A Birth to Remember

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Breastfeeding Tips

Nursing 4 children has brought it's fair share of challenges for me.  In a way I feel fortunate to have experienced all that I have experienced because it has given me a new perspective when helping other mothers struggling with the same problems.  I offer these tips based on my personal experiences and from what I have witnessed when working with other breastfeeding mothers.

 

Beginning Your Nursing Relationship

 

*It's important to make sure that you nurse your baby with a proper latch.  Just a few feedings with a poor latch can make for some awfully sore nipples!

 

*If you hear a clicking sound when the baby nurses it indicates a bad latch or possibly that the baby has a tight frenulum (tongue-tied.)  Call a LC if you are unsure.

 

*It can be normal to be a little tender for the first 6 or 8 weeks.  IT WILL GET BETTER!  If you have pain every time you nurse you need to call a LC right away.   Nipple soreness can indicate a poor latch, but some tenderness can also be a normal part of your body adjusting to the act of nursing a baby.  I had sore nipples for about 5 or 6 weeks with my first two children.  Once we hit the 6-week mark, everything did get better.  If you have any cracks or bleeding, that is NOT normal and you should see a LLL Leader or a LC.

 

*Engorgement is painful but pumping to empty the breast only stimulates more milk production!  One thing that I found that worked well was to hold an empty milk storage bottle under my breast whenever my milk let down.  If I was nursing a baby on one side I always sprayed from the other.  I used the bottle to catch the extra milk and relieve some engorgement without expressing too much.  Engorgement usually lets up within a few days or your milk supply coming in once nursing is established.

 

*There seems to be some controversy over this, but in my experience it's best not to wake a sleeping baby.  As long as the baby is a few weeks old and is having regular wet/poopy diapers, there is typically no harm in letting the baby sleep when he wants to sleep.  My first 2 children slept through the night at 7 months and 11 months respectively.  My next 2 nurslings slept through the night a few times when they were 6 weeks old.  I had several nights of panic when I woke to throbbing breasts and still sleeping babies.  They were gaining weight and thriving so I was reassured by several "experts" that it was ok to let them sleep.  I should mention that when we talk about sleeping through the night with babies, a 5 hour stretch is considering "through the night."  My twins did not sleep through the night regularly until... actually, they still don't sleep through the night!

 

 

Thrush

 

*Ahhh, thrush.  I could write a book about thrush!  I developed thrush on my nipples when my first child was a few days old.  I had a bumpy, little, red rash on my areola that tipped me off.  Some Nystatin was prescribed and that cleared it up before my son showed any symptoms.  This was the extent of my experience with thrush until recently.

 

Antibiotics can cause an outbreak of thrush but sometimes you might not have a clear cause.  This was the case with me when my twin daughters were 4 weeks old.  It began as some nipple soreness and burning which immediately had me suspecting thrush.  I began eating yogurt hoping that it would get rid of the yeast.  Sure enough, 3 days later both of my daughters developed white patches in their mouths.  I was puzzled trying to figure out what had caused the thrush because I have never even had a yeast infection before and was not taking any medications at all.

 

I purchased some gentian violet and treated myself before nursing the girls.  After 2 days my symptoms went away but the girls began clicking when they nursed so I knew they still had the yeast in their systems.  They even began to get a yeasty diaper rash.  After a couple of days my nipples began to crack and bleed.  Nursing became a miserable chore.  I had to pull out the big guns....

 

We began using grapefruit seed extract (GSE) both orally and when we washed our cloth diapers.  I started taking garlic, Diflucan, Vitamin C, Zinc, Yeast Remedy capsules, acidopholus, Nystatin, and we did 2 more rounds of gentian violet.  We were about to resort to Diflucan for my daughters at that point.  Finally, after 5 weeks, we got rid of the thrush and all was well again.

 

*Thrush is NOT fun.  It can make your breasts burn and your nipples sore.  It can make your baby uncomfortable as well.  Prevention is key and eating yogurt daily helps keep the yeast away.  Avoiding refined sugars and eating less carbs can also help.  Wearing nursing pads can contribute to the problem because it keeps your nipples moist and that is a breeding ground for yeast.  If you do develop thrush, treat it right away and don't let it get out of comtrol.  It is VERY important to treat both the baby and yourself even if one of you shows no symptoms.

 

 

Mastitis/Plugged Ducts

 

*This is another not-so-fun problem that may pop up at some point in your nursing relationship.  In my experience I get plugged ducts very easily when I am pumping.  Sometimes these plugged ducts can turn into mastitis.  A plugged duct usually starts as a hot, red, painful lump in your breast.  If it becomes infected and you develop mastitis, you will have flu-like symptoms.

 

I have had mastitis several times and have only had to use antibiotics once.  (Remember, antibiotics can cause thrush!)  Now that I know what signs to watch for I can usually catch it before it gets bad.  A fever, chills, and a hot, achy breast can indicate mastitis.

 

*I use a special warm compress (called a "Booby Pillow") on my breast where the plugged duct is located.  Massaging your breast in the shower using hot water can also help provide relief.  It is VERY important to continue nursing on the affected breast.  The milk will not harm the baby.  Emptying the breast is critical because it helps remove the plug and restore nomal milk flow in the duct.  Nurse the baby with their chin pointing toward the sore spot if possible.  Gently massage toward the nipple as the baby nurses.

 

 

Pumping

*Investing in a quality pump is key here.  This does not necessarily mean a $300 pump.  It depends on what your needs are and your pumping schedule.  If you are pumping to build up supply or to have an emergency stash of milk, a hand pump should suffice.  Some women are unable to get as much milk with a hand pump, but some have no problems.

 

I used an Avent Isis for 4 years.  Initially I pumped when I returned to work briefly after the birth of my first child.  For 6 months I pumped daily and my husband fed my son expressed breast milk while I was gone.  I found that the hardest part of pumping at work was actually making myself take the time to do it.  It was all too easy to skip a pumping session when I was busy doing something else.  I was very fortunate to have an abundant supply and a fast let down reflex.  I could easily pump 10 oz in 10 minutes with the hand pump.  This is not typical for most women however!

 

*If you anticipate returning to work and want a very efficient pump, it's probably best to choose a double electric pump such as a Medela Pump in Style.  This will minimize the amount of time you must spend pumping.

*Some women cannot get their milk to let down when they pump.  Unfortunately it does happen.  Most women can pump their milk but the ease of pumping varies greatly from woman to woman.  Sometimes it is hard to get your milk to let down.  Things that can help are relaxing, listening to a recording of your baby, looking at a picture of your baby, and thinking about nursing.

 

*If you have a plentiful supply, you might consider donating your extra milk to a milk bank or another mother in need.  I first learned of this option in the summer of 2004 when I began donating milk to Jenn Connel (www.feedmybaby.com) so that she could feed her baby breastmilk.  The idea intrigued me and I was happy to see my milk halp another baby grow and thrive.  Jenn has drawn lots of attention to the act of breastmilk donation and she is a wonderful mama!  At some point Jenn put me in touch with another mama who needed milk, Kelley Faulkner.  Kelley is the mama who started the wonderful resource www.milkshare.com to link up donors and recipients.

 

 

Nursing Multiples/Tandem Nursing

 

*After nursing through my second pregnancy I thought I could handle anything.  Then I got pregnant with TWINS!  My second child was still nursing throughout my twin pregnancy.  I often wondered what would happen if he hadn't weaned by the time the twins arrived.  After all I only have 2 breasts, right?

 

My second child did start to wean about 5 weeks after my twins were born.  Before he weaned there were days where he would watch his sisters nurse and eagerly wait his turn.  After a few weeks he gradually lost interest and I stopped offering him my breast.  It was a bittersweet moment but my hands were full with 2 newborns who demanded to be nursed without hesitation.

 

Nursing twins is so incredibly wonderful and rewarding.  It is a challenge at times but the benefits are incredible.  There is nothing like holding two sweet babies in your arms and watching them stare at each other as they happily suckle at your breast.  What a joy!

 

*If you are the type of person who can sleep better at night when you nurse in a side-lying position, it's easiest to nurse the babies separately at night.  This works well if they don't wake each other up at the same time.  This way you can nurse one while sleeping and then switch to nurse the next.  For me, tandem nursing at night meant sitting up and waking up.

 

*During the day it saves a lot of time if you nurse both babies together!  We bought a big nursing pillow (Bosom Baby nursing pillow) and I would nurse both girls in the football hold.  Sometimes I would just throw some regular pillows under them (as in the picture below.)  Another position that worked well for us was holding one baby in the cradle hold and one in the football hold.