Comments on: My Breastfeeding Journey http://prebabyblog.com/2012/04/my-breastfeeding-journey/ Pre-conception, pregnancy and baby blog Tue, 21 May 2013 16:08:36 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Elena @The Art of Making a Baby http://prebabyblog.com/2012/04/my-breastfeeding-journey/#comment-32767 Elena @The Art of Making a Baby Mon, 20 May 2013 02:17:02 +0000 http://prebabyblog.com/?p=4066#comment-32767 Hi, Jackie!

I think the most helpful thing is convincing your husband that you in fact know what you’re talking about would be to let/make him read some material on breastfeeding. On the fact that nipple confusion is a real thing, on benefits of nursing ( not just feeding breastmilk but actually nursing). It’s hard for men to follow something they haven’t learned the reasons for. And if he doesn’t believe you, show him some studies, statistics, books, resources. Sit him down and make him read. In the end you’re the mother and you ( and I) know you’re doing what’s best- which is making sure that you don’t sabotage your new breastfeeding relationship.

In your “career” of being a mom, you will, surprisingly, encounter hundreds of people doubting “your way” of parenting, doubting the knowledge you have. You might as well get used to it and learn to deal with it.

I learned that for my husband what works best is having him read books beforehand or telling him what I read about before we encounter a problem. So like bfing books were read and discussed prior to giving birth, introduction to solids books were read and discussed before we started feeding our baby solids, etc etc

Good luck!!!

]]> By: Jackie http://prebabyblog.com/2012/04/my-breastfeeding-journey/#comment-32694 Jackie Sat, 18 May 2013 14:20:04 +0000 http://prebabyblog.com/?p=4066#comment-32694 We have a one week old now that was born 5 weeks preterm. We’ve had issues latching on from the get go and in the first 4 days home he only gained an ounce. I am able to breastfeed and pump after eah feeding as I’m trying to increase my milk supy which has definitely been a success. However, the pediatrician wants us to start supplementing 3-4 feedings a day with 1oz. of pumped breast milk by bottle. I feel like my baby and I have made lots of progress over the last few days and the bottle feeding hopefully is helping him gain weight. My major concern is that our baby may get nipple confusion from the bottle. My husband is all for bottle feeding and I try to explain my concerns to him but I don’t think he gets it. I don’t want to end up exclusively pumping and feelin like a cow. I am afraid that it might make me give up on breastfeeding completely if he ends up giving up the breast in favor of a bottle since its easier. I don’t mind nursing and pumping and supplementing as we are now but exclusively pumping sounds terrible. I enjoy the time I get to spend nursing my son (even with the shallow latch and terrible pain this first week–though it seriously has improved 10 fold! Either that or I’m just getting used to it) My husband is an awesome dad and totally hands on with the baby which is wonderful and I think he likes being able to bottle feed since it mskes him feel more involved but I don’t think he inderstands how it can potentially thwart all of the progress we’ve made breast feeding so far. I try to give him tips on how to bottle feed in a way that won’t make the baby give up the breast but I can tell he thinks I’m being an overbearing know it all mother and he’s getting super frustrated with me. Any thoughts/advice?

]]> By: Jesse http://prebabyblog.com/2012/04/my-breastfeeding-journey/#comment-32401 Jesse Wed, 08 May 2013 18:18:31 +0000 http://prebabyblog.com/?p=4066#comment-32401 Dear Elena,
Thank you so much for this post (and others that I’m about to scour through!). My first baby girl, Isobel, is 2.5 weeks old and we are having identical issues as you described–she was a boob magnet from day 1, but lacks in technique (exactly what you say–>tends not to open wide (ever) unless she’s already wailing and slips down to the nipple mid-session!).

Your advice to tough it out and trust that things will normalize echoes a couple of other friends and online sources, and I’m happy to go with this advice and give myself (and baby Bel) a break for the next 3ish weeks.

I look forward to encouraging other new moms in this! Thanks for your commitment to your blog and using your experience to help others.

peace, love and boob obsession from the Mile High City,
Jesse

]]> By: Rebekah http://prebabyblog.com/2012/04/my-breastfeeding-journey/#comment-31754 Rebekah Fri, 19 Apr 2013 17:18:11 +0000 http://prebabyblog.com/?p=4066#comment-31754 Thank you for this. <3 My 9 week old son has had a shallow latch ever since he was born, and I've gone through about 4 weeks of nipple shield use, two bouts of mastitis, and A LOT of pain! We even went last week to get his posterior tongue tie snipped in the hopes that he'd latch deeper afterwards.

Nowadays, I'm feeding normally throughout the day, but using nipple shields at night. Like Lexi, my son also tucks his top lip under, and I'm pretty sure this is due to the nipple shields.

It's nice to read that there is light at the end of the tunnel. I'm stubborn and determined, and I want to make it to at least 6 months without pumping. So, with time at least, things will (hopefully) get better, and I'm hoping I'm now through the worst of it!

Thank you. xxxxxxx

]]> By: Elena @The Art of Making a Baby http://prebabyblog.com/2012/04/my-breastfeeding-journey/#comment-29449 Elena @The Art of Making a Baby Sun, 03 Feb 2013 22:42:17 +0000 http://prebabyblog.com/?p=4066#comment-29449 Aaawwww! Yup, sounds about right :) I am glad that you got something out of this post! :)

]]> By: Julie http://prebabyblog.com/2012/04/my-breastfeeding-journey/#comment-29229 Julie Thu, 31 Jan 2013 04:58:30 +0000 http://prebabyblog.com/?p=4066#comment-29229 Wow, I feel like I’m reading about my own experience!! My little girl (also Alexis, now 8 months), was a barracuda from day 1. I remember it being unbelievably painful and everyone just kept saying it wasn’t supposed to hurt, and ‘does it really hurt that bad?’ Ugh! It hurt terribly for the 1st 5 weeks. In the first few weeks, when my husband was home, I would make him pinch my arm while Lexi latched to try to distract me. I was covered in bruises!! The LC looked at me like I was insane when I told her why I was all bruised! She also said my nipples looked like someone had taken a cheese grater to them :(. I too was absolutely determined to continue bf’ing exclusively. I ended up using nipple shields, and going through a few different brands till I found one that worked. It still hurt, but was slightly more bearable, and I think easier on Lexi too, as I wasn’t tensing up so much. Glad to know someone else had a similar experience! (well not glad for your pain, but you know what I mean)

]]> By: Joanna http://prebabyblog.com/2012/04/my-breastfeeding-journey/#comment-24700 Joanna Sat, 27 Oct 2012 19:33:03 +0000 http://prebabyblog.com/?p=4066#comment-24700 This is a great post, and it’s something I could have written myself a few months ago. I wish I had known about it then, because no one I knew had gone through what I did, and I had so many people tell me to give up. Everything you experienced was exactly what happened to me, and like you, it was only time that helped.

Unlike you, I gave in to to the supply issue problems because I really thought she was hungry. I ended up supplementing the evening feed with formula and going on a very low dose of a lactation drug (legal and very used here in Canada). I realize now that she was just trying to estabish supply, and so wish I hadn’t given in! However, the drug helped me to eliminate formula completely until now, which makes me happy. I’ve just come off of the drug and my daughter is now 8.5 months and I am down to one feed a day, which breaks my heart. I so wish I could breastfeed for longer, but I’m taking it one day at a time.

I’m going to bookmark this post so I can read it again when I have baby #2 :)

]]> By: Elena @The Art of Making a Baby http://prebabyblog.com/2012/04/my-breastfeeding-journey/#comment-23513 Elena @The Art of Making a Baby Mon, 10 Sep 2012 15:37:38 +0000 http://prebabyblog.com/?p=4066#comment-23513 Hi Heidi!

I am so glad this helped. As you can tell my supply is awesome now because even though I mistakenly thought supple was low, somehow I got through without supplementation.

STAY STRONG! It gets awesome!

]]> By: Heidi http://prebabyblog.com/2012/04/my-breastfeeding-journey/#comment-23509 Heidi Mon, 10 Sep 2012 14:20:10 +0000 http://prebabyblog.com/?p=4066#comment-23509 My son is 2 weeks and 4 days old, and this is EXACTLY what I am going through. He’s had a shallow latch from day 1, and I can’t for the life of me get him to open up wide or approach the boob chin first. Yesterday he started screaming and fussing at the breast–he would not be satiated. I tried pumping and only got a few drops after 25 minutes. I was in tears. I broke down and gave him a single ounce of formula, balling my eyes out the entire time. I’m making an appt with an LC today. I feel so encouraged by reading your experience, and it’s help firm up my resolve to avoid supplementing–I was just so convinced I was starving him! I’m hoping it will get easier in a few weeks.

]]> By: Sage Moreno http://prebabyblog.com/2012/04/my-breastfeeding-journey/#comment-22753 Sage Moreno Mon, 20 Aug 2012 01:39:50 +0000 http://prebabyblog.com/?p=4066#comment-22753 So glad I found your blog! I’m a first time Mom due in October and like you I am doing my research since I want to breastfeed 100%. This post was definitely helpful and I love the fact that you weren’t afraid to tell all, the good and bad, being a first time mom I want to know what I’m in for. So thankyou!
-Sage

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