I had a lot of trouble breastfeeding my
first son, many different things can
happen during or after delivery that
changes the "perfect" feeding scenario
many ways over! First of all relax, this
is very common. The best advice I can
give you is not to stress over whether or
not you will be able to, and just plan on
trying. One thing is very certain, your
ability to breastfeed does depend on your
not stressing over it. Medications in
the hospital do not interfere with milk
production. If you have had a traumatic
delivery it may take just a bit longer to
come in properly. Trust and listen to
the breastfeeding consultants at the
hospital, even if you are a little
uncomfortable with them "helping" you.
They really know what they are talking
about.
Remember that your milk will take several
days to come in properly, and even then it
takes about a week or two of actual
feeding before it even resembles milk and
not a yellow tinted solution of sorts!
However, that yellow is colostrum still
and is very important to your child no
matter how little of it they get! A
newborn can survive of colostrum alone in
the beginning. Now every baby takes a
bit to learn to latch on. They are as
new to it as you are. Its awkward to you
both. In the beginning rest him on a
pillow, so your hands are free. Don't be
afraid to gently hold his head with one
hand turning it to your nipple. Hold your
breast in the other and push it into his
mouth. Teasing his senses with your
nipple will help make him more hungry. Do
this by squeezing colostrum out onto your
nipple and wetting his lips with it.
Eventually he will latch on and nurse even
for just a bit. It will hurt, but trust
me, you wont care.
When your milk starts to come
(engorgement) in it will be very painful.
Heat wet towels in the microwave making
them very hot. Lay them across your
chest, the use a pump and express any milk
you can. (expensive electric pumps are
fine, but I actually preferred the avent
isis manual pump, it actually works great
in a short amount of time.
Http://www.Aventbaby.
Com/uk/products/catalogue/breast_feeding/i
sis_breast_pumps.Html
remember that while you pump, though it
may hurt, press all around your breast
forcing the milk to the nipple. This
makes sure all milk is forced out,
preventing infection and relieving your
discomfort. After pumping, lay a cold
wet towel across your breasts. I promise
this wont last more that 1-2 days. After
which it will not hurt like that ever
again. Invest in a couple of soft
comfortable sleep bras to hold pads in
bed. Waking up soaked is gross.
Eventually you wont leak, and wont let
down (milk comes into the breast) all the
time. Your body will become a feeding
machine and let down will happen only when
you are ready to feed! (evenflo
disposable breast pads are wonderful and
breath)
the best thing to remember, is relax, they
will not starve. Don't be afraid to
supplement with a small amount of formula
in a bottle. You will hear everyone say
it causes nipple confusion. No, it
causes a baby who is not miserable until
your milk totally comes in, and helps to
pass the marconium. The best way to do
that in the beginning is nurse for 10 mins
on each breast, then either pump and give
the baby what you pumped in a bottle, or
give them 1 ounce of formula. I noticed
that my children got used to the taste of
all combinations (breast and bottle, milk
and formula), so if I couldn't nurse for
some odd reason it wasn't a shock to them.
I also demand fed, which meant I fed when
they were hungry, so if I had nursed just
the hour before, I gave a bottle the next
possibly (i rarely did this just because I
enjoyed nursing, but I wasn't opposed to
it). Nursing is especially nice when you
are tired and its a night feeding and they
lay next to you in bed and nurse while you
sleep!!! Some people are so into
scheduales I have actually heard a friend
tell her infant "you have 15 more mins
before its time to eat) now this is an
opinion, but I feel thats stupid. A baby
is hungry when its hungry and wants
comforting when it wants comforting.
Thats life. Scheduales come later. I
always demand fed during the day, and my
kids (all 3) went to sleep at 7 and woke
up at 7. I always wondered if it was
because I let them eat often during the
day, and not every 4 hours. (except in
the first 4 weeks, when you have to feed
them at least every 3 hours).
Anyway, I hope this helps a bit. You
will do fine, give it a couple weeks of
trying before you give up. The first
couple weeks always sucks, but it gets
100% better. I promise you will be
rewarded in the end!!!! Good luck!!
One more note...If it doesn't work for you
and you have given it all your best
selfless effort, don't worry you are still
the most important part of your baby's
life!!
