@Kylieslip24, yay for planning to try laid back nursing! I don't know why, but I get excited when I hear women expressing interest in it. It worked great for me with both my boys.
@flyingncmama. I'm really excited to try it! I only just heard about it a few months ago, but I think it would have been awesome for dd. I'm really glad I came across that info this time!
Question for anyone who recently stopped nursing... I nursed until about 11 months (stopped about 2-3 months ago). I was completely dry within a month or so. Well now I've started noticing the even lightly pressing on my breast causes a discharge that looks a lot like colostrum. I never had this with my first until after she was born. Is this because it's been so recently since I stopped nursing? I'm only 19 weeks so it seems a bit early for this to start. Will probably ask OB at next Appt but wanted to see if anyone else experienced this.
Ladies, I wanted to thank you so much for sharing your experiences. As a FTM who really wants to beastfeed, who's mom and MIL breastfed, and understands the benefits of it, it's something I worry about not being able to do. Hearing your stories shows me its not a walk in the park, but many of you persevered, and most importantly, all your babies got fed.
@Praying41 I don't have experience with that, but I don't think 19 weeks is outside of the normal range for starting to make colostrum regardless of your history. I'm not sure, so don't take this as authoritative and definitely ask your ob next time you are there, but I wouldn't stress about it.
Ladies, I wanted to thank you so much for sharing your experiences. As a FTM who really wants to beastfeed, who's mom and MIL breastfed, and understands the benefits of it, it's something I worry about not being able to do. Hearing your stories shows me its not a walk in the park, but many of you persevered, and most importantly, all your babies got fed.
Ladies, I wanted to thank you so much for sharing your experiences. As a FTM who really wants to beastfeed, who's mom and MIL breastfed, and understands the benefits of it, it's something I worry about not being able to do. Hearing your stories shows me its not a walk in the park, but many of you persevered, and most importantly, all your babies got fed.
Love beast feeding. It does feel like that a lot. I liked laid back position since I had such a forceful let down. I also enjoyed side lying to get more rest. That's also a good position for forceful letdown. I'm also of the opinion that the end goal is a fed baby. As a FTM, I felt so pressured to keep going with BFing even though I hated it. Even though I got through until 12 months, I feel like I sacrificed my sanity. I also wonder if I would have chosen to stop, if my PPD wouldn't have been so bad, and if I would have enjoyed my daughter's first year of life more. I'll give it another go with this baby, but I'm planning on stopping if I'm not happy doing it. To me, I feel like being a happier mom and a mentally healthy mom is far more important than breastfeeding.
@sejica late to the party as I'm mostly a July lurker (June 30 adjusted EDD)... but wanted to add that I had small, inverted nipples and was very concerned about my ability to BF. I ended up using a nipple shield only on one side, and that was mostly to heal from some early injuries. The shield really helped, and so did just nursing - I didn't pump.
I'm still nursing my almost 20 month old, and (TMI alert: ) most definitely do not have inverted (or small) nipples any more. Which, yay! I hated them my whole life. Didn't know there was a name for it until I was pregnant and learned about it from reading about "beastfeeding."
DS: He was both a lazy and shallow latch. I was really caught off guard by how much BFing hurt at first and it was discouraging as he never seemed satisfied. I had bleeding and lots of pain, but the cream helped a bit. I thought my supply was poor or perhaps I was doing something wrong. A LC consultant validated my positioning and the latch as I would keep taking him off until he was on well enough. I ultimately had to use a nipple shield given his shallow and lazy latch. It helped him immensely which was great, but I hated the shield! I also had tons of clogged ducts with him as he really didn't have great suction. I had mastitis once and really wasn't certain how I could I could make it BFing a other after that first experience. My advice to FTMs is that if it means enough to you and LO is getting enough, keep with it! It gets a lot easier and your body gets overcomes the initial pain or discomfort that you might have.
DD: Holy world of difference! She latched right on within 30 minutes of birth and she had a great latch. With her I developed a bit of an oversupply and she was much easier to nurse. The discomfort was still there at first, but not as bad as the first time. I used the shield for a bit as she seemed to really struggle with my letdown and would gag. Once she was a bit older, I removed the shield and she adapted better.
Other note: Both my kids had reflux and issues with allergies. I had to remove foods from my diet and that helped a lot. The reflux made BFing a bit stressful at times, but would have been an issue even if we formula fed. I had 12 week leave with both kids and then had to pump at work. I would recommend to any FTM or STM with a new job to inquire in advance about pumping accommodations if you plan to continue BFing after returning to work. Pumping can be stressful at times. DS consumed more than I could pump at work so I had to squeeze in an extra session at night. That sucked. DD on the other hand ate a lot, but my supply was high.
@elyse1384 Your second child being easier to breastfeed after a hard experience with your first gives me so much hope. My daughter was so terrible at nursing for like the first three months. It was seriously a thousand times worse than my unmedicated labor and delivery was. I have been dreading doing that again with this lo, so thanks for giving me hope that it could be easier this time.
Also, I would second the suggestion to get pumping accommodations sorted out before you leave work or even earlier. Especially because right now they are legally obligated to provide you with a private non-bathroom space, and who knows if that will change before people are heading back to work. If your employer already has a plan for your return to work based on current law, it can only make things go smoother. Also, I found that pumping extra in the morning before work gave me a lot more milk than doing an extra session in the evening. Something to experiment to see what works best for you! Oh, and I strongly advocate setting up a system with your partner where their contribution to the whole pumping thing is washing and reassembling your pump parts every night. It's something they can actually do that removes some of the burden from you.
@Elyse1384 Fellow allergy mom here - DD was diagnosed as being allergic / intolerant of dairy the week before I went back to work. I cut out dairy, soy, and beef (there's cross-reactivity with the proteins) and she got better. Made it 5 more months of nursing before my supply fell off and I got sick and needed medication which would have contaminated the milk for her - made the switch to ridiculously expensive hypoallergenic formula.
In the good news department, she outgrew all of the intolerances - did blood work at 1 year to confirm. She's been fine ever since.
Keeping my fingers crossed that this little guy's tummy is less sensitive. I still don't know what I ate all those months!
Re: Nursing Experiences and Questions
I'm still nursing my almost 20 month old, and (TMI alert: ) most definitely do not have inverted (or small) nipples any more. Which, yay! I hated them my whole life. Didn't know there was a name for it until I was pregnant and learned about it from reading about "beastfeeding."
DS: He was both a lazy and shallow latch. I was really caught off guard by how much BFing hurt at first and it was discouraging as he never seemed satisfied. I had bleeding and lots of pain, but the cream helped a bit. I thought my supply was poor or perhaps I was doing something wrong. A LC consultant validated my positioning and the latch as I would keep taking him off until he was on well enough. I ultimately had to use a nipple shield given his shallow and lazy latch. It helped him immensely which was great, but I hated the shield! I also had tons of clogged ducts with him as he really didn't have great suction. I had mastitis once and really wasn't certain how I could I could make it BFing a other after that first experience. My advice to FTMs is that if it means enough to you and LO is getting enough, keep with it! It gets a lot easier and your body gets overcomes the initial pain or discomfort that you might have.
DD: Holy world of difference! She latched right on within 30 minutes of birth and she had a great latch. With her I developed a bit of an oversupply and she was much easier to nurse. The discomfort was still there at first, but not as bad as the first time. I used the shield for a bit as she seemed to really struggle with my letdown and would gag. Once she was a bit older, I removed the shield and she adapted better.
Other note: Both my kids had reflux and issues with allergies. I had to remove foods from my diet and that helped a lot. The reflux made BFing a bit stressful at times, but would have been an issue even if we formula fed. I had 12 week leave with both kids and then had to pump at work. I would recommend to any FTM or STM with a new job to inquire in advance about pumping accommodations if you plan to continue BFing after returning to work. Pumping can be stressful at times. DS consumed more than I could pump at work so I had to squeeze in an extra session at night. That sucked. DD on the other hand ate a lot, but my supply was high.
Also, I would second the suggestion to get pumping accommodations sorted out before you leave work or even earlier. Especially because right now they are legally obligated to provide you with a private non-bathroom space, and who knows if that will change before people are heading back to work. If your employer already has a plan for your return to work based on current law, it can only make things go smoother. Also, I found that pumping extra in the morning before work gave me a lot more milk than doing an extra session in the evening. Something to experiment to see what works best for you! Oh, and I strongly advocate setting up a system with your partner where their contribution to the whole pumping thing is washing and reassembling your pump parts every night. It's something they can actually do that removes some of the burden from you.
In the good news department, she outgrew all of the intolerances - did blood work at 1 year to confirm. She's been fine ever since.
Keeping my fingers crossed that this little guy's tummy is less sensitive. I still don't know what I ate all those months!
BFP #1 6/13 DD 3/14
Mirena 10/14-5/16
BFP #2 9/2/16, CP confirmed 9/8/16
BFP #3 10/10/16 EDD 6/22/17