Baby 2 - BFing (new territory) & impact on EASY

[rachaelcole]

Hi all - sorry in advance for what will be a long post!

DD is 19 months & we implemented EASY almost immediately. Due to a bad reaction she had to some medication I was taking after birth, we stopped BF after a week or so. We formula fed her & EASY was, well, easy!

DS is a week old (teeny tiny I know!) and we are trying to BF.  Having to get some support on a latch issue - he has a small mouth (obviously!) & I have very large nipples, so he can't get a good proportion of areola in his mouth along with the nipple. I'm not expert but i suspect he isn't getting everything he needs from me & as such is feeding almost constantly.

Because of this there is no sense of 'routine' at all yet - should i just go with it until we can establish a better feeding schedule? 

Because BF is essentially new to me and I'm worried that he isn't getting what he needs I know that I'm responding to every cry with a feed (although if he is awake, he is rooting). I'm seeing the HV tomorrow (midwife was hopeless!) & am going to a BF clinic on Thurs to discuss about the latch.

I guess my biggest concern is that if we just 'go with it' for now we wont ever get EASY implemented.

Does anyone have an experience of a similar situation or any advice on how EASY is implemented with BF given that you can't 'see' how much milk they are getting?

TIA

[weaver]

I guess my biggest concern is that if we just 'go with it' for now we wont ever get EASY implemented.

Throw that idea out the window, hun. 

You need to just 'go with it' for now, but you might be surprised how quickly 'it' can change. By the end of the second week, he'll be different already.  So he needs to feed frequently right now to build supply and to grow.  But this is not forever! By the time he gets to six weeks, it'll be a totally different ball game.

And with a 19 mo in the mix, honestly, I think most of us here with a toddler and a newborn didn't really think too much about EASY til about 3 mos or so.  what I'm trying to say is that you can keep routine in mind, you can gently move things routine-wards, but you need to be flexible with it, and with yourself. Make BW work for you, and not the other way round.

if you've BFing questions, and aren't getting good support, our own BF board is great.  I also highly recommend looking at Jack Newman's website.  It has BFing videos that are just brilliant, shows every step and explain very well. 

http://www.breastfeedinginc.ca/

Congrats again!