Tips for Breastfeeding and Milk Supply

Awesome tips - thanks much!

" BUMP "

Just thought I would bump this up again - am still having problems with pain, both in the nipple and also shooting pains while feeding and for a while afterwards, not nice. Saw the lactation consultant at the hosp on friday and she said i'm doing everything right in terms of latch etc so not sure why its so sore. Have no visable cracks etc, and she or the MW or the plunket nurse could see no signs of thrush. At this stage just hanging in there, some feeds the pain is very mild and bearable then the next one will be so sore I swear of feeding forever (untill the next feed!). Took the natrapharm Milk Flow spray at the beginning and now am on Blessed Thistle tablets. Have no problem seems with how much milk there is as the wee man put on 540gr last week, its just me dealing with the pain. Have stopped feeding a couple of times and expressed to give myself a break, not that expressing is any less painful!

Lisa I had exactly the same symptoms, no cracks, intense pain at the beginning of the feed, shooting pains throughout the day, piercing headache during feeding all sorts, went to the Dr and no sign of infection or thrust and then just this week the symptoms started to ease off and now are hardly appearing at all. So weird. I have been making sure baby is latching with ear, shoulder and hip in alignment and supporting his head well the whole feed (instead of being lazy and sometimes resting it on the feeding pillow with my leg/knee up resting on the foot rest.

Hang in there and fingers crossed your pain goes away soon too! And I agree wowzers on the steriod boobie juice!!!!

I found BF hurt like the dickens at first,i grimaced everytime C latched and i was convinced she wasnt doing it right, till my friend who was feeding her baby next to me asked what was wrong , and when i said in despair," i can't do it,! her mouth isnt align etc etc " she laughed and said "look at her cheeks Kel, shes feeding fine " ...and she was , i just had this idea of how everything was supposed to be aligned etc, shortly after , i got rid of the pillow,and felt heaps more relaxed, a few weeks later, i , who thought they would never be able to do it , was walking around feeding her .
My fave bf memory is when she was 6 months and we were having a cuddle in my bed, i dozed off and woke up to find that she had lifted up my pj top and was serving herself , was so cute (a bit of a fright at first i'll admit !)
SO for all you mums that want to bf but are having probs , it does get easier , and if it doesnt , and BF is something you really want to do (cos some dont, and thats their choice) then ask for help , the la leche people are lovely ...the ones i met anyway !

I BF for a year and every month my supply dropped off slighly, couldn't get a let down etc and baby was waking up in the night and feeding heaps during the day. Took me a good 6 months to realise a pattern had formed and she was trying to boost my supply by feeding more for a few days then going back to normal.

I think remembering every baby is different helps lots too. My DD was a quick feeder and was done in about 15 mins tops but all the books said 'babies should feed 20-30 mins on one side...blah blah blah' After lots of reasurance in the early weeks from my midwife that DD was getting enough milk and growing well I relaxed a bit. DD slept through the night early, but fed every 3 hours during the day up until about 8 months old when she dropped slightly.

I even managed to feed her when I fell and broke my ankle very badly and needed surgery, She was 11 months old by then, but I made sure everyone at the hosp knew I was still BF. It really helps to have supportive people around you, especially your DH or partner.

As for things to boost supply.... I found fenugreek (from a health food shop) great but it does make you a bit smelly under the arms, lol, like a curry! Eating and drinking regulary and getting rest. And nothing beats baby drinking lots from you if you need to boost your supply. I hated expressing and found it really hard to get a let down or I couldnt not get more than about 20mls some days. Good job I knew that it wasn't an indication of my milk supply or I would have freaked out!

I agree the kellymom website was a great help!

Edited by pomikiwi

Thank you so much for this thread.

I'm going to try those cookies tomorrow. They look good.

Made the cookies on the weekend, yum!! DH took some for work today, he didn't ask what was in them so I didn't tell him!!! Made heaps though so will be using them at coffee group this week, only 2 of us feeding at the moment but the others will enjoy them i'm sure.

I have to admit I just wish someone had told me that I didn't have to do it!
I had a c-section at 37 weeks and after a month of BF my milk still hadn't come in! I tried EVERYTHING I was using an electric pump after every feed and taking these herbal supplements that were supposed to increase milk production. By the end of the first month I was so broken down and depressed, I couldn't stand to look at my babies! but the worst thing was I felt so pressured to not give up! Being a first time Mum you want so bad to do everything right but breastfeeding just doesn't happen for everyone and I really wish someone had just said to me it's O.K. you don't have to BF your babies will be fine and still thrive with formula.
The day I switched I felt terrible but after 5mins I got over and never turned back lol! I actually started to ENJOY my girls

But hey I have great respect for those of you that do it and do it well It's friggin hard work!

^^ my midwife suggested something similar with brewers yeast but it tasted so I just did it without.

Tis filled my blender, then I just kept it in the fridge;

2 scoops of ice cream
2 bananas
then fill up blender with milk
wizz then serve.

I had a small glass after most feeds, dont now if it really worked or not though, lol!

AriannesMum, I am still BF my son, he is 5 months old now. I just kept at it and he got over the turning away thing most of the time. I do have to be careful that there is nothing else going on in the room though, but apparently that is normal.

You might want to try feeding her the expressed breast milk or formula with a tube. I got a bunch of feeding tubes from the maternity hospital and put one end in the bottle and the other end in the mouth while on the breast, that way baby gets more milk at the same time as stimulating the supply on the breast.