RE: Got Mommy's Milk, Take 6 (Full Version)

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peculiar_lady2 -> RE: Got Mommy's Milk, Take 6 (5/10/2008 11:11:51 PM)

quote:

So part of me has this desire to feed her exclusively from my right breast and then just pump from the left side at each feed. Is this a silly idea? I just want to find some way to make nursing a pleasant experience for both of us.

It doesn't seem far fetched to me.....if you can pump (esp since very soon you will be going back to work and will hopefully be able to still BF as long as you want to). I got mastitis in my right breast twice in about a months time with my third...and ever since then, other then the first few weeks right after birth, I have exclusively fed off of the left side....for Emma it was about a year more on just that side until I quit with her, and Jack it was all but that first month off of just the left side.



Mrs.Wifey -> RE: Got Mommy's Milk, Take 6 (5/10/2008 11:12:17 PM)

You can just feed her from the right breast and let your left one dry up. I know there are a couple women here who only nurse from one side exclusively.



Royal.Fortress -> RE: Got Mommy's Milk, Take 6 (5/10/2008 11:32:51 PM)

quote:

Kim, the hand towel was suggested for a woman to roll up and put under her breast to hold her breast up so that she doesn't have to while breastfeeding.


Thanks, Jeanie - what a great idea!!



RepentanceIsRequired -> RE: Got Mommy's Milk, Take 6 (5/11/2008 8:27:15 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Royal.Fortress

quote:

Kim, the hand towel was suggested for a woman to roll up and put under her breast to hold her breast up so that she doesn't have to while breastfeeding.


Thanks, Jeanie - what a great idea!!


Yes actually it is a pretty nifty idea for me.

Well my Bravado nursing bra came yesterday. I have been wearing it but I'm not sure I really like it though. I'm thinking I should have gotten a bigger cup size. [8|]



Tea-Tea -> RE: Got Mommy's Milk, Take 6 (5/12/2008 8:18:55 AM)

Well, Josie has gotten closer to latching on. And I do think my supply is increasing--I've actually been able to squirt her in her mouth! Hasn't gotten her interested but at least I'm back to being able to squirt! LOL The things that make me happy. [&:] [:D]



BlessedMamaofmany -> RE: Got Mommy's Milk, Take 6 (5/12/2008 8:25:26 AM)

way to go Tammy! You're making real progress, she'll be nursing like a champ in no time!



TammyIsBlessed -> RE: Got Mommy's Milk, Take 6 (5/12/2008 12:34:34 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: RepentanceIsRequired

quote:

ORIGINAL: Royal.Fortress

quote:

Kim, the hand towel was suggested for a woman to roll up and put under her breast to hold her breast up so that she doesn't have to while breastfeeding.


Thanks, Jeanie - what a great idea!!


Yes actually it is a pretty nifty idea for me.

Well my Bravado nursing bra came yesterday. I have been wearing it but I'm not sure I really like it though. I'm thinking I should have gotten a bigger cup size. [8|]


I think they have a return policy don't they?



TwinCityGirl -> RE: Got Mommy's Milk, Take 6 (5/12/2008 9:22:19 PM)

REGARDING PUMPING:

Background: Baby is 8 weeks old now. I would like to pump once in a while to have a bottle for a family event or for a babysitter. I would not need to pump daily. I bought a hand pump and seem to have plenty of milk.

Questions:

1. WHEN. If I feed baby on, say, the right breast at a feeding, do I pump from the right breast right AFTER baby is done feeding, or do I pump from the left breast after he's done feeding, or do I pump at a time other than right after baby finishes eating?

2. TEMPERATURE. Say I pump at 3 p.m. and baby will be drinking the bottle at about 7 p.m. Store the milk in the fridge until we leave to take baby to the sitter's....and then the sitter warms up the bottle by running it under hot water or submerging it in warm water? Can you pump on one day and use it the next day? (leaving it in the refrigerator overnight)

3. QUANTITY. How much do I pump into one bottle for an 8 week, 9 week, 10 week old baby? (No, I don't have 3 babies all one week apart but how much does he need in that age range?)

4. FREEZING MILK. If I plan to pump the milk and freeze some, how do I go about doing that? My husband does not want the baby drinking out of plastic bottles, but how do those Playtex baggie-type things hold up in comparison? DH wants the milk in glass bottles but I can't freeze glass, and I'm wondering if there are BPA issues with the Playtex baggies or not? Do any of you know off the top of your head?

5. SUPPLY. Will pumping affect my supply at all? Should I expect any changes in my breasts after pumping or my nipples?

If any of you have any knowledge you can pass on about this that would be great. I bought a pump a few weeks ago but have been chicken to try it out since I really don't know how to go about the above.

I have, however, gotten over my fear of clipping my son's nails! I'm an old pro at it now. I just told myself one day "Well, he's going to have to have his fingernails clipped by someone for quite a few years to come so I'd better get over it." I haven't made a mistake clipping his yet! [sm=icon_smile_super.gif]

Jeanie



IAMJulie -> RE: Got Mommy's Milk, Take 6 (5/12/2008 9:55:34 PM)

Pray for me please. Gideon is a great nurser but it can be a problem sometimes when all he wants to do is nurse. My poor nips are killing me. I'm using Lansinoh and I make sure he's got a proper latch but they still hurt. I have nipple blanching which means that I hurt in between nursings too and it got to the point where I had a little breakdown early this evening and cried a lot - while nursing of course. It's getting to where when I hear him cry because he's hungry (or needs comfort) I just cringe and get near tears. We're doing great, really, I just wish it didn't hurt.



Mrs.Wifey -> RE: Got Mommy's Milk, Take 6 (5/12/2008 10:04:15 PM)

quote:

1. WHEN. If I feed baby on, say, the right breast at a feeding, do I pump from the right breast right AFTER baby is done feeding, or do I pump from the left breast after he's done feeding, or do I pump at a time other than right after baby finishes eating?


I found it the easiest to pump 30-45 minutes after I finished nursing. I pumped on both sides, and I had plenty of time to "refill" before Gabby needed to nurse again.

quote:

2. TEMPERATURE. Say I pump at 3 p.m. and baby will be drinking the bottle at about 7 p.m. Store the milk in the fridge until we leave to take baby to the sitter's....and then the sitter warms up the bottle by running it under hot water or submerging it in warm water? Can you pump on one day and use it the next day? (leaving it in the refrigerator overnight)


Breastmilk was allowed to be at room temp for up to 4 hours in the NICU. It is safe in the fridge for several days, but if you are going to have it in there for more then 1-2 then I would just pop it in the freezer.
quote:


3. QUANTITY. How much do I pump into one bottle for an 8 week, 9 week, 10 week old baby? (No, I don't have 3 babies all one week apart but how much does he need in that age range?)


It really depends on the baby. Gabby was only taking 2-4 oz at that age. I would make him a smaller bottle, and then offer more if he still seems hungry after he finishes.

quote:

4. FREEZING MILK. If I plan to pump the milk and freeze some, how do I go about doing that? My husband does not want the baby drinking out of plastic bottles, but how do those Playtex baggie-type things hold up in comparison? DH wants the milk in glass bottles but I can't freeze glass, and I'm wondering if there are BPA issues with the Playtex baggies or not? Do any of you know off the top of your head?


There is NO BPA issue with the Playtex drop-in's. In fact, they are what we just switched to and threw out our BPA containing bottles. Just FYI, there are BPA free plastic bottles. We can't do glass because Big Bun's is a bottle thrower.

quote:


5. SUPPLY. Will pumping affect my supply at all? Should I expect any changes in my breasts after pumping or my nipples?


I would try and pump on as close to Adam's normal feeding schedule as possible and it can mess with your supply if you do it to often, but I think that just doing it on the occasional basis should be fine :)


Julie, I'm praying for you!



Brandy -> RE: Got Mommy's Milk, Take 6 (5/12/2008 10:24:38 PM)

Julie the only thing I can think of and that I've read since I have no experience, is latch. That's what everything I looked up online has said. You made me wonder what blanching was, and every link I found said latch latch latch. THIS article on Kellymom was VERY informative, maybe it can help? Few things I read to help were warm-wet compress BEFORE nursing and after.

Jeanie-- you make me laugh, I just watched this AWFUL DVD last night from 2005!!! that made me cringe but had a few useful things so far as 'standard' pumping info from this Lactation Consultant/RN.

According to her :

WHEN Pump within 20 minutes of a feed, she advocates switching breasts during feeding, max 20 minutes per breast and if that means breaking suction then so be it. I don't agree with that, but you could pump the recently used one and see what you get. She said most women will see a build up of supply over a few days with pumping. What she meant was first time pumping you may only get a few cc's worth, next time more and so on. She also said that she only pumped after the first 3 feedings of the day so as not to affect her supply adversely.

TEMPERATURE In the fridge breast milk is good for 5-7 days. Frozen 3-6 months, 6 months if you have a great freezer. And yes, warm to skin/wrist temp and feed.

QUANTITY oooh just googled and found on Kellymom THIS article on how much per age etc of milk for baby. I have to bookmark that!!

FREEZING MILK There have to be PBA free bags out there somewhere.

SUPPLY According to the DVD lady pumping after 2 wks will not affect your supply. I didn't agree with starting pumping at 2 wks but I also didn't agree with pumping to let dad feed at night so she could sleep longer.. but that's just me. I'm all about NO nipple confusion for 6 wks if at all possible.

I got so irked at her ideas on BF that I may write up a note for Amazon.com, these felt like either antiquated pieces of info or "make my life easier" pieces of info.. I don't agree with or understand why you would want to STOP a feeding baby, burp and move to the other side. She even advocated PINCHING HIS NOSE SHUT if you couldn't get him to unlatch with just your finger. [:@] And what do you know, in the clip of a woman demonstrating that technique they quickly cut away when he scrunches up his face, almost chokes on the milk and then starts crying because HE CANNOT BREATHE. Of course he unlatched.

PLEASE someone tell me I'm not insane to get upset??

She did have good tips on engorgement, she said 15 minutes warm-wet compress, nurse and follow with 15 minutes of ice. Repeat with each feeding. BUT then says "When your milk comes in and your breasts are hard as rocks, you may find warm-wet compresses aren't enough. Go to the grocery store and get a head of cabbage and use a leaf per side to help with the pain from engorgement. " I wanted to throw the remote at her face. Cabbage DRIES UP YOUR MILK LADY. And you are telling NEW moms this?? arg. arg. arg. She didn't bother saying to limit the use of the leaves .. nothing like that. Just line your bra with them for those 48 hrs of engorgement.

HAHAHA ok I'm so angry about this that I'm leaking from both sides. Emotions and milk are so weirdly correlated.



PrudentWife -> RE: Got Mommy's Milk, Take 6 (5/12/2008 10:28:22 PM)

(((Julie))) I used these soothies with my first nursling. They really did provide instant, cool relief. They don't condition the nipple skin like lanolin, but they gave more instant relief.

You could put a little bit of lanolin on the nipple before feeds, to protect it during nursing. Then just put the soothie on after nursing.



peculiar_lady2 -> RE: Got Mommy's Milk, Take 6 (5/12/2008 11:13:32 PM)

quote:

My husband does not want the baby drinking out of plastic bottles, but how do those Playtex baggie-type things hold up in comparison?

I have used the playtex nurser bottles for all four of mine Jeanie...and they hold up very well. In fact they are easy to defrost milk with too...just stick the bag under hot running water. I personally found that the drop in bags were great for freezing. I would put one in a bottle, par freeze it, so it kept the right shape, then when it was frozen enough cover it with plastic wrap and put it in either another (non-drop in) bag and close the top of into a zip top baggie.
As for the BPA question...yes they are BPA free
(ETA...tip....when you take it out of the freezer check for little pin pr*icks in the bag and I would usually double the bag in the bottle just to be sure that it wouldn't leak)

As for the other questions....
WHEN:
I found that pumping from one side (fullest side) early in the morning was the best time to get the most milk out...but everyone is different. I only successfully pumped with two of mine, thr first two, and it wasn't really very regularly...but that was always the best time for me.
TEMPERATURE:
Yes you can just heat it up to body temp when it is needed....like I said above, with the playtex nurser bottles we would just put it under running water and it would heat up or defrost nicely.
QUANTITY:
depends on the baby...we can't really say how much he gets at any age when nursing...and it probably even varies with which nursing session it is used for. I know with Jake I could pump first thing in the morning for him to have later and it would be a good 8-10 oz at about 2mo....but Hannah was doing good to be 4oz at that age.
FREEZING:
For me, if it were going to be more then three hours away then I would freeze the milk...I think it is best to freeze and not refrigerate, but that's just me...not really a very scientific answer. There were times I thought we would need it and I ended up having to waste it because it wasn't frozen...so considering all it took to get it out I didn't want to go through that, so I froze if it was over 3 hours away.
SUPPLY:
If you are occasionally pumping then it won't really affect your supply much if any. If you start doing it every day then your body will adjust to it and that will affect it. Some women can't pump with any certainty though so it really depends on your body as to if it will work or affect your supply. The reason I didn't pump with #3 and 4 is because I couldn't get anything out, so I gave up. I was most successful with baby #1 and it went downhill after that.

quote:

I have, however, gotten over my fear of clipping my son's nails! I'm an old pro at it now. I just told myself one day "Well, he's going to have to have his fingernails clipped by someone for quite a few years to come so I'd better get over it." I haven't made a mistake clipping his yet!

YAY for you!!!!

Brandy.....it really is best to make sure that baby gets the hind milk...which sometimes comes within 20 minutes, but sometimes not. You have to watch the baby's suck to figure it out. If they are only getting the foremilk though it won't fill them up as good and they will want to eat again sooner then they would if they had the more filling hind milk.
I am not sure if you know this but the way to tell if they are getting the hind milk is by watching the way they suck. At first their sucking is fast and furious, lots of movement of their whole mouth (esp upper jaw). When they get to the hind milk it is more of a lower jaw movement and slowly drawing it out...not so fast and furious as before.

cabbage...yes it can dry up your milk....you are very right about that. The only time I advocate using that method is IF you have mastitis and need to dry it up in order to get rid of the infection in that clogged duct that is causing the problem. That is very rare though...and you need to be willing to give up BFing on that side if you are going that far.


Julie....blanching...I agree with what Brandy found...it has to do with a bad latch. Maybe those links she gave will help you determine how best to fix that...but from all of my experience and reading, that is what causes it.



thisistheday -> RE: Got Mommy's Milk, Take 6 (5/12/2008 11:51:08 PM)

Julie, I hope things improve for you soon! I definitely remember being in pain while nursing.

Pumping. The easiest time to pump for me was first thing in the morning. I liked to pump with my avent isis while baby was nursing; pump on one side, baby on the other. If baby only takes one side I'd pump on the other at feeding time, or I'd pump on whichever side I thought was fullest when it was convenient for me to pump, actually.

Of course I mostly just pumped and froze the milk, just because. We used very little of the frozen milk stash. I do remember pumping in the van and putting the milk in a sippy cup for baby when she was a little older. That worked OK. It was more convenient than stopping to nurse.

Brandy, I don't think I've ever heard of pinching baby's nose to get them to unlatch. I never found it that difficult. When a baby bites I heard/read to pull baby into the breast as that will get them to unlatch (read: quit biting) quickly; that worked pretty well. I wouldn't do that unless they were biting though.

Dee



Leslie_JnJs_mom -> RE: Got Mommy's Milk, Take 6 (5/13/2008 12:00:01 AM)

Is there anyone else still nursing a little one past 3? Jessica turned 3 on February 14th. There have been time I was certain she was ready to wean in the last few months. Every time I think this is it she is done something happens and she starts nursing so sleep again.



RepentanceIsRequired -> RE: Got Mommy's Milk, Take 6 (5/13/2008 12:06:37 AM)

quote:

THIS article on Kellymom was VERY informative, maybe it can help?


Brandy -- Kudos to you for posting this link. I found a link where they talked about too fast let down which is my problem with nursing on the left side. I'm not quite ready to give up on nursing from that side (although there are times I am seriously considering it), but I got some great tips to try to help Mary adjust to nursing from that side.

quote:

I liked to pump with my avent isis while baby was nursing;


I was going to start trying this since Mary likes to feed from just one breast per feed. However for some reason, I can no longer get anything to come out from my avent isis pump. I'm pretty irritated about that. It has been maybe 2 weeks that I have pumped though. I was pumping because I was just so full and so I figured since I am going to be going back to work I'd pump to get relief and have it on hand then. But now when I try it doesn't work. I do have a Madela double pump. I have ordered tubing for it (it is used) so I am hoping that it will work better. If not I'm not sure what I will do once I start working.



thisistheday -> RE: Got Mommy's Milk, Take 6 (5/13/2008 12:14:34 AM)

Leslie, my 4yo still nurses. I think. She wasn't much into it last night. She asked this afternoon, but I told her not now. She didn't ask again. She's been down to once a day (or less) for quite a while (my choice, not hers). She hasn't nursed to sleep at night for a long time though. I've talked to her a bit about the fact that she won't be able to nurse indefinitely. I have a feeling that one day soon she'll just quit asking. I'm so ready to be done; but it still makes me sad to think about.

Dee



Leslie_JnJs_mom -> RE: Got Mommy's Milk, Take 6 (5/13/2008 12:19:24 AM)

I know what you mean about being ready to be done. I love the special bonding time we have at night when she is going to sleep and how fast is calms her down when she is fighting sleep. What is funny and adorable is when she asked to nurse and I tell her no she will run to daddy and tell him that mommy wont let her have any boo boo. He will say oh mommy let her have some boo boo she loves it so much.



thisistheday -> RE: Got Mommy's Milk, Take 6 (5/13/2008 12:27:14 AM)

It is so fun to hear the little ones talk about it! You really get a feel for how much they love their nursies.

Dee



Mrs.X -> RE: Got Mommy's Milk, Take 6 (5/13/2008 12:58:16 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: TwinCityGirl
3. QUANTITY. How much do I pump into one bottle for an 8 week, 9 week, 10 week old baby? (No, I don't have 3 babies all one week apart but how much does he need in that age range?)

Ditto everything Ryanne said. A good guesstimate a lactation nurse told me was 1oz. per 3 pounds of baby every 2-4 hours. So, a 9lb. baby would take about 3oz. of milk every 2-4 hours.

We just bought a Platex drop in...haven't tried it out yet. If you're hubby is still oppsed to plastic, Amazon has a great price on Evenflo glass bottles.



IAMJulie -> RE: Got Mommy's Milk, Take 6 (5/13/2008 1:48:04 AM)

Thank you ladies who are praying for me and for Brandy and others who posted information. I read the article on Kellymom, I will be even more aware of Gideon's latch. Sadly, I'm 99% sure that my nipple blanching is caused by my surgery i.e "nipple trauma". The same article had this to say about that:

Blanching due to vasospasm
Vasospasm, which is more severe, is a sudden constriction/narrowing of a blood vessel (in the nipple, in this case) that is extremely painful. It might occur a short time after nursing or in between nursings. Vasospasm can have various causes:

Vasospasm can be a secondary response to pain or nipple trauma (damaged nipples or thrush). In this case, the nipple(s) turns white shortly after nursing (rather than coming out of baby's mouth white and misformed). Mom might notice a white circle on the face of the nipple a few seconds to a few minutes after breastfeeding. Cold often triggers the vasospasm and/or makes it worse. Unlike blanching due to compression, latch and positioning may be fine if the source of any nipple damage has already been fixed. Healing the nipple trauma or other source of pain should eliminate the vasospasms, although they may persist for a short time after the nipple has healed (previously damaged tissue can remain sensitive for a time).

It is much worse when it's cold (which is why I can't use those lovely looking Soothies - darn it!). I found some older burp clothes that I am going to cut up into breast pads because I think that will help them to at least feel better in between nursings.

Gideon's just had a good sleep so I've had a break for a little bit. It's amazing how getting the older kids to bed and him napping a little can help my mindset. 'Course, I need to get through night nursings tonight still and for some reason, however they feel during the day, my nipples are definitely more painful at night.



TwinCityGirl -> RE: Got Mommy's Milk, Take 6 (5/13/2008 6:05:42 AM)

Thank you ladies so much for all your help on the pumping questions! I honestly did not know where to go to get that information, and I appreciate the personal stories, too, as they are very encouraging and informative, too!

My plan is to pump just on occasion when we might want to go out and have a babysitter feeding him, so probably not even once a week. Adam is stretching his own feedings out a little more now. He feeds for about 15-20 minutes at a time (whatever breast is offered, he's not picky). It used to be every 3 hours (and sometimes still is) but he can and will go for longer sometimes. Tonight he was asleep for a few hours and then awake another 90 minutes before I fed him (his choice), so he made it 4.5 hours, the last third of that being awake and not needing to feed, I guess. Many times at night he is going 4-5.5 hours so that is pretty cool. The other day it was 6.25 hours. (Yep, I count the .25!!!) (I know, how "new mom" of me, but I would LOVE 8 hours to just sleep -- 8 hours STRAIGHT THROUGH, that is.)

I remember reading Jessica M's comment one time about how you learn to live on less sleep....boy is that true.

Julie and Nicole, I will pray for you. Not that I'm an old veteran at nursing (ha!), but our baby is 8 weeks/2 days old and it *does* get better (I can say that), and Julie, I sure hope your nipples stop fighting it and get used to the idea QUICKLY. I wish I could make that pain go away for you!

Thanks again for your help, ladies!

Jeanie



peculiar_lady2 -> RE: Got Mommy's Milk, Take 6 (5/13/2008 7:51:48 AM)

Julie....is it both sides or just one that is worse then the other? I had that problem when I was nursing my third and got mastitis twice in one months time...it KILLED me pain wise. No amount of lanolin cream really helped that much with that side that I had gotten the infection on. That's really one of the main reasons I chose to just give up on that side and BF exclusively on the other side. The pain was worse during that few weeks then I have ever experienced in all the years I have nursed...I would literally cry my way through each feeding on that side. I did go back to using that side for about a month or so after baby #4 came, but I gave it up pretty quickly because I didn't find that he liked that side much at all and my carpel tunnel is worse in that wrist, so I just didn't want the fight of that side anymore (esp the thought of mastitis again....I never got that with any of them until those two times in a month with #3).

Jeanie...my tips on babysitters. I found it best when we did have people to watch our little ones, that I show up where the baby would be dropped off (unless it was at home) early enough to get one last feeding in before I left. Schedule it so that you are leaving right after a feeding if at all possible. Then have a set time that you will be back by so that the sitter knows and can determine if they need to feed the baby or just wait ten minutes til you are back. There is nothing worse then you needing to feed the baby and he/she not wanting to eat cause they just had a bottle!!!!



Karaboo2 -> RE: Got Mommy's Milk, Take 6 (5/13/2008 11:57:02 AM)

I'm not nursing right now and I'm getting nipple blanching ... especially on colder days. It has been like this since I had my reduction surgery (living where I do makes for REALLY painful winters!) On the days where it got really really bad, I would call a 'Mommy Time' and set the kids up with VeggieTales or something while I ran a warm bath and relaxed in there -- while lying on my stomach (instead of sitting properly) ... I would make sure my nips were in the warm water soaking for several minutes. I would then finish up my bath and go about the rest of my day. It really did help with the pain from the blanching due to extreme cold (we had several days where the wind chill brought the temp to -40)



Tea-Tea -> RE: Got Mommy's Milk, Take 6 (5/13/2008 12:22:06 PM)

(((((Julie))))) I'm praying. That must be so difficult. I'm pretty ignorant but would a heating pad work?

Jeanie, Medela makes bottles and nipples that are BPA free, if you're interested. Also BPA isn't a problem unless you are microwaving or heating to a high temp. My LC said milk can stand up to 8 hours at room temp. I have had no problems letting it sit out that long. I also refrigerate up to 24 hours and set it out an hour before feedings and submerge in warm (not hot) water if needed or mix half or more fresh milk with cold milk. They sell sterilized bags for storing but I just use my Medela bottles for storage.

Nicole, I only get about 1/4 or less the amount of milk with my Isis than with my Medela. Hopefully your Medela will work better.

My sore nips were definitely related to the return of Aunt Flo. Kat, you're a genius!

I never had the engorgement women talk about when my milk came in...is that okay or is something wrong? I'm wondering if that's why I've had supply issues? Course it doesn't help that I was supplimenting early on. [:'(]



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