How's everything going? Ok. The last 2-3 days I think we've got a growth spurt. It seems like all he wants to do is eat right now. I'll nurse for over an hour, and 10 minutes later he's rooting, sucking on hands, etc.
Questions/concerns/cute stories to share? Not right now.
Is this your first experience with BF? yup.
What is one reason why you want to BF? Bonding, a lot cheaper than formula!
GTKY: what's your favorite baby item or gadget thus far? Don't know if anything really stands out. Our swing had been good - He seems to like it, and the seat detaches as a bouncer, so we can move him around downstairs easily.
Post by littleredfish on Mar 27, 2017 9:47:15 GMT -5
How old is LO? 6 weeks
How's everything going? He's gaining weight like a champ. Lately though he's been clicking a lot more than usual, I think he's having trouble handling my super strong let down which has seemed to ramp up because when I take him off I spray him in the face. Oops!
Questions/concerns/cute stories to share? The girls have started copying me when I feed him. DD1 BFs her stuffies and DD2 pats her baby on the back to burp it. So cute.
Is this your first experience with BF? Nope 3rd, but I'm hoping this will be my 1st experience for extended BFing, my girls weaned themselves before a year and it made me sad.
What is one reason why you want to BF? That close bonding feeling of the one on one time.
GTKY: what's your favorite baby item or gadget thus far? My carrier(s). Having free hands for my girls. But also his swing which saves me when I don't want to be touched because it's the only place he let's me put him down if he's not dead asleep.
Post by moutonrouge on Mar 27, 2017 13:41:14 GMT -5
How old is LO? Almost 3 weeks
How's everything going? Better? I've got the hang of getting her latched for laid back nursing, but my nipples are still sore. The LC told me to insist on a comfortable latch every time, but after a few rounds of on/off with little improvement I get frustrated and a lot of times (especially at night) I'll just leave her be even if it is a little uncomfortable. I know that's part of the problem but I don't seem to be getting better at the initial latch on being right.
Questions/concerns/cute stories to share? It usually seems like she initially gets a deep latch, but then she pulls back slowly to a shallow one. Are there any strategies to keep her latched on deeply?
Is this your first experience with BF? What is one reason why you want to BF? Yes; my main reason is to improve baby's health and mine.
GTKY: what's your favorite baby item or gadget thus far? She really loves her play mat
Post by lilyelayne on Mar 27, 2017 14:08:14 GMT -5
sterl724 the 3 week growth spurt is typically a big one!
littleredfish most women find their supply regulates sometime around 6-12 weeks. Hope yours does & this helps with your letdown.
moutonrouge the two most common culprits for sliding to a shallow latch are (1) trying to manage a fast letdown and (2) not enough support, so when baby or you relax it messes up the latch. Remember to bring baby to the breast, not breast to the baby. Her chest, tummy, and thighs should all be snug against your body so when she relaxes she moves into you instead of falling away from you. Hopefully as her mouth gets bigger her latch gets better. She's been checked by an IBCLC for tongue/lip ties, right?
Post by moutonrouge on Mar 27, 2017 17:17:30 GMT -5
lilyelayne the slide definitely started as her strategy to cope with my letdown. The laid back positioning is to hopefully help, and I also use my hand to hold things back at the start. But I'm definitely guilty of bringing the breast to the baby since it feels more comfortable to maneuver my body rather than hers. I'll try to focus on that. She doesn't have a lip or tongue tie. Thank you for the advice, and for the videos last week - they were helpful to get to this point!
How's everything going? Still not exclusively breastfeeding and doing the 3 stage feeds: on the breast, bottle, pump. But I'm pumping more ( averaging 16 oz) so he is getting mostly breast milk with just the occasional formula top up.
Questions/concerns/cute stories to share? I am worried DS has nipple confusion. He takes the breast a few times in a day but he will always fuss with latching and once latched, he cries while suckling but does get some milk out. The times he doesn't latch, he will latche briefly then push off and starts screaming. I keep trying for a few minutes but he just get more angry. It makes me so sad. I'm going to a new breastfeeding clinic tomorrow run by doctors and LC'S. I hope they will help me and can figure out why he won't latch sometimes and dealing with supply issues- I really want to not have to top up with formula at some point.
Is this your first experience with BF? Yes and I never expected my experience to look like this. Over a month of pumping every 2-3 hours and doing the 3 step feed.
What is one reason why you want to BF? Bonding with my baby.
GTKY: what's your favorite baby item or gadget thus far? I just got it but so far it's the Rock n Play. It helps keep him comfortable for his reflux and really calms him.
Post by erinshelley21 on Mar 28, 2017 1:24:51 GMT -5
How old is LO? 2 weeks, 5 days
How's everything going? Pretty great. Her latch could use some work but I'm hoping as her mouth grows this will improve. She has a very tiny mouth.
Questions/concerns/cute stories to share? I'm having trouble balancing nursing and pumping. I'm going back to work in about 4-5 weeks and need to get a freezer stash going. It seems like when I pump for 15 minutes in the morning she is rarely satisfied for the rest of the day. Do I just need to focus on increasing my supply?
Is this your first experience with BF? No. I bf my son for 12 months. There was some formula supplementing but he had some bm for his first year.
What is one reason why you want to BF? Tie between the health benefits and cost haha
GTKY: what's your favorite baby item or gadget thus far? So far with this baby it's the rock n play. She looooves it.
Post by lilyelayne on Mar 28, 2017 13:30:46 GMT -5
mikaela20 triple feeding is so rough. Sorry you're still having latching problems. Have you tried swapping bottles for syringe or open cup feeding, to make the breast more appealing? Bottle feeding and nursing use different muscles and different suckling skills.
Post by lilyelayne on Mar 28, 2017 13:37:35 GMT -5
erinshelley21 at minimum it's recommended to wait until after the 3 week growth spurt to start pumping so nursing can get well established and your baby can set up your supply as she needs. Waiting until 6-12 weeks is preferred but unfortunately that's not always possible.
Supply is highest in the morning so most women find they can pump after an early morning feed (between 2-4am) or after the first morning feed if MOTN isn't your thing or during baby's first nap of the day. It is normal to get as little as 0.25oz total if also nursing full time. Generally recommended to pick one time a day and stick with it. Eventually your body should make more milk at that time.
Remember that baby will take 1-1.5oz per hour you are separated. You truly only need enough for the first day. So if you're apart 9 hours, that's ~14 oz. You will pump more per session when replacing feeds, pumping at work.
lilyelayne how long should I pump if I'm pumping after a feed?
15min is likely sufficient. No more than 20. If you respond really well to the pump & are moving into oversupply territory, some women stop at 4-6oz pumped as that is as much or way more than baby will eat a single feeding.
mikaela20 triple feeding is so rough. Sorry you're still having latching problems. Have you tried swapping bottles for syringe or open cup feeding, to make the breast more appealing? Bottle feeding and nursing use different muscles and different suckling skills.
Thanks Lilyelayne. The second clinic wasn't a great experience but we have some new info and techniques.
They found a tongue tie and we're suprised the previous LC clinic and the LC'S at the hospital didn't mention it. We are getting it cut next Thursday. I hope it helps.
He has nipple confusion so we are trying the feeding tube at the nipple again. And it's very difficult and he hates it just like when we first tried it at the hospital. It took us 2 hours just to get through 40 ml. So I'm just going to do my best and still give him the bottle if it's not going well. Maybe it will work better after the tongue tie is fixed.
Lots of tears from both of us today because I feel like we keep running into hurdle after hurdle. Thankfully my husband was home today and supportive. He sent me for a 2 hour nap between my pumping sessions when we got home and I feel a bit better about the whole thing.
Creepy internet hugs mikaela20. Hope the tie revision makes a drastic difference. It often does. If the SNS is miserable you don't have to use if, or you don't have to use it every time. There are other non bottle options. Finger feeding is one. The article I linked earlier talks about several.
Creepy internet hugs mikaela20. Hope the tie revision makes a drastic difference. It often does. If the SNS is miserable you don't have to use if, or you don't have to use it every time. There are other non bottle options. Finger feeding is one. The article I linked earlier talks about several.
Thanks! I really hope the clipping it helps.
Thanks for that link. Im going to read through the other options im not familiar with today.
We scrapped the tube in the MOTN because it was too stressful for both of us. We tried the finger feeding with the tube and he didn't do well at all. I feel better already being back to our current normal with breast,bottle,pumping.
But I have to try and find something that works for us- hopefully by the time his tongue tie is clipped I will have something that he does well with.
How's everything going? Pretty good. I've been able to tandem feed for almost all their feedings so very happy there. However after lip/tongue ties were cut 4 weeks ago I was hoping to get them to nurse without the nipple shield. Any tips?
Questions/concerns/cute stories to share? G gave me my first real smile today!! So adorable.
Is this your first experience with BF? No, nursed my first till 14 months. She used a shield the entire time.
What is one reason why you want to BF? The bond is awesome...you feel so close to the babies.
GTKY: what's your favorite baby item or gadget thus far? Not a gadget but my mom. She's been coming over during the week to help since DH went back to work. That extra set of bane is amazing. I do second guess if I still need her but the adult interaction is nice too!
@jacks605 most common method of weaning off the shield is to remove mid feeding, so baby isn't so hungry, already knows it's eating time, and your milk is flowing.
Then Comes Family, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising
program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.