Things You Need to Breastfeed

16 Mar 2012 2 Comments

by cross2000varga in Breastfeeding Tags: , ,

If you are looking at all the breastfeeding paraphernalia and wondering if you really need that or not, here are some of the things that I found helpful when I was breastfeeding.

Burp cloths.  I have had 4 babies and 4 out of 4 were spitters.  They spit up almost every feeding and I stayed covered in spit up it seemed like.  I hope you have better fortune!  I always have 4-5 burp cloths placed around the house in case of spit.  As I said in an earlier post, they are helpful when your breast starts to squirt milk everywhere when it lets down too.

Lanolin.  I usually had sore cracked nipples at first and putting some lanolin on them after every feeding was helpful.

Gel soothie pads.  You can ask for a pair of these at the hospital and they should be able to get them for you.  These help when your nipples are really sore.  They help to keep moisture in and help the nipples to heal.  You just wear them between feeding and they feel very good too.

Hydration.  Breastfeeding makes you SO thirsty.  I was always walking around with a huge cup of juice or something to drink.  If you can, try to have something close to your nursing spot so you don’t get stuck nursing while you are parched of thirst.

Snacks.  I think I was hungrier while I was breastfeeding than I was while I was pregnant.  It doesn’t hurt to have a few granola bars, or whatever your snack of choice is, close on hand while you are nursing either.

A pillow.  Or something to prop your arm and the baby up during the feeding.  A Boppy pillow or My Brest Friend or even a small bed pillow work well.  Personally I usually pulled my knee toward my chest and used my leg as a prop.

A cover.  If you are nursing in public you will probably want some kind of cover.  There are several covers on the market.  When I use a cover I usually use a receiving blanket.  If you pull the corner of the receiving blanket under your bra strap then drape the rest of the blanket around you it works well to keep it from falling off!  When I’m at home I don’t usually use one.  Truthfully I don’t usually use one in public either.  You can pull your shirt down far enough that nothing can be seen once you get the hang of it and that’s just one less thing to worry about.

A comfy seat.  Once you start a feeding session you are pretty much stuck.  Making sure you are comfortable before hand is very important.  Often times it is so relaxing that you fall asleep with the baby so a cozy recliner works well.

A good book.  Or magazine, or video game or movie.  Like I said you’re kind of stuck until the feeding is over and if you are alone with no one else around it can get a little boring sometimes.  I like to have a book nearby that I can read, or sometimes even the video game controller to pass the time.

These are the things I can think of that helped me while I was breastfeeding and I hope you find them helpful too.  I will talk some about breast pumps in a later post and when they are useful as well.

What You May Not Know

08 Mar 2012 Leave a comment

by cross2000varga in Breastfeeding

You’ve seen the breastfeeding posters with this beautiful woman with beautiful breasts feeding this cute as can be chubby baby in its diaper with smiles all around.  Breastfeeding is really not this glamorous!  Don’t get me wrong, it is a wonderful thing, but in this post I want to warn you about the not so beautiful parts about it.  I am in no way trying to dissuade you from nursing your baby, I just want to inform you so that you are not caught off guard by something and quit too early because of it.

Here’s more the reality of it in the beginning at least.  A mom in baggy frumpy clothes because she doesn’t want to keep wearing her maternity clothes because she is not pregnant anymore, but she can’t even get her pre-pregnancy jeans past her thighs.  So tired that she would pay a thousand dollars for just 6 straight hours of sleep.  Still very sore from giving birth or worse still with stitches or staples across her belly from the cesarean.  Nursing this tiny, beautiful, demanding newborn who eats, sleeps and poops and then eats some more.  She is completely drained emotionally and physically and cries because she is so happy, then cries because she is so tired, then cries for absolutely no reason at all.

Now obviously this is not how it is for every woman and I am being a bit dramatic, but the point I am trying to convey is especially the first couple of weeks breastfeeding can be very hard.  I have nursed 4 babies for 12 months or more each, once weaning one child in August and giving birth 4 months later in December and starting all over again.  4 out of 4 times it hurt!  I thought sure this last time with them being so close together that my nipples would still be used to it, but it still hurt.  With some of them my nipples were so sore and chapped that they were cracked and bleeding and when your baby nurses on them it’s more of an excruciating grimace as they are latching on then a smile.  After latch the pain subsides so don’t worry.  4 out of 4 times I have gotten mastitis too.  I guess it’s a genetic thing because my mom always got it too.  If this happens to you get antibiotics and quickly.  It hurts to nurse a baby with mastitis, but it is the best way to get relief from it too.  The breastfeeding consultants would say to me that if it hurt that meant the baby wasn’t latching on right, then when I spoke with my doctor (who has 4 kids as well) she said it hurt every time.  So don’t worry that you are doing it wrong if it is painful.  It is good to have someone help you and make sure that the baby is getting a good latch, but this is new to your nipples and they need some time to adjust so give it to them.

Another thing is those first few days nursing can cause contractions.  Contractions!!   But I’ve already had the baby, I thought I was done with contractions!  Nursing helps your uterus contract back to its normal size.  In my experience it was not so bad with the first baby, but I was told it would get worse the more you have and have found that to be true, so be prepared.

Engorgement is another problem.  Until your breasts figure out how much they need to make you may suffer from engorgement.  Your breasts may get so full that you feel like they are going to burst!  You can combat this by nursing often, but then you have the problem with the sore chapped nipples.  Another way to combat this is pumping, which I like to do while I’m producing a lot of milk at first so I can get some stored in the freezer for later use.  Another thing I like to do is just take a nice hot shower and express some of the milk by hand.  The problem with pumping too much is your breasts will keep up with demand, which if you are planning on going back to work is a great thing, but if you are not, may just prolong the problem.  If your breasts do get engorged though try to do what you can to relieve them because this can make them more prone to mastitis.

Another thing that might bother some women is you may have lop-sided boobs!  The baby nurses more from one than the other or something and you’ve got one huge boob and the other not as huge.  Me personally, I just nursed from one side at a time.  I didn’t like the switching back and forth every 10 minutes.  That just made my nipples more sore.  I would nurse from one side then the next feeding session nurse from the other.  So I always had lop-sided boobs.

Ok, do I have you thoroughly scared.  As with all things these are only for a season.  You and the baby will get into a routine, your body and hormones will heal and regulate, the baby will start sleeping more and breastfeeding will get easier and will not be painful at all.  For me this lasted usually 1-2 weeks though with baby number 2 I was stressed out and trying to adjust and it took nearly 4 weeks to get settled into breastfeeding.  What I want to say to you is don’t give up!  It will get much easier with a little time.  I have seen several new moms nurse for about 1-2 weeks then give up when they probably would have only had to hang on for about one more week and things would have been fine!  Remember:  Be Determined!  Before you know it you and your baby will be like the poster.

I welcome comments and questions that could help you or other women as they begin this wonderful journey!

Remember You’re BOTH New to This!

02 Mar 2012 1 Comment

by cross2000varga in Breastfeeding

You’ve just been through the traumatic but amazing miracle of birth and they hand you this tiny infant with goopy eyes and say why don’t you try to breastfeed.  You are tired and filled with emotions of all kinds.  The baby is drowsy and hard to wake up and they want you to try to fit the end of your cantaloupe sized boob into their tiny grape sized mouth.  Not exactly the easiest task.  Now I’m not going to try to explain how to breastfeed.  I mean, you stick your nipple in the baby’s mouth, they suck and milk comes out.  Not rocket science.  What I want to prepare you for is those first few days when both you AND baby are getting the hang of it.  You have never nursed a baby before and the baby has never nursed before.

Think of it.  This precious little baby has been in this nice hot tub with all the food they need piped straight into their bodies.  All they needed to do is exercise and sleep.  When the baby first gets here they are really drowsy for a couple of days.  They have to figure out how to suckle.  All the feelings and sights and sounds are brand new to them.  Even the feeling of hunger!  The baby will have to learn to associate the fact that nursing makes that feeling go away.

The baby WILL lose weight!!!  Usually at least 8 ounces or so the first couple of days.  I think some times new moms aren’t properly warned about this and get so nervous that they give in to formula when they really didn’t want to.  Don’t freak out and don’t let the doctor freak you out.  With my last the doctor tried to tell me that I may have to supplement with formula because she had lost more than the expected 8 oz.  By her 2 day appointment she was gaining weight just fine.

All you have at the beginning is colostrum.  Just nurse that baby as much as you can and let it be a wonderful bonding experience.  In a couple of days your milk will come in and you will be drowning them with yummy milk.  Literally, with my first I was making so much milk that it was squirting everywhere and choking the poor little guy. Squirting him in his eyes and up his nose.  It was a mess.  Tip – Keep a couple of burp cloths handy.  You will need one to put over the breast that you are not nursing with because when your milk lets down it can spray milk everywhere!  In a few weeks your breasts (which are new to this too) will figure out how much milk they need to make and the baby will get the hang of sucking and you will get the hang of juggling this tiny infant.

In the beginning it is awkward.  It feels kind of weird.  Trying to hold your baby’s head at the right angle and your breast up is like a juggling act.  But like everything else, with practice you will both become pros.  Hang in there.  Don’t give up if it doesn’t work well at first.  Don’t be one bit shy or embarrassed to ask a nurse or breastfeeding consultant to help you.  That’s what they are there for.  If it’s not working and you’re both getting frustrated, just strip that baby down to its diaper and put it on your naked chest and cuddle away.  That was one of my favorite things to do is get skin to skin with my newborn.  They hear the familiar sound of your heartbeat and feel the warmth of your body and in an hour or two when you are both more calm, just try, try again!

PS – For moms who have to have a C-Section please see Christy’s comment.  Thanks Christy for the great info!!!