I am pregnant with my 4th child. With all of my other children, I have not been able to breastfeed. I tried everything I could to make it happen with my first, lactaion consultants, pumping, etc.. but finally I had to give her a bottle because she was loosing too much weight and I wasn't producing enough milk. I gave it another shot with my second but my milk never came in. By the time I had my third child, I decided not to breastfeed because I wanted to enjoy those first few weeks rather than put myself or my baby through that stress again. My question is, have any of you ever struggled with a situation like this and been able to nurse? Any success stories that could give me some encouragement to try again? Thanks for your advice!
Esp if you have had a c-section, it sometimes takes a while for milk to ramp up to meet your baby's needs. Unless you have some kind of damage to your breasts, with time and supplements, everyone can breastfeed successfully. I used blessed thistle (you can use fenugreek as well) to increase milk production as well as nursing on demand. Don't be afraid to reach out to the lactation consultant at the hospital to make sure the latch is good.
Well I have nursed all 3 of my babies so I feel I'm a pro at it :) But I remember with my first it was hard, really, really hard. I couldn't get her to latch on right or stay on. When I finally got her on and sucking she would fall asleep within a min. or two. I ended up getting cracked and bloody nipples and mastitis 6 times! But I was determined to get it right and to do it! First thing, if you can't get the baby on call the lactation consultant in your room right away. Have her help you get baby latched. Uncover baby from the blanket, tickle his/her feet, change the diaper etc. to get him/her awake and able to nurse. Then even if baby only nurses for a few min and then stops just take a break. Try again in an hour or so. But don't give baby a bottle in between. If you do that, first baby will be full and not want to nurse and second to get your milk to come in good you need mouth to nipple stimulation. Milk production is all about supply and demand. The more your baby sucks the more milk you will make. And don't go by the clock, breastfed babies will eat every 2 hours or even every hour at first and that is a great way for you to get tons of practicing in and to help stimulate milk production. Also at first you will only have colostrum. That is plenty for baby. I have c-sections so my milk takes a good 5 days to come in. so for the first 5 days my babies get colostrum and nothing else. They were all chubby babies! So don't worry if it takes a few days for your milk to come in and for you to feel like you are actually producing something. you can do it! if you really stick with it you can do it. But try your hardest to not give into bottle feeding right away. That right there can be your biggest down fall.
Every baby is different! My first it didn't work. 2nd worked like a charm, we had no problems unless I ate garlic or onion...but I'm not sure I'd like onion or garlic flavored milk either. My 3rd is still bfing at 10 months but it's been stressful, worth it, but stressful....she didn't latch for a while, seemed to be weaning but picked it back up, cluster feeding made me think she wasnt getting enough. Also I made so much milk with my second and couldn't pump much or get ahead with this last one. So Morale of my story is I'd give it a shot, don't stress about it if it works great if not, you tried.
Maybe contact a lactation consultant before the baby is born, give them your history, and see if pre-emptive support might help. If not, don't torture yourself. Your goal is for your baby and you to be healthy and happy :)
