Re: OT- how long to breastfeed only?

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 2/24/2005 7:50:10 A.M. Central Standard Time,

heidi.heim@... writes:

Amy I sympathize with you and your situation. However I had to

chuckle as it won't be the last time your child breaks your heart!

It's something I've yet to get used to.

;-)

Heidi

I know- my husband and I talk about all stages of her life and raising her

and I get teary just thinking about it )

[Guest guest]

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

Good news. I nursed her all day/night yesterday- she even woke up at 3am

and nursed both breasts, then at 7. She usually sleeps in bed all night in her

nursery which everyone thought was so wonderful - but this is a great excuse

for me to bring her back into the bed with me for half the night (I missed

her!!!) I CAN do this and will. You guys help has been priceless to me, you

just dont know- THANK YOU!

Amy

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 2/24/2005 5:45:15 A.M. Central Standard Time,

mum2mishka@... writes:

The teat idea is okay, but feeding

from a cup will encourage her to use muscles that she would normally use to

breastfeed, thus helping her when she does breastfeed.

So a sippy cup wil make her use different muscles too even though they have

to suck to get it out?

And she wont all of a sudden prefer a sippy cup over the breast?

She really seemed to enjoy nursing again yesterday/last night and did it

till she fell asleep- it was wonderful.

Amy

[Guest guest]

> I really dont have that much to spare...Skylar is away from me

> while I am at

> work all day and goes through about 3 frozen bags a day at the

> sitters...and

> I need to keep some on hand for emergency (in case something

> happens to me

> that i cant nurse for a few days). And some days I can pump a

> lot out and

> other days I cant...it is so strange. I have to eat a LOT to

> keep it up well.

Amy, donating to a milk bank is a great thing to do, but may not be the most

practical thing for you at the moment. You need to get your nursing

relationship as stable as you can, especially while Skylar is doing a bit of

refusing!

> And while I would love to help out and donate some ( I WILL call the

> hospital tomorrow)- I would also like to not pump as much and

> just produce what she

> needs b/c it is so frustrating pumping when it is not necessary-

> every 4 or 5

> hours.....I was so afraid I wouldn't have enough milk and i

> pumped to get

> more...

When a babe is very young and mum has to pump for some reason because she is

unable to feed, it is advisable to pump as often as a baby would normally

feed during the day. For a very young baby this might be as much as ten

times a day. But you can get into a situation where you worry so much about

your supply that you are pumping when it's unnecessary and this ends up

giving you the problem you now have - engorgement. Is it possible that some

of Skylar's refusal to nurse could be because she's having trouble latching

because your breasts are engorged?

> they say your breast adjsut to what the baby needs so I

> must be able to

> adjust it but I am not sure how...if I dont pump/nurse they get

> so engorged.

In a normal breastfeeding situation, where mum and baby are together and

feeding on demand (or baby-led, as we're supposed to say now because

*demand* isn't PC!), your breastmilk supply would *establish* itself (supply

meets your baby's demand) at around six weeks. Maybe a little longer. At

that time, breasts no longer get so uncomfortably full, don't feel so hard,

and leak less. The supply becomes established in this way because your body

gets used to the amount of milk your baby is taking and you make the

corresponding amount. (This is why offering top-up bottles plays havoc with

the amount of milk you make - your body gets confused if your baby isn't

taking all her needs from you.) But when you put pumping into the

equation - especially if you are pumping more than you need - you are going

to find this over-supply problem occurring. Your body thinks you *need*

that much milk so goes on making it, even if Skylar isn't drinking it. This

was why I suggested that you actually try feeding her at the breast as often

as possible and keep the cup-feeds to the bare minimum needed by your sitter

during the day. I don't suppose it is possible for your sitter to bring

Skylar to you during the daytime for feeding? Ah well, a thought...

If you can feed her more at the breast, perhaps by adjusting the times you

do feed so that she has more when you are with her and thus needs less

during the time you are *not* with her, then this over-supply should

improve. Another thing that reduces supply well is to feed from the same

breast several times in succession - this reduces it gradually. I wouldn't

recommend wearing an overtight bra or sleeping on your breasts unless you

usually do so - sounds like a recipe for mastitis to me - particularly the

overtight bra. But that's just my opinion.

> GOOD NEWS- I didn't have to give Skylar ANY bottle tonight- she

> nursed so

> well...it made me so happy!!!! I think I need to feel more

> confident- I think

> somehow it helps...

Forgive me for saying this, Amy, but it seems to be far and away the biggest

problem for you. And yet you are doing so well, and don't have reason to

feel unconfident. I'm glad she nursed well - it's the one thing guaranteed

to boost your confidence again and you hold on to that. Many women do

successfully mix work and exclusive breastfeeding, and you can do it too.

It's a shame that your family circumstances mean this much disruption for

you, but you seem to be handling it very well. Support is also a very big

factor in successful breastfeeding. I had severe ductal thrush when my dd

was 6 weeks (following on from blocked ducts, mastitis and an abscess) and I

couldn't feed her at the breast for nine weeks. I pumped for her all that

time (badly!) and I felt full of guilt and was a hair's breadth from

quitting. But I had good support and we got it back together when she was

15 weeks - and I fed her until she was 5? years old. Confidence and support

are everything - without them it's hard, but achievable. With, it's a

dream.

> I will have my sitter try the sippy cup tomorrow...

Good luck. It does make a difference. The teat idea is okay, but feeding

from a cup will encourage her to use muscles that she would normally use to

breastfeed, thus helping her when she does breastfeed. To ger her feeding

well at the breast again, she needs to forget how to bottle-feed!

Love, light and peace,

Sue

" It is not unfair to conclude that medicine is the only branch of science

that has based its structure on opinions and suppositions rather than on

laws and principles. " - Vithoulkas, " The Science of Homoeopathy " .

MMRcontactnetworkUK - putting non-vaccinating

UK parents looking for naturally acquired immunity for their children in

touch with each other

Imperfectly_Natural_Parents_UK - for all

imperfectly natural parents everywhere!

[Guest guest]

Amy I sympathize with you and your situation. However I had to

chuckle as it won't be the last time your child breaks your heart!

It's something I've yet to get used to.

;-)

Heidi

> Oh Sue...it is terrible being away from her all day at work and I

will never

> be comfortable with anyone watching her all day (I am in Alabama

and ALL my

> family is in NY and my husbands mom works full time so we dont

have family to

> sit her, my next door neighbor does and she is sweet but it is not

me or

> family which bothers me). I love her so much and she is only

little once...I

> wish I could stay at home with her. My husband is away at law

school- it is 5

> hours away so I am here with her all week by myself, he has class

Mon-Thurs

> and he drives home every single weekend and he is here Thursday

night-Sunday

> night. He graduates May of 2006 so- we are trying to hang in

there...he

> misses her more than I could say.

> AS far as nursing- yes, I love it and want it to work and AM going

to try.

> I think she does do better when she is sleepy- which is why when

she first

> wakes up she always nurses. It IS a battle of the wills I am sure-

and I

> should not start letting her win at 5 months old, lol. I just

need to tough it

> out and wait until she is hungry enough b/c I am sure she will

eat...I

> truthfully didn't know that was ok b/c the lactation consultant at

my OB said not to

> ever withhold feeding her. I was totally not doubting the sippy

cup thing- I

> was just questioning if she can prefer a bottle of the breast-

why would she

> not start preferring the sippy cup over the breast (I just want

to

> understand). I am going to load her up and go to walmart and buy

some sippy cups and

> dixie cups. Wish me luck- is this pretty easy to do - to get them

to use a

> sippy cup? ON a GOOD note...she has nursed VERY well

today...only one bottle at

> the sitters and she nursed when I first got home and then from

both breast a

> little bit later. Thanks for your support- I have lost

confidence in my

> ablility to nurse her and when she rejects me it breaks my

heart. Your support

> means alot.

> Amy

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

> In a message dated 2/24/2005 5:45:15 A.M. Central Standard Time,

> mum2mishka@... writes:

>

> The teat idea is okay, but feeding

> from a cup will encourage her to use muscles that she would

> normally use to

> breastfeed, thus helping her when she does breastfeed.

>

>

> So a sippy cup wil make her use different muscles too even though

> they have

> to suck to get it out?

Any form of cup feeding, whether it's a sippy cup with a spout or a cup that

is flexible and can be molded to her mouth, will make her use roughly the

same muscles that she would use to breastfeed. I have been talking to

someone this afternoon who's just gone back to work and has a fully b/f

babe. This babe is refusing to take a bottle, so she is going to try a cup

as well. Apparently this babe cannot get used to the feel of the hard teat

in her mouth and it's making her gag all the time.

One thing you could use - if you've got bottles that have clip on caps (like

Avent bottles but not sure if you have those in the States) to protect the

teats, you can invert those caps and use them as little feeding cups. Saves

money and works perfectly well. They're a flexible plastic and can be

shaped to babe's mouth. Personally that's what I would use but a sippy cup

should be okay too - perhaps I mean something different by *sippy*.

Apologies if I've confused you! Have a look at this

http://www.boots.com/shop/product_details.jsp?productid=1023277 & AID=10301255

& PID=980081 and enlarge the image. What I was thinking of was this type of

thing but with the base part and maybe the sipper lid. I know it says from

7 months, but you could adapt it for this purpose. It's more the absence of

the hard teat on the roof of the mouth that's going to help.

> And she wont all of a sudden prefer a sippy cup over the breast?

> She really seemed to enjoy nursing again yesterday/last night and did it

> till she fell asleep- it was wonderful.

Fine - so breastfeed whenever it's possible and leave using any form of

artificial feeding method to when it's really needed - like for the sitter.

You = boob, sitter = something else? )

Love, light and peace,

Sue

" It is not unfair to conclude that medicine is the only branch of science

that has based its structure on opinions and suppositions rather than on

laws and principles. " - Vithoulkas, " The Science of Homoeopathy " .

MMRcontactnetworkUK - putting non-vaccinating

UK parents looking for naturally acquired immunity for their children in

touch with each other

Imperfectly_Natural_Parents_UK - for all

imperfectly natural parents everywhere!