Ladies am looking for advice on breastfeeding baby #2 I couldnt feed baby #1 I've no idea where to start.. Am looking at a tommee tippee breast pump am looking at expressing and bottle feeding also so hubby and big sister can help
Ladies am looking for advice on breastfeeding baby #2 I couldnt feed baby #1 I've no idea where to start.. Am looking at a tommee tippee breast pump am looking at expressing and bottle feeding also so hubby and big sister can help
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8 Replies
My advice is to focus on breastfeeding first. Get that working for you before you worry about expressing pumping and bottles, that's a whole secondary issue.
Get nipple shields and multimums and focus on establishing breastfeeding for you and bub.
I had the medela swing breast pump but didn’t get my head around that til at least 6-8 weeks.
The important thing is to relax with it. And know that if your baby cluster feeds it is them trying to bring in your milk or increase your supply as they grow. It happens at particular times on the journey!
Generally too a breast fed baby won’t gain as much weight as formula fed and that’s ok as long as they are gaining and having lots of wet nappies your good!
Also it is painful! And sometimes that is because the latch needs work! But for my two, they latched well but I still found it agony for a good 2-3 weeks then it was like a switch flicked and it wasn’t painful at all after that.
I would also say while it’s important to feed on demand be mindful not to stretch it to far as once they are screaming it’s so much harder to get them to latch well and you get stressed about soothing them etc!
Also remember that if it doesn’t happen for you - it is not a failing! Your success as a mother will never be measured on whether you breastfed your children.
2nd time round is really hard too as you have an older one to entertain. Good luck mumma xx
Do you know what the issue was with #1 and why you had trouble? That might be helpful to know to offer suggestions for this time around. My first had a tongue and lip tie which caused a lot of problems with her latch and my milk supply. Nipple shields was the only way I could breastfeed her and she was mixed fed. #2 and 3 they latched from as soon as they came out and no issues at all. I found hydro gel discs amazing for helping my nipples in the first few week. Experiment with different positions of holding bubs. I think the most helpful piece of advice I got was to squeeze the nipple and surrounding tissue and let bub latch on like biting a sandwich - for some reason that analogy just made sense to me.
Also with it being your second make sure you have lots of activities for your first to do while you're feeding - it's important you're relaxed and calm and often an older sibling can disrupt that
Tommee Tippee pump is absolute crap, don't waste your money. Look at the Spectra S2 pump and then transferring it to bottles (I like the tommee tippee bottles).
Pumping is really hard and exhausting, it's a lot of effort sterilising, sitting there pumping whilst trying to entertain two kids, manage to actually get some out (and a lot of the time it isn't much compared to BFing).
The medella nipple shields are great.
I strongly recommend consulting a lactation consultant and going every day (it's free with your hospital) to get the proper help to have a successful BF journey :)
I agree with all who say don't worry about pumping for a while. There's plenty that Dad and big sis can do that doesn't involve feeding - bathing, burping, entertainment during tummy time, the list goes on. If/when you do pump, be aware that the amount you pump in no way relates to the amount you make for baby. Your baby is far more efficient and effective at getting the milk out. So if you do go to pump and you get nothing BUT baby is having plenty of wet and dirty nappies, you are making enough.
Be aware that it can take time tp get right. Not only are you learning, baby is too. Find someone you trust, whether it be a lactation consultant or a midwife or someone who can coach you, check that baby is latching properly and so on.
Be aware also that a feed can seem like it takes forever. My baby took upwards of 45 mins to complete a feed and it felt so inconvenient at the time. She became more efficient as she grew. She also rarely took both breasts in a session, so it was important to keep track of which breast she fed from last to ensure I gave her the other one next time. Your baby may need to drink both in one sitting so ensure baby finishes one breast before you offer the other. Your breastmilk changes through the feed: foremilk is comes initially thinner and waterier and is thirst quenching and as baby drinks more the hindmilk comes through which is fattier and fills baby up. So if you change breasts too soon baby may not be satiated and try to feed more often, and also have poos that are frothy and green, baby might be windy and uncomfortable as well.
Best of luck with everything xx
Thankyou ladies you have raised my hopes... Baby #1 was resussed and suctioned at birth then taken to NICU didn't see her for the first 6hours of life no first contact nothing.. It was awful spent 10 days in hospital trying to feed while bub was getting better I tried and tried I was pumping but wasn't getting much fast forward 2 weeks later we battled so hard and thwn I just dried up it was heart breaking.. I am much more determined this time around but also so damn scared
You got this. Enlist all the support you can. I believe in you!
How traumatic for you! Good luck! You got this! X