May 2020 Moms

Feeding

This thread is for all things related to breast feeding, formula feeding, up to introducing solids.  A well fed baby is a healthy baby.  What works for one may or may not work for another.  There are no wrong answers.  Please share your experiences, questions, and advice.  The goal here is to collect all the info we can so when our babies are born, if something isn’t working for us, we already have something else we may be able to try!
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Re: Feeding

  • Thanks for starting this @pirateduck!
    I’m sure it will be well traveled
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  • I have a lot of experience feeding preemies if anyone has to go down that path I’m happy to share my experience as it is a lot different than a full term baby. 
  • ruby696ruby696 member
    edited December 2019
    In my experience, breastfeeding hurts at first. Like grind your teeth hurt. It last for a few days to week or so (or did for me) and you question how you can continue. Then you adjust and it's fine. Expect some discomfort and power through if breastfeeding is important for you. If the pain doesn't improve drastically, you may have other issues to deal with, so reach out to your local hospital for a consult with a lactation specialist. 

    Eta: baby should be getting enough to eat, even though you're uncomfortable. If not, please reach out sooner.
  • @rox7777 I hadn’t really thought about that.  I know what we eat gets passed on to the babies somehow, which is why we must continue to watch any medications, alcohol, toxins we consume while BF but I hadn’t considered implications of overall diet and it causing sensitivity to the baby like that.  I never would have thought me eating citrus could somehow make things less digestible for the baby for instance.  This is good to know in the event of issues that I perhaps need to examine my overall diet.
  • @pirateduck Something I didn’t think about as a new mom either! I also didn’t have access to breastfeeding classes and whatnot because we were overseas on a fairly remote base at the time. There’s a lot out there about food sensitivities and what you might want to avoid in the early weeks. I advise reading through kellymom.com. Tons of great advice and little tidbits that can help you prepare. 

    Dairy, citrus and caffeine are the most common issues, but I’ve heard garlic, beans, gaseous vegetables like broccoli, etc can all have an impact. 
  • I had to pump after each feed and feed every 2 hours around the clock for the first week or two. The initial latching was what hurt me the most. I loved earth mama nipple butter highly recommend that. And loved the haakaa because I leaked from the other boob a lot. With the haakaa I saved more than 100 oz in the 3 ish months of maternity leave. I only used it when at home and normally just the morning feedings especially those in the wee hours of the morning. With that said I did find a lot of that milk is "foremilk" and when we went back to work we had many a green poop which was scary. I also hated the feeling of being constantly wet and found nipple shells allowed for some dryer feelings. At home I wouldn't put in breast pads because the air felt better and I allowed myself to leak and smell like cheese all summer. (dd is a may baby too). 
  • My DS never was able to latch correctly, we tried nipple shields and all that fun jazz with the help of a LC. After about two weeks we went to pumping and supplementing him with formula as I was not producing enough to keep him full and happy. I highly suggest talking to a LC, they are wonderful and even when I was heartbroken about not being able to get breastfeeding down, she was the first to remind me that a fed baby is better than pushing something that’s not working for us. There was never really any reason we could figure out about his latch issue. But anyways if anyone has pumping questions let me know, I pumped every 2 hours for months. 
  • Nursing was extremely painful for me and my nipples were an absolute wreck. Turns out that is not normal. DS had a tongue tie and was unable to latch properly. However, once we got that clipped and my nipples had healed, it was smooth sailing... Until teeth were involved and the biting started.
  • I had a massive bitch of a time breastfeeding the first time around. Unfortunately a lot of the help I got wasn’t *great* help either. By 5 weeks (and after demanding a referral from my baby’s doctor after he brushed me off for the umpteenth time) I ended up at the famous Dr Newman’s clinic where the LCs finally acknowledged the problems. Baby had a slight tongue tie and everyone else had said it “should be fine”. My nipples were literally ripped, it was not fine! it took several weeks after we had her tongue tie clipped to heal but then she was feeding much better. 

    Breastfeeding is not *supposed* to hurt. It’s really hard to get a perfect latch with a newborn though. 




    BabyFruit Ticker
  • And keep in mind that formula has been contrived by nutritionists after many studies on what babies needs are so that it is produced to meet those needs efficiently.  Formula fed babies are getting their nutritional needs met in full at every feeding.  It will never vary, say for example, with the diet or health of the mother.  It is an extremely healthy alternative and if the parents are the ones doing the feeding exclusively the bonding is still happening.  I think that the impacts of bottle feeding on bonding come from the fact that any person can give the bottle so feeding is no longer exclusively a mother baby activity, but arguably this could strengthen the bond with baby and other care providers.  It’s what allows us to have daycare etc, so not necessarily a bad thing depending on your lifestyle.   
  • I don't remember if anyone mentioned this but if you want to breastfeed I would recommend taking a lactation course or at least reading a nursing book. The more knowledge you have the better. Be aware of your nipples and if you think you could have trouble - before I started nursing DS I had an inny on the left side so obviously was worried about latch on that side. I used a shield on the left for a few weeks and nothing on the right. It worked for us and got us through the initial newborn phase until he was a little stronger and his mouth was a little bigger. LC's tend to poo poo shields, FYI. Thanks to him it's now an outty for life.  :D  I also had an oversupply so he had lots of green poop issues. Block feeding helped us. DS just self-weaned a few weeks ago because I don't think he liked the taste of colostrum. 
  • Sometimes BF is just not going to work out! When DD was born, they put her on my chest 45 min after birth (she was a planned C) and said “she might latch, she might not, let’s see what she does”...she army crawled up and immediately latched. I BFed for 3 weeks even though her latch was so strong that I bled every time, and she was a 9lber so she was eating every hour. After 3 weeks I gave it up and went to exclusively pumping and supplementing with formula. I was happier, she didn’t care, and with this one I will probably do the same if he has a latch like she did. My nipples still hurt 4.5 years after the fact just thinking about it. 
  • @catem07 Pumping is the worst. I give so many props to women who exclusively pump.
  • I'm sure this will be a product spotlight eventually, but any advice on what to look for in a pump?  For those that may not know, most medical insurance in the US should cover a breast pump, this is related to the ACA I believe.  You'll have to talk to your insurance to see how it works specifically, like do they limit the brand, do you have to order from a certain vendor, do you have to pay up front and get reimbursed, etc.?  I'm just wondering what makes a good breast pump in the general sense?  
  • @pirateduck There is a product spotlight on that breast pumps and stuff already, the formula and food stuff is the one still coming up.
    _______________________________________________
    TTC#1 July 2015 
    • BFP: 9/16/15 — MC: 11/8/15 Blighted Ovum
    • BFP: 3/10/16 — Baby Girl born 11/20/16
    TTC#2 April 2019 
    • BFP: 9/12/19 — EDD 5/15/20

  • @m6agua somehow I totally missed that and assumed it was still coming at a later date!  Thanks!
  • THere is a lot of great information and videos on the International Breastfeeding Center website ibconline.ca 




    BabyFruit Ticker
  • I was so set on BF with DD. My mom had BF me and my brother, I watched my aunts, cousins and friends do it so when people on my last BMB talked about how hard it might be I just poo pooed that away as something that wouldn’t happen to me HAHAHA!!! I have flat nipples which I don’t know if that was any of the issue but I’m sure it didn’t help anything. DD seemed to latch ok I’m the hospital but chunks were missing from my nipples within a few days. I would literally scream and make MH let me squeeze or bite his hand when she latched because it was excruciating pain. I’m sure DD felt how tense I was which probably didn’t help. I tried a nipple shield and multiple trips to the LC. They said her latch was fine but finally did a weighted feed and realized she wasn’t getting enough because she wasn’t transferring effectively. The LC helped me realize that all babies are different when she told me she struggled with one of hers but the other child basically taught herself and did all the work. It sounds horrible but it helped me to realize I wasn’t failing but DD wasn’t living up to her end (I’m a bad mom, I know lol) I decided to pump for a bit to let my nipples heal while I tried to get her to latch some on occasion. She would literally scream when she saw my boob so finally we gave up even trying to latch after a month or two. I had a low supply but was able to provide her about 80-90% of her milk and supplemented with formula. I exclusively pumped around the clock until around 9 months. I hated living on a schedule and having pumping dictate my life. I don’t know if I can be as committed to pumping with DD2 with a toddler running around so I’m just hoping we are able to make breastfeeding work otherwise she’ll probably switch to formula within a couple months. 
  • drkoyyadrkoyya member
    edited December 2019
    This is all so helpful! It’s encouraged me to book a breastfeeding class for next month. So much I haven’t even thought of before 😅 

    Me: 28  DH: 29
    FTM
    BFP 08/25/19, EDD 05/04/20
  • I EBF both of my kids. The first for 20 months and the second for about 16. I worked full time and pumped at work, but there were definitely some low points. I experienced a lot of pain at initial latch with DD that would last about 10 seconds into the feeding, but eventually went away. With both kids, I experienced a painful let down, which never really went away but was tolerable. The lowest point hit around 5-6 weeks. At that point with DD I spent only 2 days exclusively pumping due to some latch issues and cried to DH that if I couldn’t get it figured out we would have to formula feed because EPing is so hard. Major props to you moms who have done it for long periods of time! The biggest support for me during the hard points came from a friend who was nursing her slightly older infant. She provided a lot of encouragement, and my first BMB provided some of the best advice I’ve ever received; never quit on a bad day. 

    Photobucket imageimage

    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • What are signs it’s time to start weaning?  Either from your body or from your child?
  • @pirateduck LOL! Let me know if you find out. DS2 would have kept going even at 2.5 if I had let him. We finally stopped because I was emotionally and mentally done. I had been for a while if I’m honest, but I finally just had enough. I think for most extended nursing moms it’s usually just a “okay, I’m ready to move on” thing. Some babies decide when they’re ready, be it refusing to nurse, biting, or just cutting down on sessions. 
  • @pirateduck if your goal is to make it to 1, then anytime after that when you feel tired of it. I weaned my daughter around 2. I recommend taking a 3-4 day trip away, that's what I did in April and she was done nursing by early May. I started dropping sessions and moved to "don't offer, don't refuse." Finally she stopped asking. 
    DD #1: April 2017
    DD #2: May 2020
    Baby #3: EDD May 2023; MC October 2022

  • @pirateduck with my DD, she just stopped showing interest and stopped pulling out enough milk because she preferred the bottle and being able to look around. I had gone back to work at 9 weeks so her nursing had been quite limited during the work week and weekends she just kind of stopped caring for it 🤷🏻‍♀️ 
    Some kids get really attached to the boob and want it though so it’s different for every kid and every mom. 
  • @m6agua Thank you for sharing your story. It’s so important to hear all the possibilities of what can go wrong in the hopes that it will help to empower others to be more informed. I’m sorry you had such a tough first week and I’m hopeful this time around will be a better experience for you and baby.
  • In addition to @m6agua story (thanks for sharing!), I have a friend that has IGT and gets donor milk. Since she know she has this congenital issue, she starts stocking up before even giving birth. So if you’re still interested in breastmilk, you can look into that option. Some hospitals offer donor milk or formula in the NICU when needed.
    I’m not saying that formula is wrong or bad (we supplemented, too) but there are breastmilk options out there if it something that you’re interested in pursuing!
  • @m6agua Thank you for sharing your story and I'm so sorry about that experience!  I'm angry on your behalf that your nurses let it go that long without your milk coming in.  That is not normal and should have set off some alarms!  I'm glad you were able to figure it out, and I hope your experience this time is 100x better, knowing what you know now!  <3
    **TW**
    Me: 35 | H: 40
    Married Sept. 2013
    DS1: Nov 11, 2016 <3
    MMC: 11/16/18 (9w6d)
    CP: 2/3/19 (5w3d)
    BFP!  8/24/19
    DS2: May 10, 2020 <3


  • catem07catem07 member
    edited December 2019
    I focused mostly on early breastfeeding in my previous comment, so I'm going to elaborate on being a working mom who EBFs here. 

    I would nurse at wake up around 7. We would leave the house around 7:45. Then I would pump around 10, 12:30, and 2:30. I pumped for 20 minutes and the whole thing would take about 30 minutes each time. I often watched Netflix on my phone while doing it (my job was pretty boring, I didn't have work to be doing during those times). I picked my daughter up around 5:15, we would be home by 5:30 and I would nurse again then. At some point we dropped that early evening nursing session.

    At first she had three four-once bottles per day, so I'd send 12 ounces and would be away from her for about 10 hours. At some point daycare wanted her to have more so I sent three five-ounce bottles. Many LCs recommend 1-1.5 ounces of BM for every hour you're away from baby. 

    I HIGHLY recommend keeping a pump at work and just schlepping your parts to and from (if you have time/space to wash them well at work, you could leave parts there too). Honestly it's worth the $150 to buy a spectra S2 OOP to keep one at home and one at work if you will be EBF for a year. Also keep a full set of spare parts in your desk drawer or a hand pump. You will forget your parts one day.
    DD #1: April 2017
    DD #2: May 2020
    Baby #3: EDD May 2023; MC October 2022

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