(2006/09) SEPTEMBER 2006 MTB

<font color="aa00aa">michelle, angeline</font>
I dun wear bra or breast pads at home too, cos the abrasion against my nipples is so uncomfy. But the leaks can be quite bothersome. Can happen anytime, even when i'm having my meals or in bed. Wonder if it'll still be like this 3 mths down the road when we return to work? Can be embarrassing if u're not careful &amp; u wet ur blouse! my colleague back fr mat. leave wears a shawl all the time.

<font color="aa00aa">angeline</font>,
aye, u &amp; hubby on ur own too ah! Quite 'shiong' hor? cos got to do everything urself. And every day is like dejavu... we operate like clockwork.. feed, bathe, cook, clean... Ya, we've so much in common! hehe... But u seem so much more experienced than me!

<font color="aa00aa">domesticgoddess</font>,
OIC! yup i know when i've hind milk now!
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michelle, should change breast pads whenever it is wet, even if only slight dampness as the dampness will cause sore nipples.

angeline, your hb can be home with you for a few months? what work does he do?
 
hi puppylove,
ur PD also Dr Ong EK ah.... well same here
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Emma,
maybe u should try letting Enzo latch direct to increase ur milk supply. cos sincei latch Zhaohui direct 2 wks ago my milk flow increased a lot. initially my hubby n i was very worried cos we cant monitor his intake anymore after direct latching and also everytime he only latch 10-15mins then he wont want anymore but today i brought him to PD n weighs him.... guess wat he gain 620grams since 2 wks ago... we were so so happy cos at least i wont be worried abt whether he drinks enough...??? whether he drinks e foremilk only n miss e hind milk since he only latch 10-15mins?? now all our worries r gone
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Zhaohui has gained 1.775kg since he discharged 6wks ago.... so on ave he is gaining 300grams per wk.
 
elaine, that is excellent weight gain. i can fully understand how happy you and hb must have felt. That is why all BF advocates kept insisting that if we TBF, bb will get enough to eat and best way to gauge is weight gain.

As bb feed more efficiently via direct latching, they will even be able to get the hindmilk even if they are feeding for only 10-15 min.
 
oh dear .... we shld change our breast pads when it is wet? errr ... very siong leh if i change it every now and then .... coz mine ... quite jialet if i dun wear bra and pad....it will keep leaking. i only change once a day.. isit ok? i almost used up 1 box of pigeon breast pad soon!!! imagine only 15 over days! Will be broke if i have to keep changing leh.

my ger also wake up longer compare to first week. she can stay awake for 1-2 hrs after feed/bath. at night she only wake up once...her feeding time is as follows: 12am, 3am, 6am, 9am
so i'm quite glad that she wake up less often in the night time already.....it should be quite usual for babies...thats what my mom told me.
 
domestic goddess,
my hubby works in the film making industry. He has changed from a full time with a production house to work as a freelancer so that we can learn to take care of our new addition to the family together.

rainnie,
you might want to consider using the washable breast pads in place of the disposable ones.


After I latch baby on for 30 minutes on each side, she is still unsatisfied. She is still very much awake and asking for more food. Should I continue to latch her or supplement with FM (Now I supplement with FM). I do notice that baby tend to get impatient when the breast milk is not coming out fast enough for her.
 
angeline
my bb has the same prob as yours - too impatient to suckle fr the breast that's y in the end i end up expressing the milk and giving to him in a bottle
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i still trying to latch him on but will see how it goes.. sigh. really envy those of u who hv ur bb latch on directly liao.

my in laws are helping to bathe my son this confinemt mth cos we not allowed to touch water rite? i cant wait to take over all these activies after my confinemt cos i dun feel very close to him at the moment... some more feeding oso done by them cos using bottle mah. dunno whether my son still know i'm his mommy or not leh.
 
Hi mommies..
for those who latch bb on.. do you have to clean ur nipples with a sterile cotton ball before each feed???

Dumpty.. can can.... think i muz drive lorry in next time alr!!! lol..
 
oya.. one more question.. do u all think that the FM from JB is different than what we get here??? how come it can be $10 cheaper per tin???
 
For those taking fenugreek, how many capsules we should take per day to increase BM supply? GNC's recommended dosage is 1 - 2 per day... I remember someone saying that we need to take at least 6 - 9 capsules daily in order to see a significant increase.
 
hi angeline/michelle,
by rite BM shld come out faster then bottle teat. cos my boy only need to latch 10-15mins on my breast but if bottlefeed he takes longer. anyway if ur baby not impatient then u continue to latch then e supply will come faster... initially if supply not enough then baby will demand for feeding every hr... once ur milks comes in slowly baby will only need to feed 2 hrly.... or longer.
if baby really so impatient n keeps crying then give some FM as long as baby got milk to drink n feel contended.... tat's e most impt

dont be too stress abt BF.... our supply dont come overnite n also all of us meet different difficulties abt BF.... dont GIVe UP... jia you!!
 
Emma actually must clean our nipple b4 every feed but i lazy nv used sterilize cotton ball liao... just use a wet handkercheif then later can use tat to wipe baby's after feeding tooo heehee i'm a dirty mameeee
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Michelle,
My Rhys is the same as you. Too impatient to suck from my breast. Always ends up crying. So no choice gave him EBM in bottles too.
Now I also dun know whether should I try to latch again or not... sigh... feel bad abt it...

Now my milk is still quite low. Can only get 50-70ml per session. Not enuff for him to drink. If latch, does it mean that he will not get enuff milk too??? Should I latch again?
 
It's normal for bb to have hiccups.. but my confinement lady say if bb has hiccups, means that they are going to shit ... haa! Sometimes, it's quite true.. after hiccup.. they poo!!
 
I don't feel any 'letdown' and so I only use the unlatching method to check for colour of my milk. But when I pump, I noticed that I tend to be able to pump out very little 'thick' milk. Usually at the beginning of the pumping session, I'll be able to get sprays, but by the time the thicker hind milk comes in, I'll be down to droplets of milk. Wonder if that's why she's always get hungry faster after DBF cos I don't produce enough hind milk for her?

I'm starting to get confuse if my DBF is enough for my gal. Sometimes after an 1 hour session of DBF, she can stay calm and sleep for 2.5 - 3 hours, and at other times, she will still be asking for more, really don't know when I have enough and when I don't. Husband don't agree to let baby latch on for more than 1.5 hours cos he feels that she will just get into a bad habit of comfort sucking. Should I just give up DBF and provide EBM + FM up to the amount she needs?
 
hi michelle and mummie of rhys,

if we give bb ebm instead of direct latch on, will our supply slowly stop? ive heard direct latch on is the best to stimulate supply, even pumping cant compare to it.

my bb oso hiccups a lot. i read from the singapore baby's and child's clinic booklet tt it's perfectly normal and nothing to worry abt.
 
during confinement we're not supposed to touch water but i touched a lot liao coz hv to wash and sterilise the pump everytime after use right?
 
Mummie_of_Rhys
i oso same as u.. each session can get only about 70ml.. that's just enuf for 1 feed so i'm still trying to catch up to his demand cos he feeds every 2 hrs whereas i pump only every 3 hrs.

every time i try latching him - even when he's in gd mood - the session always ends up wif him crying. its like i'm teasing him like dat leh so he gets very frustrated wif the slow milk flow. i think i'm about to give up the idea of latching him on forever liao
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edksd
its true direct latch is still the best way to stimulate supply, but i know of some pple who still mng to give ebm for 9 mths leh w/o any direct latch. perhaps they are one of the lucky pple who's milk flow is a lot :p

so if bb hiccups, we can just leave them there till it goes off by itself is it? or must still give water?
 
hi domesticgoddess, is it true tt 10-15min latch on bb will get hind milk? sometimes my son latch on for 5-10min and he starts to fall asleep. in order to let him get the hind milk, i've to constantly touch his chin to wake him up and let him suckle on and then v quickly he falls asleep again and ive to repeat the cycle again. i duno must repeat until when then he'll get the hind milk. how i wish there's a meter telling me this's foremilk now, this's hindmilk now, bb has drank how many ml so far, etc.
 
i think im super insensitive, when u gals mention let the breasts drain empty, i know it's supposed to feel like a strain/pull, but tell u what, most of the time i dun feel it at all... so i duno whether my breasts are emptied or not leh... the more i try to wait and feel it, the more i dun think i felt it... alamak... i wait until i want to doze off already...
 
edksd,
I also afraid that if I just pump and dun latch, will my milk supply stop very soon?? Can only pray hard liao. I also keep hearing that latching is best, latch promotes BM supply but for my case, he dun want liao leh... keep crying... I see liao I also want to cry...

Michelle,
at least you still keep trying to latch. I give up one week ago liao. I totally can understand your situation, coz that is exactly what happen to me too... when seeing him cry, I rather dun force him to latch and just give him the bottle. At least he got his milk peacefully...

as for hiccups, you can just leave him alone. Slowly it will go off. Sometimes my confinement lady will give some water for comfort. I think leave him alone is ok.
 
Dear Gals,

Anyone here need breast pad.
I have one box of unopen pigeon breast pad (34pcs+6pcs) selling $9 only.

Anyone interested pls sms me 96604495
Collection: AMK MRT or Sembawang MRT
 
angeline, hope you don't get it the wrong way, but are you certain that your gal is latching on properly? If you want to TBF, then you should just feed on demand until your bb is satisfied (instead of supplementing with FM), provided she is not comfort sucking. I posted a long post recently about checking for comfort sucking. If you are keen to know more, do check it out.


To answer the mummies' concerns about whether BM supply will diminish with 100% expressing and no latching on, the answer is YES, UNLESS you express at regular intervals of 2 or 3 hours (which is how regular a latched-on bb will feed). Sorry, but there are no shortcuts.

edksd, yes your hindmilk will come in between the 10th and 15th min (to be very exact) of proper latching. And unfortunately, we do have to keep stimulating our bb to wake up if they tend to fall asleep before 10 min is up. Again no shortcuts if you want to BF for long.

angeline, I have not read anything before that suggests the possibility of more foremilk than hindmilk. But I wonder if it is related to your diet as I am certain that a nursing mum should ensure she takes sufficient carbohydrates at each meal.. which accounts for the fat content in her BM. The hindmilk is made up of mainly fat and protein which is what newborn needs. So if nursing mum eats very little carbs, her BM will be lower in fat which is not good for the growing bb.
 
100% EBM - my experience

By the way, I shared with Emma before that I TBF my son for 4 months via 100% EBM. At the peak of my BF, I could express 300ml of BM in 45 min using the Medela mini-electric. He only latched 100% for 1st 2 weeks and after we made the mistake of introducing pacifier and bottles, he had nipple confusion and refused latching (as it is harder work for the bb). So I had no choice but switched to total expressing and gave EBM. I managed to keep my supply up because I expressed 8 times a day. Even during his growth spurts when he could drink 120ml/feed every 3 hrs, I was able to meet his demand thru expressing.

But I had a lot of other problems - engorgement, mastitis, and almost abscess which resulted in me seeing a breast specialist that cost $120 per visit. So that is VERY EXPENSIVE and PAINFUL too.
 
edksd, you don't necessarily have to feel any pulling when the breast is drained. As long as you feel that it has gone soft (to your touch) as compared to when it is full, then it is drained.
 
Emma, I read somewhere before (but donno how true) that the formulation of FM in different countries may be slight different in the composition of vitamins and minerals content as FM has to be mixed with the local water to make into milk. And water from every country differs in level of minerals. As such the FM composition also differs to suit the water.

Also, I do question the quality control sometimes of some other countries. IMO, I prefer to buy FM in Singapore even if costs more as I have more faith in QA here vs. in other neighbouring countries, after all that is bb's food. But nappies are different.

Just my 2 cents worth.
 
Emma, I used to clean my nipples with cooled boiled water and didn't bother to dry it with cotton ball or cloth as I didn't want the fibre from the cotton ball or cloth to be stuck to the nipples. Cooled boiled water is safe for bb.

But it is a lot of hassle though. I know a lot of mummies who didn't clean her nipples at every feed, just remove nursing bra/pad and feed directly. Their bb seem fine too.
 
rainnie, I saw lots of different brands of washable pads at John Little, but you can probably find the Tollyjoy ones in NTUC.

Domesticgoddess,
Thanks for your advice. I'm sure Trinity is latched on properly, just that she is 'lazy'. She will suck vividly for less than 5 minutes and then her sucking will feel like a tickle to me. So I think at this time she is not really sucking the milk already. As the 'drainage' is not visible, I can only guess. But when she is bottle fed, she will finish her 60 - 80 mls in about 10 minutes. But when she is on the breast she can be on it for more than 1 hour and still not be satisfied.

I have had a few pumping session in the last few days (but I still continue to let Trinity latch whenever I feel that my breast can 'satisfy' her. This is what I found, perhaps you can give me some advise. When there is a 5 - 6 hour laspe between the last pump / latch, I can manage to express approximately 50 - 60 ml, however when there is only 2 - 4 hours interval, I get only 30 - 40ml. Looking at this, how can the 40ml be enough for my Trinity every 2 hours?? Also, after about 15 minutes on the electric pump, I see that very little milk is coming out (almost no more milk).

Do you really think that if I pump obediently every 3 hours regardless what amount I manage to express out, that my milk supply will slowly increase?
 
angeline, thanks....i will go and check it out after my confinement :p

Why dont u try to express every 2 hrs instead of 3hrs? Regular express or latch on .. i suppose would help to increase the milk supply. I let my ger latch on as and when she wants (abt 2hrs interval) and now my supply quite gd ya....this morning i managed to express out abt 150-200 ml
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Vivian, my situation is the same as yours... bb refuse to latch... I express about 3 times a day (Lazy mum!!!) and my BM supply has dwindled... Like what domesticgoddess said, if you intend to feed your bb with EBM, you will need to pump every 3 hours to maintain supply...
 
Rainnie.. every 2 hrs can die lehz.. that means expressing for 1 hr, 1 hr break, then expressing again!!! how to feed baby??? and muz wash and sterilise the pump... think that will only make me give up faster!!! haha....
 
i'm trying my best to express every 3 hrs now. i cant seem to meet the 2 hr schedule cos its crazy hving to sterilise everything so often! unless i go buy more of those breast shields so no need to wash so much...

domesticgoddess,
it's quite inspiring to hear that you mng to TBF your bb by EBM for 4 mths! i shall strive to do that too... so the secret is regular pumping huh. at the moment, i can express abt 80-90ml in a 30-min session after a 3 hr break. when did your peak come in, ie when u cd express 300ml? i mean, in which mth did that happen?

Mummie_of_Rhys
i think i gonna give up trying to latch him direclty liao. like u said, everytime try oredi then see him cry like torturing him like dat. i oso feel bad ...
 
can i check w u all, each time i latch bb on, each side of the breasts abt 15min. right after tt, i start pumping and i can fetch abt 30-50ml. how much do u think bb has taken from the latch on? why still got so much leftover (referring to the 30-50ml)?
 
Amy,
I expressing 2-3 hrs regularly liao. Every session can only get 50-70ml. Dun seems to increasing lor. Sigh.

Michelle, Emma,
I think hor, the 3 of us can be pumping buddies liao... we so the same...
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emma, y u express 1 hr meh? I take 15 mins to express frm both side leh. I'm using medela dual mini pump hor .. and u noe what i did....hehehe lazy me .. i only use 1 pump loh so I steralize once can use 2 time mah ... cuz got 2 pump.

edksd, its difficult to tell how much ur bb drinks from 1 breast leh. I oso have problem telling how much my ger drinks so this morning i express out my milk ... pour 100ML in a milk bottle and my mom gave her...she finish abt 70ml .. so from there i know how much she drink loh
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got a funny question to ask .... :p
since I'm bf hor .. after confinement right can we drink cold drinks? Coke...ice cream....eg???? My mom say NO coz ... it will cause my ger to cough .....
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any one can advise? I got urge to have a cup of CokE!!!!!
 
hi rainnie...
since u so scared then drink it straight after u BF ur girl... by e time u BF again think e coke dissolved in ur body liao..heehee
 
elaine, is a bit difficult to describe how to massage baby stomach for faster burping and get rid of wind. Below is the way, hope you understand what i mean
1. place your right hand on bb stomach and move your hand from left to right in a circular motion follow by the left hand. Do for 5 to 10 secs
2. place your hand on bb stomach and move in a downward motion follow by the other hand. Do for 5 to 10 sec
3. Use your right hand, write inverted "I L U" (with bb facing you) - which they call "I Love U" technique. Do for 3 to 5 times can liao
4. Use your fingers tap on ur bb stomach in a circular motion.
5. Follow by hold your bb both legs toward her/ his stomach. This technique will make bb pass out wind from their buttock. This work very well for my gal. Do 3 to 5 times or as you wish.
Then you can start burping your baby. Enjoy the massage.

Regards breastfeeding,
Now i managed to pump out 130ml to 160ml per 3 or 3.5 hourly session. At night i will make myself sleep throughout 1am to 5am (cos TMC parentcraft told me 1am to 5am is the best time for us to rest then can get more milk) than ard 6.30am i will wake up to pump out the milk and i massaged to get 280 to 310ml each time.
Before expressing or latching on, i will clean my breast with warm boiled water.
Regards to storaging of expressed milk, do anyone advise on the following: i expressed and kept my expressed milk in the fridge, can i after that (maybe after 12 hours) kept that milk in the freezer (inorder to store longer)? And if kept in the freezer, can store for how long? 3 or 6months?
 
e-ling, the method u taught .. is to let the baby let out wind from buttock right .. what abt from mouth? it works also meh? I know the steps .. when i went for the antenatal class they got teach.

What i know is ... 24 hrs in fridge and 3 months in freezer
 
Me have started bring my gal out. This pic taken when she is 6week old.
My gal having cradle cap on her eye brow leh. Havent goes off yet. I started applying barrier cream, hope it will go away soon.
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