Monday, May 4, 2009
Breastfeeding: Success or Not?
This may be a little personal for some people to handle, but I need to talk about boobs. : ) hehe Well, breastfeeding, to be exact. Let me give you a little history about my breastfeeding experience with Jackson. To sum it up, it didn't work. It worked great in the hospital, but as soon as the milk came in and I became engorged, I had trouble getting him to latch on. And the trouble just got worse. A lot of times, he got himself so worked up that I couldn't get him to even try latching on. It was really exhausting to my emotions, so I gave it up and pumped instead. At least I didn't have him screaming and crying and not getting food. Anyway, I have about a month left before this new baby will arrive and my anxieties about breastfeeding are creeping up again. I've started reading a book to build my confidence, but what I really need to do is talk to women who've had success with breastfeeding. What was your experience like and how long did it take before you felt like you had it down? What did you do that worked for you? I understand that this kind of information is really personal, so if you don't feel comfortable leaving a comment on the blog, PLEASE email me at shastadaisy_girl@yahoo.com. Thanks so much!
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8 comments:
I hear you on how breastfeeding can be a challenge and hard. I had a ton of them with Eli. He even went on a nursing strike for a week at 7 months old. But nursing is well worth it and best for the baby. That's awesome that you pumped for Jackson. I hated pumping. I'm sure you have heard tons of advice and suggestions, but here are some thoughts from me. Maybe when you got engorged it was hard for Jackson to latch. If you didn't already try this maybe next time try pumping a little off first and then nurse him so it's not so full for him to latch on. Also, maybe breastfeed at first really often so that you don't get so engorged. I know with my first one I got engorged a lot more than with the second one so maybe it will be easier.
Also, my sister-in-law Julie is la leche league counselor. She has a ton of knowledge. If you ever have questions or are struggling she is a great one to call or email. Just comment on the blog if you do want her number. Good luck! I'm sure you guys are excited for the little one to come. We are expecting too, but not until November. That is forever away.
I still have a lot of confusion, but we're still doing it, so I guess it has been successful. In fact, I just called my local la leche league representative with a question today. She was really helpful. I think you should talk to them if you have problems this time. There's also a website called kellymom.com that I've been reading and it has a lot of good information. What kept me going was just knowing before hand that it was going to be way hard and knowing that it would get easier with time. It went pretty smoothly for the most part though. I think you'll do fine if you keep trying and get help if you have problems! Here's a method that I found on that website. http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mom/rev_pressure_soft_cotterman.html It has a lot of technical language on it, but maybe it will help you if you have the same problem with engorgement and latching on.
Holy cow I hear ya! I was so surprised at how hard breastfeeding is! I feel like we just got it down about a week ago- Hunter was 4 weeks. It still hurts and I'm hoping that will go away soon! We went through a lot of breastfeeding ups and downs, let me tell ya! We actually didn't even have it down in the hospital- Hunter wouldn't really stay on and I think it was because he wasn't getting enough to keep him interested. So we had him latch on my breast and then pushed some formula through a syringe and little tube into his mouth so that he would learn that the food came from my breast and that he had to suck to get it. That worked really well (but he didn't really have a hard time latching on, so maybe that wouldn't really work with you). But then at 1 week Hunter rebelled and decided he was going to latch on! I think it was for the same reason that Jackson wouldn't- my breasts were too engorged! My doctor told me to pump first and then get him on, but that didn't really work either. So, I used a nipple shield and that worked really well! It's plastic and you put it on your nipple and it makes it protrude, making it easier for them to latch on. It totally worked! Hunter was able to get on easily to my engorged breasts- no prepumping! So I ended up using the nipple shield for like 3 weeks, which was a pain to carry it around everywhere, but way easier than pumping all the time! And I decided, even if I have to use the shield for the rest of the time I breastfeed, it wouldn't be that big of a deal b/c at least he's breastfeeding! But one day I decided to try it without the shield and he got on fine, and that was about a week ago. Anyway, there are some people that are completely anti- nipple shield because it can be hard for the baby to learn to do it without it. But I say, hey, if it's either that or not breastfeed, I am totally for the shield!
It is good to know that not all children are the same and not every pregnancy and recovery is the same. With Reve it was up and down, he did really well for the most part. I had a TON of milk so that made it hard to latch on and suck, then he would be choking on how much would come out. It was about a good month that I would have to pump out to make it so my nipple was a little softer or slow down the milk flow. If he still needed more to drink I gave him the rest of the bottle. That was nice because then he took me and if I wanted to give him a bottle for church or going someplace he would take it. It took me about 2 months to not need to pump and for the pain of it all and for Reve to be a pro. I was able to nurse him for the whole first year.
For Lexi it was a lot different (easier and didn't hurt as bad for as long). I did have a ton of milk but I was able to get her regulated a lot faster it only took about a month for her to do it like a pro. I am hoping that I can nurse her for the first year as well.
Really in the end you have to choose what works best for you and how comfotable you feel.
I only occasionally breastfed Nathan & pumped the rest of the time. (Alexa wouldn't breastfeed-- too little) but one thing that I've learned from watching my sister-in-law (who has a VERY difficult time breastfeeding) is that you have to be patient. In the beginning, she just plans on taking a long time to sit & breast feed & work with her baby. When I say a long time, I'm talking an hour or more. I know you have Jackson but hopefully this can all happen while your mom is here to help!
As for the engorgement thing... what the person said earlier about pumping for a few minutes first is the best idea from everything I've heard/read. It won't take long before your body will adjust & that won't happen anymore. It also helps to feed on a schedule after a few weeks because you're body gets regulated as to how much milk to produce when.
GOOD LUCK! I'm hoping when I just have one baby they'll be as good at nursing as Nathan!
Well, with my experience, when you are so engorged that your boobs are rock hard and your baby can't latch, just pump a little milk off till it's softened, and he'll be able to latch a lot easier! You should only get engorged like that for the first couple weeks till your baby and the baby know how much milk is needed. Good luck!
One more thing, buy some lanolin cream for breast feeding mothers (at walmart by the bottles and milk storage bags) Put it on after breastfeeding every time, and you will still be a bit sore for a couple weeks, but no bleeding or cracking will occur, so that's good! It's a life saver!
Hi Suzy, you don't know me, I'm Jessica Andersen's older sister and I know Trapper from growing up. This may seem odd that I'm reading your blog, but it's fun to see how you all are doing. Anyways....I have 4 kids, my youngest is 6 months old and breastfeeding has been quite different for me for each baby. It it is not an easy thing for me EVER! I absoutly love the Medela breast shield, the little plastic thingy someone mentioned above, its WONDERFUL, especially at first when you are so engorged that you just don't know what to do. I had 3 of them that I would just wash and rotate and I used them for the first month or more, talk about lifesavers! It wasn't as hard to wean the baby off of as some might tell you, sure beats pumping everytime (something I had to do with one of my babies, ugh!) Also, I really like the kelly.com site for breastfeeding too, it has some realistic solutions to all kinds of breastfeeding issues. But above all, just know that you are not alone! My baby is now 6 months old and I finally feel like we've got the hang of it.
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