Questions about starting bf

[austinsmommy]

I am due soon & have questions about bf.  In the begining before you get your milk, how often do you feed? Do you supplement at all or just give them bm? When should your milk come in? Do you just feed them whenever they cry till your milk comes in fully?

I feel stupid asking all this but with my first ds bf went horribly. He was super spirited/grumpy & was never satisfied! The nurses suggested suplementing him. I did not get the chance to bf him right away as I'd intended & it was many hours before anyone came to help me with that & he'd be supplemented prior to that so when I did try he was too full & sleepy to even care much less latch on & it all went down hill from there. My supply never came up to normal, my milk didn't even come in until day 7. When it came in I'd gone to take a hot shower cause I was in AGONY by the time I got out my MIL had given him a bottle & the engorgement let up with the milk going by by & never coming back. I had had a hugely stressful pgcy & have a medical condition requiring me to be on a med that can reduce my milk supply. Odds were hugely stacked against me last time. This time the pgcy has been VERY healthy & I am much healthier so I hope to have a MUCH easier time of it this time around. I'd just like to know how to start out. How often do they eat those first few days till your milk comes in? They do ok with just the colostrum?

Thanks for your help, prayers & well wishes. I'm so hopiing to make it work this time! When you gave birth, were you able to bf the baby right away? Is it feesable to ask them to let me nurse the baby before they weigh him, or anything? Ya know, right after they pull him out & put him on my belly?

Thanks again,
Jen

[mommytsa]

I'm no expert, but I can answer at least a few of your questions.

In the beginning, you should expect to be feeding baby about every 2-3 hours.  You shouldn't need to supplement with formula, bm should be enough if your baby latches on correctly.  Your milk should come in sometime between the 3-7 day after baby is born.  Just offer your breast every 2 or 3 hours when your baby cries and they should be getting enough to eat.  Colustrum is "designed" to be the exact food that your baby needs in the beginning, and it is enough to sustain them.

I woulos check with your birth ccenter/hospital/ob to see if you can request that you be allowed to breastfeed before the weigh the baby.  That is the general policy at the hospital where I delivered, but I imagine that it is different at every hospital.  You can also state to the nurses and doctors that you are breastfeeding and do not want them to supplement with formula.  If you are upfront about your wishes, they should comply with them.

I know that a lot of "shoulds" but hopefully you'll be able to ask the personnel at the hospital to help you get breastfeeding off to a good start.  I would also recommend asking if your hospital has a lactation consultant on staff who can come in and assist you in the beginning.  I hope you get the support you need to do this.  YOU CAN DO IT!!      

[Dillon's mum]

I've just had my second baby and had similar concerns to you.

With my first DS wouldn't latch right, fussed and generally made feeding times a battle (it was in the 40's here too so was stressing about dehydration too) so after the 3rd day I gave up and expressed my milk, which he took from a bottle with no probs, and carried on like this for 9 months.

When DD was born 5 weeks ago, she went to my breast and latched on perfectly straight away, and it just felt so 'right' if you know what I mean. The only thing I wish I had done was increase the time she was on gradually from a couple of minutes onward to get the nipples used to her feeding as by day 3 I was in agony as they were soooo tender.

Building up like this too brings in the milk supply and as I read on another posting on a different board, if your in a position to let the free boob 'drip' into a towel or something, even though they're very tender for the first few days it does help engorgement.

HTH and good luck!!

[jbepko]

You are so smart to think about this prior to delivery. And congrats on giving BF a chance.....crossing my fingers that it works better for you. There is SO much info that you could get...so I'll just put in a couple thoughts.
1) As soon as you arrive at hospital, let EVERYONE know (every tech, every nurse, every doctor), that you want to BF immediately after birth if baby and you are allright. And keep telling them. And have your husband/birth coach do the same.
2) Room-in as much as possible.
3) (I'm a bit Type A)..I woke my baby every 2-3 hours regardless for the first few days for a feed...and my milk came in before I was discharged. Newborns tend to get real sleepy at 12-36 hours of life (think of everything they just went through)...and you might be tempted to just let them sleep since you are also so tired...but feed your new one every 2-3 hours and you should be rewarded with a good supply.
4) Get help...if you are having problems- find a BF friendly nurse, LC, seasoned BF friend...and the sooner the better.
Good Luck

[Eden's Mum]

I am bf my second son having fed my first for a year. both are very different so rest assured that just because things didn't go well the first time doesn't mean the same will happen the next time.

Your milk should take 3 or 4 days to come in depending on the kind of birth you end up having. With a c section it can take longer for some. babies do fine on the colostrum and it is best not to suppliment them wiht formular as it can cause nipple confusion in this early stage and end up with them rejecting the breast completely. Feed baby in this very early stage as often as they seem to want to. don't worry int he first week about feeding them to sleep as there is nothing that you can do about it. Just feed when they cry if they seem interested. Try not to let baby go for more than 3 or 4 hours int he day between feeds and allow them to feed as often as they wish to during the night at first.

You will find that when your milk comes in you will feel very engorged at first. Feed as often as baby seems to want. Dont worry if it is only a short time between feeds at first, you can space them out once feeding is established. If you are in pain, try hand expressing in the shower or expressing off a bit with a pup to make you comfortable. remember the more you feed or express the more milk you will produce. Avoid supplimenting with a bottle, even of ebm in the first 4 weeks if you can help it.

you shouldn't suffer with much pain in the nipples if you latch baby on right, however this is a skill you can only learn by practice for you and baby so the likelyhood is that you will be sore for a while at first. The way to deal with it, is to ensure good positioning and latching on. One f the best positions is to  have baby facing you lying across you so that his or her tummy is right up against yours. Don't let baby roll onto his or her back so that the head is turned to the side to feed as this helps cause soreness. baby should be nose to nipple and then the head should be tipped back so that the mouth opens really wide point the nipple to the back of the roof of the mouth and bring baby to you rather than you to baby. the babys mouth should take in the whole areola not just the nipple tip. the bottom lip should be curled back and you should see the jaw working to massage the milk. If babies cheeks suck in whilst feeding you are latched incorrectly.  I flatched in correctly don't pull baby off, put a finger int he corner of the mouth to break the vacuum and then re position. sometimes baby repositions him or herself wrongly during a feed in which case reposition, don't allow baby to feed inteh wrong position. This will take time at first so don't dispair if you ahve to keep repositioning at first because it will come naturally after a short time andyou will suddenly realise you aren't even thinking baout it any more. If you do become sore, whilst you are waiting for your nipples to toughen up use Lasinoe cream as you can feed baby wihout wahing it off. Or use a bit of breast milk rubbed in to the nipples - that was the best thing of all i found, it gave instant relief to the soreness and helped with the healing.

I practiced as much of this as possible with a doll before ds1 was born and i am so glad i did, it really helped me to know what i was supposed to be doing.

This sounds like loads to take in i know but all of it will become natural and after a couple of weeks you will probably find things settle down really nicely and you can start thinking about spacing feeds and such like. If you are really determined to be successful state on your birth plan that you want baby put to the breast immediatley after delivery and that you want baby by your bed, not int he nursery. also state onthe plan that baby is not to be given formula without your express permission to give you the best chance of baby learning the ropes without confusion. if there is a chance that well meaning reletives will give bottles to help you out without asking then preempt this and explain that you want ot breast feed and not to give formula even if you are sleeping, but to wake you and bring baby to your bed if you are resting, then remove baby for you after if you still need a break.

Good luck wiht this the second time around, i really hope it works out for you. the most important thing of all though is that if you struggle even over the smallest thing ask for help. and if it all goes wrong, which i am sure it won't, don't beat yourslef up about it but just do what is best for you and your family. if you need any help feel free to pm me as i check my mail daily, and post lost on the boards as there are loads of really great ladies here with so much knowledge and experince and can really help you out.

good luck for the birth