Breastfeeding Questions

Good morning ladies,

Ctelly, here is a bit of my experience:

breastfeeding is so much more than just giving milk to a baby. it is such a special and rewarding journey and i loved every moment of it even the tough start.
there is nothing more comforting to your baby than your breast and no bottle will ever provide that amount of comfort and security.
like my hubby said, my breast are the magic tool and works for absolutely everything

we had a tough start and only on day 2 after finally getting someone willing to help G was latching perfectly and drinking like a champ. the nurse just gave me a quick glance and said i will not be ably to breastfeed my nipples are not right. i was so furious and told her to get send me someone who was willing to help me. so for the next 24 hours i tried by myself and ended up squeezing drops of milk on my finger and let him suck from my finger - luckily they really do not need much in the beginning. so the next day another nurse helped me and within seconds G was nursing.

so what i will recommenced with from my experience, is not to listen to the nurses and insist on getting someone who is willing to help, because in the end its only a few woman that is really unable to breastfeed.

even with a very good latch, my nipples looked like a war zone 3 weeks later, and no cream really helped. i only learned about the fisio and lasar at 8 weeks. so after 3 laser sessions my nipples was healed and from there all was smooth sailing.

me having a baby that never slept well, i was extremely thankful for breastfeeding at nights as this is the easiest and quickest way to get baba back to sleep

i started pumping here and there to build up a stash, but it was a big effort for me. went back to work when G was 5 months and then pumped during the day, but i really didn't like it. and as time went on, it just pumped less and less to a point where i just stopped pumping.
then i just fed him when he was with me and he had water and solids during the day as he was allergic to formula

with the bottle, G would drink water from a bottle if i gave it, but would never even drink expressed milk if i were around, but he was fine with his milk bottle when i was not around.

2 months ago my milk dried up completely due to the pregnancy. then we had a few rough nights - breasts makes night so much easier.

i cant wait to have milk again and the moment i'm home with new baby i will also feed G again till he is at least 2.

with food, that will really depend on your baby. G was fine with everything except if it was green. and i tested a bunch of different things, but everytime i ate something green, he got terrible cramps till about 4 months old. then i could really eat anything.

i found that the woolies bra's was the most comfortable. got the cariwell ones as well, but i do prefer the woolies ones.

Once again - thanks ladies, I think I've covered all the questions I have for now. hopefully one day i'll also be able to provide such good and sufficient advise to other mommy-2-be's

Hi CTelly,

I was able to eat anything, garlic, onion, you name it. The only thing to cut back on is sugar because that is one of the triggers of thrush, which you can get from baby or give to baby. You don't need to cut it out completely, I wasn't able to as I was absolutely famished and craving sweet stuff in the beginning - just monitor it.

www.carriwell.co.za/asp/seamless/drop_cup_nursing_bra.asp - restrictive one as your breast "fits into" the bra.

The one hereunder is the most comfortable one:
www.carriwell.co.za/asp/lace/nursing_bra.asp

The Woolies ones have "normal" straps so you can wear it under your clothes:
www.woolworths.co.za/store/fragments/pro...?productId=501608462

This was all my experiences and opinion

Ctelly, you will find that there will be people that say you need to avoid XYZ (garlic, tomatoes, cauliflower, a lot of sugar etc) as it can cause cramping etc but you can honestly eat anything you want but in moderation. Sometimes there might be something in your diet that can cause irritation in baby but remember, your baby is used to your diet while being in utero!

Also remember babies digestive system take about 4 - 6months to mature and some babies will suffer from cramping.

As for diet, banting for example is out of the question. You need to consume more calories while bf and you will notice that you get hungry and thirsty a lot during feeding.

Any healthy snack will do.

Thanks mrstl - I'll get the woollies bras and the one from Cariwell that's like a shirt.
Thanks BlessedMom - i'll also get the breastpads.

Everytime I think I'm sorted I think of something else I want to ask.. sorry for all the questions (haha) Here's another one..

Didn't know about the protein, what food should I avoid or eat more of during BF? currently I eat healthy, just here and there i'll eat a choc, I crave more salty snacks. I also still eat lots of spicy food as I Love spicy food. haven't had heartburn or any problems due to it. Drink wise I drink water, rooibos tea (with 1 sugar) and about 3 cups of decaf coffee. (which is actually just an espresso and the rest is milk) I read that i'll need to eat something during the night when feeding - so I though i'll bake healthy muffins for a quick bran snack.. good idea / bad idea?

Hi There,

My suggestion based on experience would to get one of the carriwell bra's that fit like a shirt (lace at the bottom) for excercising and Woolies breastfeeding bra's for normal use. Don't get the Carriwel bra's that your breasts fits into, when they get bigger it can restrict it. (hope it makes sense - i'll look for pictures)
Just remember that for breastfeeding you must have protein 3 times a day!