'm a weird unicorn that likes pumping because I can do it on my time, build up storage, know exactly what baby is eating, etc. although this time around I am going to try to "directly" breastfeed for longer. It just got too complicated when I went back to work.

My tips would be:
*Don't give up during the hormonal rollercoaster that is the first 2-4 weeks postpartum.
*Alcohol test strips are awesome.
*Don't let pumping keep you from traveling--bring that sucker along for the ride.
*Build a nice stash while on maternity leave. Your future self during low supply will thank you.
*This one might be TMI but it was a lifesaver for me--I used to get clogs all the time and finally I started inspecting my boob and actually could find a tiny white dot where the clog was and when I picked it it was like, amazing and the suffering ended instantly.

[CoachTsWife]

Aug 29, 2017 8:35:41 GMT -6 moonandback141 said:

*This one might be TMI but it was a lifesaver for me--I used to get clogs all the time and finally I started inspecting my boob and actually could find a tiny white dot where the clog was and when I picked it it was like, amazing and the suffering ended instantly.

moonandback141 I found this to be true for me too!!  I never got mastitis, but I got clogs frequently.  When I finally realized I was getting blocked nipple pores and I could fix them myself it made things so much better.  It took...a long time to figure this out though. 

+1 for a breast feeding check-in.  I got SO much helpful advice from the check-ins on my other BMB.

[rebeccabunch]

+1 to what Taitai said about massaging your boobs. Whenever I pumped I used a handsfree bras and would take my knuckles in a fist and go from the outside in. This was huge for me to help with clogs.

Those white pimples are called blebs. It's skin grown over a duct. I got them often and had them lanced at the Ob more than once. Awful! Make sure your hands are clean before you pick at it but good thought to mention opening those up!

[chitownsully]

Aug 28, 2017 21:48:10 GMT -6 riverraine said:

Also, even though this sounds contradictory bc I hate pumping, I plan on starting earlier and pumping 1x a day to establish supply and build a stash instead of waiting until I go back to work.

I did this from the beginning. Immediately after every morning feed I would pump for 5-10 minutes to boost supply and build a stash. I didn't have any oversupply issues so this worked well for us for a while.

[chitownsully]

Aug 29, 2017 8:35:41 GMT -6 moonandback141 said:

*Don't let pumping keep you from traveling--bring that sucker along for the ride.

Fun Fact. I once pumped on top of a mountain at ski patrol using my battery powered pump while my parents watched DD.

I've also pumped on an airplane. Woo! lol

[lahmajunwithlemon]

32 weeks and still nursing my 20 month old, it's been no cakewalk lol! In the beginning we had trouble with crappy latch because he would suck in his bottom lip, then once my milk came in I had a super strong and painful letdown (I ended up pulling him off and letting down in a towel till he was big enough and could handle it), somewhat of an oversupply and my breasts would NOT respond to pumping... I tried different pumps, hand pumps, different flange sizes... nothing. I could hand express so I did that when I needed to. He never took a bottle, thankfully he never really needed to since I stay home and we have no one to really watch him. He has a slight dairy intolerance so I had to be aware of my dairy intake. But we made it thorough it all When we started TTC this pregnancy he was still nursing probably 4-5 times a day. He ended up cutting back on his own pretty quick to just nap, and night. Then around 20 weeks I basically dried up and dry nursed him for over a month, that was sooooooo painful, but he still clearly needed it so I stuck with it. Now that some colostrum/milk again things are much easier. Hoping he sticks with it for the next few weeks and I get a chance to tandem feed them!

[Taitai]

Aug 29, 2017 9:21:10 GMT -6 CoachTsWife said:

Aug 29, 2017 8:35:41 GMT -6 moonandback141 said:

*This one might be TMI but it was a lifesaver for me--I used to get clogs all the time and finally I started inspecting my boob and actually could find a tiny white dot where the clog was and when I picked it it was like, amazing and the suffering ended instantly.

moonandback141 I found this to be true for me too!!  I never got mastitis, but I got clogs frequently.  When I finally realized I was getting blocked nipple pores and I could fix them myself it made things so much better.  It took...a long time to figure this out though. 

+1 for a breast feeding check-in.  I got SO much helpful advice from the check-ins on my other BMB.

Add me to the bleb club! I hated those little white suckers and found getting rid of them during a hot shower worked well. Like what rebeccabunch said, I always made sure to bring some antiseptic soap into the shower, so my hands were really clean when I took care of it.

I also found I got more blebs when I had to pump....another reason I loathed pumping.

[burritosateverymeal]

I bow down to all of you who EP or who enjoyed pumping. I BF for 13 months and I was very fortunate not to have many bumps in the road. My milk came in late and DS lost a lot of weight initially, but all went well after that. I found that setting small goals helped me get to 13 months it was every 6 weeks or so that I wanted to give up pumping and BFing but I always found a goal- just make it to 4 months, 6 months, 9 months, etc.-and then just kept going until the little rascal started using teeth. I would love a check in once the babes are here.