Demand Feeding

I think Katanya has given some wonderful advice here :) Breastfeeding can be challenging to begin with. It is a natural thing yes, but also very much a learned skill. I totally agree with getting to an ABA class if possible, they are really fabulous and I've found them to be very friendly & supportive.

The key to successful breastfeeding IMO really is support. I had a few breastfeeding dramas in the early weeks of my son's life, and had it not been for the wonderful support from my MCHN, the hospital LC's & the ABA, I may not have been able to successfully breastfeed.

Good luck :)

Oh My god my mother used to go on with all that rubbish too!! "Are you feeding her again?" "She's got wind""You're just making it worse"! Aaaaagh
All I can say is that if my baby is happy and content breastfeeding, being close too her mother and enjoying this special bond then it should happen whenever and whereever we like -- and it does! And mum has finally learnt to shut up about it.

I find it realy sad when women say, "I hope I can successfully breastfeed". I know of a really successful midwife and doula/birth attendant (this is according to a leading midwife) who says to her women: "Do you have breasts? Do you have nipples? Do you have a baby? GOOD! Well you CAN breastfeed!" Apparently her women (clients) have really high success rates. I also know of lots of mums who have had homebirths and established breastfeeding themselves with no issues and no pressure. Of course, this isn't the case for everyone, but in the majority of cases, nature as intended does just fine.

I think confidence has alot to say for itself - imagine breastfeeding for the first time and having that confidence instilled into you. Sometimes I think some things are best left alone, like birth and breastfeeding, and things should be intervened IF there is a problem. Confidence and encouragement all the way ladies. ;)

i so agree kelly. i came from a family of ten kids all of whom breastfed or their wives breastfed for at least one year. my mother breastfed all of us. i didn't even know when i had josh that women 'couldn't' or choose not to breastfeed. it was just normal in our family to breastfeed and i think that is why i didn't have the problems that some women had because my sisters supported me and if i was worried about enough milk or unsettled baby they would just say 'whenever the baby's mouth is open stick a breast in it'! i wish it was more socially acceptable to breastfeed then i think we would have a higher success rate. i also think breastfeeding needs to be seen so women can learn from watching as well. anyway enough from me

love beckles

What a wonderful experience that would have been bec - I love the whole communial family support thing. Once upon a time when that used to happen, PND was unheard of and women coped MUCH better and with confidence, no fear of asking for help! The young girls would help tend to the mother too and all felt confident and knew what to do because they saw it first hand from their mothers and family already. Today we are lucky if we actually hold a baby before we have our own, or watch a woman breastfeed or birth a baby... very sad... if only families were still operating this way, we'd have less issues in society.

Kelly - I completely agree.

Also - on the topic of the "I will b/f if I can..." I also said that when p/g because you hear/read so much about not being able to do it. I didn't have any troubles with it at all. Slightly sore nipples which were fine with a few applications of cream.

I think more emphasis should be put on the fact that we can do all these things instead of we might not be able to.

At the same time there are times when you feel ready to give up and I do believe people think formula can be the easy option. That's why forums like this are great to keep you going!

Thought I`d update you all, Matthew is now 10 months, I still demand feed him, he usually only wants 3 maybe 4 feeds a day now but I leave it all up to him, if he wants more he can if he doesn`t that`s okay too.

As most of you would know I`m also 19 weeks pregnant and people are really starting to think I`ve got rocks in my head because I`m still feeding Matthew, they all tell me that I`m going to have to stop breastfeeding soon (this includes family members), I don`t see why I have to stop because I`m pregnant. I tell them that I`ll leave it up to Matthew and take a day at a time - you should see the looks I get :rolleyes:

Since 15 weeks it hasn`t been an easy job breastfeeding Matthew, as for the first time since my milk came in at 3 days my nipples have been extremely sore, to the point where it brings tears to my eyes when Matthew feeds, but I look at it this way it`s only 3 feeds a day that I get this pain and I`m giving Matthew so much in return so a little bit of pain is not going to stop me breastfeeding, neither Matthew or I are ready to give up just yet..

I just don`t know why so many out their have to judge the way others feed their baby.

Hope everyone else is still going strong with demand feeding.

Hi Dee,

Just wondering how you are going still b/f Matthew? Just asking because I understood that at some point when you're pregnant and feeding, your milk will 'switch' back to colostrum in preparation for the new bubs...

I don't know if that's right or not, would be great if someone had an answer for me. I'm not still feeding myself, but have a couple of pregnant friends that are...


Bel

Hey there, thought I'd have a squiz at this thread, since I'm demand feeding Tallon. I've been preparing myself for the onslaught of "are you feeding AGAIN?" however my mum has been surprisingly supportive of the way I'm choosing to do things. She knows I do loads of research and reading on things, so I guess she feels she can't really argue with it! hehe.

Just on that question of the milk switching back to colostrum for the next bub.. this was asked at the breastfeeding class on Saturday (with the ABA) and they said yes it does switch back, and you'll usually know it's happened because the toddler will get a bit of diarrhoea. Apparently colostrum has a laxative effect to expel the meconium poos in newborns. But that's all that was said, there doesn't seem to be any problems with the milk changing etc. In fact they said it can be a great help having that first child there to help drain your breasts when the milk comes in for the next bub. Less engorgment.

When my milk came in and I was really engorged with really lumpy boobs I exressed and since I hate waste and Imran is a nipple snob I gave the EBM to Yasin - he loved it so even if your toddler is weaned they can still help you out with engorgement. LOL.

Hi Bel - I`m still breastfeeding Matthew, the sore nipples I had seem to have gone now thank goodness (now I`ve said that I will probably develop sore nipples again). As Ivan mentioned, the older baby will develop diarrhoea once your colostrum comes in but it`s still fine to continue feeding your older toddler, it`s amazing what our bodies know what to do. Anyway I suspected my colostrum came in when I was 16 weeks as Matthew had lots of very dirty nappies (sorry TMI) which was unusual for him, it took a couple of weeks and his poos are back to normal, I can see in my milk it`s a bit watery looking so looks like costrum to me.

So I`m now nearly 24 weeks along, and Matthew`s 11 months - he will have 2 - 3 feeds a day.

Chloe - LOL, always ways around engorgement.

Ivana - That`s great that your Mum has been supportive with you demand feeding this time around. I hope it continues well for you.

To be honest I'm almost too scared to say that I plan on a (flexible) feeding routing (after a few weeks of DF) rather than on demand....a lot of women I know have done this and their babies have thrived. ..
Not trying to diss anyone who DF's but really....there is a bit of a culture that makes one feel guilty if they go against the majority expressing their views....
In saying this, no, I haven't had my baby yet, so I really have no experience in the matter, but as I said, friends have done what I plan on doing and have had amazing success. I guess it works both ways if you do it right, eh?

I dont believe in raising children according to textbook advice.
someone calculating that a baby should be feeding x amount every 4 hours seems ridiculous to me , every baby is different , Ive only had my princess for 12 days but ive noticed that when she's hungry no matter what she'll let us know, we let her decide the amount she needs aswell.. she's putting on as much weight as she should , she's calm , sleeps well - and im happy too :)

I sort of demand feed but watch the clock too. I think I would prefer Cooper to have a bit of a routine.

But yes, like others, I can't understand strict routines. It seems a bit cruel to wait 4 hours to feed your baby if they're screaming the house down!

Although at the moment I'm having a bit of trouble reading Cooper's hungry signs. He's always sucking his fist lately and he can be a bit grizzly during the day because I have trouble getting him down for naps. So when he's crying I'm not sure whether it's because he's hungry or overtired. So that's why I watch the clock a bit too.

Just to update my brestfeeding journey with Matthew, I fed him up to 14 months of age I was 36 weeks pregnant with Adrian at the time when one day Matthew decided to wean himself, it was a sad day for Mummy.

My new journey began on 8th August when Adrian was born, like Matthew I demand feed him, he`s a great feeder and likes his boobie juice but yet again I`m getting lots of comments from MIL "He just had a feed, he`s not hungry again" "Oh that 4 hours went quickly!!!!" or another thing she does is hold onto Adrian when I tell her he wants a feed, I get quite upset by this and just want to grab Adrian from her but feel I can`t, in the end he cries too much so she hands him back to me again saying "he just had a feed, not long ago" :rolleyes:

My mum had this great book about Australian women and there was a story of a woman who was told not to feed the baby during the night (in the first half of 20th century) and after listening to the baby scream all night decided that she must be hungry to cry for 4 hrs straight and decided to ignore the advice of the experts and feed her at night.:)
Having shown me that Mum still tried to distract Lucas from crying when she thought he'd 'only just fed' when I'm saying here give him to me & I'll plug him in - invariably he'd whinge until she passed him over and then he was happy.

I think MIL was too scared of offending me to comment - she bottle fed her 2 so she doesn't offer any BF advice.