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Baby’s First Food: Breast Milk (Part 2)

Posted by tricia on 12.28.09 | 19 Comments Short Link: http://onceamonthmom.com/?p=5158 Print This Post

Thank you so much to all that posted their stories, comments and encouragement on my first post about breastfeeding Tessa. I was truly blessed by the response. Having had 16 months to think on the “what would I do differently” question I had a few things I wanted to change this time around. Here is what I decided to differently this time around. Only time will tell whether it is working or not. And I don’t profess to know what would work for you if you have similar problems, I just wanted to share what I would have known the first time around, especially for those of you about to be moms for the first time.

1. Wake the baby the first night

I had read lot of breastfeeding books and I knew that the first few days were critical for establishing milk supply and that you should breastfeed as soon after birth as possible. Given that the hospital put on all of these classes I naturally thought that the nurses would prompt me when I needed to breastfeed, after all, they were prompting me on just about everything else. However, that wasn’t the case.

I had to ask to breastfeed him the first time. After that, no one asked me again for nearly 24 hours about whether I was breastfeeding and how often. Having been up for 30 straight hours I was exhausted and when night came I was more than willing to let him sleep for as long as he would. I think we woke him after 5 hours or so but even at that point he was a good sleeper.

This time I decided that no matter what I was going to wake the baby every 3 hours to feed. Even if we were both exhausted I wanted to get a head start on building my supply.

2. Wake the baby every 3 hours the first 2 weeks

Again, like point number one, this is another thing I didn’t do so well until the 2 week mark when Isaac wasn’t gaining weight. Not that I couldn’t build milk supply after that, but I personally found it difficult. I also know that I wanted to be more diligent and intentional with the second during this early period.

3. Watch the latch

I am rather large busted and handling myself and Isaac at the same time of trying to latch was more than difficult for me. It wasn’t until the pain relievers were discontinued (more than a week after the birth) that I realized how bad I was bruised and sore from breastfeeding. The pain relievers I was taking for other things was masking the bad latch that was occurring. And by 2 weeks I was raw and sore. I worked with the lactation consultant at this point to correct the latch but I was really way too sore to continue doing anything but pumping.

This time I had the lactation consultant come in and monitor Tessa’s latch. I thought she was doing well but I wanted to make sure. She gave me some helpful hints and suggestions for easing the pain and making breastfeeding more effective for the baby.

4. Ditch the cream (sort of)

Lasinoh is the go to cream for breastfeeding. I found out soon after Isaac was born that I have a bad reaction to Lasinoh. Think poison ivy. No, there is no rash forming but the itching is extremely intense. So Lasinoh doesn’t work for me. So what to do? You can see why I was really sore with my first, I couldn’t use the “go to” cream AND I had a bad latch going on. OUCH!

This time I declined the Lasinoh (which is a FABULOUS product if you don’t react to it) and asked if there was another option. Anything. They don’t offer one as free samples at the hospital but the lactation consultant looked up a prescription (script was found in The Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers page 136) that could be made instead. She also recommended Mothermates hydrogel pads. Can I just say that the hydrogel pads have been heavenly! These were purchased from the hospital pharmacy and are manufactured to last longer than the ones from the baby stores. And did I mention they are heaven in a gel pad? They are heaven in a gel pad! They basically cool your breasts after feedings and all day long. I HIGHLY recommend them. The cream has helped as well. Just a few applications and I am feeling much better, breastfeeding is getting much easier and no more blisters.

5. Watch for hunger warning signs

Since Isaac was my first I didn’t know that his crying and fussiness after feeding for over an hour was an indicator that he wasn’t getting enough to eat. There are great resources out there for spotting warning signs but ours with the first was that he would act hungry after eating for a long time, be rooting around, and hard to get to sleep. Turns out all of that was because he was hungry, we didn’t know that until we started supplementing him with formula.

This time with Tessa, we wanted to watch closely for these signs. As it turns out, the first 2-3 nights were really rough for us in the middle of the night. Tessa would want to feed every hour for about 3 hours straight and then would eventually fall asleep and sleep for 2-3 hours. I understand some babies cluster feed but this was a bit more than that. On the fourth day I decided to pump during the day and then offer her .5-1 oz of breastmilk after her full feeding to see if that helped. It did the trick! After that she was satisfied and would go right to sleep. So I began pumping more often. Which leads me to my next point.

6. Be willing to pump

I was willing to pump with my first, obviously. I just decided this time that I would start pumping early in addition to my regular feeding so that I could potentially increase my supply. So starting at day 5 (just 1 day after my milk came in) I started pumping each side after the baby had eaten. It only took a day to see an increase in the supply I was making. I did this especially at night so that my milk supply would increase during this time period when it seems to be at its lowest for me. This also allows me to supplement her at night when I need to without breaking out the formula.

7. Concentrate on the baby

I did a lot of instant messaging and Facebooking while breastfeeding my first child. In the end, I think this lack of concentration on breastfeeding contributed to the lazy latch and sore breasts. I even told my husband before we had Tessa to please remind me of this if he saw me playing on the computer while breastfeeding. He has done well to remind me only once, that is all it took. I have definitely been more diligent about paying attention to what is happening while I am feeding and not being distracted by the computer. Now distracted by my 16 month old is a whole other story.

8. Drink, drink, drink

Used with permission Flickr Creative Commons photo by 'SeraphimC

I am not a huge beverage consumer. I don’t like water that much either. Not good when trying to produce breast milk. This time I have vowed to drink something every time I was breast feeding.

Overall, I think things are going MUCH better with my second than they did with my first. However, the two week appointment is coming up so we will see how we are doing. I am praying that Tessa has gained weight and that she is doing well. I pray that I am able to keep up my supply as she gets older and has greater demands. Again, I am okay with feeding her formula, I just want to make sure that I give the breastfeeding a good shot before giving up.

And just because I want to change the above things this time around does not mean that it has been easier this time. We are definitely having our challenges. Lately Tessa has been spitting up after receiving her supplement. She acts like she needs it but apparently doesn’t. She has also started having some real gas pains and upset stomach at night. I think it might be something I am eating so I am working on doing a diet elimination of dairy to start with. Not sure this is the problem, but it is worth a try to see. And believe me when I say this is a HUGE sacrifice for me. We have also given in to the pacifier because I have noticed the last few days that she is using my breasts often as a form of comfort instead of food. The first pacifier we tried wasn’t working so well. Having switched to a new style of pacifier we are doing much better.

This post has gotten a bit long so I will write what is working and not working so well later this week. I will also have an update on how Tessa is doing as we have the two week doctor’s visit tomorrow (12/29) which should be very telling.

Overall, I am amazed at how different each child is. There is so much to learn in these first few weeks (okay, in this child’s life). I hope that if you are breastfeeding or going to be breastfeeding you find some of this helpful. Thanks for allowing me to share too!