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October 2014 Moms
Breastfeeding Links & Talk
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Breastfeeding Links & Talk
I've been thinking of ordering a bullet bra which is a sort of come shaped bra that was popular in the 1950s or so... Shaped like a cone kind of . Thinking maybe the shape would keep fabric off nipples.
I know a lot of people nurse their babies while wearing them but I never figured out how to do that smoothly. Maybe when baby is a little bigger and has more head control?
Except for this morning, I've had to wake him every two hours and he is only nursing for 10-15 minutes.
I know some of it is likely for comfort, not food, but still. Does this seem normal?
But IMO, I think there isn't too much to lose considering there could be significant speech issues later. It took seconds, and she was placed directly on the boob after and all was well.
Thanks so much! So not a lot of pain or discomfort then?
@MrsCunningham22 I'm not shy at all and will carry LO around while nursing, just holding him in my arms. That really doesn't work if you have to be pushing a cart, though.
How frequently LO nurses and for how long is based on so so many factors: baby's efficiency, mom's storage capacity, growth and development, and many other things. Babies do become much more efficient as they grow...they don't "nurse like a newborn" forever. When LO is 6mo, you may find that a feeding takes 5 minutes or so!
Thanks so much! So not a lot of pain or discomfort then?
We weren't with LO when hers was cut, but LC assured us that the procedure doesn't hurt much. They gave her a little sugar water before to help with that. We got it done when she was a day old and it helped enormously.
Of course massage the plug and apply a warm compress before nursing. Good luck!
We have been getting a pretty decent latch (I think) and LO at 3 days old has exceeded the recommended number of wet and dirty diapers, so I feel good that SOMETHING is coming out of my breasts. However, my milk has not come in yet. DD is a large baby (9 lbs 10 oz at birth) and in the last 24 hours became inconsolable. After much discussion with a LC and nursing staff, we decided to try a SNS to supplement with formula. Well, the LC missed our appointment (rage) so we did not get to try the SNS with her, she just gave us a quick demonstration. After hours of tears from me and DD, we gave up and fed DD an oz of formula from a bottle. I cried the whole time doing it. I am now worried my milk isn't coming in, because we are 72 hours past her birth. She was a c-section, so could it take longer for that milk to come in as a result? And is there anything I can do to encourage it to come in? I put LO to the breast every 2-3 hours, but since she isn't getting satisfied by a feeding we both end up frustrated.
TLDR: can it take longer than 3 days for milk to come in if you have a c-section? And what can I do to encourage my milk to come in at 3 days post partum (other than putting baby to the breast every 2-3 hours, which I am doing).
I've cut dairy before, but that's a whole other discussion...
Baby #2: Emmeline Grey - August 2016
Baby #3: BFP 9/7/18 | EDD 05/24/19
Baby #2: Emmeline Grey - August 2016
Baby #3: BFP 9/7/18 | EDD 05/24/19
ETA that I was over feeding LO because I was letting her chug it down without giving her brain a chance to signal her that she was full.
You said that you put her to the breast every 2-3 hours - is she sleeping in between and just inconsolable when you wake her for a feeding? If that is the case, maybe she is very hungry at the point when you wake her, and feeling uncomfortable (hunger is a new sensation for her), and it might help to wake her more often, say every 1-2 hours. She might be too sleepy to wake up and cue her hunger at this point, so when she wakes she's ravenous and inconsolable.
If she is not sleeping in between feedings but is just fussing/crying, try skin to skin (helps your supply!) and see if she'll take the breast for comfort in between scheduled feedings. The more stimulation, the better, and the breast/your skin is a very comforting place to be. Even if she is still fussy, the baby held skin to skin has lower stress hormone levels, so it helps a lot even if it doesn't look like it.
Baby can spend lots of time skin to skin with you or at the breast during these first few days. The snuggles are good for you both and will make a big difference for helping your milk mature more quickly and comforting LO.
Your breasts have colostrum and transitional milk before your milk matures (it doesn't technically "come in", but many mothers become engorged when their milk matures, so that's what it's become referred to as). They're not empty - LO should be able to get enough milk to satisfy her even from the start. She may need very frequent feedings.
Colostrum and transitional milk are the perfect food for a newborn, and baby tummies are very very tiny. Frequent feeds are normal and important for growth in the early days:
It can take up to a week for your milk to mature, but if diaper output is good and she is regaining weight appropriately, you can be assured that she is getting enough. ((Hugs)) it's so hard on us mamas when our babies are sad! I hope she is more cheerful since you posted
She is using my breast as a comfort tool. We have been doing skin to skin pretty much since she came out, other than the few times I can console her enough to get her in the crib so I can catch a few hours of sleep. She either takes my breast and within minutes falls asleep, but wakes very easily, or she will cluster feed and have a meltdown of I stop, so my poor nipples are raw despite her actually having a pretty good latch. Once we finally broke down and supplemented to give my nipples a break after one of her nonstop suckling sessions with hours of meltdown whenever I would try and stop, she almost instantly seemed so much happier and fell into a nice deep sleep. That's the only part that really worries me...I want to make sure she is getting enough.
I am going to head to a lactation support group in the morning and hopefully they can help me get over this early hump! I desperately want to make this work, but I feel my resolve dipping and we are only 3 days in. I have so much anxiety over making sure she is actually getting food that at this point I feel like I would be a better mom if I gave up breastfeeding and went to Formula....but then as soon as I start thinking that route I feel terrible for not working harder to breastfeed.
Being a mom is so hard. We have some strong women here, that's for sure.
Let LO's diapers give you comfort for now. If there's output, then there's input! And if it exceeds the average, the input is good!
The formula will make baby sleep because it takes longer to digest/metabolize than breastmilk, and bottles do not require the same amount of effort that breastfeeding does, and fills their tummies fast. Breastfeeding is work, most especially at first when they're learning, and it can be frustrating for baby to learn a new skill. It does and will get better, and very soon! When your milk matures, the volume will greatly increase and nursing will be so much easier for LO. Hang in there!!
Yeah, there is work to be done...