Forum home Babies Breast & bottle feeding

scared about brestfeeding

i already have 2 children age 2 and 6 , i am 22 weeks pregnant and want 2 try breast feeding for the first time alot of reasons why i want to is to bond more with my baby but i am scared of weather it will hurt if i am doing it correctly or if baby getting enough can any1 give me some advice:\?

Replies

  • when you are breastfeeding correctly it shouldnt hurt you - although your nipples can be a bit sore at the begining but if you get some Lansinoh (boots sell it) that should help its about ??10 for a tube but you probably wont need more than one. It can take a bit of perserverance in the early days as you and your baby are both learning what to do, and it may feel like they are constantly on there, but that is a good thing as it will makke your body produce more milk, and it will settle down soon! All your milk properly comes in about 3 or 4 days after babe is born, so you can get quite engorged then - cabbage leaves or you can get like fridge packs for your boobs (cant remember what they are called) but you can put them in your bra to cool them down, but this passes again very quickly. As long as your baby is producing several wet or dirty nappies each day then they are getting enough - but if you are worried you can always discuss with your MW. Do you have a breastfeeding support group near you? if so that may be a useful place to go, or you can always post on here if you have specific problems. Best of luck!

    xxx
  • Congrats on your pregnancy! My first baby is now nearly 4 months and we are still going with the breastfeeding - I love it. I did find it very hard at the beginning though, so my main advice would be to persevere! It will take both you and your baby a couple of weeks to get the hang of it and in that time you may well have sore nipples (lanisoh is definitely good stuff - I never had to buy any, just got loads of freebies from my midwife image), but once you have both learned how to do it, it should not hurt you at all. The key thing is to get the whole nipple and loads of areola too inside the baby's mouth so that the nipple is at the back against the soft palate, not rasping against the roof of the mouth.

    As for whether the baby is getting enough - almost everyone can produce enough milk. The way breastfeeding works as mummyskyla says is that the longer and more frequently the baby suckles, the more milk your body will produce. So if they have a few days when they are constantly hungry and always feeding, don't worry that you haven't got enough milk - they are just busy increasing your supply and soon you will be making more. Of course, in the very early days, you just produce colostrum, which is thicker, yellower and in smaller quantities than milk, but this is all the baby needs and is perfect for them at that stage. Then roughly on day 4 (but it varies) your boobs will swell up and the true milk will arrive. You shouldn't need to top up with either formula or water, so long as you feed your baby whenever he/she seems to want it your supply will adjust and bubs won't go hungry or thirsty.
  • I think I'm in the minority, but I was lucky enough to find breastfeedng painless from the start - I never even needed to use Lansinoh. I'm not saying everyone else does it wrong or anything - just that not everyone finds it painful or difficult. I also never had any of the tiredness that often comes with bf.

    As for how much milk the baby's getting - if baby is putting on weight (even if s/he's not following the line in those bloody charts exactly), and looks healthy, then s/he's getting enough milk.

    Good luck, I have so enjoyed breastfeeding and really hope you do too if you do decide to go for it.
  • thank u all for ur replys. i am really eager to try it as i didnt try with my other 2 i have givens up smoking obv coz i am preg but more so i can bf, i am not due untill january but will post back on here n let u know im doing , thanks 4 ur advice people xx
Sign In or Register to comment.

Featured Discussions