Anyone hire a lactaction consultant?

the future mrs. slicks

If you hired a lactaction consultant, a.) how did you find this person, b.) did they help solve your problem c.) was it worth the money and d.) do you feel they were understanding of the needs of multiples?

When I was in the hospital 3 weeks ago after the birth of my twins, I was very disappointed with the lactation consultants there.  They were impatient and in a huge hurry to see other patients, they gave me conflicting advice/instructions, and it seems their advice was the same they would give singleton moms, and not practical for multiples.

At our 1st pediatrician visit, she said to forget the advice of the consultants and take it easy on myself (and my boobs) by BFing one baby at each feeding and topping off with formula (while the other gets full feeding with formula) and rotating this pattern.  Well, I'm not too thrilled with this plan either and I want to get them on a better schedule and get my production up so we don't end up supplementing with so much formula. I also have no clue about pumping and how to work that into the mix, we're just trying so hard to keep up with the feedings as it is! That and I find it hurts like hell so I'm not exactly eager to do it.

What a mess! Fortunately the babies are doing wonderfully and gaining lots of weight and they seem happy for the most part.  I just wish I had a better idea of what we're doing and I feel like I need to get someone who understands the demands of multiples to LISTEN to me and provide some real help.

I can't wait to hear feedback from the MoMs on this board about this....TIA!!

 

natb22

No advice here..just wanted to say I know exactly what you mean about the LC's at the hosp. I got SO much conflicting advice about BFing, formula feeding, how often to feed, how much, etc. I wish I would have been more knowledgable about it and maybe I'd still be BFing.

GL!

hunt2005

I'd suggest to look up your local La Leche league

lola6711

I feel like I received wonderful advice from my hospital LCs, but still haven't made a go of BF.  So far I am EP for my twins.  My supply is exactly what they need at 7 weeks, but we might need to supplement soon.

I don't have any advice for your original question - just wanted to tell you that I hear you on it being a mess!!  I found it too difficult to work with both babies different needs to practice BF, then pump, then feed pumped milk, then start over.

hinghambride

First of all, Congratulations! It sounds like you are doing really well. I was in the same boat -- conflicting advice from the hospital consultants and vague, singleton advice from the pedis. What's even worse, the nurses in the hospital acted like I was a circus sideshow because i was tandem feeding.

I hired a consultant and she was great. She boosted my confidence, showed me that the babies were getting enough, helped me figure out pumping (we decided I didn't need it).

 She came when they were ready to eat and observed them at the breast, then weighed them after the feeding to see how much they milk they took.

 Then we basically talked. It was a 2 hour visit. It didn't change my feeding plan in a significant way, but it was wonderful to have an expert focus on me and my babies for that much time.

I found her through the lacation consultants at the hospital. I paid upfront and can see if my insurance will reimburse but I don't think they will (which is ridiculous!).

I tandem fed on an ez-to-nurse twin pillow for all feedings except the 11:00pm one when they got some formula for the first 9 weeks or so. When I had to leave the house without them they got formula. No problems there, no supply issues.

Now, we are in a good groove where I BF both first thing in the morning and before afternoon nap. The rest of the day one baby gets the breast and one gets formula on alternating days.

Good luck!

monkski

I did what I could for free. Called a la leche league member (you can find one in your area online) and we also had a support group through the hospital that was free. It's a group setting, but I found they had plenty of time to work with everyone individually. It sure beat the cost of a private consultant.

What I ended up doing is tandem feeding them on an Ez2nurse pillow and pumping for 10 minutes after each feeding. I think for a bit in the beginning, I'd top them off after a feeding with expressed BM just to make sure they were getting enough (but only did this until they reached their birth weight).

The pumping really got my supply going! And now I'm still going strong at 10+ months.

GL! and stay committed if you really want to make it work. It does get easier! I'm so sad now that I'll be weaning them in a couple months!

MamaCrystal

You could call La Leche League.  When I called them, I reached a local woman who wasn't much help, but you never know... you could have a wonderful one available in your area.

I've given birth in 2 different hospitals (2 states), and there was a HUGE difference in the quality of lactation consultants.  The ones I had after our twins were born were wonderful.  Maybe you could visit another hospital's LC's??

You could also ask your pediatrician for recommendations... our office has at least one on staff. (ETA: Originally thought your OB told you to forget the advice of the consultants... now I see it was your pediatrician.  Well, darn.)

I wish there were more recommendations to give... it makes me sad to hear about people being disappointed in their LC's, it's such an important person to have readily available after childbirth!

hunt2005

That's a good idea to check at other hospitals too! One of our local ones actually has a "Mommy Boutique" with lots of breast feeding supplies, and several different LCs you could talk to for a consult and then decide if you want to have an appointment.

Also - check with a local MoMs group if you have one nearby - surely someone else there has had trouble BFing and needed help, and hopefully they found someone great they can recommend to you!

kmb585

As PP mentioned I would look up the La Leche League in your area or you can go to www.ilca.org and find a lacatation consultant in your area that specializes in BF'ing multiples.

GL!

the future mrs. slicks

Thanks everyone for your suggestions!!