Breastfeeding General Chatter #12

[sloane]

someone at my mother's group brought some & they were yummy. i don't know if i need them or not but i'm thinking i might make some anyway...it couldn't hurt, could it? i don't usually have to wear breast pads & DS still feeds at least 2 or 3 times overnight...

[briggsy's girl]

first truly hot day today since DD arrived - we're surviving - but only just! it's so hot feeding her!

she is living in her nappy and nothing else, we have a fan on (trying to avoid the air con) and is feeding when she wants. she is making massive grabs for my water but not going on the boob at the time - i know BM is all they need - but if she's making grabs for my drink, shoudl i try her with a little water - it's over 30 degrees here and not pleasant lol

[MantaRay]

I hope the heat doesn't last too long for you BG. As you know, she doesn't need water, but if you want to see how she goes with a little bit of cooled, boiled water than it wouldn't do any harm. Often introducing water and sippy cups can go hand in hand - do you have a cup already?

[briggsy's girl]

was given one - but it's not something i'm really wanting to use - is called a sippy cup but has the bottle teat type top - might have to head to town tomorrow and grab something. or i could send mum and offer roast dinner as payment.... now that sounds like less effort seeing i'm cooking roast anyway lol

she's not content with boob today - i think we're both a bit too hot for it. she is feeding, but not relaxing in for a long feed like she will sometimes do - when she's full, that's it. hasn't fed to sleep at all and is fighting sleep at every chance. am about to face another battle - she is very tired! will offer milk - if she doesn't want it, she's off to sleep either way. she fought so hard a little while ago that i gave up - when she managed to dislocate my dodgy wrist. it's back where it should be so we'll try again

i just read back on this thread to see when E was really unsettled as i have had some weird spotting today - thought maybe it was AF on it's way - but if her unsettled time relates to o, then i'm a week off AF...

[tk1999]

DD has been feeding more frequently here too... not that it is super hot here but it was nappy only weather (especially in this house where it 'stores' heat)

Have been gorging on the lactation cookies today... and after sloane's post I might take some to my first mother's group on Monday... great for BFing mums and a yum treat for those that aren't!

[MantaRay]

BG, I hope she settled ok. The composition of your milk does change in the heat, so that it is more watery. Often babies do drink more often but for a shorter time when it's hot. It will be interesting to see whether AF arrives. It is common to have longer cycles at first while bfing too so she could show up later than you are expecting.

Wow at everyone experiencing some heat. The weather is still pretty comfortable here. But when the heat comes back I have a feeling it will be a hot summer.

[kelebek]

I remember last summer I would have to put a teatowel or sheet between DS and I as our body heat together without the material meant we both sweated I also found he drank frequently but for not very long....

I am going to make those cookies for my SIL she has been worried about her milk drying up after a feedathon too so thanks for putting me onto them everyone

[tk1999]

That is a great idea of putting a sheet or towel between you and bubs for feeds... much more comfy!!

[briggsy's girl]

i have been putting a flannel nappy between us - not too bulky, but soaks up the sweat nicely!
DD settled beautifully last night - i felt horrid putting even a little onesie on her for bed - it was still nearly 28degrees in the house! but we put the onesie on, wrapped her (she won't sleep unwrapped - yay for light muslin wraps!) and didn't hear from her again until 8.5 hours later. she was stirring when i got up for the loo, but didn't wake. was apparently bright eyed and looking at daddy through the cot an hour later, but went back to sleep for another hour.
is sleeping again now too. makign the most of the cool morning i think!
gave her a couple of teaspoons of water last night to stop her hassling me for my water bottle - she spat the bulk of it out, but did swallow some. i figure small steps. gave me confidence that she's not ready for solids yet either - as much as she puts the spoon in her mouth herself when she's holding it - she still has a strong tongue thrust reflex

[Shanti]

Hi girls!

It's so hard keeping up with you chatterbox's in here

Yum that recipe looks good!! I made a deliciously WICKED chocolate swirl baked cheesecake with my DH this morning for the in laws when they came over for lunch and it was soooo yummy. As yummy as the baked cheesecakes you get at the coffee club for $7 a piece!!! probably even better..... hehe
Won't be making one anytime soon again as they aren't too good for the post baby belly that is still looming

DD wasn't too interested in feeding today. She would go on and only take a few sucks and come off.... we had a very busy day though with visitors etc so that doesn't help. There is so much to see and do when you are 9mths old after all

I can't believe I've been breastfeeding for 9 beautiful months!!! I'm soooo proud of myself and DD. It's going so well. I can't imagine stopping anytime soon... our goal was to make it to 12mths and so far that is looking really great.... now I want to go beyond that. Perhaps even make it to 2yrs as WHO recommends. as long as DD and I are still happy doing so.

You might remember about 2-3 weeks ago I mentioned about a Mum who I saw breastfeeding her 3mth old (approx) outside the public toilets on a seat in the corridor towards the toilets (if that makes sense) and I'd commented to her saying "thats a great spot! nicer than in the stinky parents room huh?" and she'd appreciated the comment.... anyway, last week I sat where she had sat, and breastfed DD and it was really comfy and not stinky compared to the parents room and the chairs in there are horrid. So that's my new BF spot now too! hehe A few people looked at me curiously as I sat there feeding my DD. It's good for people to see.

Ok, must go, getting tired.....

[Gigi]

BRIGSY - we've been having 30+ temps here (today it's 35) and i've been cold water flannelling bilby's face and neck before and after a bf. We have a/c in one room (lounge) and i only put it on for an hour (on timer) ocassionally (to save money). But i put an electric fan near bilby, just to keep the air moving, so she can sleep. It's very low cost to run a fan.

i did the same as you, i had one particular bamboo terry flat i kept for the purpose of keeping us NOT stuck together when feeding! i'm really coming around to bamboo, not just for nappies, but for clothing as well. it works like wool, keeps you warm in winter and cool in summer. the ONLY long sleeve top i can put bilby in, on a 30+ day (for sun protection) is a bamboo one, cos it keeps her cool. i bet in a few years time, you will be able to buy bamboo breastfeeding tops, that would be so excellent - esp in the first year, i remember feeling so overheated, when i was bursting with milk, squirting all over the place and bilby was working so hard to feed, her little cheeks STILL look like she's a trumpeter! (the only chubby bit of her now, ha ha).

nuvo maternity has a sale on bf-ing tops on Wednesday, that's where i got my most fave bf-ing tops from. i'm wondering whether it's worth me getting one more, bilby shows NO sign of giving up booby any time soon. the cross over summer tops, no-one even guesses they are bf-ing tops, and it hides my muffin top LOL.

[tk1999]

Gigi - I might have to look into those tops... at the moment I am wearing the bonds ones - I was so annoyed when theirs were the better ones on the market as I wanted to continue my boycott of them

[onthefly]

Wow Shanti, it really doesn't seem like it could be 9 months already...

Bamboo sounds lovely....
maybe you could make some bamboo bf tops Gigi. I spose it's just a matter of getting the right sort of material.

[tk1999]

I am in love with some of the nuvo tops!! Mmm now to decide which one... or two or three he he he

[Gigi]

TK - another site i got great value bf-ing tops was "Almost Mum". They have a website and an ebay shop too.

with the Nuvo tops, the polo shirt ones on special, i have three of these, they're a small make. i'm a medium according to the size chart, but there is not as much stretch in that fabric, so the large fits much better.

but in the crossover type (purple and aqua one), i'm easily a medium, heaps of stretch in that thinner fabric.

the 20% off was for Wednesday only, so i've missed it too.

bilby has a fever (still) and the only thing she's really interested in eating, is booby juice. whenever she is sick, i'm so grateful we are still bf-ing.

Brigsy, i meant to say before, i didn't give nb or 1yo bilby water even when it was over 40 degrees (only breastmilk) but i did sponge her down with a damp facewasher often. her first two summers were long heatwaves type summers. thank goodness for bm. i had people hounding me to give her water in a bottle, only cos that's what the medical advice was, when THEY had their babies. I haven't met any GP's yet who actually know breastfeeding info, but i know heaps of people get their info on bf-ing, from people who have never done it, have out of date info, or just repeat "what i heard from x" etc, not from what they learnt at medical school. i am assuming NOTHING is taught about bf-ing at medical school, from my last three years experience of being a mum.

Even the midwifes at PND clinic, only told me stuff related to what they did years ago, what a relative did,etc, i was so surprised, i had assumed they would be trained about bf-ing. None of them had even heard of the World Health Organisation recommending feeding until two and beyond. They all tried to make bilby wean (she was 19 months old at the time), none of them understood the benefits of breastfeeding a child over six months. Their clinic charts had recommendations up to six months old, and after that, they didn't know what to say.

So i was treated like a weirdo, for "still" feeding a 19 month old baby. Plus being a weirdo as i didn't like controlled crying. I tried their ways, they didn't work. I was spied on (there is nowhere private to be there), and had it recorded each time i fed bilby. If i fed her more than two times a day, i got lectures every time. Bilby was used to feeding about ten times a day, i will never forget her crying for milk, and me crying, as i knew how much trouble i would get into, if i fed her (from the staff at the PND clinic). Coudn't wait to leave that place. bilby was traumatised from being there, for MONTHS afterwards.

[onthefly]

Oh my goodness Gigi, how awful to be made to feel that way by so-called health professionals.

[Gigi]

Oh my goodness Gigi, how awful to be made to feel that way by so-called health professionals.

Yes, it was a big shock to me. I presumed that a PND clinic would be run by qualified medical people, i assumed they would know alot about breastfeeding and sleep, meaning VARIOUS schools of thought, not JUST one way e.g wean them early, controlled crying and NOTHING else. No discussion, just "you're here, so you do what we say or else". So patronising, totally ignoring the parent's view, the fact that you've observed your baby for X amount of time and know your baby well.

i went there thinking i would get help, instead i felt worse for being there. It made me realise, i have to FIGHT to raise my child the way i see fit. No-one here is interested in how i raise my child, why i chose these methods, no respect for anything that is different from "early weaning/controlled crying", so if i want to keep feeding bilby, and not use CC, i will have to do it in secret. and that is what we have done ever since.

It has felt like a battle to keep feeding her. Only two nights ago, i had to call a locum out, he asked what she had eaten and drunk during that day, i listed some things, and said at the end, really , the only thing she has been asking for and been happy to take in, has been breastmilk. He looked at me horrified and asked her age again. Then shook his head.

i am actually grateful that when she's sick, she can take in breastmilk, keep it down, avoid getting dehydrated. She has avoided alot of illness i think, due to being breastfed. i am now used to being the lone voice about this, (except in a forum like this, rare, and in cyberspace).

While she has this fever, and is achey allover, while we're breastfeeding, i can monitor how hot she feels and comfort her.

Very slowly, as she gets closer to three (on the 16th), my uncuddly child is slowly asking for affection and enjoying hugs with me and her dad. It's taken a long time, but i think the closeness of our bf-ing r'ship (literally) has helped with this. There is an unspoken trust in providing that milk and nurturing for your child. She knows when she asks, i will give her milk, i tell her "made with mummy's love just for you".

Never thought i would still be feeding her at three! (if you knew how hard i was finding bf-ing at three MONTHS!!!!) the closer it gets to her birthday, gee it's bringing up lots of emotions for me.

[onthefly]

Beautifully said Gigi!