Breastfeeding Questions.... ???

Some background - This is my second child, both pink :) I had a VBAC 4 days ago! With my first pregnancy I didn't breastfeed, I had trouble with the pain, cracked raw nipples, etc, and after having a c-section I just wasn't up to it mentally or phisically, my milk didn't come in for over a week maybe 2? And she was on the bottle by day 4 before leaving the hospital.

This time around was a very positive experience compared to my c/s, & it is really important to me that I breastfeed successfully for at least a few months! My nipples are really sensitive all round so they are pretty raw already! I'm home and so far she is pretty good with the sucking and attatchment, even thought it hurts like hell! My partner is getting me a breast pump today !YAY! :)

The main difficulty that I'm having is that she gives me an hour or 2 breaks through the day but she clutter feeds all through the night, like 1am til 6am. I mean CLUSTER! she will feed for say 10-20mins then sleep for 5-20 mins then repeat, repeat!

I lost a fair bit of blood in the birth and I'm aneamic so I don't have that much energy to begin with! Is there any suggestions that anyone has as to change this pattern from night to day, so I can get a bit more shut eye. I'm one of those people who have a hard time sleeping through the day no matter how tired...

Also any tips and advice on how many feeds should baby have per 24 hours?? how much weight gain needed each week for baby to be successfully gaining weight?? & how many number 2's should a baby do per 24 hours?? & tips on Feeding expressed milk??

Just anything that might be helpful! All comments are REALLY appreciated! Thank-you!!

Congratulations on your baby girl, and your VBAC! ANd the start of your breastfeeding journey.

Do you know if your milk has come in?

I found 'lansinoh' cream to be good on sensitive nipples.

I takes awhile for bub to realise day and night. Can you try to cluster feed earlier in the night? Try playing with bubs ear, chatting, or changing a nappy to keep her awake so she gets a bigger feed and she then might sleep a bit longer.

In the early days, its also important to pay attention to how baby attaches, cos when you are really tired you can forget to pay attention and sometimes this is when you can hurt your nipples.

I wouldn't start feeding EBM for a few weeks, cos each time bub feeds from you she is letting your breasts know how much she needs and when the hormones settle down it is this process that supports the milk supply. And feeding bub from the breast is so much easier once you get the hang of it than expressing and bottlefeeding.

take care

Do you have access to a lactation consultant through your hospital? If not, the ABA may be able to recommend one in your area. It's really important to get in-person advice to make sure that your attachment is correct so you're not doing damage to your nipples. If attachment is correct, it should not hurt like hell :hug: Does it hurt all through the feed, or just at the beginning?

attachment problems are often an easy fix IF you get the right help and advice. Regular midwives, child health nurses etc are often not very helpful.

Getting out and about in the daytime can help to reset your baby's biological clock.

Babies should gain about 500g in a month (it's best to average out weight gains over time, as they can be vary different week to week).
At this age babies will often poo every feed, but they should have several poos per day and 4-5 heavy wet nappies (disposables, or 6-8 cloth ones).

I'd agree with Kate about skipping the expressing for now, if you can. It's best to get one thing working first, before introducing another. Get onto an LC or the ABA for some help first, then take it from there.

Do you sleep with her? That can make night times much easier also. If you can figure out feeding lying down, you can actually sleep while she feeds (wonderful multitasking).

Thanks for the advice Kate and Marcellus!

My nipples hurt the worst when she attatches and then it eases a little as she continues to feed but the pain is still there... I can handle it though whereas with my first I felt like I couldn't handle it. Everytime the midwives checked the attatchment while I was in hospital they said she was latched on well. My boobs are enormous though like an EE now that my milk is coming in and the left breast especially is very sore and swollen. I was advised not to express for 2 to 4 weeks with the exception that my breast become 'engorged' or more swollen and sore as it will help the baby latch easier apparently, and also to let me nipples heal, and then they should be a bit tougher once they have healed. That's about all the advice I got. With the left breast it is so much harder and swollen that the baby is having trouble attatching to it but with the right side she is fine.
I am going to try and feed her up this afternoon and then see if she sleeps more through the night, Hopefully!!! I don't sleep with her she is in the bassinet right beside my bed as I get so tired while feeding all night I'm afraid I will sleep too deep and squash my little darling!! I have a KS bed so its huge but my breasts are so big thaty I find it really hard to get in a feeding position laying down. I do find that she feeds then she is happily asleep but when I move her to her bed it disturbs her and she starts sucking and sooking for my breast again...

So I am going to try cluster feeding her during the day and see if that helps with the nights! & I will contact the ABA for some advice as well. The only thing that my hospital provides is visits from the community midwife which I have been getting throughout the pregnancy but I don't think she is too specialised in BFing.

congrats on your vbac & baby girl :)

i agree with the PPs - i found that getting out & about during the day really helped my DS' biological clock & we also pretty much from day one dimmed the lights & lessened noise after 6(ish) - as most of the time he slept in his pram in the same room we were in (winter baby). you could try doing some cluster feeding around 4ish in the afternoon? alot of babies seem to get fussy around that time anyway (once they hit a couple of weeks) & so it's often a good time just to take time out on the couch.

i also found lanisoh helpful for sore nipples in the early days.

i did a little bit of hand expressing before a feed if my breasts seemed too swollen/big for DS to attach. it's a little more gentle than a pump & you often don't need to express very much to help.

Hand expressing is a better way to go for releiving engorgement so she can latch on better - but you may need some help doing that right if you haven't been shown how to do it before.
If you're still getting pain through the feed then the latch may not be quite right. Definitely call the aBA and see if they can recommend an LC in your area. They cost money but it's well worth it. I understand you say you can hack it now, but if it doesn't get better theere will come a time when you simply can't go on. Much better to get it sorted now, before your'e in too much pain to do anythign about it.
IT can be trickier with bigger breasts, so again, it's probably worthwhile getting expert advice if you can.

Lansinoh can help with teh sore nipples. One of the best things to try is expressing a little milk, rub in on and leave your top off as much as possible. Also getting a little sunlight on them is supposed to be very good.

Take care

Its very normal for a bub around day 4-6 to feed like that, they are helping to get your milk well and truly in. They are also trying to stabilize their weight loss after such a huge experience such as being born. Once this all calms down generally its 8 -12 feeds in 24 hours, but many bubs decide different and go for more to begin with.

Sometimes they will naturally fall back into the correct night/day routines themselves. To encourage it make all night feeds nice and quiet, as dark as possible, no talking etc and minimal disturbance. And daytime more active (not to much as to overstimulate). You can also offer more feeds during the day, but generally if they aint hungry they won't want to feed properly anyway and this can cause some damage.

I second only hand expressing, I've found it far more effective at making it easier for bub to attach. If you can get someone to show you how it was done, even though I had watched and read about it, I was way off track and it wasnt until I asked a middi to do it for me and she sent milk squirting across the room that I realised how to do it properly. Leave pumping milk for storage or bottles until well and truly established. Mucking around with it all can really have an effect on supply and routine. I'd wait till at least 3 months before ebm.

Your nipples will hurt in general for a couple of weeks, sometimes even though they appear on fine, it can take bubs a bit longer to get the attachment perfect so it won't cause pain. Taking on and off can help them learn a bit faster and will mean less chance of damage. I love lansinoh, and rite-aid gel breastpads are so soothing, especially if you pop them in the fridge first, you just use them under regular breastpads. They also help promote healing.

Just another point to add to the already good advice - your nipples will not toughen up and do not need to. Correct attachment and ruling out any issues with bub (incorrect suck, tongue tie, high palate, etc) by a lactation consultant will mean pain-free bfing. Often Mums notice that it stops hurting one day and just assume their nipples have toughened when it's more likely that bub has just out-grown their issues (a tiny mouth on a large bb can create an attachment problem in itself sometimes).

Have you tried baby-led attachment at all? Google it or check out a you tube video. Letting the baby attach itself in this way can help get an attachment that works better while your baby is still so small. It's about being skin-to-skin and letting your baby's natural instincts take over.

BTW a huge congrats on your vbac! And it sounds like you are doing really well so far, with both a toddler and a newborn.

Thank-you all for the really great advice!! I googled the baby-led attatchment and she seems to be a pro :) Since late evening yesterday the breastfeeding hasn't been painful at all on either breast :) It hurts on the initial attatchment for a second but after that it's fine. Definately getting better not worse! I've done a bit of research on the ABA website and also been in touch with one of their counsellors which helped alot also. I have been expressing a small amount from each breast when they become really engorged in the mornings and giving it to her for the midnight feed which is great because my partner gets to help out in the night shift. And I know what amount she gets so it's reassuring plus she then has a sleep for a good 4 hours! I think now that she is getting the hang of it I am much more confident exclusively breastfeeding, but it is good for us both to get a good rest with the expressed midnight feed...

Anyway, my midwife was around this morning to way her and she has put on almost 300g since leaving the hospital on Tuesday which made me so happy!!! :) And both my midwife and ABA said that it definately seems to be working whatever I'm doing and to keep it up! It feels so good to hear :)

Thank you again ladies for the awsome advice! This website has been so helpful for me during this pregnancy! And really it is one of the key factors to me getting my VBAC as it made me realise how much I wanted it!!

:hooray: That's awesome Samaraxx, well done!

Great work! Go boobies!