Learning to breastfeed

rubyshoes7 · January 2010

i just wondered if any other moms experienced this when first trying to breast feed...

i was nervous about it to begin with, but during our 4 day hospital stay we had about 10 different nurses, some of them were nice and some of them i felt like were judging me for being nervous or unable to get ds to breastfeed initially.. (i thought holy crap! my milk hasn't even come in, wenches) and a few of them i felt were even shoving his face onto my boob when all he wanted to do was sleep. i was soo upset and frustrated that after one particularly rude nurse left i gave ds to dh and stayed in the bathroom for half an hour. i didn't even get to say goodbye to my in-laws because i was sobbing and so embarrassed.

to top that off, the lactation consultant told me that she was very worried that he wasn't breastfeeding and that (even though was taking formula from the bottle just fine) she'd "seen kids have to come back and get feeding tubes inserted into their stomachs". what a b, considering my head was already spinning... maybe she was just concerned, but that just sent dh and i over the edge, dh even started to cry.

he got the hang of breastfeeding just fine after we left the hospital, i think i was just stressed out.

anyone else have bad experiences like that?

kit443 · January 2010

Breastfeeding was and is one of the hardest things I have ever done.

rubyshoes7 · January 2010

me too. i had no experience or any one close to me really to tell me about it, my mom ff'ed, so i was soo in the dark. it was totally worth it in the end though!

NatPhoto09 · January 2010

nope. sorry you had a bad experience. those women were wenches. who says those things to a new mom?

at my hospital everyone was so helpful and I was hoping I had more time with the nurses.

cjseeger · January 2010

I remember one of the nurses shoving DS into my boob and DS screaming. It was so heart breaking at the time.

kit443 · January 2010

I think my problem was I had no idea how hard it was going to be. Seems like it should be so easy.

erino&chrish · January 2010

Yes, my LO didn't BF the first day and a half (I had a c-section and the separation just after birth makes it harder to begin with). They made me give LO formula, which I was strongly against. Luckily, that sparked his appetite and got him BFing, but we had major latch issues and I was having such a tough time and could barely sit up and couldn't hold him after the c-section to BF him. People were constantly (seriously, every 20 minutes or so) coming into the room and I swear even the cafeteria waitstaff saw my bewbs.

MarriedBestFriends · January 2010

Please see my EP badge. There never was any learning- just sabotage at the hospital. Well- you know what I mean

2bemrs.bailey · January 2010

I had THE BEST nurse help me BF. I wasnt too hot on the idea in the first place and finally decided last min. I would. Well, C was born tongue tied and had a hard time nursing, but this nurse was so sure he would catch on. I kept saying "lets just give him some formula". She kept saying, "he will get it, he is doing great, keep it up!". She practically held my hand the whole time I was in the hosp. I hated it when she left during the day! We left the hospt. scared and afraid..I wanted to take the nurse with me home! I am SOO glad she helped me and pushed me to do it..C is still nursing and will probably nurse till he is one! Our LC..was a different story. I think she should have been fired.

cabo_kate · January 2010

kit443:
Breastfeeding was and is one of the hardest things I have ever done.

This, 1000%.

I remember the nurses trying to shove him on to my boob too. And feeding him for three hours straight alone and he wouldn't stop fussing, and then I put him back in the little basinette and a nurse came in and he was rooting and she gave me this horrible look of disdain and said "your baby is STARVING".

Thanks, ass.

Lesley0228 · January 2010

We had a lot of initial problems with latching too and it was confusing getting all of the different opinions from the nurses and LCs at the hospital. I was finally able to nurse with the nipple shield and then another LC kept lecturing me on how I shouldn't use use it more then 2 weeks and gave me a list of the things that could happen. Well, I used it for 8 and nothing horrible happened- ha! After stopping the nipple shield, DD still had a crappy latch that hurt for the longest time and then started getting teeth. So even though I've always enjoyed nursing, its never been particulary easy. Finally, in the last few months its has all gotten sorted out and BF became so easy-- and my supply tanked. Its been a slow death, but I'll be lucky to make it to 8 mo. ... sigh. I'm already looking forward to the second chance at this I'll have with my next child.

christina-marie · January 2010

WHOA! That is INSANE! I can not believe they treated you that way! I'm so sorry. BFing is challenging regardless of any other circumstances let alone having rude "nurses" (I use that term loosely) give you dissertations on feeding tubes and such. Shame on her! Congrats on sticking it out and finding your groove. What an uphill battle you must've faced?! I can say that I had an awesome LC (actually more than one) who were supportive, encouraging and knowledagble at my hospital. Plus my MW's LC called me constantly during the 1st 6 months, I actually started ignoring her calls they were so frequent. Again, I feel awful that you had to experience that. I think you're really pretty corageous for continuing despite the bad advice. Kudos to you!

rubyshoes7 · January 2010

2bemrs.bailey:
I had THE BEST nurse help me BF. I wasnt too hot on the idea in the first place and finally decided last min. I would. Well, C was born tongue tied and had a hard time nursing, but this nurse was so sure he would catch on. I kept saying "lets just give him some formula". She kept saying, "he will get it, he is doing great, keep it up!". She practically held my hand the whole time I was in the hosp. I hated it when she left during the day! We left the hospt. scared and afraid..I wanted to take the nurse with me home! I am SOO glad she helped me and pushed me to do it..C is still nursing and will probably nurse till he is one! Our LC..was a different story. I think she should have been fired.

so jealous you had a great nurse! what is it with shiitty LC's.. ita, ours too!

BugLuv · January 2010

I had a horrible experience too - they practically forced formula down my baby's throat (formula is fine, but not what I wanted)

I am working on my story - I would love for any of you to share you story for the breastfeeding blog I started... link in siggy

houndbaby · January 2010

My nurses and LC in the hospital were amazing and so helpful. The pediatrician that J saw in the hospital was a formula pusher, every time he came in my room he would say something negative about breastfeeding and was trying to force me to supplement with formula. He pissed me off pretty much every time I saw him. But my nurses would remind me that J was my baby and it was my decision how I wanted to feed him and they kept encouraging me to breastfeed. My LC even called me a few times during my first week at home to make sure I was doing ok with breastfeeding, she was awesome.

avakatesmama · January 2010

I did not feel prepared for how much thought I would give breast feeding those first few weeks. Although no nurses helped me in the hospital, I just kinda put her there, and she sucked. I kinda expected them to, but alas, I figured it out : P

rubyshoes7 · January 2010

cabo_kate:
kit443:
Breastfeeding was and is one of the hardest things I have ever done.
This, 1000%.
I remember the nurses trying to shove him on to my boob too. And feeding him for three hours straight alone and he wouldn't stop fussing, and then I put him back in the little basinette and a nurse came in and he was rooting and she gave me this horrible look of disdain and said "your baby is STARVING".
Thanks, ass.

made me LOL. yep, that's what went on with half the nurses. i was annoyed because we had so many of them, i guess because we were there for 4 days and they had to switch shifts but man, that's the last things new moms need is judgmental beetches around

rubyshoes7 · January 2010

Lesley0228:
We had a lot of initial problems with latching too and it was confusing getting all of the different opinions from the nurses and LCs at the hospital. I was finally able to nurse with the nipple shield and then another LC kept lecturing me on how I shouldn't use use it more then 2 weeks and gave me a list of the things that could happen. Well, I used it for 8 and nothing horrible happened- ha! After stopping the nipple shield, DD still had a crappy latch that hurt for the longest time and then started getting teeth. So even though I've always enjoyed nursing, its never been particulary easy. Finally, in the last few months its has all gotten sorted out and BF became so easy-- and my supply tanked. Its been a slow death, but I'll be lucky to make it to 8 mo. ... sigh. I'm already looking forward to the second chance at this I'll have with my next child.

wow i admire you so much for sticking with it all that time! go you!

UrbanHippieMama · January 2010

kit443:
Breastfeeding was and is one of the hardest things I have ever done.

Same. I didn't even get N on the breast til she was four weeks old.

Uiowachick01 · January 2010

MarriedBestFriends:
Please see my EP badge. There never was any learning- just sabotage at the hospital. Well- you know what I mean

me too! My LC sucked!

rubyshoes7 · January 2010

houndbaby:
My nurses and LC in the hospital were amazing and so helpful. The pediatrician that J saw in the hospital was a formula pusher, every time he came in my room he would say something negative about breastfeeding and was trying to force me to supplement with formula. He pissed me off pretty much every time I saw him. But my nurses would remind me that J was my baby and it was my decision how I wanted to feed him and they kept encouraging me to breastfeed. My LC even called me a few times during my first week at home to make sure I was doing ok with breastfeeding, she was awesome.

gosh what a jerk. that's so weird, i thought most pedis pushed breastfeeding nowadays? our hospital staff were very pro-bfing. glad you stuck with it and had great nurses!

katie_cj · January 2010

I had so much positive support, that I feel really lucky. We had a few latch problems that corrected themselves pretty quickly.

The nurses at the hospital were great, they mostly just checked up on him a few times a day and were very open to us calling them for help.

My FI's aunt is a nurse and she breastfed her four children and she was the biggest help. She gave me the trick that got the proper latch, just to pull his chin down, and that helped with the latch issues.

My FI was another really big help. He went to the breastfeeding class with me and sat there and helped me latch him and find the best positions to hold him for the entire first week.

MarriedBestFriends · January 2010

houndbaby:
My nurses and LC in the hospital were amazing and so helpful. The pediatrician that J saw in the hospital was a formula pusher, every time he came in my room he would say something negative about breastfeeding and was trying to force me to supplement with formula. He pissed me off pretty much every time I saw him. But my nurses would remind me that J was my baby and it was my decision how I wanted to feed him and they kept encouraging me to breastfeed. My LC even called me a few times during my first week at home to make sure I was doing ok with breastfeeding, she was awesome.

I am aghast at this. WTF is wrong with pedis these days? It's not 1950---we actually have scientific evidence to disprove your BS, dude.

rubyshoes7 · January 2010

christina-marie:
WHOA! That is INSANE! I can not believe they treated you that way! I'm so sorry. BFing is challenging regardless of any other circumstances let alone having rude "nurses" (I use that term loosely) give you dissertations on feeding tubes and such. Shame on her! Congrats on sticking it out and finding your groove. What an uphill battle you must've faced?! I can say that I had an awesome LC (actually more than one) who were supportive, encouraging and knowledagble at my hospital. Plus my MW's LC called me constantly during the 1st 6 months, I actually started ignoring her calls they were so frequent. Again, I feel awful that you had to experience that. I think you're really pretty corageous for continuing despite the bad advice. Kudos to you!

thank you! like i said, not all of them were rude, but there were enough that i just had had it with everything. i guess i am the kind of person who likes to do-it-herself, it's just that some encouragement would have been nice.. they could have realized that stress = not good for bfing! glad you had a great lc. ours followed up once but i was still so livid about what she said regarding the feeding tube that i told dh i refuse to talk with her!

NATALE0624 · January 2010

cjseeger:
I remember one of the nurses shoving DS into my boob and DS screaming. It was so heart breaking at the time.

This happened to me as well. And he didnt take the boob till almost 2 weeks later.

Lesley0228 · January 2010

ruby ? shoes:
Lesley0228:

We had a lot of initial problems with latching too and it was confusing getting all of the different opinions from the nurses and LCs at the hospital. I was finally able to nurse with the nipple shield and then another LC kept lecturing me on how I shouldn't use use it more then 2 weeks and gave me a list of the things that could happen. Well, I used it for 8 and nothing horrible happened- ha! After stopping the nipple shield, DD still had a crappy latch that hurt for the longest time and then started getting teeth. So even though I've always enjoyed nursing, its never been particulary easy. Finally, in the last few months its has all gotten sorted out and BF became so easy-- and my supply tanked. Its been a slow death, but I'll be lucky to make it to 8 mo. ... sigh. I'm already looking forward to the second chance at this I'll have with my next child.

Aww, thanks. Losing my supply is just killing me though. I was a EBF just 2 mo ago and now DD is on 2/3 formula. I swear I've gained 10 lb on lactation cookies and have stock in fenugreek and everytime I have to pick up formula at the store, its a kick in the face. There's nothing wrong with being a FF, I had just really wanted to BF to at least a year.

wow i admire you so much for sticking with it all that time! go you!

jennifersinlove · January 2010

I'm thinking you were at the exact same hospital as me. I had almost the same experience except DD had jaundice so I had nurses coming to my house for days after we left the hospital and I had to be able to tell them exactly how much she ate. I was so freaked out that she wasn't eating enough and couldn't tell how much she was getting from nursing and all these nurses that didn't know how much she was getting that I just gave up and pumped. I made it through 4 months of exclusively breastfeeding and then my supply tanked. Turned out I was pregnant again. I still managed to get something out of me until 6 months and that was it. She did manage to nurse a couple of times when she was 3 months old, but neither of us got the hang of it. I had some serious guilt to start out with and I'm hoping that I'll be able to nurse this baby because I know that I just can't go through EPing again.

mavilabride · January 2010

I agree that bfing was really hard. Those first few days I would cry every time ishe latched because the pain was too much. But the funny thing is that the worse it got, the more motivated I was to make it work. I miss bfing sooooo much

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