I was just wondering a few things from experienced breastfeeding moms.
I had trouble the first time with my milk supply not coming in. I stressed out a lot about it and i want to make it easier and try harder this time. I pumped a lot but probably didnt have baby nurse as often as i should have.

What things are you planning on doing different this time.
Or what tips or advice can you give inexperienced breastfeeding moms.
What supplies did you have that helped.

I have a pump and i will start pumping right away this time. I have also saw a video online of a woman breastfeeding and the lactation consultant was showing her how to do compressions while the baby is feeding if your milk is not coming in properly.
I hope this helps me this time.
I also have a boppy that i wonderful to help support baby.

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Nurse, nurse, nurse! Also, oatmeal helps the supply. There are also teas- like mother's milk tea that you can drink to help with supply. Also make sure you are well hydrated. But nurse the baby as much as you can. Talk to the lactation consultants too. They can help!

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Francine mom to 3 awesome boys~Keiran 2/18/01 Aidan 11/14/02 (water birth)Breylan 5/02/05(water birth)
and and Hunter Grayce~born 6/7/2008 7 lbs 6 oz, a fabulous water birth
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Blinkie Maker
The day you deliver, outside will be warm. Your baby will arrive in the evening.After a labor lasting approximately 5 hours, your child, a girl, will be born. Your baby will weigh about 8 pounds, 15 ounces, and will be 17-1/2 inches long. This child will have blue eyes and dark hair.

**lurking from due in July** I nursed my first DD for 19 months and my second DD for 22 months. My advice to you is to nurse as much as you can, a lot of the times 2nd times moms will have a ton more milk then the first time, so you may not have any milk supply issues. If you do, like Francine said, there are things that you can do to increase your supply. Just don't give up, once you get over the initial hump of the hard times, it is so easy!

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My advice would be NOT to pump for the first few weeks. Pumps are just not as good at breast emptying as babies are. You should nurse, nurse, NURSE that baby. No pacis, no fingersucking for the first week at least, just to be sure that the milk is in; I would recommend that you don't do pacis at all, really, because they can reduce supply at any point.
If you need to pump to build up a supply for going back to work or whatever, you should introduce the pump once your supply is well established, usually no earlier than 4 weeks.
To encourage supply, besides nursing baby, you could try eating oatmeal (as a pp said), taking a warm shower before nursing, breast compressions as you mentioned. Try not to stress about it because baby will sense your stress and be a tense (and thus, less effecient) nurser.
And remember: Breastfeeding is completely natural, but natural does not always equal easy. Stick with it and definitely consult an LC if you have questions. Also, I would highly recommend attending LLL meetings now and after your baby is born. Having a good support group can make all the difference in the world!!
I have loved my Boppy with all of my kids; take it to the hospital with you to help you get used to the way you will nurse at home from the very beginning. The hospital may give you extra pillows, but my experince with hospital pillows has been that they are like a pizza box with a pillow case on it; not too helpful!

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ditto the previous posters, nursing is the best way to get your milk supply up, and then the other recommendations of tea and oatmeal. A big thing is making sure that you keep drinking like a pp mentioned too.

I've never really used supplies for breastfeeding, I do have a Boppy, and I have a small electric pump (the next level up from a hand pump). My s.mom who nursed all her girls started her pump around 3-4 weeks, and she made it an actual extra feeding, and kept the time for it. Say at 10 am every morning she would pump, the baby would of ate 2 hours prior and not need to eat for another 2 hours. She went back to work with the first one, and kept the pumping schedule at work.

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ive only truly successfully nursed one child (adam), so i dont think im qualified to add anything to what wonderful advice you've already gotten! much luck to all of us!!!!!!!

adam was so easy to nurse and i truly had no problems other then a plugged duct here and there..... im scared about this time. lol


hugs

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I have no experience nursing a newborn - Ava wouldn't latch until she was 8 weeks old. She had a tongue thrust problem and after several visits with LCs noone could get her to latch properly so I pumped full time until she finally learned to latch at 8 weeks old. I pumped the whole time and bottle fed her until then. Then she nursed successfully until I weaned her at 18 months.

I just wanted to say good luck to you and if you really, really want to bf then don't give up!

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I just wanted to say for me having pumping issues, but my supply while nursing was fine it was so wonderful to talk with an LC. They are so helpful and have a way of making you feel like you are doing it all perfectly. One thing you were advised not to do in this post was pump right away. my LC actually encouraged me to pump while I was feeding the baby intially to work up my supply in the begining. Something you might want to ask an LC or 2 about.

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I wanted to add that sometimes your milk comes in faster the second time...and after each pregnancy. (Not always- but usually). I pumped in the beginning because my milk came in after just a couple days and it was really painful if I went too long and he wasn't ready to eat yet. But I guess there are mixed views on pumping. My thought would just be nurse, and let you be the "paci" in the first weeks and this will increase your supply.

Great advice about the baby sensing your stress! Put on a relaxing music cd while you nurse too. Warm showers before you feed will help...I forgot ALL about that.

And also what Darci said about natural doesn't always equal easy...but in the end it is so worth it.

Keep asking questions and don't give up!

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Francine mom to 3 awesome boys~Keiran 2/18/01 Aidan 11/14/02 (water birth)Breylan 5/02/05(water birth)
and and Hunter Grayce~born 6/7/2008 7 lbs 6 oz, a fabulous water birth
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Blinkie Maker
The day you deliver, outside will be warm. Your baby will arrive in the evening.After a labor lasting approximately 5 hours, your child, a girl, will be born. Your baby will weigh about 8 pounds, 15 ounces, and will be 17-1/2 inches long. This child will have blue eyes and dark hair.

You've already gotten great advice, I just wanted to say good for you for preparing in advance and being so determined - keep it up!

I've exclusively breastfed all of my newborns (my toddler still does just a bit right before bed), but three of the four (so far) have had short tongues and/or high palates, so it was a very painful first 6-8wks...and, yep, that was with a proper latch checked time and again by a LC. I *personally* had a "seven-minute" (that's what I could bear) per side rule of thumb that I followed when the going was really tough. I have a strong, fast letdown and they all obviously got to the hindmilk in that time as they fattened up and thrived very nicely...and it made it doable for me. Once their mouths 'grew into' my breasts, it was just great! I love breastfeeding!

I don't tend to pump (Medela) early on, but, FWIW, I almost never get more than a few ounces when pumping unless a normal feed is skipped entirely. I'm another on the nurse, nurse, nurse bandwagon! Non-nutritive nursing (if you can bear it) is good, too. Don't gauge what you're able to pump as the same amount you think your babe's getting; it's usually not accurate. I know it wasn't for me/my babies...at all! I also suggest loading up on the Lansinoh = a lifesaver for me!

GL to you!

P.S. - I've never used it, but a lot of moms swear by Fenugreek to supp. milk supply.

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Thanks for all of the great advice ladies.
I know now not to pump right away i will just nurse all of the time. I am sure that will work out for me. It will just be hard at first.

What about through the night. do you nurse about every two to three hours or do you let baby sleep?
And then during the day. Feed whenever baby shows signs or every two hours whichever comes first, right

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You should watch your baby for cues that she is hungry. Lip smacking, rooting to one side or the other, sucking on their fists, for example. Crying is a late sign and a crying baby will need to be consoled and calmed before they can even begin nursing which could be frustrating for you and definitely for the hungry baby! Try not to watch the clock, but a newborn should nurse every 2 hours or so, even through the night. Everyone will have a story about a newborn they had or knew that slept "through the night" at 3 weeks or from the beginning or whatever and turned out fine, but a newborn's stomach is the size of its fist. There's no way that a full tummy at 9 pm could sustain a baby till morning light. (And, BTW, Drs define "through the night" as 6 hrs straight, a landmark most babies reach by 3 mos.) If you have a particularly sleepy baby, you may actually have to wake them in the beginning to nurse. Newborns sleep about 16 hrs/day, so this could be during the night or during the day, but the baby's needs for nutrition will be the same.

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Oh yeah, I wanted to add that there are instances where pumping from day one is recommended, even ideal, but it's not recommended for the "average" nursing couplet. If you do need to pump, it is recommended to pump one side while baby nurses the other, since baby will be much better at triggering a letdown response than the plastic horn of the pump... and I have to agree wholeheartedly with Melissa about not gauging what your baby is getting by what you are able to pump. I have had oversupply issues in the past and overactive letdown (where baby can't keep up with the flow of milk, she would pop off and milk would just spray and spray across the room!), but I have never, ever been able to pump more than an oz or 2 at any time.

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I co-sleep with my babies in the young months and nurse on demand around the clock. Baby's grunting and rooting is all it takes. However, sometimes the really sleepy newborn will need to be woken up to eat. I admit that my oldest would go four hours, but, generally-speaking, breastfed newborns need to eat every 2-3hrs. Their tummies are tiny and empty fast. They shouldn't go all night without eating too young. That's not normally a problem though since they tend to be rather good at letting ya know. HTH!

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Thank you so much for posting this thread & for all of the wonderful info you ladies have posted in reply!
We had a rough time with DD and I ended up pumping exclusively for the first months and this time I am REALLY trying to arm myself with all the info I can.
I have been reading some great books. I wish I had all this info last time...I had taken BF classes & talked with several LCs but I feel like I know so much more this time.
I hope it works out for all of us!

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You already got great advice. Try not to stress if baby does not latch on well at first. It takes time. With baby #1, the first 6 weeks were miserable (we called latch on pain toe clenching because my entire body would clench up down to my toes) and my second baby had a tougher time and the first 3 months were very hard. But if you can make it past the initial adjustment, it gets so much easier. I nursed both until around 15 months.

My philosphy is to schedule sleep and naps, but do on demand feedings. As a newborn, you might find that they want to nurse (or comfort nurse) every hour at somepoints and that is fine. It helps build up your supply too. I tend to wake them up from naps if it has been awhile from the last nursing, but at night I let them go longer -- 4 - 5 hours would be my max (but newborns rarely make it that long anyways). And some nights will be nursing session after nursing session (if you sleep in separate rooms like we do) but don't give into the temptation to sumplement! That one night of nursing non-stop will build up your supply and the next few nights won't be as tough as you will have more milk (this usually happens at a growth spurt).

A good nursing pillow (love my boppys) is a must. And a quiet relaxing place to nurse.

Good luck!

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Brooke -- 2004
Lizzie -- 2006
Samantha -- 2008

There's some great advice in this thread. I pumped right away only because my milk was taking forever to come in, Kate was small and not nursing much, and she was jaundiced. The nurses wanted me to give her formula and instead I pumped a bit to make my milk come in faster. I continued to pump and I think it compromised my milk production a bit. This time I will keep this baby on the breast only for the first 3 weeks and then pump to start a small freezer stash and so DH or Kate can do a feeding a day.

One thing I didn't see listed here, that someone recommended to me, is to start putting Lansinoh on your nipples now. I started around 35 weeks with Kate and it really did help it not be sooo painful in the beginning. I haven't started yet this time, but I just finished nursing a few months ago so I am hoping it won't be so bad. I should probably do it soon anyway.

Also, I remember feeling the Boppy was too big for Kate. I felt like it swallowed her up a bit until she got bigger.

Wow! How fantastic that you got her to latch at 8 weeks and then were able to bf! You are my hero! That must have been difficult!


We woke Kate up during the day every 3 hours to nurse if she was sleeping. At night, she woke me up every 3 hours. As she got older, she slept a bit longer between night time feedings. I think waking her during the day (but not at night) helped her to regulate her body and sleeping. Of course, any time the baby showed signs of hunger I nursed her.

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--Kristina

Okay, I'm loving this thread! I did not breastfeed with Kylie but plan to this time, if at all possible. I have to admit that I am a bit overwhelmed by it though but really want to be successful at it. The information on this thread is really helpful. Thanks!

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Tasha & Scott (11/27/99)
Proud parents of:
Kylie Noel (5/5/05) & Cohen Blake (6/18/08)

Even though I've BF'd all 3 of my other kids, none were as successful as I had hoped. Ava did the best, but once I had to return to work, my supply went down and I ended up having to stop by the time she was 4 months old. Being a teacher - although my principal was very supportive of allowing me to pump as needed - made it difficult to keep my caloric and fluid intake sufficient to keep my supply up. It's hard to snack and drink constantly in front of 7 & 8 year olds. I always appreciate any advice from mom's that have been successful. I would love to have the link to the online video about the compressions or exactly what you googled to find online videos about lactation advice. DH has already instructed me to not skimp on a good quality breast pump, just in case. I plan to get a Medela PISA. I am hoping that since I am not working now and will not have that as an issue that this experience may be my best - as long as the stress of a toddler doesn't mess it up. I know that I was able to BF each child a little longer than the previous one and each subsequent child was a little more resistent to childhood illnesses - I'm giving credit for that to the time they were able to nurse. Ava has only been sick a handful of times in 2 years and only to the point of having to go to the doctor for meds twice of those (one was thrush and one was a double ear infection). Thanks again for this thread and for all the advice that has been shared.

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you have gotten great advice already...just want to add in my few pieces of experience.

it may be way easier than the first time.

it may be really painful at the beginning, or it may not hurt at all.

you may need to feed every hour at times, or your babe could go up to 3- 4 hrs at a time at others. the guideline of every two hours and so on comes with the schedule of a ff babe. same with amounts.

you will never know exactly how much your little one is getting when he/she nurses, but as long as there is good output there must be good input. the pump is definitely not as good as the babe at getting that milk supply up. so nurse away.

get help from a lc if you are having issues right from the beginning...but then look to your instinct and your child. we needed the help immensely at the beginning, but a few weeks in, once we got on a bit of a roll and dd was finally nursing properly we let her guide us and worked with our own instincts. and that worked well too.

i guess the main thing i'm tryin gto get at is that it likely won't be the same experience as it was with your first. and that is ok!

get a really good nursing bra or tank to wear. it'll make things much more comfy for you. i loved my Bravado Designs bras and tanks ( Bravado! Designs ) great fit, comfy, cute and really excellent function and quality. worth every dime.

you can do this!!!!! and it is worth every bit of effort...
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