FTM Breastfeeding help!!

tcmatchett

I have heard lots of advice as far as breastfeeding the diets, teas, and supplements that will help produce enough milk however when should I consider starting to do them to have success even if with just exclusively pumping??!


HELP!

sschwege

You don't have to answer this of course, but any reason you are planning to exclusively pump?

benmel31

I would hold off for now.  You do not know how your body will respond.  As it gets closer to your due date, maybe you want to start watching your diet and avoid foods that can decrease your milk supply.  I wouldn't do anything beyond that though.

Joie80

BreezyMeema said:

Most women produce enough milk on their own without needing any kind of aids. Just wait and see what happens. Over supply is as bad as under supply.

Agreed. Your body will let you know if you need to make any adjustments.

Miz_Liz

I agree with above, wait and see; however drinking water is definitely very important for BF'ing, so you could make sure you are doing that now (which is recommended for pregnancy anyway) so that you are in the habit of drinking lots. P.S. - this is advice I myself should follow!

ann_jeremiah

I can vouch for how terrible an over supply can be! There were times where I was literally pumping 8oz at a time out of one side.... It's so uncomfortable to have that much milk in there. The plus side to the oversupply was that with DS1 I donated on several occasions and with DS2 I decided to keep it and just be done pumping/nursing sooner -stopped at 9 months and had enough to make it past a year.

PixelPosy

I don't think you need to take anything until your milk comes in and you have established your supply around 1 month or so. Baby will drink very little in that first week, and you'll most likely pump more than you need letting you get a bit of a freezer supply started. But baby will catch up to you soon enough. 

If you want to do any pre-work, I'd bake and freeze lactation cookies so you have them on hand. You can find lots of recipes online. I also highly recommend looking into renting the hospital grade pump and lining up some support people until you get the hang of your schedule. A good pump, regular schedule, being relaxed, drinking water and getting enough sleep are all important, and often a challenge with a newborn. 

mommaKCS

While we're on the topic of breast feeding... This may sound ridiculous, but I'm genuinely concerned that my boobs are just too small to successfully BF. Can the size of your chest pre-pregnancy hinder your ability to BF?

Maybe TMI, but I was basically in training bras pre- pregnancy. A very small A cup at my largest. They have grown a bit, of course, but only to a larger A - I'm not even quite filling out a B cup yet.

Any BTDT small chested mommas with experience?

Thank you!

Wering

1) No - breast size does NOT hinder your ability to breastfeed. The "size" is fat stores. We all have the necessary parts to feed, regardless of the size of the fat stores around it.

2) Exclusively pumping is much more difficult than nursing. I'd recommend nursing rather than EP if you can. Pumping is a necessary evil but definitely wears you down.

To answer your question - 

There are plenty of things that you can do to help your milk supply. The first thing is to NEVER, EVER supplement with formula or freezer supply. If you do use these - make sure you pump to replace them. Milk is supply and demand. If you decrease the demand...you decrease the supply.

Look into resources like KellyMom.com to get a better understanding of breastfeeding and how it works. Once you understand how milk is made, stored, and delivered, you'll understand better how to keep your supply up.

Also - 

Fenugreek Seed supplements (until you smell like Maple Syrup) is a short term supply fix.

Extra pumping can boost your supply as well.

Make sure you're eating enough calories and drinking enough water to create milk.

Yiggle09

Pinterest is actually a great resource for breast feeding. I made cookies and brownies from recipies on pinterest for my friend who just had a baby in september. She has a freezer full of BM that she doesnt even know what to do with right now. A good schedule and good early techniques are helpful and there are some blogs that were pinned that explain some teqniques. There are many little posts on pinterest about exclusively pumping or just BF then pumping after to make you body think your baby needs more etc. I have pinned alot of little pointers from storage to actually BF and Pumping. There was even one about refrigerating your pump materials when your at work because you can wash it at home and it wont go bad in that time or something like that. GL and hopefully everything will go well for you and you LO

saroos3137

I agree with everything above. Lactation consultants are a great resource for breastfeeding, even if you're not having major issues, or if you're exclusively pumping. It's easy to get discouraged or give in when others who are not educated about breastfeeding give "advice", so I also find/found it helpful to have a support network whether it's your significant other, family, friends, or a social network/Facebook group. 

GDL24

I'm very small chested as well and when my milk came in I went up a couple cup sizes and breastfed my little one for 19 months with no problems! I had oversupply if anything.

I know plenty of other moms with similar stories as well!

It was nice to have some size for once and I'm looking forward to that perk again