My plan with my first baby was to breastfeed for as long as possible. There was a great lactation consultant at my hospital but she went on vacation the day after DD was born so I didn't get much time with her. I am large chested and have flat/inversed nipples. My DD could not get a good latch and the replacement lactation consultant wasn't able to help. She kept insisting I buy a nipple shield. At the time my DH had gone home for a while and it was a holiday and no stores were open... she still kept insisting I go to the downstairs pharmacy to buy one and would not help me get a latch. It’s much better to work on the latch than use a nipple shield and completely depend on it as I learned the hard way.
The hospital I gave birth with my 2nd didn't have a lactation consultant who could come and see me. I had to actually make an appointment and go whenever they were able to give me a spot - which could be for up to a week after the birth and by then... if baby is feeding by NOT the breast then I don't know how to have them take the breast after taking a bottle for a week. My DS was on a formula really early on and the hospital staff gave me a hard time for it, but honestly they weren't in my shoes and have no right.
So yeah... definitely ensure that a lactation consultant can come and help you on the day of delivery. Check your hospitals' policies and procedures.
Edited my post based on below. Though I honestly felt I was being I was being supportive.
@meatballs37 your recent post about breastfeeding your post is making me tear up! Definitely cheering for you whatever you decide to do. I am in the same boat, if breastfeeding doesn't work out then I'm not going to beat myself up for it. I struggled a lot with the decision to stop with my DD (reasons slightly differed from yours) but in the end all that matters is that our babies are fed. *hugs*
@stardustdreams while I understand you sound like you had a terrible experience with a nipple shield I think you should use caution when telling someone to flat our refuse something that may work well for them. Your experience may not be everyone else's. Not to say your experience isn't valid or wasn't traumatic for you just that other moms may have success with it and telling them to flat out refuse it without knowing the situation could put them in a bad spot.
It's hard for FTM's, and even S/TTM's, to get a good handle on breastfeeding in the beginning. For someone with a flat nipple (myself) a nipple shield may be what finally gets baby to latch. We used it for four months until one day he didn't need it anymore. I have a friend who used one for her entire breastfeeding relationship and loved it. So to other moms not everyone's situation is the same and sometimes nipple shields can be helpful. You have to be the judge of that in your own situation.
@runyogamom I’m glad you and your friend had a good experience with them but I truly believe a nipple shield shouldn’t replace the effort that you and your lactation consultant spend on helping you develop a good latch. My baby didn’t eventually breastfeed without them. In my experience the LCs trying to see as many women as they could in as short a while as possible so when they saw I had “difficult” nipples (one flat and one inversed) they didn’t want to spend any effort helping me and would refuse to see me until the nipple shields were purchased.
For many women a shallow latch (such as a nipple shield latch where baby is basically only suckling at the nipple withiut thr areola) eventually can be the cause of low supply. If you didn’t suffer low supply I’m really glad but so many women (including moms I know) did suffer low supply due to the latch. My baby was losing weight for weeks while LC were saying everything is fine and it’s normal to lose weight and it’s normal to sometimes have dry diapers and brushed me off. I deserve to have been helped with my latch like anyone else and not brushed off like I was. Many people with flat or inversed nipples were able to successfully breastfeed... why didn’t anyone want to help me? Same problem with both my births so I am sensing a trend even though they were different hospitals.
@stardustdreams I think what @runyogamom is saying is that different things work for different people. My gf just gave birth and used a shield the first two weeks and now is on her own nipple and she has over supply of milk from the start. I’m sorry your experience was horrible, that must be so so frustrating. But that doesn’t mean it will with certainty happen to another mom here. A nipple shield may be a great option for some moms and not a great option for others.
@stardustdreams, @cricket1688 hit the nail on the head with what I was trying to say. Maybe she said it better. Different things work for different people. So mom's should be aware that for some it may be a good solution. It sounds like you weren't given the proper time with a lactation consultant and deserved a lot more attention and help than you got. Before giving me a shield mine spent a day trying to get DS to latch at every feeding so when she gave me the shield I felt comfortable that we had tried everything else without success. You surely deserved more attention and support than you received. I truly hope you have a better experience this time. Every mom deserves that attention and support.
I plan on breastfeeding, I am actually very much looking forward to it. I had a question for moms about pacifiers and bottle nipples, I heard it can affect breastfeeding and after reading many articles online I am confused by so many different tips. What worked for you? What are the best pacifiers to use? What about bottles? Did anyone do the paced feeding method with bottles? Thank you
@hariasa you will get as many different answers as you get replies. But my $0.02 is: babies will figure out the difference between a nipple with milk and a pacifier. My DD never took a pacifier but ended up being a thumb sucker. (Which certainly has its advantages and disadvantages... but there was no stopping it). It can get a little more hairy with bottles. Some babies develop a preference for bottle and some develop preference for the breast. I think there are too many factors there. If your goal is to 100% breastfeed and there are not health concerns, weight issues or other reasons to introduce the bottle early I would do one or two bottles a week from 2-6 weeks or so. With that being said, if you wait too long to introduce some babies won’t take a bottle. And Ive known many babies that switch back and forth, no big deal! Basically it’s a crapshoot!
My DD did great with an occasional bottle the first 4 weeks and then I got lazy when BFing got easier and didn’t do any bottles until 10 weeks and I was trying to get ready to go back. She wouldn’t take a damn bottle! We finally found the Mam bottle which she liked. My main rec is not to buy too many of any one kind until you know they will like it.
As far as paced feeding, I *personally* don’t agree with it. I think limiting baby’s intake, possibly filling their tummy with extra air doesn’t feel right to me. But I also had a baby that never over ate and spit up. She ate at her own pace - sometimes gulped it down but more often didn’t.
Sorry none of that was very concrete answers. Just my personal experiences!
@ShadeofGreen816 Thank you so much for replying, it was very informative. I will try and buy only 1-2 kinds of bottles and see how it goes, that way if I need to switch then it won't be too much money down the drain (I had not even tought about it like that). I did read not to wait too long before giving a bottle so I was planning on having my husband take a night feed then, may as well be useful lol.
We actually ended up with a huge assortment of little bottles from the goodie bags you get starting a registry at places. So amazon, buy buy baby, target, and back then BRU. Target does not keep track of who they give a goody bag to so with my son's pregnancy every time I went to target I would tell them I started an online registry and they would hand me a bag. I ended up getting like 7 of them. They each came with a bottle, paci, diaper samples, coupons, baby wash/diaper cream and a few other things. I never needed to buy the 4 oz style of bottles and my son had like 4 types to choose from. You do not even need to make your registry public. I kept mine set as private and no one ever asked to verify it.
Exclusively pumped for my DD who was a preemie. My big advice is get the hospital grade pump. Most insurance covers the rental, you just have to be good about receipts. It was night and day difference. Buy extra parts for 3 uses so you don't have to worry about washing all day. Finally, hand expression. Takes awhile to get, I would practice in the shower.... But it seriously saves you from mastitis, which happens really easily when you exclusively pump. Plus I usually got an additional 3 or 4 ounces out by hand after I pumped from each side. That's a whole bottle! Oh... And buy the expensive freezer bags, the cheap ones bust in the deep freeze.
@Baskett88 I loved my hospital grade pump so much! It saved me so much time and I was able to get waaay more milk than using the Medela PIS. My insurance company does not cover a rental this time and I'm so disappointed.
TW
Me: 33 DH: 32 DS: March 2014 DD: May 2015 BFP: 12/24/17 CP: 1/2/18 @ 4w 3d BFP: 1/26/18 CP: 2/2/18 @ 4w 4d BFP: 5/16/18 MMC: 6/15/18 @ 7w 5d BFP: 9/25/18! EDD: 6/9/19 TEAM GREEN
It makes such a big difference. And it's wayyy quieter too. My portable sounds like revving a lawn mower, lol. But it's a hand me down Medela that's probably 6 or 8 years old, so that might have something to do with it.
Hi ladies, new here! This thread seems to be napping so I figured I’ll add my two cents for the FTMs here. I haven’t seen too much mentioned about experiences with mastitis, which I was evidently unprepared for the first time around. I exclusively pumped with a massive oversupply, so I wasn’t surprised to get mastitis but I did not take it quite seriously enough as it turned out. I got sick with mastitis (chills, fever, body aches) and tried to pump out the clog and sleep it off. My fever broke the next day so I didn’t call my doctor right away, but I had a hard time fully clearing the clog. I was still working at it a couple days later when I had sudden, severe stabbing pain in my breast and immediately felt terrible. I only waited a couple hours to get to the ER and by then I was borderline septic and barely with it. With morphine and antibiotics I was able to pump out the blockage and clear the infection. Moral of the story is, if you get mastitis you HAVE to nurse or pump the clog out pronto, even if you’re feeling better otherwise, and call your doctor! It’s an infection and has to be treated as such, and it can come on surprisingly quickly. Also, please don’t let this deter anyone away from pumping or breastfeeding - I loved pumping for my first (even with dealing with an oversupply since I was able to donate over 60 gallons of milk) and I will do it again if I have to, though I’m really hoping to breastfeed this time around if at all possible. I just wanted to mention this for those who haven’t experienced mastitis before, since I know we’ve all heard of it but it’s hard to imagine what it’s like if you haven’t had it, and it really can run the gamut from minor nuisance to serious. Hate to say it but several of us will probably end up with mastitis — if you do, don’t panic. Just clear those clogs and do not delay calling your doctor! Exclusively Pumping Mamas Facebook group if you EP and Kellymom are great resources if you need help getting a clog out. (Also, I pumped a LOT of milk for over a year, there’s a lot of good information in here already from everyone though I’m happy to answer any questions for any mamas thinking about going the pumping route.) Two cents over!
@cricket1688 It doesn’t usually get that bad, but it can, and surprisingly quickly! Just something to be aware of for those ladies who haven’t experienced it. I wish I had known!
My initial plan (who knows how long this will last) is to go exclusively bottle, whether that's pumping or formula. I know there are some sacrifices in that, but once Baby is about three months old, any help I had from DH is gone because that's when basketball season starts and realistically I don't know how much I can count on him. If bottles allow me to share even a little of the burden (he'll be up MUCH later than me so if he can handle a feeding in the 9-11 range I can get a few hours of sleep then, or if it's passing Baby off to another coach's wife at a game to have a bottle so my arms get a break) it's worth it to me. Plus that gives him a chance to spend some time with Baby and bond a little that way since he won't be around as much for other stuff during the day/evening (in season he's gone at 8am, and if he's home before 7 something is weird, 6 and sometimes 7 days a week). And being the delightful combo of an impatient perfectionist, I don't go crazy in the process.
Edit: I'm obviously a FTM, so STM+, talk me out of this if I'm being naive or nuts.
Breastfeeding dies sound intimidating. I was 19 with my first. I breastfed exclusively for the first four weeks. I found it easier to have the bassinet bedside. I fed when she was hungry and not every hour like the hospital pediatrician advised. I let her get into her own schedule and it worked out perfectly. Around week two she slept about 4-6 hours at a time during the night then by 4 weeks it was a straight 8 hour sleep cycle. Of the 4 I've breastfed only one took a couple weeks longer to get in their own schedule.
I would pump during the day after they would feed, and this would allow my husband to bottle feed when he got home. That was their bonding time, and they both enjoyed it.
I'm hoping this 3rd time around will be great! My first baby did so well latching on and breastfeeding was going great. My 2nd had jaundice and the nurse at the hospital was advising me to use formula so he can poop more and I told her breastfeeding only and she had another nurse come in and tell me how formula is best for pooping so his jaundice will clear up faster. So I gave him formula and we went home he still had to have the UV light with him and so we fed him formula still. After a week I tried to breastfeed him and he was not latching on at all I tried and tried i felt defeated i cried so much. So this 3rd time around I will try even harder, formula is expensive and I support both ways obviously but I would like for the breastfeeding to go well.
Sometimes a difficult breastfeeding experience isn't anything mom is doing but has more to do with the baby, and just can't be helped. The good news is that no matter how it goes (or doesn't) there are a million and one options to feed your child.
I never found the LC very helpful. I found my own way with both babies. My advice is educate yourself on how many diapers and how much volume they *Really* need. It's not always as much as you think. Their newborn tummies are tiny! #1 BF/formula supplemented through 10 months with GREAT difficulty and many tears and is still a picky/finiky eater to this day. #2 BF like a pro, until I had to stop because I was too sick (ie pregnant again with severe morning sickness) and to this day eats/drinks like a champ.
Some moms don't like to do this, but letting baby suck even after you "don't have any milk" is really helpful in establishing supply. Yes, this might mean the baby is latched for 3 hours. No, it does not necessarily mean your baby isn't getting enough milk. My son gained a pound a week for the first 4 months of his life, and he would still suck and suck and SUCK.
This. #2 would SCREAM if I removed her even after a full feeding session. She would sleep on the boob and suck in her sleep. She once latched to a non nipple part of the boob when I wasn't paying attention and was almost impossible to get off (ended up with a massive bruise). If the baby wants the boob give them the boob. They won't suck on it if they don't want it. Supply and demand. And good nipple cream as many PPs said!
Does anyone have any experience with the Ameda Finesse pump? My insurance covers it (last time I used a Medela open system and had really bad luck with it). I'm hoping this pump will be better for me
Re: Breast Feeding Discussion
The hospital I gave birth with my 2nd didn't have a lactation consultant who could come and see me. I had to actually make an appointment and go whenever they were able to give me a spot - which could be for up to a week after the birth and by then... if baby is feeding by NOT the breast then I don't know how to have them take the breast after taking a bottle for a week. My DS was on a formula really early on and the hospital staff gave me a hard time for it, but honestly they weren't in my shoes and have no right.
So yeah... definitely ensure that a lactation consultant can come and help you on the day of delivery. Check your hospitals' policies and procedures.
Edited my post based on below. Though I honestly felt I was being I was being supportive.
It's hard for FTM's, and even S/TTM's, to get a good handle on breastfeeding in the beginning. For someone with a flat nipple (myself) a nipple shield may be what finally gets baby to latch. We used it for four months until one day he didn't need it anymore. I have a friend who used one for her entire breastfeeding relationship and loved it. So to other moms not everyone's situation is the same and sometimes nipple shields can be helpful. You have to be the judge of that in your own situation.
For many women a shallow latch (such as a nipple shield latch where baby is basically only suckling at the nipple withiut thr areola) eventually can be the cause of low supply. If you didn’t suffer low supply I’m really glad but so many women (including moms I know) did suffer low supply due to the latch. My baby was losing weight for weeks while LC were saying everything is fine and it’s normal to lose weight and it’s normal to sometimes have dry diapers and brushed me off. I deserve to have been helped with my latch like anyone else and not brushed off like I was. Many people with flat or inversed nipples were able to successfully breastfeed... why didn’t anyone want to help me? Same problem with both my births so I am sensing a trend even though they were different hospitals.
It sounds like you weren't given the proper time with a lactation consultant and deserved a lot more attention and help than you got. Before giving me a shield mine spent a day trying to get DS to latch at every feeding so when she gave me the shield I felt comfortable that we had tried everything else without success. You surely deserved more attention and support than you received. I truly hope you have a better experience this time. Every mom deserves that attention and support.
My DD did great with an occasional bottle the first 4 weeks and then I got lazy when BFing got easier and didn’t do any bottles until 10 weeks and I was trying to get ready to go back. She wouldn’t take a damn bottle! We finally found the Mam bottle which she liked. My main rec is not to buy too many of any one kind until you know they will like it.
As far as paced feeding, I *personally* don’t agree with it. I think limiting baby’s intake, possibly filling their tummy with extra air doesn’t feel right to me. But I also had a baby that never over ate and spit up. She ate at her own pace - sometimes gulped it down but more often didn’t.
Sorry none of that was very concrete answers. Just my personal experiences!
DS: March 2014
DD: May 2015
BFP: 12/24/17 CP: 1/2/18 @ 4w 3d
BFP: 1/26/18 CP: 2/2/18 @ 4w 4d
BFP: 5/16/18 MMC: 6/15/18 @ 7w 5d
BFP: 9/25/18! EDD: 6/9/19 TEAM GREEN
Hi ladies, new here! This thread seems to be napping so I figured I’ll add my two cents for the FTMs here. I haven’t seen too much mentioned about experiences with mastitis, which I was evidently unprepared for the first time around. I exclusively pumped with a massive oversupply, so I wasn’t surprised to get mastitis but I did not take it quite seriously enough as it turned out. I got sick with mastitis (chills, fever, body aches) and tried to pump out the clog and sleep it off. My fever broke the next day so I didn’t call my doctor right away, but I had a hard time fully clearing the clog. I was still working at it a couple days later when I had sudden, severe stabbing pain in my breast and immediately felt terrible. I only waited a couple hours to get to the ER and by then I was borderline septic and barely with it. With morphine and antibiotics I was able to pump out the blockage and clear the infection. Moral of the story is, if you get mastitis you HAVE to nurse or pump the clog out pronto, even if you’re feeling better otherwise, and call your doctor! It’s an infection and has to be treated as such, and it can come on surprisingly quickly. Also, please don’t let this deter anyone away from pumping or breastfeeding - I loved pumping for my first (even with dealing with an oversupply since I was able to donate over 60 gallons of milk) and I will do it again if I have to, though I’m really hoping to breastfeed this time around if at all possible. I just wanted to mention this for those who haven’t experienced mastitis before, since I know we’ve all heard of it but it’s hard to imagine what it’s like if you haven’t had it, and it really can run the gamut from minor nuisance to serious. Hate to say it but several of us will probably end up with mastitis — if you do, don’t panic. Just clear those clogs and do not delay calling your doctor! Exclusively Pumping Mamas Facebook group if you EP and Kellymom are great resources if you need help getting a clog out. (Also, I pumped a LOT of milk for over a year, there’s a lot of good information in here already from everyone though I’m happy to answer any questions for any mamas thinking about going the pumping route.) Two cents over!
I would pump during the day after they would feed, and this would allow my husband to bottle feed when he got home. That was their bonding time, and they both enjoyed it.
I never found the LC very helpful. I found my own way with both babies. My advice is educate yourself on how many diapers and how much volume they *Really* need. It's not always as much as you think. Their newborn tummies are tiny!
#1 BF/formula supplemented through 10 months with GREAT difficulty and many tears and is still a picky/finiky eater to this day.
#2 BF like a pro, until I had to stop because I was too sick (ie pregnant again with severe morning sickness) and to this day eats/drinks like a champ.