Thank you @DDRRT1982 and @megpeg, I think we’re all doing great- I didn’t realize that stressing about it so much could also affect the supply. I’ve even started just not watching the bottles during my pumps and it seems to be helping- my pumps yesterday and this morning were a lot better! You ladies are awesome!
Is anyone else's "let down" kinda painful...? At first it was weird feeling and slightly uncomfortable. But now it's a sharp, burning pain that sometimes catches me off guard. I have a feeling it shouldn't be this painful. I also made the mistake of googling. I don't have a fever and my breasts are not red. They are warm when they full before I pump. I just went back to work this week, too. So I haven't been breastfeeding throughout the day like I have been the last 8 weeks. So I wonder if they're just adjusting to this new regimen of not having Alice on my boob all the time or if something is wrong?
@crossfitbabybump, are your nipples sensitive also? Or is the pain occurring during any other times? That might give you more signs of what it could be. You could be engorged because Alice will empty you much more effectively than the pump. My stabbing pain turned out to be thrush- I didn’t have a fever or redness on the breast but mine was super easy to diagnose since DD has it too in her mouth (that was my sign that confirmed it was thrush). My LC also mentioned making sure your pump supplies are the right size. She recommended using some coconut oil on the inside of the flange since it’ll help the nipples slide better and help with any friction issues (it’s also safe in case any ends up in your milk).
@crossfitbabybump I would bet you are just engorged like maeliliy said. Alice isn’t eating all the time so there is more milk to let down and the pump doesn’t do as well. It gets more painful for me too when I have gone too long in between pumping sessions.
@maelily15 yes my nipples are a bit sensitive! Although they are much better now. I think it was just an adjustment for them being away from Alice all day because by the end of the week they were much less painful!
Mine’s going through her 3 week growth spurt for the last few days. She ate about 7 ounces in 6 hours this evening. But the trade off is that until tonight, she had only woke up once in the middle of the night since she’s got such a nice full tummy when she finally does go down.
Anyone else’s baby just eat one side during MOTN feeds and immediately fall asleep? I change diaper in between and she’s still out. She wakes up every 3 hours still so I guess she’s getting enough to satisfy but seems like if she’d eat both she’d sleep longer!
@slr1229 my little guy usually eats on one side at night too. He's too sleepy. I burp him and if he's still hungry I put him on the other side but its rare and he usually just wants to be held and sleep.
Also, for those who pump before a feeding to help their aggressive let down, do you know if we can freeze that milk or not? Will it have too much foremilk in it? Soooo many rules.
I can’t thank everyone enough for their support during this breast feeding journey. I am slowly weening her away from formula. We’ve got it down to where she is only taking one bottle at one of her feedings. And I think I found a pacifier that replaces my nipple that she seems to actually like.
I read somewhere “don’t give up on a bad day” and I keep reminding myself of that. I’ve also set small goals for myself. Tomorrow will be 6 weeks of breast feeding!
@slr1229, I’d totally be using it. No way I’d toss out breastmilk unless it went bad. There seems to be a lot of differing opinions/conclusions about foremilk and hindmilk too. Some say it’s the total volume of milk that’s important, not amount of foremilk/hindmilk. Eitherway, I figure why not offer that pumped milk at some point. It’s not like it’s the only milk that’ll be offered.
@slr1229. Yep, breast milk is precious and I wouldn't dump it either; however, if you don't use it, you can see about donating it to a milk bank. We used donor milk in the NICU and I'm very thankful for those who gave us the opportunity for our preemies to have it for a few weeks since my supply couldn't provide it exclusively.
@heatherandmatt26, when you breastfeed, the way your milk comes out you'd notice it initially not having a lot of fat in it, then as baby is feeding you'd notice more and more fat in the milk. It's not two different types of milk, it's just to describe the portion of it that comes out in the beginning with less fat versus later on in the feeding when there's more fat. Foremilk is the less fat, hindmilk is the more fat. Something about how the fat builds up in the walls of the ducts or something and as more milk flows through to come out, the more of those fat deposits loosen to flow with the milk going out.
@enigmaticjj thank you! Wow I never knew there was a difference, I'm a SAHM and I barely have to pump so I never really noticed! Our bodies do some amazing things!
@heatherandmatt26 - if you only let the baby drink too much of the foremilk and not enough hindmilk, they get really icky, foamy like poops. I made that mistake first time breastfeeding Alice. I kept switching boobs too early and she was only getting foremilk. Once my DH Googled why she was having foamy like poops, I stopped doing that and her poops went back to normal for a newborn, lol. I didn't know there was such a thing either until we Googled, haha!
@crossfitbabybump that's good to know! this is my second time around and I'm still learning new things all the time! Now if he gets foamy poops I'll know too keep him on one side longer lol
How do I get my 6 week old to take a bottle?? We tried twice...with thawed breast milk and with two different bottles but he screams and just won't take the bottle. I want to be able to top up with milk from the freezer OR be able to leave the house and DH can give a bottle. He hates the pacifier too. I'm ready to call my lactation consultant again in hopes that she can help me.
@nancysimp where you trying to give a bottle or was someone else? Try having your husband give bottle and you not in the room or in view to see if that makes a difference. My second child Wouldn’t take a pacifier (now a thumb sucker) and been trying to get Charlie to take one versus using my me. Sometimes he will for a short period.
@mmom3 my husband and my mother tried with me on other side of the room. I guess it isn't odd for this not to be simple. Lol is it also because time is passing...6 weeks is harder than earlier on?
I tried Dr Brown and Munchkin Latch. I will try Como Tomo. Did you have to try different bottles? Did Alice take a few tries before she took the bottle?
Edit: do you use the slow flow ? That's the one for under 3 months. My mom is saying the problem is the flow but all the newborn bottles are slow flow.
My problem with our first son was flow. We ended up trying Avent natural with a level 0 and that did the trick. We just recently tried the same brand and flow on the new baby and he took to it immediately.
@nancysimp - I had stock piled all the Avent bottles and that's what we tried first. She wouldn't take it. Someone recommended the Como Tomo's so we tried those second and she took right to them. I haven't tried any other ones. The Como is a weird bottle but way more like a boob than the others, so I think that's why she liked it so much. I can't remember if it's slow flow or not. Alice is a very fast eater though, on the bottle and the breast. We also use only the green soothie pacifiers because they were less likely to cause nipple confusion. The nipple of it is very similar to the Como. I made sure not to try too many different sized nipples because I didn't want her to get confused and refuse the bottle, let alone the breast (that would suck) It worked out in our favor but I'm not sure how each child differs in that aspect. If you try the Como, only buy the two pack, just in case your LO doesn't take to it. That way you don't waste money!
When do y’all do the “last” feed of the day? I have a hard time doing her 8/830 feed then waking her up again at 1030 (if I’m following the baby wise book). I’m in bed at 9 hoping to get some zzs. If anyone does that method, is it better on your and do you get a longer stretch?
It seems she doesn’t get in a full feeding at night, eats one side then is done. Wish I could get her a full tummy which may help with sleep!
I do the last feed anywhere from 7:30-9:30, but majority is 8-8:30 lately right at my other two kids bedtime. I’ve tried the wake/feed thing at 10ish but it never works as he’s in his one long stretch of sleep anywhere from 3-5 hours after his feed. If I wake I get either a baby I’m fighting to eat or he’s up for hours extremely fussy because he was woken up. Otherwise he normally is still 2-4 hours from start of one feed to the next feed. Mama needs to get at least a 2 hour stretch of sleep herself.
@slr1229 I tried the dream feed, but he was so sleepy early on that it didn't work. (And now he's dealing with witching hour so he's not even sleeping then to do a dream feed.) Anyway, I feed him at 8:30, but then he usually needs to basically nurse on and off for 2 hours. He finally sleeps around 10:15/10:30, and then we get a 5 hour stretch. Evenings are a bit of a struggle here with witching hour.
I highly recommend the Chronicles of a Babywise Mom website and Facebook group. The website is babywisemom.com and is a gold mine of information on a variety of parenting topics. The Facebook group (you have to request to join) is really helpful. You can post any question you have and other moms will chime in with their advice and encouragement.
Anyone experience a breast seemingly dry up? Production is down at least half. Seemed to start after a large clogged duct took a few pumps to work out. I'm exclusively pumping. Production on other breast ok. Help!
@knuttyplus2 I have pretty crappy production out of my right breast, my nipple is like half inverted on that side and he hates eating from that side and it was almost nothing when I pumped. I had to pump twice as often on the one side to bring it back up (took a couple of days or so) but it's still less than the left side. I've been trying to bump up my production but I'm making just enough for him to eat..its frustrating.
@knuttyplus2 are you pumping both breasts at the same time? I EPd with my first and found some success pumping the loser boob by itself while massaging.
Re: Breastfeeding Megathread
My stabbing pain turned out to be thrush- I didn’t have a fever or redness on the breast but mine was super easy to diagnose since DD has it too in her mouth (that was my sign that confirmed it was thrush).
My LC also mentioned making sure your pump supplies are the right size. She recommended using some coconut oil on the inside of the flange since it’ll help the nipples slide better and help with any friction issues (it’s also safe in case any ends up in your milk).
I read somewhere “don’t give up on a bad day” and I keep reminding myself of that. I’ve also set small goals for myself. Tomorrow will be 6 weeks of breast feeding!
I tried Dr Brown and Munchkin Latch. I will try Como Tomo. Did you have to try different bottles? Did Alice take a few tries before she took the bottle?
Edit: do you use the slow flow ? That's the one for under 3 months. My mom is saying the problem is the flow but all the newborn bottles are slow flow.
@nancysimp - I had stock piled all the Avent bottles and that's what we tried first. She wouldn't take it. Someone recommended the Como Tomo's so we tried those second and she took right to them. I haven't tried any other ones. The Como is a weird bottle but way more like a boob than the others, so I think that's why she liked it so much. I can't remember if it's slow flow or not. Alice is a very fast eater though, on the bottle and the breast. We also use only the green soothie pacifiers because they were less likely to cause nipple confusion. The nipple of it is very similar to the Como. I made sure not to try too many different sized nipples because I didn't want her to get confused and refuse the bottle, let alone the breast (that would suck) It worked out in our favor but I'm not sure how each child differs in that aspect. If you try the Como, only buy the two pack, just in case your LO doesn't take to it. That way you don't waste money!
It seems she doesn’t get in a full feeding at night, eats one side then is done. Wish I could get her a full tummy which may help with sleep!
I highly recommend the Chronicles of a Babywise Mom website and Facebook group. The website is babywisemom.com and is a gold mine of information on a variety of parenting topics. The Facebook group (you have to request to join) is really helpful. You can post any question you have and other moms will chime in with their advice and encouragement.
I would keep trying to stimulate that one. Pump while you nurse the other side.