Comments on: My take on EBF: exclusively breastfeeding

By: Kev

Kev — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 14:25:43 +0000

Great read — your story is my wifes story almost to the letter. I happened upon your page whilst trying to find a way that she can get a break from feeding — she is sooo tired and I just want her to get a solid 10hr sleep but baby won’t take a bottle

By: Amie Simmons

Amie Simmons — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:35:59 +0000

I am going through the exact same thing right now, except my letdown is slow so little Matilda is a little impatient and freaks if the milk does not come right away. They insisted on us starting formula, which I think was necessary because she did lose a LOT of weight. I was hysterical because I felt like we were starving her. She is now packing on the pounds (3 days after discovering she was hungry) and I am pumping and working with her at the breast. We are going to get this! And if not, I will just bottle feed breast milk. Good luck to all! It is a trial I did not expect after giving birth.

By: Nicole Merrill

Nicole Merrill — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 06:23:00 +0000

I breastfed my 1st for 10 months then dried up and now I’m still breastfeeding my 2nd who just turned one. I took a breastfeeding class at the hospital before my 1st baby was born which I highly recommend. I work full time so I pump during the day. I used to pump every 4 hours with my 1st baby but with my second, I pump every 3 hours and I think that’s how I’ve kept up my milk supply.

By: Crystal Gold

Crystal Gold — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:07:25 +0000

Thank you so much for sharing your story! I went through many of the same things. My son was tongue tied but never diagnosed (until he was 14 months old!) so I had a LOT of pain for a long time and we used a nipple shield for 5 months. It was all so worth it! I even returned to work and still pumped for him until he was 14 months old. We nursed on demand until he weaned himself at 30 months. I still miss it sometimes and he had even told me he misses is sometimes (he will be 4 in June). I love that he has such fond memories of it!

Also, thanks for the shout out and link to my gallery! I am so thrilled with how it is turning out!! Feel free to send more pictures over time!

Crystal

By: Ameya

Ameya — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:48:14 +0000

I had read up a lot before Killian was born and I'm so greatful for it. I think if I didn't know just WHY breastmilk is the best, I might not have stuck with it, and it would have been much, much harder mentally if I didn't know that it was normal, but yes, we had a bit of a rough time of it. Everyone jumped the gun and though K wasn't breathing when he was born (actually he just cries weird like I do which looks like you're just not breathing) and he was taken from me right at birth and i didn't get to hold him for 12 hours. Luckily my hospital seemed unsurprised by my no-formula rule & so he was just on an IV instead of fed other things through a tube (they didn't want him swallowing anything until his breathing was "perfect"). We had a LC but she wasn't very good.. though the SCU nurses helped in whatever way they could, most of them seemed to have nursed too. It hurt for the first few MONTHS. Especially at first! I now know where "Toe curling pain" comes from- it is literal! Engorgement was OUT OF CONTROL. I was dolly parton, seriously. An Ariel version because I had cabbage leaves on them a lot (and they were too small!) . I pumped a little during engorgement, but never again because it hurt so bad, as i was basically always bruised due to K's bad latch. He had mild tongue tie but his doctors & the LC kept saying it wasn't bad enough to affect nursing. O_o I'm not sure when.. probably around the 3 month mark or a little earlier, the pain went away. Now I can hardly tell when he's on (though pumping still hurts). I'm SO glad I stuck with it. May will be our 6 month exclusive breastfeeding mark!! We'll let him try his first food (we're not bothering with purees or that sugar baby food, just soft regular food) at that point, I'm excited. Because I can't pump it can be a little rough with only 2 hours of alone time once a week, but at that point he can rely on something other than me to maybe let me get.. i dunno, a FOUR hour break sometime (WAAAT!) Goal is 1 year, but ideally, I'd like him to self-wean so who knows how long we'll really go! Personally I hope he doesn't try to go to 2 years (though I'm 110% for other people nursing their babes for that much or longer) but if he does, I don't think i'd forcibly wean him.

By: Sarcastica

Sarcastica — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:52:16 +0000

My sister had similar issues when starting to breastfeed. I had it easy, I pumped for 2 weeks first (while Nolan was in NICU) and then continued pumping when he was home while we worked on learning how to latch. I only got to breastfeed for four months though, and I wish I could have done it longer. Le sigh.

By: Julie

Julie — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:46:07 +0000

Wow, that about summed it up for me the first two times I tried. Good for you for sticking with it.

By: Ruby

Ruby — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:52:35 +0000

Well done for getting the word out and I'm so sorry you didn't have any extra help with this, although Twitter is awesome. I'm still pregnant with my first, but I too had no idea that breastfeeding was something you needed to do a little research on. I suppose because the emphasis is always on the 'natural' side of it, so somehow we think it will come naturally. Luckily, I have come across the podcasts 'Pregtastic' and 'New moms, new babies'. Pregtastic has done some awesome AWESOME shows on breastfeeding, telling all you need to know. I feel so much more informed and also know that should I feel anything isn't going right, I am calling a lactation consultant asap! Both podcasts are really informative and fun and positive. The NMNB podcast is also shorter, as it's geared towards new moms, who obviously don't have the most time in the world. You can find both by searching itunes for them - let me know if you need any help. I cannot recommend them highly enough (and no I don't work for them - they're donation based).

By: Bobbi Janay

Bobbi Janay — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:08:29 +0000

I am so glad it is going well for you, I had horrible lc and ended up not brestfeeding.

By: Claire

Claire — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:00:09 +0000

I think it’s great that you’re telling your story because when moms go into it without knowing how it will be, they think they’ve “failed” and it will never get better so they quit. Knowing that it will get better (even if it’s forever away) will help moms keep going.

My original goal was 1 year too, but now that Peanut is turning 1 next week I wouldn’t stop for the world. I feel like I worked so hard to get here and we get this special time together that I love. This part of her life is so short in the big picture and I want to take full advantage of it.