Breastfeeding advice

[mommax3]

Changing positions does help sore nipples. I tried every position I found out about. At least one of the two books I recommended has photos of babies being nursed in different positions....that was really helpful to me. A lot of it depends on the size of your breasts, too. And, not to start any kind of co-sleeping debate, but if your bottom is really sore or if you have had a c-section, lying down on your side to nurse is also nice. Just make sure the mattress is firm and there are no pillows or blankets around the baby.

Sally

[SueC]

Good point Sally--I still lay on my side to nurse Mitchell and he is over 8 months old! That way I can catch a few Z's.

This is all really great info!

EmilyAnn, I went to http://www.breastfeeding.com and they had a few short videos you could watch that showed how to get a proper latch-on and demonstrated the different ways of holding the baby. I found it to be really helpful. It also has a national directory of lactation consultants...although we have several experienced lactation consultants in this group. Thanks for your help, everyone!!

[HeartRN]

Great advice, Lunatic...I think that's one reason we had problems with spit up sometimes....not long enough on one side.
Also she had a "favorite" side It got to the point where she wouldn't even accept the other side sometimes (esp. when older)

[BonBon]

I would like to add a note of caution about bringing your baby to bed with you at night...

The week before Christmas DH got called to the ED for a code blue. A little baby lay on the table, clearly dead. Mom had brought her back to bed at 2:30 am to breastfeed her and one of the parents(don't know which one) rolled over on her and suffocated her. DH usually controls his emotions at work, but this one really got to him. Turns out her grandfather is a physician at the hospital too. So incredibly sad.

I hate to bring it up because it's a controversial subject, but babies can and do die.

[mommax3]

Just the very thought of that made me so paranoid that if I ever did nurse lying down in the middle of the night, I was so scared spitless that I was WIDE awake until the baby was back in bed. But I did it a lot during the day, when the bed was made and the baby and I were the only ones there.

All the more reason to check into a co-sleeper, if you have room. I REALLY wish I had gotten one with my third. I was so sleep deprived and couldn't even catch up because my oldest was in school at that point and I had to get up and get going regardless of how the baby did the night before.

Sally

[BonBon]

Sally, it makes me cringe to think about the couple of rough nights that we had where I just took him to sleep with me in the guest room. I used to nap with him a lot too. I'm going to look into a co-sleeper for next time.

I can't even imagine how those parents feel. It was their first baby. How do they even go back into their house and sleep in the bed again? I don't think I could. Must stop thinking about that.

[mommax3]

I agree. I don't know how people go on after something like that. There are too many things out there that I have to make myself not think about!

Sally

Chris, that is such a sad, sad story. I definitely could never bring the baby into our bed because DH has rolled over onto our cat one too many times. Now our cat has learned her lesson and strictly sleeps on my side of the bed. I'll definitely check out the cosleeper.

[HeartRN]

Co-sleepers are definitely the way to go....mainly because because people (esp. dads) don't have the same instincts as moms and sometimes roll over on their babies.

[Rapunzel]

Yeah, all of our children co-slept with us as infants at one time or another and my husband and I never had any problems rolling onto them. I did always wake my husband up completely and inform him the baby was in bed with us prior to going to sleep first, though.

Le Leche League helped me with all of my nursing issues. The meetings are filled with experienced mothers many times and the help is free! There are often many knowledgeable women to draw upon for solutions to problems. I paid a lactation consultant with my first child and it was a HUGE waste of money. I got better (and cheaper!) advice when I started attending the LLL meetings.

Jennifer

[SueC]

Yes, it definitely depends on the type of sleeper you are. I sleep very lightly when my baby is in bed with me, and after countless nights co-sleeping over the last 5 years, not once did we have a "close call" when it came to rolling over the baby or the baby rolling out of the bed. If we were heavy sleepers, I would not have considered co-sleeping.
Speaking of the co-sleeper attachment you can buy...a friend loaned me one of those when our second child was born and I found it to be the wrong height with our pillow top mattress. So, if you're going to invest in one, I'd make sure it is adjustable for height. Or does it matter? I guess I'm not sure, since we didn't use it, but it seems like it wouldn't be worth using if they weren't level with the bed.

[Phoebe]

I didn't want to BF mostly due to a personal space issue. I vowed to give it my best shot but wasn't promising anything. It really wasn't bad. There is soreness in the beginning like everyone mentioned. Lanolin works well for that. I got samples from my mom, a perinatology nurse, and I stashed them in all the places I nursed. I even used the stuff recently on my 15 month old's poor nose after a 3 week cold.

I was pretty luck that both of my kid's latched on really well and never had a problem nursing. The thing I remember the nurse telling me in the hospital with DD#1 was to feed every two hours. That helped kind of get both kids on a schedule where they fed regularly at first and the time in between gradually increased as they got older and grew. My 15 month-old still eats every three hours (not nursing!). They were both fine in-between feedings and didn't get fussy. If they did I would offer them some milk, but the timeline was a guideline that worked for us. I did speak to a LC the first time around because I felt like I wasn't producing enough milk. She thought I was nuts. A week later, at 4 months, my daughter refused to nurse anymore and would only take a bottle with breast milk. I tried two weeks weeks to continue nursing and she refused. I had supply problems with DD#2, but she loved to nurse. DD#1 tried to nurse her sister after watching me. It was so funny.

I did some co-sleeping with DD#2 because she woke up so much at night. I had to stop that when I became the pacifier and lost too much sleep. I nursed her a lot in the afternoons lying down and we would both nap. After she fell asleep I would move her over so we weren't too close to each other.

[HeartRN]

I'm still laughing about one child trying to nurse her sister....that's too funny...

Ok, so I recognize this reopens a touchy issue that's been previously discussed way back when..but I can't' help it. IMHO, new moms, please read books like "Babywise" with EXTREME caution. One of the docs in my OB's practice told me to get this book. I did not, because I had completely different ideas about parenting. In my opinion, and it's simply my opinion, scheduling and sleeping through the night are more about the parent than the child. I am a firm believer in breastfeeding on demand, especially the first few months. It really seems to ensure a good supply from mom, and to me, it just seemed really natural. Yes, it's exhausting, but so worth it. OK, I'm done :!

[mommax3]

I agree with Marla and think that book is one of the worst things that new parents can read. I hide it behind other books at bookstores when I am in the parenting section.

Definitely skip anything with the words "Babywise" or "Ezzo" on it.

Sally