All You Breastfeeding MOMMYS!!! HELP

[ThreeBunniesMoma]

Originally Posted by Kita Certain medications can hinder milk production, particularly magnesium sulfate, which is used a lot for preeclampsia. However, it's not like you can refuse the mag, because it can save your life, KWIM?!

Well I guess this explains why I couldn't bf dd#2. I was on MAgnesium sulfate for 3 days when I had her.

[Daizy Nee]

Congratulations!!!!

My is that what you put in your body has a lot to do with what comes out. So don't diet. Eat really, really good - lots of fruits, veggies, calcium, protein. Also, you actually need more calories while BFing than you do while pregnant.

Good luck!

[Mommy2bagain]

Thank you all for the great advice I would love to hear more here is a little more info guess I should have put it on here the first time!!!

My mom became preggo at the age of 35 with my little sister! Yes a huge age gap! Her milk never came in with my and my sister so she was unable to breastfeed.

Now with dd#1 I gave birth to her at 42 weeks but before that I was in the hospital for 1.5 months till she came with e-coli in my kidneys and they ended up having to induce me. But i only have cervidil nothing else and some steriods but other than that nothing. I tryed to bf her right after she came out and nothing I tryed for weeks nothing!

Now with dd#2 I had her at 32 weeks and 2 months before her birth i was i the hospital with a picline cause I was unable to eat and keep anything down. My gallbadder had stones and I never knew till I was pregnant. So everytime I took a drink or ate something i would get sick. It got so bad I had an infection growing on my other organs. So they out me on steroids and a demerol drip. So I am wondering if it was the narcotics that was causing the milk not to come in.

Well after all of that I wanted to get healthy before trying again and all the drs said this pregnancy should go much better! I really want to bf so any advice you gave I am going to look into it

[MamaF]

i'm currently BF my second..our hospital has free lacation help for pregnant and nursing moms...find out if there is anything in your area and maybe go before the baby comes...Also my breastpump (platex's new one that came out in late 2005 or early 2006 sometime) came with a great pamplet on it...i had already been BFing for months when i got it and i thought "i wish i had this at the beginning." Our hospital hands out a book to all BFing moms too. Just remember your milk doesn't come in till 3-7 days after you give birth, but the baby will get colostrum....The first couple of days with both i was feeding every two hours until my body was making the amount of milk my kids needed...remember it's supply and demand..your kid doesn't suck your body doesn't know you need more milk, my Dr. said not to suppliment till after the 2wk appointment to give my breastmilk a chance to build up...he said that a BFing baby doesn't have to have their birthweight back until they are 2 weeks old... Also with my second he was a sucker..so after awhile i started to cut him off and give him a pacifier and he would go 3hrs. before he wanted to eat again...he wasn't eating he was wanting to suck...Dr. said to try and make sure you breastfeed no more than 1 1/2hrs. apart in the beginning and if baby seems hungry just try to keep them calm for that long b/c otherwise he said i'd be feeding in short spurts all the time b/c #1 baby is only getting a little bit to satisfy hunger #2 breastmilk hasn't had time to replenish enough to supply enough to fill child up #3 baby will learn to just eat a little and will continue in this pattern...My DD was fine, but my DS i only had to let cry and cuddle him twice before we broke the pattern and he went to every 2-4 hrs...(depending on growth spurts)....i read a great book "BabyWise" that a friend suggested and what they say is exactly what all the Early childhood education class i took said about 1-5yr olds and it really worked for me and made life very easy...my children past the age of 1 month have never had to cry for their food (well in the middle of the night or when we're on the road and trying to find a place to stop to feed them..lol). The book talks about setting a pattern (not schedule) so my pattern was ...eat, awake.play (during day), nap, wake, diaper, eat, etc...so my kids always knew that when they woke up and got diaper changed i would feed them so they didn't need to cry to tell me they were hungry...as long as they woke up after 2hrs. since having eaten i fed them...personally i did not go longer than 3hrs. in between b/c my mom had breastmilk supply problems and they say not feeding often enough in the first 6 wks can affect that so i didn't want to chance it...the first 6 wks i didn't let it go more than 3hrs. and only 1 5hr. spot each 24hrs. then after 6 wks i let mine sleep and didn't worry...i BF #1 till 18months (and only stopped b/c was in hospital and friend watching baby said i should wean her and didn't bring her in for me to feed) no problems. I'm sure you didn't have this issue, but they also say that giving any food to the baby before 6months old can affect your breastmilk too and my mom said it did her...with 3 kids she gave food at 3months like Dr. said then and lost milk by 6 months...last 2 she didn't give food till 6months and weaned them on her own at a year b/c that's when she wanted to..no lost milk there....
Hope this helps you some....good luck and i'll be praying for you

[MamaF]

another note after reading other posts (sorry i was rushing)...My DD#1 never did eat much at all...when i would pump and give her something when she was a couple months old she was still only taking 2oz...she was growing fine though...when we got home she was a speed feeder.....4-5min. tops each side all 18 months....She would suck, swallow, suck, swallow...when she got to suck, suck, swallow she quit...i guess it was too much work for her..lol...now my son is the same way...he only feeds for about 4-5 min. each side....He's a brute and growing like a weed..
Although all those meds could have affected your supply...praying you have a well pregnancy this time

[Isabellasmom]

Congratulations on wanting to try bf'ing. Don't feel bad about the others, you did the best you could for them. I bf'd dd for 7 months and now at 4.5 months for ds we are going strong. It was a super rocky start but I was determined and the benefits outweigh all of the problems we had!!

For cd's we did not start until dd was about 20 months and now full time w. ds and love it. We do pockets, wool and pf's weird mix, I know The pockets I love but get sick of stuffing, so we use pfolds and wool some days since they are sooo cute!! Be careful cloth is addicting

[sprout18]

Congrats on your decision to bf. I had trouble feeding my first two as well but sucessfully bf my third for 17 months with no problems! It can be done. My first had latch problems and I didn't know how to fix them and didn't know to go to a lactation consultant. With #2 I went back to work when he was 7 weeks and pumping just wasn't working (didn't have a good pump). Alot can also do with your stress level - with #1 and #2 we were not financially in a good position and we had lots of stress - I mean a lot so that effected my supply. With #3 we were in a better situation and less stress and everything went well. Honestly the best thing you can do (if you don't have medical problems as discussed by PPs) is to just latch the baby on constantly. The more the baby latches on and sucks the more likely your milk supply will come in. Make sure the latch is correct or it won't matter how much your baby is latched on. My hospital has a lactation consultant available anytime you need them while you are in the hospital than you can also reach them by phone once you leave - you might want to check into your hospital to see if that is available they are invaluable. If you ever want to talk please pm me. I've been through a lot with my 3 bfing so hopefully I can help ya. Just stay strong the first 4 weeks are the hardest and will seem like the longest of your life but you can do it. Make sure you have lots of help from family and friends for at least the first 2 weeks it really will make a difference. Good luck and please feel free to pm me if you want to talk or have questions.

[mama2six]

Originally Posted by Mommy2bagain Hi everyone! I have been reading the post and trying to get a feel for everything on this site and you all seem like AWESOME people! Your so nice to everyone and give advice Its great!! So I thought I might throw this topic in here! I am a mommy to 2 little girls. A 2yr old and a 14month old. I did not breastfeed them, I did try and my milk ever came in. I felt bad that I could not give them what they needed. My second one was born at 32 weeks and I tryed to pump for months and did everything NOTHING! So I had to bottle feed her. Well I am 7 weeks pregnant with my 3rd and I really want to breastfeed! I really do! Has anyone had a problem and than finally it all worked out? I feel that if I do breastfeed this time and it works that I let my other 2 down cause I couldnt do it for them? I need some advice!! Also- I need someone to tell me about cloth diapers!!!! I have heard of them but do not know how it works and would love to learn!!! Thanks for hearing me out!!

I don't have any advice to give but can give , I hope that it works out this time and you are able to nurse your little one. And you will not be letting your other two down at all!! You tried everything you could to give that to them and should be proud.

And cloth diapers.......Love them!! My best advice there though is to not pick one brand and stock up or you may have lots of diapers go to waste. I tried about 4 different diapers before finding what worked best for us. So I would suggest going to the FSOT boards and buying different kinds/brands used so you can find what works best from you then stock up from there.

[AlexandZoesmom]

Although I don;t have much advice on breastfeeding since we did ok with it, I wanted to tell you what worked for us with cloth diapers.

My little guy will be 3 months old tomorrow -- and he's been in clothing since about 2 weeks old. We just used prefolds and covers mostly although we are starting to use some fitted diapers. I found that, for me, starting with all the same kind of diapers was helpful - I think if I had gotten a little of everything, I would have been overwhelmed. The prefolds wash and dry easily - we mostly use snappis to fasten them, which are easy to learn. (I am just learning to pin now).

I cought my prefolds and first covers from greenmountaindiapers.com - she has lots of descriptive info on her site - I highly recommend it!

There are mamas on here with way more experience than I - I just wanted to throw in me Feel free to private message me if you want more info!

[MamaF]

i just remembered reading somewhere when i was pregnant with my first about pills or shots that can bring on milk. I do remember in one of the breastfeeding books the hospital gave me that they do this for women adopting babies who want to breastfeed. Maybe if you have medical issues again or milk doesn't come in you can ask your Dr. about that. If i find those books i can mail them to you if you want or i can tell you the names and authors. One place i read said even men have all that is needed to breastfeed and they can do it if they want to and just get a shot (well that i can't remember if it was true or just a joke)...hey if you can't do it tell your husband to get a shot and he can BF...lol...i will look for those books and see if i can find this stuff again (it's been over 2 yrs. since seeing this stuff).