A good down to earth article on breast feeding.

What you need to know about breastfeeding - Feeding & Breastfeeding - Helium - by Minnie Chatterfield

Uh, lots of misinformation here. For example the sour milk smell? Like barfed up formula smells better? Uh, I think not. Not to mention how bad formula poop smells compared to a BF baby poop. EEWWWW I know. My son was on BM and formula (I pumped for 12 months). My daughter on the other hand was a BF baby till a week before she was 21 months old.

I don't have time this second to go over it, I will later. To be honest I found the article discouraging to new Moms.

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Anne
Mama to Conner 2/27/04 & Gabrielle 2/6/06 & Delaney 5/12/08

Big time misinformation. Cabbage leaves are great... if you are wanting to dry up your supply. You do lose weight breastfeeding, but once you stop, and it drops off like 10 pounds a week, the longer you bf the bigger the weight drop once you are done. The extra calories you take in, go to baby, not making your *** huger. You only smell like sour milk if you do not believe in having a shower and keeping yourself clean. Yeah, less sleep, you wake up more, but I would rather roll over in bed, give boob and go back to sleep, than wake my *** right up, get out of bed to steralize bottles at 3 am and sit there holding baby with a bottle in it's mouth and then burp. Not my cup of tea bc I like to stay in my nice warm bed.
Wow, thanks for sharing such a negative and stupid article. Great encouragement.... Weetard.

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Oh and another thing. Nipple shields are generally for inverteed nipples. My best friend had to use them for the whole year she nursed her son. They were recommended by her lactation consultant when other methods did not work, adn they worked like a charm adn she had breast milk still squirting out long after she quit... as in for 3 years or so after, so that theory went to dust adn I have never heard it anyways. I only had to use breast pads for the first month or so, then my milk was firmly established and I rarely leaked. So uch for milk spraying across the room, while my best friend could do that, I could not. Yes boobs get rock hard in the beginning. There is this amazing invention called the shower and this thing called a warm wash cloth which works wonders to express extra milk.
My goodness, this one post spammer really has gotten my blood boiling this morning. Don't mess with a pregnant woman who has woken up far to early!

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Wow, I just read the article, and I agree, a lot of what she's saying is just bull. I'm pregnant with my first, and if I didn't know any better, then this article would have freaked me out. Thank goodness that I've had friends that have been through both formula feeding and breast feeding, so I've been around them, and heard first hand what its like.

Smelling like sour milk? I mean c'mon now! My friends/family that have chosen to breastfeed, have never had a problem with smelling like sour milk. Showering seems to do the trick....
Also I don't really think it matters how dedicated you are to breastfeeding, nipple confusion is a very real thing. Some babies just have a hard time! It doesn't mean that the mother isn't dedicated enough to breastfeeding!

I don't know why that article just aggravated me so much, but like I said, If I didn't know any better that would have been very discouraging! I really hope it doesn't spook other new moms out there!

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As far as giving formula during the first weeks? That is the last thing you want to do. The more the baby sucks the faster and more milk you produce. The breasts are like a factory, always producing, not a warehouse.

As far as givng formula til the BM comes in? Uh, no...see above. I mean WTH did women do before formula was invented? The baby just got nourishment from colostrum.

As far as nipple confusion? I disagree, there is some merit to this theory. Think about it, most nipples for bottles just drip formula/milk. A baby has to work more to get breastmilk out.

Hey, I am not saying breastfeeding is easy those first weeks, but to me it was a hell of alot easier than formula. I also like my bed and sleep. Roll over give the boob, feed and go back to sleep. Well except the diaper changes are frequent those first weeks. Gotta throw that in there too. LOL

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Anne
Mama to Conner 2/27/04 & Gabrielle 2/6/06 & Delaney 5/12/08

I just cannot believe that woman actually breastfed a baby.

Cherry chapstick? Seriously? Yeah, that's what I want in my newborns mouth.

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~ Rebecca ~
Drew 04.09.04
Landon 02.21.06
and Max 05.28.08

Treat it like spam...no wonder some new moms would quit nursing so quickly after reading that!!!

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Ummm, sorry bout all these comments, but I have something to say. I don't agree with everything in the article (come on, chapstick? They make stuff for chapped nipples that's meant for that). But most of the stuff seemed pretty accurate from my experience.
1. It does take some time for your milk to come in. Colostrum is not enough if it lasts too long, and formula supplementing IS often used or suggested.
2. The nurses can be pretty rough, and although you shouldn't reject their help, sometimes they make it more difficult than it needs to be.
3. Engorgement is painful. Cabbage leaves can be used to dry up SOME of the milk supply if you need that. With DD, I would be fine one minute and soaked almost to my knees the next. Cabbage leaves did help reduce milk production so that didn't happen so much. Milk production will reduce naturally to match baby's needs, but takes longer. Leak in public if you want to, enjoy if you are a heavy leaker. Otherwise, this isn't such a bad idea. I did this And there was still enough milk for DD, and probably 3 other babies, too.
4. Very true! Like I said in 3, soaked to the knees in 3 seconds flat.
5. They do make stuff for chapped nipples, Chapstick on them is just stupid.
6. You will smell like sour milk sometimes from leaking. If you leak at all in any day, the smell will linger until you shower. If you leak often, are you going to have time to take a shower every 15 minutes? I know I didn't. And if you leak at all onto your clothes, the smell does stay until shower and change of clothes. This means more time spent doing laundry, hope you have the time to spare. Plus, formula does not leak into your clothes unless you get puked on. Whether it is breast milk or formula, you will smell after getting puked on. Both also smell bad coming out the other end. Duh.
7. Yes, you will sleep less. It takes longer to BF than give the baby a bottle, plus the soreness will keep you from sleeping when you are not feeding. And you will leak, which will make you sleep less, too.
8. Actually, there are things you shouldn't eat bfing, but that's more along the lines of alcohol and stuff like that.

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Oh, couple things I forgot. Nipple sheilds are generally for inverted nipples, which mine definately ARE NOT, but I also found them helpful because I was so engorged that DD simply couldn't latch on. Each boob was about as big as my head they were so full of milk, and rock hard.
Other thing. I think this article was posted here to help, not so someone could get ragged on. Is everyone just in a super bad mood or what? Although each number may not apply to everyone, each may be helpful to someone. Geez, try to provide info that may help someone and end up gettin ragged on? hmm Not trying to ruffle feather, but needed to have my say.

Sorry, but this poster just registered today! And only posted this one article! That tells me something big time!

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Anne
Mama to Conner 2/27/04 & Gabrielle 2/6/06 & Delaney 5/12/08

Anna - I think that she did have a few valid points (for example: getting less sleep breastfeeding), but I know what kinda ticked me off was that she presented it as something that was true for everyone who decided to breast feed. I think you said it right, when you said that each number may not apply to everyone, but some are helpful to others.
It ticked me off a little bit, because as a first time mom, something like that is pretty discouraging to read.

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Exactly. Also, if she was one of us and a regular poster, I think we would of been more gentle on responding.

She does have valid points on some things. However, there are alternatives and solutions to rectify the situation. Like, I got MORE sleep breastfeeding my daughter than pumping and feeding formula to my son. If you can learn how to nurse laying down, that will save your sanity. It did mine.

I had terrible help from the LC with my son. However, I had my daughter in a different state. I had awesome help from both the nurses and the LC's. There are good Nurses and LC's out there!

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Anne
Mama to Conner 2/27/04 & Gabrielle 2/6/06 & Delaney 5/12/08

I know the article not all right, but some of the comments got my engines going. I think my post is a bit of a vent too. It may be discouraging to read, but breastfeeding IS hard. And the article is not completely off base. Even if it was posted by someone not a regular on the board. If you are going to breastfeed, there are hurdles to overcome. I think the article is just meant as a heads up for some of the difficulties people COULD have. It could have been written in a more encouraging way though, I'm with ya there.

Sorry if I came off strong, but this article really ruffled my feathers. Some of the points may have some validity, but to post this one post, on our board right before a bunch of to be moms give birth, is spamming to start something. It is not encouraging, and it is filled with misinformation. The book I got from the hospital, and the advice from my doula last time warned against cabbage leaves. They CAN dry you up very quickly.Doesn't mean in everyones case, but I know that my one friend used them and was dry within two days. And there is a big difference in the smell of a FF baby and BFed babies poop. It sucks that some ppl have had bad experiences with nurses, but I have not. Saying that is the way you will be treated can discourgae new mothers from asking. What if your latch is wrong, and it is all you would need to be shown how to properly latch and problems be averted, yet you were to scared to ask based on that articles "facts"? I am on my fourth child, and bf'ed all my babies to at least a year, last one two years. I did supplement with formula over time, as it was helpful for babysitters to have handy. So it is not like I do not know both sides. At the same time, I also had to help/support my sister bf'ed her third daughter, bc she had had no support with her first two and was discouraged from breastfeeding, and regretted stopping. She was given alot of misinformation by supposive knowledgeable ppl, whose experience was all of maybe a month or two, and they could not answer her questions, so they told her to stop. All she needed was to learn how to latch properly. When I showed her she was amazed at the difference and how she felt towards nursing. Being told to not ask for help and deciding the baby can figure things out, is ridiculous. There is such thing as nipple confusion. More like hey this takes no time to drink, and this way requires me to use energy to get my food, but it can be a learned thing that one nipple gets it to you faster than the other. Nipple shields are great devices to help out new moms with issues,and saying she would be discouraged is not true, as I pointed out in one of my posts above, bc my best friend was told to use them and shown how by her lactation consultant. Yes, bf'ed babies do not sleep through the night, there is a commitment needed to bf'ed. Bf'ing is a choice though, and this article was not insightful to those wanting actual advice or help. It was spam meant to create drama. I was on here right after it was posted,and that one post person, stayed on the board for a couple hours, without posting anything else. There is a way to present something for others, and saying this is a good down to earth article on breastfeeding, then deciding her experience was the way things went for every woman, and have nothing positive to say is not helpful at all. No intro post, just a bunch of negativity in a link. Not to mention misinformation at a time when moms need to know facts. Just my two cents. The good news is on this board there are alot of BTDT moms around and we have all had different experiences and have different opinions, so we can hash through things together and figure out what is best for each one of us. The unfortunate thing is that being a public board, anyone can join in, and they do not even have to be pregnant at the time. I would have been alot more open and nicer had this been a link someone from our board brought up, but it was not, and yeah she/he caught me at a bad time of the morning.

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I don't agree w/one single thing from that article....maybe I'm the odd one out. I NEVER smelled like sour milk -- wear breast pads and change them when you leak -- you won't smell. Also, I got MORE sleep breastfeeding my first than when I had to pump for my twins (and I was only pumping 15-20 minutes, which is the same amount of time that you would pump for one). Also, talk to your RN's/LC's/Midwives on the floor -- regardless of the article -- babies DO NOT need to be supplemented w/formula (there may be an occasional issue w/milk coming in for some mom's/low blood sugar after baby is born....but if it happens w/i the first few days, your baby is fine with colostrum!). And I never had pain from bf'ing -- maybe I just had great RN's?!?!

Holy man -- I tried to stay out of this -- but this poster is ridiculous!! Hopefully, this does not deter ANYONE from breastfeeding...I don't see how this article would have helped any of us that are choosing to bf.

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Amanda

I haven't read the link - but I just wanted to say that my bfing experiences were both great. It was very hard for the first 2 weeks or so w/ my first, but from there on it was wonderfully easy & rewarding. I don't make a point of telling all about it because it is different for everyone. I am happy to answer questions if I think I can help someone out. I read a lot about bfing before dd was born & it seemed to help know what to expect.

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I should add that there is probably a very good reason why I did have most of these troubles while b-fing. I had no idea at the time that I had OTC deficiency, so DD was not getting the nutrients she needed from me. Because my body does not process protein right, my milk didn't contain enough protein, and did contain too much ammonia. I had a lot of problems because of this disease, but didn't know back then what the cause was. Just could tell that DD wasn't getting what she needed from my milk.

I also hope that this article doesn't deter anyone from breastfeeding! My experience was caused by a disease that is extremely rare, and many people have excellent experiences with breastfeeding.

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Maybe I'm the oddball here, but I found a lot of the article to be what I'm going through now.

I had the hardest time waiting for my milk to come in. It was very frustrating and discouraging. I pumped little to nothing for a few days until I finally started to have a little luck...and the nurses in the NICU did tell me that colostrum was simply not enough and they did supplement with formula.

Now, I do think nipple confusion is very real. They didn't even give me the opportunity to try feeding from the breast until about 3 days before Natalie left the hospital so when I did, she had a very hard time latching on. (to her defense she is 6 weeks premature and her reflexes weren't quite developed)
When I was finally encouraged to feed from the breast, most of the nurses there really were kind of lactation nazis about it. I secretly tried the nipple shield not because I have inverted nipples, but because they don't seem to get hard enough to allow her to latch.. They worked but it was still excruciatingly painful.
I agree that breastfeeding is very painful and does make your boobs rock hard. I leak all the time (but bra pads and showers seem to solve that problem..I don't smell like sour milk lol) My nipples were chapped and cracked and sore, but I wouldn't even consider chapstick...that's weird.

Because Natalie is having such a rough time, i've gone to pumping and feeding her breast milk through the bottle. I find this to be just as if not more time consuming than regular breastfeeding AND formula feeding. I think with a baby in the house you're going to lose a lot of sleep. period.

I don't credit pumping/breastfeeding to my weight loss. I have lost a good bit of weight since I gave birth (I can almost wear my pre-maternity jeans again! hurray!) but I think that has to do more with being responsible before and after birth

so beside the more odd stuff like cabbage leaves and chapstick, i did think this article had some truth to it.

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Sarah & Natalie