oh hun, you are doing an amazing job, you have perservered through so much.
I can only say that with DD1 it took until she was almost 4 months corrected or over 5 1/2 months before she learnt to feed without causing me pain. Everything looked right, attachment, nipple shape etc, but for some reason she just was a painful feeder, then it finally clicked and it stopped hurting. I didn't do anything different and neither did she, at that stage she was around the 5kg mark weight wise.
I wish I had some more adivce to give you, but in the end I just had to grin and bare it until she got it right and TBH I thought that everyone was pulling my leg that BF'ing was supposed to be pain free...
Thanks for the support Jen & Beema. Jen, I do understand what you're saying. I try to feed her before she gets too worked up, and I do think it makes a difference. The constant put her on, take her off, try again routine is very painful and both of us get so frustrated, but I think we'll get there. Slowly.
Beema, I'm the same.....I'm still skeptical about this whole 'pain-free breastfeeding' utopia that others talk of LOL! I think out of all our feeds from the start, I can count on two hands the comfortable ones......so I'll probably throw a party when we finally get the hang of things and it gets comfy again. I have seriously considered that I'm just destined for b/f to be uncomfortable but here's hoping that it will get better.
DD is almost nudging 4kg so I think we've got a bit of a wait yet before she really grows into her little mouth, but today's feeds have been better than yesterday so I'm hopeful that we're onto a good thing. I'm not planning on stopping so just have to pull my socks up, grit my teeth a bit more and be patient.
Hun, it's so easy to get discouraged. I remember that feeling of thinking that it would never improve - and then suddenly one day there was no pain.
I know with all your medical visits someone has probably checked already for tongue-tie or high palate but it might be worth getting an experienced LC to have a look if you haven't already. There are two types of tongue-tie that are very hard to recognise and only medical professionals that specialise in that area usually find them. Also, many mums find that feeding in a reclined position - either using baby lead attachment or mother-led attachment - helps a lot. There are some video clips on the ABA website if you are interested - you can look through the list here: http://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/bfinfo/links.html. Another trick is to make sure Miss H is tucked in nice and close to you. If she is in a horizontal position you can pull her legs in close to help her position.
You are doing such an awesome job there, I really hope the pain free feeding isn't too far off for you
How are things going this week Infinity, and changes or developments on the feeding front?
It will get better, I had lost hope until I did at feed at 6am one morning and she finished and I thought.. wait a minute, it didn't hurt! Pity it took 5 1/2 months to get to that point, but after that it was so different and it took another month before I got rid of the top ups and my supply was working with her ~ for a while at least....
Hopefully the new year will bring big developments for Miss Heidi
Sorry for the delay in replying, thanks for checking in Beema. We've been so busy and DS & DD just have me tag-teaming between them so not much time to hop on BB & post.
But, positive news is that things are improving. Feeds are getting less painful which is great. Still not 100% pain-free but we're getting there. She does a lot better on the left breast, the right hand side has been persistently painful & sore regardless of what I try. Its also my slow breast (always got a lot less milk when expressing) so I wonder if there is a correlation there? So we'll just keep on hanging in there.
MR I've been assured that she would've been checked out for tongue tie by the paeds in hossy but I will be sure to check again - she has her 4 month corrected medical & physio check coming up in Feb so I will ask. And I know we have some high palate issues too but time will help that mostly and I truly think we're through the worst of it though.
On a side note, she's gaining weight nicely....up to 4.2kg at her recent follow-up with her surgeon and they're all very pleased. She's following her own trend (albeit on the 3%ile bless her!) and I think they're finally accepting that she's always going to small for her corrected age.
oh hun, you are doing an amazing job, you have perservered through so much.
Reply With Quote
Hope you're feeding comfortably soon.
it keeps getting better for you every day. I'm still amazed at how far you have come, so be proud!
Bookmarks