Were you able to breastfeed successfully? If so, comment tips!

Question

I REALLY want to be successful at breastfeeding my son when he gets here. I want to see what the odds of success are and hear about any tips that I need to know!!

Answer

See a LC. Make sure pediatrician checks for tongue or lip ties at birth or few days after birth! My son had an undiagnosed one for 3 months and it ruined my supply because he wasn't getting a great latch and getting all my milk out. I ended up drying up at 7 weeks because of it and had no idea why.

Answer

I think it’s just so different for everyone. I had to start pumping when my son was 3 days old because he wasn’t emptying my breasts enough and I got engorged and then got mastitis. Pumping and nursing became so unbearably painful with mastitis so I stopped. I plan to breastfeed my second but also better understand that things don’t always go as planned and it’s ok to stop if it’s causing more stress than it’s worth.

Answer

The tongue-tie/lip-tie previously mentioned is important.   Our breastfeeding relationship got a million times better once that was fixed.  
Nipple care is important.   I use coconut oil instead of lansinoh, because my daughter hated the taste of lanolin. If your nipples crack and bleed, use a warm salt water soak to help heal them without infection - just like if you've ever gotten your nipple pierced.  If you start getting clogs, use warm compresses and massage while pumping to help clear them out.

Answer

My daughter is 15 months old and still breastfeeding! I’ll admit I never had any issues, but I nursed her ASAP after she was born, breastfed on demand, and didn’t introduce a bottle for 6 weeks. 
Believe that you can! And, if something comes up and it gets too hard, then give yourself the okay to stop ❤️ best of luck to you!!

Answer

I am FINALLY breastfeeding successfully. 
The first days in the hospital were SO HARD. I couldn’t get my baby girl to latch. I had so much swelling from pregnancy and the IVs from being induced that I had to wear shells under my bra between feedings, to push the fluid off my nipples. I had 5 different lactation nurses come in and every single one told me something different. I had to self express my clostirum into a spoon and feed it to her. 
I wore nipple shields to help her latch. But she had jaundice and would fall asleep immediately after latching. She ended up losing 14% of her birth weight and her bellirubin was high so her pediatrician suggested supplementing with formula because my milk still hasn’t come on day 5.  I was about to feed her formula when I pumped and ounce of real breast milk! And then her doc called and had us go to the hospital to be monitored overnight cause of how high her jaundice levels were and her weight loss. 
For a month I would cry every feeding or get frustrated because I had to wear the nipple shields to get her to latch. There was the piece of plastic between me and my baby. We didn’t go anywhere because I wasn’t confident in being able to get her to latch in public. 
Around a month we got thrush. (Yeast infection in her mouth and my breasts). It was like glass was shredding the inside of my breasts. My nipples would bleed and peel. It was awful. After that healed, I got really frustrated trying to put a nipple shield on while she was fussing cause she wanted to eat that I just put my nipple in her mouth and I was SO surprised when she latched. 
We are now almost to month 3. She’s been EBF for almost 3 months and it’s just now beginning to feel easy and natural. It is hard hard work. There’s no help from someone else in the middle of the night unless you pump. Cluster feeding means no sleep and if you’re not careful, sore nipples. But it gets easier.

Answer

Got conflicting advice from the three lactation consultants I saw.... breastfeeding a lot every 2-3 hours for the first 6 weeks no bottle feeding and no formula!! It will really mess up your supply and demand. ☹️

Were you able to breastfeed successfully? If so, comment tips!

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