Advice on breast feeding

i failed to breast feed with my first child. i had no milk, my breast was so engorged and i gave up. i still feel guilty about that. with this pregnancy, i hope to be able to breast feed and am determine to persevere till i am successful. however, with no experience in breast feeding, i am hoping you mothers out there who have breastfed can give me some guidelines. question... when do i start introducing my breast to the baby? what if there is no milk? do i still continue offering my breast? what if there continue to be no milk supply, when should i start giving formula before the baby gets hypoglycaemic? someone told me that i should use a breast pump and pump my milk every 2 hours, regardless of whether there is milk coming out or not. i am willing to invest in a breast pump. question.......... is electric breastpump better or manual for someone with no experience like me? i really appreciate your help and hopefully, this time i can be succesful in breastfeeding. thanks again.

baby is best.


What doesn't seem to be coming out after birth, but actually is, is colostrum. After you give birth offer your breast to the baby. Depending on where you are giving birth, most hospitals have a lactation consultant available to help. Colostrum is excellent, full of antibodies and an excellent start to breastfeeding your child.


Your milk will come. NO need for formula. Both of my kids were breastfed - one from day one, and one, because she was in in the NICU the crazy hospital here wouldn't let me feed her so they started her on formula. I was furious and hell bent on breastfeeding her, so I made my husband go home, get my breastpump, manual and electric and just stimulated like crazy since I couldn't get to my baby. It was hard work - but I was able to pump milk after 24 hours (this is after an emergency c-section mind you) and start giving the NICU my breastmilk instead of formula. (my husband went down and made a stink about this as well.)


IF your baby is healthy, no need for formula, and just keep offering your breast. My first, I was at public ward at QMH, I co-slept with my baby, and kept a chart of how often I was feeding and which side. THe nurses were impressed with my effort. (again - I was determined.) I have to say that that was MUCH easier than the pumping routine. SO try and just start from the beginning.


IT takes practice - breastfeeding is NATURAL, but not easy. Those who say they give up because it is hard -they are right -it IS hard. But in the longer run, it actually does turn out to be more convenient. (warm milk whereever you go, no need to carry extra bottles and nonsense, no need to warm up milk, no need to screw on bottles - very very convenient.) That is - after you get the hang of it.


I HIGHLY recommend getting a lactation consultant to come home and help afterwards. I used Hulda from Annerly and she was awesome, although many have also used Louise. (there is a link to her website here.)

cara and hkcc, thanks for the advice. more questions. with my last baby, i was told that i had a blocked duct, that's why milk was not coming in and i was very engorged. how do you solve a blocked duct problem because no matter how i tried to pump, not a single drop came out even after 5 days. it was really really painful. i will not be giving birth in HK but in my home country where lactation consultant is pretty rare and they mostly dont come to your home. so i am on my own, i'm afraid.

I agree with all the above posts.Self massage in a hot shower can really help with engorgment and block ducts.Also cold cabbage leaves are an excellent remedy,they seem to draw the milk out.With both my babies my milk only came in on the 4th day,so don't be discouraged,or more importantly don't let others tell you you have no milk!Remember that bf is largly hormonal and if you let someone get into your head about not having enough milk it can hinder your progress.I too would recommend you get in contact with the LLL and get all the advice you can before the fact.It is hard work in the beginning but by eight weeks you will have a good supply going and then its the easiest thing.So worth it in my opinion.

for a blocked duct it is massage and sucking that is most effective. You can take lecithin I believe as well to help reduce the frequency of such things possibly happening as well. In the old days, in Korea, supposedly the grandmas would help release the blocked ducts by continual and very painful massage to help break it down.


Whereever you home country is, they probably have a LLL - and they can also refer you to a lactation consultant. I've even found one in Seoul - and the breastfeeding population here is LESS THAN 10%. You can find one -it is an invaluable resource - some insurances also provide for lactation consultants, so if you can it is worth it.

Begin attending La Leche League meetings now, while you are pregnant. Your older child will be welcome to attend with you. La Leche League is composed of mothers like you and me who found breastfeeding rewarding and they want to share it, so they do additional training and volunteer their time. There are no fees and they have no profit motive, just accurate information, good support, and friendship for the future. It sounds like you had a bad and painful experience the first time, no good support, and I promise this time can be better.

mother_2005,


with both my kids, my milk/colostrum came in within a few hours of having my c-section. the first had some problem latching on, initially, but he got the hang of it, soon enough. But at his 14-day checkup it was found that he had not gained weight. What made breastfeeding a nightmare was my breasts - engorgement, sore/cracked nipples, blocked ducts and the mother of all, breast abcess (I & D under general anaesthesia and 10-day hospital stay with a 2-month-old). It was awfully painful, to say the least. Because the incision was along the periphery of the areola, I had to quit nursing from that side and supplement with formula (in bottles). He started gaining weight by leaps and bounds. That part was heartening but what was not was his susbsequent lack of interest in breastfeeding with the result that I started making less milk and had to stop altogether by 6 months.


With my second, I was determined not to let my past history bog me down and am glad to say that by the grace of God, I managed to breastfeed exclusively for 6 months and am still nursing him in his eighth month. Not that it was smooth sailing, this time. I had episodes of blocked ducts at least once in 4 days during the first 3 months (almost none, now) but the difference is that I know how to handle it now. So take heart, if I can do it, so can you.


As many others have pointed out, breastfeeding really is a lot of hard work - but only for some moms. All said and done, bottle feeding has its advantages - children do not wake up so often during the night, dad/caregiver can help with the feeds and last but not the least, no embarassment about feeding the child in public in a place like Hong Kong. If it weren't for the benefits, I would have quit breastfeeding long back!!


Good luck

thanks everyone for your support. i am so touched! sob sob. i will try my very best to breastfeed this time and hopefully i can come back with good news in the next few month. thanks again. will try to attend the next lll meeting at starbucks.

Looks like you have already had some great advice from everybody.


Other points to bear in mind:


* Colostrum (the first milk) is only supposed to be in a very small quantity. The newborn baby's stomach is very small and doesn't need a large quantity. It is still the perfect food for your baby. I have found that this fact is not well known amongst medical staff who see bottle-feeding as the norm. They are either ignorant, or preferring bottle-feeding for their own reasons -easy to tick boxes about quantity consumed, more straightforward for them, etc - and they don't care as much as you do about the long-term health benefits to your baby of being breastfed. So don't believe anyone who tells you in the first few days that you haven't got enough milk!


* If your breasts are engorged, your milk HAS "come in". If the baby appears not to be draining them effectively, your baby may not be latched on perfectly, which is usually very easy to correct if you get the right advice.


*If you truly won't have any support in your home country, try to get hold of a video which shows correct latching. Getting advice in advance will be great, but I found that at least for myself it didn't all "sink in" fully until I started trying to breastfeed my own baby. LLL in HK have some great latching videos that you could take away with you. Latching diagrams are also useful. You can also get advice from LLL via email if that's your only option.


* Every baby is so different, so don't be disheartened by your previous experience. I know many mothers whose 1st/2nd/3rd babies were very different in how easily they learned to breastfeed. Many times it is easier with later babies, because at least you are more comfortable and relaxed handling newborns. Especially with all the new advice and support you will have, I'm sure you'll be fine!

You sound very disappointed about not breastfeeding your first baby. However, subsequent pregnancy's and breastfeeding experiences can be very different and often successful. Skin to skin contact with your baby after delivery for the first two hours or until the baby has the first breastfeed is one of the ten steps to successful breastfeeding. Colostrum is produced in the second trimester of pregnancy so all women have some at delivery.



Milk supply is based on supply and demand. The more baby feeds and removes the milk , the more your body will make. The baby requires unlimited access to the breast 8 to 12 per day and must latched and positioned correctly. I would advise you to meet with a board certified lactation consultant prior to your delivery to discuss the management of successful breastfeeding. The Matilda International Hospital has a breastfeeding clinic on Monday afternoons from 1300 to 1700. Call 2849-1500 for more information.


Well Baby Clinic

Matilda International Hospital

Hong Kong

http://www.matilda.org

thanks matilda. one question, i have checked the website of LLL, they dont have one in malaysia. does anyone know if they have an informal one in malaysia? is electric or manual pump better based on your experience??

Why don't you try contacting the Singapore group and ask them about breastfeeding support in Malaysia?


Electric or manual... depends on personal preference, and how often you will be using it. If you are going back to work full-time, a double electric pump will be worth the investment (and the best ones can be rented). If just for occasional use, a single pump either manual or electric will be fine.


Manual is obviously cheaper, and many people find they can express just as much as (and sometimes more than) an electric pump. It's down to personal preference: you need to feel relaxed while pumping. Some people feel more relaxed with an electric one because they don't have to make any physical effort; others find that the noise of the machine impedes relaxation. A manual one is more discreet if you are going to be using it in places where people can overhear you such as toilets - not ideal I know, but sometimes you've got to relieve those bursting breasts!


I also found a manual one good for expressing milk while baby is feeding on the other side without distracting baby, which takes advantage of the baby stimulating letdown on the other side.


And some people never use a pump - if you are going to be full-time at home with your baby, you won't need one. You can relieve any engorgement by hand-expression in the shower.

Wow are you in Malaysia, because your ID says you are in Hong Kong? It's true that there's no substitute from advice and support from someone who knows what they're doing, and by that I mean somebody who is either a breastfeeding mommy like LLL or a lactation consultant. Could you try calling the local hospitals and ask if any of them have certified lactation consultants on staff? Preferably to meet with you ahead of the birth, and then at least one follow up during the newborn time. Many lactation consultants will do a home visit. On the breast pump idea -- if you start off pumping, you automatically risk getting off to a bad start. The baby is the best pump, and if you introduce artificial nipples early on you also risk nipple confusion in baby. Best to only breastfeed with no pumping for a month if possible, in my opinion, and only pump after everything is well established and routine.

I would second Meiquoren's advice about pumping. I assumed you wanted to know in advance about which pump to buy.