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breast feeding questions

doubletnurse
doubletnurse Posts: 108 Member
in Social Groups
For all of you Mom's that have other children, I have a question for you. Am currently 26 weeks 1 day with my second child. With my first, I had a really hard time BF. He never latched properly and I resorted to pumping for 4-5 months. At that time I produced enough to then provide him with another 1-2 months of milk before changing him over to formula. The problem that made me quit pumping was that during that time I ended up with 5 separate episodes of mastitis/breast infections all accompanied with fevers as high as 102°F and lots of pain. I really want to BF with this one to hopefully avoid all those complications, but am not sure how to even begin. Would you look into taking a BF'ing class? Any other suggestions?

Replies

  • kellykneppergrundy
    kellykneppergrundy Posts: 234 Member
    Hello!
    I'm trained as a breastfeeding support worker. Well done on pumping for so long with your first! That must have been quite a challenge and you gave your son such a great start. Mastitis is more common in mums that are exclusively pumping because the pump isn't as efficient at removing all the milk as a baby would be so ducts tend to get blocked easier, etc. I think anything you can do before the baby is born this time around to give yourself confidence where feeding is concerned is a great idea. I don't think a class would hurt. There are a lot of breastfeeding support organizations that would send someone out to you if you are struggling after the baby is born to help with latch. They would be happy to spend as much time with you as you need. If you look for support groups near you before the baby is born you can actually go to them before hand and then that support would be there in place when the baby arrives. Keep in mind this is a completely different baby/pregnancy and your breastfeeding experience may be completely different. It seems like a lot of second time mums find it a lot easier. Best wishes for your last trimester!
  • GTSally
    GTSally Posts: 17 Member
    I can sympathize with you! I had two episodes of mastitis in the first month - as if the first month of motherhood isn't hard enough! I didn't pump, but I do think my problems had to do with oversupply. I found myself in a catch 22 where I wanted to express extra milk in order to avoid plugged ducts and mastitis, but if I kept expressing extra milk, my body would never resolve the oversupply issue!

    I continued to get occasional plugged ducts and mastitis during the first year even even once or twice in the second year of nursing. I finally learned to catch the signs of a plugged duct early and used warm compresses and massage to drain them. That usually kept mastitis away, but sometimes it would just come out of nowhere.

    Kellymom.com has some great information as well as The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding book. A local La Leche League can also be great help. Even if you can't attend meetings, the leaders can be great help over the phone.

    I'm also really hoping to avoid all of that this time around as well! Good luck to you!
  • Rubyayn
    Rubyayn Posts: 433 Member
    Hey there! Happened upon this post and wanted to chime in, even though you got some GREAT advice already. My daughter didn't latch for two months and the poster above is correct that pumps do not remove milk as well as a baby. I would suggest trying to get the baby to the breast if you can, even if you struggle at first. They aren't for long term use, but we had great success with a nipple shield to get her back to the breast. Hopefully you will not be having those issues this time around though!

    Kellymom is a GREAT source of info, this is the first link I ran across. I would just read everything you can there. Preparation is key, lol. http://kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mother/mastitis/

    Also, I would suggest going to an LLL meeting. We are mammals and learn really well by watching others. Sadly, we don't see a lot of women breastfeeding in our society and that makes it a much harder skill to master than it should be.

    Good luck!!!!
  • kellykneppergrundy
    kellykneppergrundy Posts: 234 Member
    I definately second all the KellyMom suggestions. It's hands down the best resource for breastfeeding mums on the internet.
  • doubletnurse
    doubletnurse Posts: 108 Member
    Thank you both so much for the ideas! I will check them out.
  • doubletnurse
    doubletnurse Posts: 108 Member
    I wanted to say thank you for the suggestions. I went to our library and am reading "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding" now. I wish I had read it for my first pregnancy! So many good ideas and information. I also checked out a local LLL and plan on going to their next meeting the beginning of February.

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