Let's talk about breastfeeding

lily8543 · January 2014

I BF my DS til 16 months and plan on doing it again. We had lots of issues on and off but I'm really glad it worked for us. I have a medela freestyle. It was perfect bc I had to pump in a lot of random places (even bathrooms...so gross) without electrical outlets. You do what you gotta do though!!

beck12803 · January 2014

mrsdanielleM2010 said:
I'm hoping to be able to bf, but to mostly pump so others (like dh, our moms, etc) can bond by feeding, too. My cousin who is a sahm did ebf, and her baby didn't bond with his daddy or go to anyone else without screaming bloody murder until after he was weaned.

I think it depends on the child. I EBF'ed both of my girls and they have a wonderful connection with their dad and is very comfortable with family members. My sister FF'ed and all three of her kids would scream if she walked out of the room.

adoxyinherear · January 2014

DD is actually still nursing before bed and in the morning right now, and she's 17 months. It's my hope she weans before this baby arrives, and I think she will, as there are even some nights where she's not interested. It was NOT EASY in the beginning (latch issues, plugged ducts, etc.), but I sincerely hope I can BF this baby, too, as it's been a really wonderful experience overall.

adoxyinherear · January 2014

DogfishHead said:

I tried with DD. Oh lord, I tried. She was born with 37 ulcers in her throat, so I was unable to lay her down to breastfeed after 5 weeks, which is when we found out about the ulcers. Her head was not strong enough to bfeed upright, so I pumped. But, she had so many health issues and screamed every second of the day and I just couldn't produce enough. I took fenugreek, I took Reglan, nothing helped. I even called up the Devil Association aka the LLL and they were disgusting. I went dairy, soy, gluten, and legume free. I was only able to pump for 10 weeks.
Breastfeeding was hell for me. That being said, I don't think lightening will strike twice. I don't think I can be born with another little sickie, at least not to the level that she was. So, I am totally game for giving it the old college try again. My goal with DD was 6 months, that is my goal for this one. But, if I wind up with another child like DD,this time I will not beat myself up if stress causes no milk again.

@DogfishHead, you are incredible for sticking it out for so long! And poor you and little DD. That sounds so scary!

portentosa · January 2014

I plan to breastfeed on demand for at least a year. I also plan to pump sooner and safeguard my supply better. I had an oversupply at first and took it for granted, so lost it too soon.... around 9 months.

I have an Ameda pump. I got it free through insurance thanks to the new women's health coverage that went into effect Jan 1st 2013. I got it 6 weeks PP though because there was a HUGE backlog.....women couldn't request pumps until they had their kids and the law was in effect. I had my kid the day the law went into effect. The first company I tried to order through took forever to even call me back when I started to inquire and then told me there was a shortage. I canceled my order and ordered through someone else and got the pump in 3 days.

Kateysomething · January 2014

zoeygirl1105 said:

I will be the odd man out and say that we FF. I'm not sure what I will do this time around.

We did too, with both girls. We had issues and for my own sanity I stopped pumping after a few weeks. I'm switching hospitals this time (no love for the lc's at the old one) and I'm open to trying again, but I'll see what happens.

midwesternmomma · January 2014

I EBF my son until he was two and a half. Then I became pregnant with my daughter and he self-weaned. I EBF my daughter until she was 18 months when she self-weaned. It was a shock to me since I planned to nurse her until at least 2, but she had a mind of her own I guess. She was milk protein intolerant, too, so I ate a dairy free diet from the time she was 3 weeks until she was around 10 months old. From what I hear, the specialty formula she would have needed is pretty pricey, and I loved BF, so it was worth it. Hoping #3 will also EBF, but without the dietary restrictions! Oh, and the Medela Pump In Style worked well both times before. Planning to get another this time since insurance now covers a new pump.

CplusJ=S · January 2014

cpj7 said:

Yes, I will breastfed this baby also for as long as he/she wants.

Please tell me you won't be breast feeding at 7 yrs old? As long as they wants scared me!

I'm surprised everyone let this slide. Just as you should not judge someone on how they feed their baby, you should also not judge them for how long they intend to breastfeed. You should look into the benefits of extended breastfeeding before making comments like these. While age 7 is on the high end of the nursing spectrum especially in the US, most children self wean long before that. I believe the worldwide average age for a child to self wean is 4. I am still nursing my 22 month old and intend to allow her to self wean. If she choses to nurse until she's 5 so be it and that, my friend, is none of your concern. (Edited to fix typing error.)

athara · January 2014

I plan on breast feeding this baby. I breasted my son until he was 14 months so hoping for about the same this time around. I only had a manual pump and I hated it, so I never pumped but this time around I'm hoping to get a good electric one so my DH and DS can feed the baby too.

chusum · January 2014

I still BF my daughter once a day (at 20 months). We weren't always exclusive, in the very beginning her pediatrician threatened to put her in the NICU for losing too much weight & jaundice if I didn't supplement, so she got some formula for a few days while I was waiting for my milk to come in (took for freaking ever, about a week). I pumped once a day and I work outside of my home once a week, so she received pumped milk those days. We were kind of set up to fail in the beginning because giving the formula for the first few days was so easy & painless (I had a ton of pain as do most moms). I'm armed with a little more knowledge about the process and ways to get my milk to come in faster, so I'm hoping I can completely EBF from day 1 this time, plus we have a new pediatrician. I LOVE my Medela Freestyle. $100 more than the PIS and totally worth it IMO. Completely handsfree.

DogfishHead · January 2014

RusalkaSings said:

DogfishHead said:

I tried with DD. Oh lord, I tried. She was born with 37 ulcers in her throat, so I was unable to lay her down to breastfeed after 5 weeks, which is when we found out about the ulcers. Her head was not strong enough to bfeed upright, so I pumped. But, she had so many health issues and screamed every second of the day and I just couldn't produce enough. I took fenugreek, I took Reglan, nothing helped. I even called up the Devil Association aka the LLL and they were disgusting. I went dairy, soy, gluten, and legume free. I was only able to pump for 10 weeks.
Breastfeeding was hell for me. That being said, I don't think lightening will strike twice. I don't think I can be born with another little sickie, at least not to the level that she was. So, I am totally game for giving it the old college try again. My goal with DD was 6 months, that is my goal for this one. But, if I wind up with another child like DD,this time I will not beat myself up if stress causes no milk again.

@DogfishHead, you are incredible for sticking it out for so long! And poor you and little DD. That sounds so scary!

Thanks lady!

mrsdanielleM2010 · January 2014

TheEmpireNeedsYou said:

mrsdanielleM2010 said:

I'm hoping to be able to bf, but to mostly pump so others (like dh, our moms, etc) can bond by feeding, too. My cousin who is a sahm did ebf, and her baby didn't bond with his daddy or go to anyone else without screaming bloody murder until after he was weaned.

This has nothing to do with BFing. My toddler is a huge booby baby, never took a bottle...and she is perfectly well bonded with her dad and her grandparents. Food is not the only way to bond with a baby.

Fair enough. There are probably a million other reasons my cousin's baby has a hard time with bonding. Didn't mean to offend, sorry if I did!

LTMama · January 2014

I plan to breastfeed this time, though I'm not setting goals for myself because last time was so emotionally difficult.

DD was born at 32 weeks and didn't really have her suck reflex yet, so though in the NICU they encouraged me to put her to the breast from day 1 while she got her tube feedings, she couldn't nurse at first. I pumped religiously (once my milk finally came in - I think it took 5-6 days) so by the time she was about 10 days old old we were able to do breast milk exclusively. But even working with 4 lactation consultants she never nursed properly and no one could figure out what her issue was. She would latch and pull off, over and over, then start crying after she did it a few times. She was too small for us to try to push through and keep up with breastfeeding, so I just pumped and fed her breastmilk.

Then when she was about 3 months old, my OB basically forced me to go check out a lump I had developed in my right breast. Had to have a mammogram and a couple of ultrasounds (terrifying process) and eventually a biopsy. Turned out to be nothing scary (fibroidadenoma), but I had complications after the biopsy and developed a milk fistula. Milk squirting out of the biopsy hole, since that duct had gotten blocked up and I couldn't empty it to let it heal. SO. When DD was around 3.5 months we had to switch to formula. The breast surgeon I was seeing advised me to dry up in order to heal, because the other options to close the wound could get invasive and weren't sure to be successful. DD didn't miss a beat, but I had a really hard time about it, even though I really feel like I did all I could.

Through this whole process I worked with 4 different lactation consultants and some LLL folks. No one could figure out how to get DD to nurse properly, and after the fistula happened, a couple of LLL types tried to push me to dry up one breast and keep nursing from the other. Needless to say, that wasn't what my doctor advised and didn't feel like good advice to me, but made me feel shitty about decided to wean.

So, this time I'm going easy on myself. Breastfeeding is the plan, whether it be by nursing or pumping, and I'll do my damndest to get it to work this time. But if shit hits the fan again I'm going to cut myself some slack.

Unknown · January 2014

This content has been removed.

DogfishHead · January 2014

LTMama said:

I plan to breastfeed this time, though I'm not setting goals for myself because last time was so emotionally difficult.

DD was born at 32 weeks and didn't really have her suck reflex yet, so though in the NICU they encouraged me to put her to the breast from day 1 while she got her tube feedings, she couldn't nurse at first. I pumped religiously (once my milk finally came in - I think it took 5-6 days) so by the time she was about 10 days old old we were able to do breast milk exclusively. But even working with 4 lactation consultants she never nursed properly and no one could figure out what her issue was. She would latch and pull off, over and over, then start crying after she did it a few times. She was too small for us to try to push through and keep up with breastfeeding, so I just pumped and fed her breastmilk.

Then when she was about 3 months old, my OB basically forced me to go check out a lump I had developed in my right breast. Had to have a mammogram and a couple of ultrasounds (terrifying process) and eventually a biopsy. Turned out to be nothing scary (fibroidadenoma), but I had complications after the biopsy and developed a milk fistula. Milk squirting out of the biopsy hole, since that duct had gotten blocked up and I couldn't empty it to let it heal. SO. When DD was around 3.5 months we had to switch to formula. The breast surgeon I was seeing advised me to dry up in order to heal, because the other options to close the wound could get invasive and weren't sure to be successful. DD didn't miss a beat, but I had a really hard time about it, even though I really feel like I did all I could.

Through this whole process I worked with 4 different lactation consultants and some LLL folks. No one could figure out how to get DD to nurse properly, and after the fistula happened, a couple of LLL types tried to push me to dry up one breast and keep nursing from the other. Needless to say, that wasn't what my doctor advised and didn't feel like good advice to me, but made me feel shitty about decided to wean.

So, this time I'm going easy on myself. Breastfeeding is the plan, whether it be by nursing or pumping, and I'll do my damndest to get it to work this time. But if shit hits the fan again I'm going to cut myself some slack.

Dude, you are a warrior!

LTMama said:

I plan to breastfeed this time, though I'm not setting goals for myself because last time was so emotionally difficult.

DD was born at 32 weeks and didn't really have her suck reflex yet, so though in the NICU they encouraged me to put her to the breast from day 1 while she got her tube feedings, she couldn't nurse at first. I pumped religiously (once my milk finally came in - I think it took 5-6 days) so by the time she was about 10 days old old we were able to do breast milk exclusively. But even working with 4 lactation consultants she never nursed properly and no one could figure out what her issue was. She would latch and pull off, over and over, then start crying after she did it a few times. She was too small for us to try to push through and keep up with breastfeeding, so I just pumped and fed her breastmilk.

Then when she was about 3 months old, my OB basically forced me to go check out a lump I had developed in my right breast. Had to have a mammogram and a couple of ultrasounds (terrifying process) and eventually a biopsy. Turned out to be nothing scary (fibroidadenoma), but I had complications after the biopsy and developed a milk fistula. Milk squirting out of the biopsy hole, since that duct had gotten blocked up and I couldn't empty it to let it heal. SO. When DD was around 3.5 months we had to switch to formula. The breast surgeon I was seeing advised me to dry up in order to heal, because the other options to close the wound could get invasive and weren't sure to be successful. DD didn't miss a beat, but I had a really hard time about it, even though I really feel like I did all I could.

Through this whole process I worked with 4 different lactation consultants and some LLL folks. No one could figure out how to get DD to nurse properly, and after the fistula happened, a couple of LLL types tried to push me to dry up one breast and keep nursing from the other. Needless to say, that wasn't what my doctor advised and didn't feel like good advice to me, but made me feel shitty about decided to wean.

So, this time I'm going easy on myself. Breastfeeding is the plan, whether it be by nursing or pumping, and I'll do my damndest to get it to work this time. But if shit hits the fan again I'm going to cut myself some slack.

Blemaro · January 2014

I breastfed my son until he was 20 months old. I used a medela pump (I can't remember the model) but it had an option to adjust the strength of the pump during the letdown pumping stage and I found that really helpful to get my milk flowing faster. Basically for the first couple of minutes the pump goes in short bursts to get the milk flowing and then it changes to longer pulls to get the milk out.

I also found it extremely helpful to take a breastfeeding course before I had my son. I felt pretty confident when we started trying to breastfeed. The best thing I think I learned was to get my nipple in his mouth as far as possible. And how to set up for a proper latch.

We had to supplement in the first couple of days because my milk was late coming in and he had jaundice. I met with a few lactation consultants and some of them were useless. I think they can be really helpful if you get someone who knows what they're talking about! If you're having a lot of trouble right away you should have the baby checked for a tongue tie and see a lactation consultant. It's better to get help right away than to end up with damaged nipples! Good luck everyone!

LTMama · January 2014

DogfishHead said:

LTMama said:

I plan to breastfeed this time, though I'm not setting goals for myself because last time was so emotionally difficult.

DD was born at 32 weeks and didn't really have her suck reflex yet, so though in the NICU they encouraged me to put her to the breast from day 1 while she got her tube feedings, she couldn't nurse at first. I pumped religiously (once my milk finally came in - I think it took 5-6 days) so by the time she was about 10 days old old we were able to do breast milk exclusively. But even working with 4 lactation consultants she never nursed properly and no one could figure out what her issue was. She would latch and pull off, over and over, then start crying after she did it a few times. She was too small for us to try to push through and keep up with breastfeeding, so I just pumped and fed her breastmilk.

Then when she was about 3 months old, my OB basically forced me to go check out a lump I had developed in my right breast. Had to have a mammogram and a couple of ultrasounds (terrifying process) and eventually a biopsy. Turned out to be nothing scary (fibroidadenoma), but I had complications after the biopsy and developed a milk fistula. Milk squirting out of the biopsy hole, since that duct had gotten blocked up and I couldn't empty it to let it heal. SO. When DD was around 3.5 months we had to switch to formula. The breast surgeon I was seeing advised me to dry up in order to heal, because the other options to close the wound could get invasive and weren't sure to be successful. DD didn't miss a beat, but I had a really hard time about it, even though I really feel like I did all I could.

Through this whole process I worked with 4 different lactation consultants and some LLL folks. No one could figure out how to get DD to nurse properly, and after the fistula happened, a couple of LLL types tried to push me to dry up one breast and keep nursing from the other. Needless to say, that wasn't what my doctor advised and didn't feel like good advice to me, but made me feel shitty about decided to wean.

So, this time I'm going easy on myself. Breastfeeding is the plan, whether it be by nursing or pumping, and I'll do my damndest to get it to work this time. But if shit hits the fan again I'm going to cut myself some slack.

Dude, you are a warrior!

Thank you for saying that

I felt like a failure for a long time, but looking back at everything I went through, I really do think I did everything I could. And DD is a tough little cookie so I think it all worked out fine!

Silly story. A couple of days after the fistula made an appearance, a good friend of mine got married and I just couldn't miss it. So I showed up with my enormous boobs (I don't even know how big they were at that point, but they hurt like hell since I hadn't pumped in 2 days) with a maxi pad stuffed into my bra to absorb the leaking milk. I had to keep sneaking out to the bathroom to change it. The bride laughed her ass off when I told her about it (much later lol, I didn't want to be all "poor me omg" at her wedding).

DogfishHead · January 2014

LTMama said:

DogfishHead said:

LTMama said:

I plan to breastfeed this time, though I'm not setting goals for myself because last time was so emotionally difficult.

DD was born at 32 weeks and didn't really have her suck reflex yet, so though in the NICU they encouraged me to put her to the breast from day 1 while she got her tube feedings, she couldn't nurse at first. I pumped religiously (once my milk finally came in - I think it took 5-6 days) so by the time she was about 10 days old old we were able to do breast milk exclusively. But even working with 4 lactation consultants she never nursed properly and no one could figure out what her issue was. She would latch and pull off, over and over, then start crying after she did it a few times. She was too small for us to try to push through and keep up with breastfeeding, so I just pumped and fed her breastmilk.

Then when she was about 3 months old, my OB basically forced me to go check out a lump I had developed in my right breast. Had to have a mammogram and a couple of ultrasounds (terrifying process) and eventually a biopsy. Turned out to be nothing scary (fibroidadenoma), but I had complications after the biopsy and developed a milk fistula. Milk squirting out of the biopsy hole, since that duct had gotten blocked up and I couldn't empty it to let it heal. SO. When DD was around 3.5 months we had to switch to formula. The breast surgeon I was seeing advised me to dry up in order to heal, because the other options to close the wound could get invasive and weren't sure to be successful. DD didn't miss a beat, but I had a really hard time about it, even though I really feel like I did all I could.

Through this whole process I worked with 4 different lactation consultants and some LLL folks. No one could figure out how to get DD to nurse properly, and after the fistula happened, a couple of LLL types tried to push me to dry up one breast and keep nursing from the other. Needless to say, that wasn't what my doctor advised and didn't feel like good advice to me, but made me feel shitty about decided to wean.

So, this time I'm going easy on myself. Breastfeeding is the plan, whether it be by nursing or pumping, and I'll do my damndest to get it to work this time. But if shit hits the fan again I'm going to cut myself some slack.

Dude, you are a warrior!

Thank you for saying that I felt like a failure for a long time, but looking back at everything I went through, I really do think I did everything I could. And DD is a tough little cookie so I think it all worked out fine!

Silly story. A couple of days after the fistula made an appearance, a good friend of mine got married and I just couldn't miss it. So I showed up with my enormous boobs (I don't even know how big they were at that point, but they hurt like hell since I hadn't pumped in 2 days) with a maxi pad stuffed into my bra to absorb the leaking milk. I had to keep sneaking out to the bathroom to change it. The bride laughed her ass off when I told her about it (much later lol, I didn't want to be all "poor me omg" at her wedding).

Haha. I pumped at a wedding once. Got so many looks.

MrsZko · January 2014

@LTmama Wow that is an incredible story!!! I'm sorry it didn't work out the way you had wanted but you did so great!

I am planning on breastfeeding the next baby. I did my son and after many issues including tongue tie that was left undetected although he was checked many times by LC and doctors, and many months of pain, we were in a good place until 11 months where he flat out self weaned. I was not ready for it but after ensuring it was not just a strike, it was done and we moved on. I am looking forward to nursing again and hoping for a bit of an easier start. The experience I went through really tought me a lot and I feel much better prepared to do this a second time around!

LTMama · January 2014

@MrsZko, thanks! Sorry you had so many issues as well.

I'm hoping that since so many of the STMs here had success breastfeeding that I'll be able to get great help and support this time around.

MrsZko · January 2014

@LTMama I will be here for sure! I'm not too extreme in my points of view but really try to encourage those that want to breastfeed and I am super open about it and my experience, and those of others I've encountered.

cmumama · January 2014

I'm gonna try. Not going to beat myself up if it doesn't work though.

With DS1, I just about went batshitcrazy trying to breastfeed him. He never latched, so I pumped around the clock and barely got any milk. When he was 3 weeks old, I finally quit and went to formula. Everyone was happier.

With DS2, he latched right away and we made it to 5.5 months. My supply wasn't great and he ended up taking a bottle after most nursing sessions, so I just weaned him and switched him over to formula.

allyall10 · January 2014

I tried to BF last time, but had supply issues. We ended up FF after about 3 weeks. It was torture and I constantly feel like I didn't do enough to help the issue. This time around, I am going to try again even though I finally let myself off the hook last time. I hope to give it a much better try and have already looked into things I can do now (which is nothing) to help.

megs2011 · January 2014

I EBF my twins for 14 months. I plan on BFing this one too. We do plan on giving a bottle at least one time per day so he/she will take one when I want to go out. Last time we got lazy with the twins and they wouldn't take a bottle after.

rockychryslerb2010 · January 2014

I breastfed E for 14 months, plan to do the same with this one. It was hard, harder than I thought it would be and I had lots of support. I almost quit around 4-5 weeks, I cringed whenever E would latch, but it got better and slowly it became cherished time, especially when I went back to work.
I have the Medela PISA, loved it and the Medela harmony manual pump. Both worked for me, and I was lucky not to have supply issues until 10-11 months.

DogfishHead · January 2014

Ziongirl77 said:

@DogfishHead- Poor DD and you really seem like you did all you could! She's looks absolutely perfect in that pic. Too cute.

@LTMama - I agree with DogfishHead - you are a warrior!

Breastfeeding is yet another area like labor and delivery where I feel overwhelmed and clueless. I am still trying to figure it all out. But I think I'd like to try. But as far as pumps and freezing milk goes, I'm in over my head.

Thanks Zion!

henderson1026 · January 2014

I've had great success EBFing my DD and I plan to continue until at least her first birthday. I'll go longer and tandem feed if she wants to.

Maggie-Moo · January 2014

I was another who had hopes, but probably wasn't prepared enough, and it didn't work out as well as I had hoped. We had latch issues from beginning, stayed in the hospital 5 days because of how much weight she lost and started formula to make sure we could go home. Worked with 2 lactation consultants, never got it great, but was at least able to get it to work somewhat, although was never really good. I pumped for 2 months, but supply was never great and it was not pleasant for baby or I, so we decided to switch to formula for both of our sakes. Things I learned that I wish I knew beforehand:

if latch is a huge issue, consider a nipple chield. The hospital was super against them, so I never even heard of it, until the last day when one of the older nurses told me on the DL to get one. Was MUCH better.
If trying to increase supply, pumping alone will not do it, much more effective for baby to nurse then pump so hormones kick in.
We rented a hospital grade double pump-best decision ever! It allowed me to pump as much as possible, I wouldn't have lasted 2 months on a single, but would not be impressed to pay many hundreds of dollars to find out BFing didn't work out for us.
I will not set deadlines for how long I will BF, I did for DD and all it did was make me feel like a failure if I didn't make it and like I could quit the second I got to that arbitrary number. This time I will take it day by day and make an informed decision once things are underway. And I won't be afraid to change my mind if circumstances change.

mrandmrsbrist · January 2014

I'm still breastfeeding my 10 month old and will let her breastfeed as long she wants, even if that includes tandem nursing. So yeah, definitely planning to breastfeed this baby

We had some crazy issues in the beginning. Oversupply like woah resulting in mastitis several times and clogged ducts more times than I can count, bad latch, nipple shield, jaundice, reflux and refusing reflux meds...fun times. It was not easy so I'm not expecting an easy time with this one either.

As for pumps - I have a Lansinoh Affinity Pro that insurance paid for. I like that it's a closed system (Medela PIS and PISA are not and the mold issues I've seen written about online grossed me out). And it's worked wonderfully for the last 10 months

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