About BREASTFEEDING

S

snowy01

New Member
hihi,

wonder if anyone can share whether they feed baby water when on total breastfeeding? or when to start giving water? is it a must to give water when on TBF? as i find it super hard to let down when trying to express, i seldom express my milk. so i worried if i give baby water, if baby going through growth spurt and i dint realise it by giving water, the result of less baby sucking, less stimulation, my milk will end up to be not enough. WORRIES WORRIES WORRIES.

if baby 6 months start solids, less frequent on direct breastfeeding, will milk supply eventually stop? so is it a must to express out?

please advice, as breastfeeding is really important for me and baby. thanks a lot.

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i had never given my girl any water till she is only partial solid. cos BF is already alot of water content. i guess it differs for mothers to mothers. so its totally up to u to decide.
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thanks a lot!
im also thinking no need to give water until start solids, but faced a lot of negative response. everyone arn me say must give water. so stressful, as i will always be asked, 'so baby stil drinking BM only ar?'

but when intro water later will baby dun like to drink water? some say on tbf when wanna intro water in future becomes very hard. should use bottle for water or cup?

sorry for the trouble.. thanks a lot!
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MY PD said it's NOT necessary to give water to baby when Im breastfeeding. Even when I went to the ante-natal class at TMC, the lactation consultant said no need to give water. I think this applies only when your baby is on FM & solids.

Or when bb is on TBF but the mum has not much milk and BB totally dehydrated with no urine.
 
thanks a lot! so no water is fine then.

anyway, anyone has experience of bb sucking loudly either on the breast or pacifier or teat? and is it advisable to give pacifier?
 
With proper latching, you shouldnt hear loud sucking, instead look out for the swallowing sounds. With loud sucking, baby could be swallowing air too. But this is what I heard from PD and the hospital nurses. Can anyone confirm this?

A few weeks back, I couldnt take my baby's constant screaming, I plugged in a pacifier in her mouth. She took it for a couple of days but I think she realised there's no milk, so she's refusing it now.

Apparently, if baby is too dependant on a pacifier, he or she will have buck teeth. But when I saw my friend's kids who were given pacifiers when small, their teeth look normal.

When I asked my gynae, she said her daughter was given pacifier too but later on learned to suck her thumb, which could be worse for buck teeth due to a harder surface. She said, at least with a pacifier, she can throw it away but she cant possibly throw her daughter's thumb away, can she?
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I think it's up to individual but given a choice, I wouldnt think it's the best solution. But whatever works for your child...
 
thanks honeygem,

i do hear my bb swallowing when he sucks, especially in the first few minutes... i was so desperate i actually counted the number of times he sucked...
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but i jus cant figure out why there is this sucking sound...

well... i heard bout the teeth prob too. and i also read that bb might not latch on as well if given pacifier.. then i realised bb makes that sound too on the pacifier.. and it is relly quite loud... dunno if there is any mothers who faced the same case too...
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I have two gals, 27 mth and 5 mth.

For my 1st gal, I gave BM and FM at night. I BM her for 1 year. I do give her water as she perspires (on the head) like nobody's business and when her lips are a bit dry. I am doing the same for second gal cos she also persires a lot on the head and plan to BM her for 1 year too.

My 5 mth old baby gal sucks loudly on the pacifier when she is excited or hungry. So far no case of sucking loudly when on bottle or breast.

Agree with some mummies here that individuals have different practices. I listen to PD, GPs and lactation for their advices. However, I will assess and see if what their advice are applicable for my gals. At the end of the day, you know your baby best. So trust your maternal instinct.


I have just stop pacifier for my 1st gal as I can see the right side of her gums and teeth being pused upwards by the pacifier. For second gal, I gave her pacifier but she looks will throw it out after if she does not like it.
 
ooh... seems like only my darling sucks so loudly de... dunno why also... funny...

ooh.. so the pacifier really has that bad effect... hmm..

btw, ur gals will still latch on well and happily despite giving them bottle as well isit? cos for my case got short nipple, i dunno if i give bottle will my bb dun wan to lactch on as it is harder to do so with my short nipple?? is there supposed to be slight dimpling of the cheeks when bb latch on properly??
 
cin, if bb sucking loudly, do check latching. it could be he's hanging on to the nipple? make sure the areola is in the mouth. if you have a physical issue, best you go to consultant to get help and advice.

TBF bb do not need extra water becos bm is mostly water. however you do want to check for pee and poo. make sure bb wets about 5 - 8 diapers a day. if bb is dehydrated, there'll be signs like lethargy. if you think bb is thirsty, latch on!

you can offer water when bb starts solids. a few tsp per meal sufficient. after all, remember that bb's stomach is only as big as her fist. how much can she stomach??!
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thanks a lot snort!
wen i wa stil in the hosp, the LC did come and help, but dunno why wen LC around, baby latch o ok leh. then wen i do it again, the sound came back. but so far dint get sore nipples. thing is the same sound is made wen he suck the pacifier.. and the pacifier bobs in and out, cant hold in place, gotta hold for him. any idea wats wrong? if really cannot then gotta go see the LC again..

well, but at least im assured that i dun nitta give him water. thanks a lot..
 
Along as as bb is drinking enough bm, there's no need to give water. I nurse #1 till 3yo and only gave her water when she started solids at 5 months. With #2, I only started him on solids at 7.5 months, and so, he only started drinking water then.
 
cin, suggest you check with LC, best to nip the problem in the bud now than later. or call them to ask. bb could be playing? not hungry? does he do it everytime you nurse? if yes then best get help. if not, then maybe not hungry?

agree with Reena, i gave my boy water/barley water only when he started solids and only during the meal. don't attempt to give bb a lot of food in the beginning. try one meal a day first, usu in the evening when ms at lowest. i normally feed him around 5pm. also, feed him AFTER you bf. remember that bb still derives a lot of his nutrients from bm in first year, so no need to overdo the food.
 
hi.. i also only started giving water when i started on solids at 4.5m.. even then only a few teaspoons..

i also have a qn.. my baby's 9m+ now and almost totally breastfed all the way.. now she's TBF plus solids.. i used to have no problems pumping out my milk.. about 120mls 3 hourly.. now when i feel breast is full and pump (using the PIS) can only pump out 10mls after 45min.. and breast still feels full.. but when my baby latches, can feel the letdown and baby can latch 1 hourly and still have milk, but when pump just can't pump milk out.. anyone experience this? how??? it's a pblm cos i'm going back to work soon and if i can't pump, then baby will have to switch to fm..
 
Hi fushiastar,

this happen to me recently, my baby going 9mth, and also TBF. No sign, no warning, suddenly i can only pump 1/3 of the usual amt as i am working. i was totally stress out cos he dun take fm.
so i back to 3hrly pump and ss improve slightly. previously i used to haf enuf to feed 2 babies, now hardly enuf, still got to ration between the feeds. anyone can help??
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fuschiastar n littlefire: Dun worry lah. This is happening to me too. I read that by this time our bodies make milk not on progesterone but milk is made more readily triggered by bb's sucking action. The pump can never be close to bb's real sucking. What I do is I hand express after I can get whatever amt from the pump. The overall output is still a little less than before but what to do leh..
 
agree with kris, by now, your body has adjusted to what bb is drinking. are you ladies latching both sides every time you nurse and how ofen?

i had the same problem when i started pumping last month for his cereal... but gave up.

if you want to increase, just keep pumping. it may take a week or 2 for ss to increase but it will...or do tandem feeding/pumping. when your bb suckles, the letdown occurs on both sides and you will pump easier.
 
<font face="Calisto mt"> I really encourage to hand express after u pump. Breastpump will nv b able to empty ur breast fully. U will be surprised w e amt u can still hand xpress out after ur pumping session</font>
 
so the thing to do is hand express? k , i go try tonight.. i always latch both sides.. hope can still pump out some milk.. v sad to pump for 45 min and only max 20 mls and breast still feels full.. then wait for baby to want to latch to unload milk..
 
hey ladies,

thanks for all the replies. anyway, i also cant pump out much, so so hard to let down. but bb suck can let down very fast. then i also use hand express once wen i had low milk supply.


my bb does that sucking sound since day 1. and i really dunno if that was ok. even wen LC came wen i in hosp, he stil have that sound though not as loud as it can get now. and he can poo basically almost everyday, 3 mths now already. once in a while then he poo once in 2/3 days. and wen he does poo in 2/3 days, the poo was so much, and sometimes look much more watery than his evreyday poo. sigh.. duno normal or not.

then since yesterday, he seems to be hving a nursing strike or something. he took in a few mouthfuls, then started crying so so badly. then i express some out n try bottle, and he happily drink. so sad... then i keep trying to let him latch on, he cry until wanna fall asleep.. sigh.. anyone had babies going thru that before?

tomolo gotta bring him for the 3rd mth jab, then if still cannot maybe really gotta see the LC, dunno wats the prob. i had a flu n sore throat, took the medication that the GP said was safe for breastfeeding, and tasteless. dunno if that was one of the reasons he refusing.. but he can take thru bottle leh. my hb said he 3mths liao, so getting more sensible n clever, maybe jus wanna try luck see got easier way to drink or not, cos i got short nipple, bit harder than normal to latch on... sigh... anyone has this kind of encounter before? so so sad...

need help so so so badly... even call LC jus now also say go see them tomolo, cant help over the phone. dunno today how to get him to drink. so worry ms drop, so worry get plugged ducts also, and so worry he not drinking. tomolo jab wil get fever somemore.. sigh... dunno isit a live polio or not. cos live polio got higher risk leh. cheers to mom's worries... sigh...
 
Hey Cin, you do sound very worried. My baby is the same with poo. I was worried at first too but PD reassured me that as they grow, babies will learn to consolidate their poo into one big present for us.
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thanks a lot honeygems.
think my boy recently getting a bit better le. thanks a lot anyway. called up another LC for advice, and think things got better now.
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Hi mummies, I am new to this thread and BF hope u can help me clear some doubts.

I hav just started BF my 1mth old bb. Currently he is taking abt 100 -120ml of EMB/FM. When i latch him on, he takes abt 10-15mins on 1 breast and stop after it. He doesn;t feed on the 2nd breast. Is this enuf for him? After nursing, he'll fall asleep.

Then, as i still bottlefeed him EBM, sometimes he shows he wants more milk after a feed, and i'll latch him on. and this might take also abt 10-15mins. Which means he is actually taking 100-120ml of EMB + BF, is this normal? is he sucking for comfort? but as i have not express yet, there is still milk in the breast.

Looks like bottlefeedign him tends to lead to more intake of milk, isn't it?

Hope mummies here can help me out. Thks in advance..
 
misaryyeo,
I am not experienced at BFG, however i do read up tt u can monitor the number of wet diapers ur baby has. Issit at least 6-8 wet diapers a day? As for soiled diapers, since he is alrdy >1 mth old, sometimes he can go w/o poo poo for a few days, and its considered normal. but the wet diapers shld remain tt quantity.

I think they will prefer btl feeding aft a while coz they do not need to 'work' (i.e suckling) to take in milk since the milk will auto flow out.

hope the other ladies here can help and pardon me, this unexperienced MTB contributing now.
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Hi babyzucchini, thks for ur help..

i feel he seems to like to latch on.. the no. of wet and soil daipers is abt there.. cos i am doing btl and BF together. nowi am just wondering if i shld BF or btl feed? i have intention to stop BF in end sept, hopefully can make only 2 BF a day from my side.. but if i BF, its seems like i got to feed more often.. isn;t it?
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Hi misaryeo

For my case, I only managed to latch on my bb after 3 months. Have been doing bottle-fed EBM all the while. From my experience recently with direct BF him, yah....bf him shortens the time-interval between feeds. If bottle-feed him normally can tahan for 3 hrs. I reckon my bb actually takes less when direct latch on, b'coz he tends to fall asleep while nursing. Also, I did pump out after bf, n notice the difference betw 2 sides are not as much as he drinks from bottle. (He only nurses 1 side each time)

If you decides to wean your bb off the breast, maybe you want to increase the EBM instead of latching him on after bottle-feeding? Also, check if your bb is sucking for comfort by observing his sucking motion. When my bb turns to sucking for comfort, his sucking becomes suck-pause-suck-pause as compared to when he's drinking with continuous sucking action for a longer time...
 
ladies
need some help here...
I will be delivering next month, mil told me the confinement food will be cooked with red wine. Any concern if I will be breast feeding?
Do I need to pump out the breast milk 1st?
 
misaryeo,
if u intend to stop BF nxt mth, then i guess u gotta do it slowly and gradually. u can try decreasing the frequency of feeding ur baby, like instead of 3 hrs, stretch it to every 4 hourly? then keep decreasing so tt the engorgement wun hit u at once. i am not too sure abt this. hope some experienced mummies can advise.

doggiesmummy,
i think we can still take food cooked wif red wine. coz the alcohol will dissipate during cooking, leaving behind the 'goodness' of the wine, so shld b safe. if we do drink wine directly (like DOM) then best to drink aft we BF the bb or pump out 1st, and wait for at least 2 hrs b4 we nxt BF baby. hope it helps.
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hi ladies,
for me, my bb feed on one side also, and on tbf. actually i think bb takes in more than we think they do. cos their sucking is more effective than pumping. so even after bf, u pump out seems like not much difference from the 2 sidesw, but in actual fact bb took in more than wat was measured.
if bb fall asleep during bf, can try to tickle his tummy or rub his cheeks to wake him up a bit. if they stil hungry, they will want to drink.
 
Hi Kamie... you mean it's ok to smoke when BF. I social smoke, and thought after giving birth, I can go back to like 1-2 per week, but my husband said cannot because I am expressing milk for the baby...
 
better not smoke cos the harmful contents will get into the breast milk. that's the reason why people say must eat well so that the breast milk got more nutrition ma..
 
Ive check out with lactation consultant, as long as u din smoke more than 20 cig a day, it will nt harm the BM. smoke before BF or 3 hrs after u smoke. Bcos nicotine take 3 hrs to be release from body. BUT, it's best not to smoke
 
I have been taking Fenugreek supplement coupled with milk-booster soups recommended by the hospital and have fish for every dinner. I express breast milk twice a day and each time about 100-120ml. On top of that, I still direct breast feed my girl when she makes noise (is like giving her pacifier). I see that some mothers do have lots of breast milk and I wonder whether mine is in the average range and whether those supplement & soup are effective.

Anyone to share the experiences ?

Thanks,
Ling
 
hi mommies,
my bb is now 14 days old. starting from day1 i didn't get bb to latch on properly... sighz... now that bb do not want to latch on i actually use pump to express my BM. Sad to say the result is only 1 ounce per sessions (3hrly). anyone encountered such problem and any tips to increase the supply?
 
heya sexy eyes, I had the same problem, I stopped latching the baby on from day 4 onwards. Honestly, if I can turn back the clock, I will persist in latching for 2 main reasons, 1) bonding and 2) maintaining supply

My baby is now coming to 3 months, my SS is dropping, and her appetitie is increasing.. I try latching her on, but she totally does not want.

Your baby is still only 14 days, you should make her latch on. She might refuse initially, but maybe after that she will want. For me, there's no turning back liao
 
Hi,

Just to share about giving water to bf babies. I didn't use to give my DS water cos I also thought bf babies don't need water. But I changed my mind - cos firstly he doesn't like water, then I realised I have to let him get used to it otherwise next time when he's older he won't want and it'll be harder to make him drink.

Secondly, he poos once every 2 days and each time his stools are very dry and pasty. So after letting him more, I realised his stools not so pasty, abit softer and he will poo sometimes everyday if he drank alot of water.
 
hi kym,

thks for ur advise... will prob give it a try again... but seriously no confident at all...

So do u feed on BM or FM?

btw.. i took the 3 days free trial for Avent ISIS IQ DUO. It was good but the massage cussion hurts a bit. anyone tried that and have the same problem? any tips on that?
 
hi sexy eyes, for now, I supplement EBM with FM. She takes about 1-2 FM feeds a day.

Hmm.. I am using the ISIS manual pump. It has the cushion as well, but doesn't hurt le.

I read somewhere from the internet that different people react differently with the ISIS massage cushion.. so, maybe you should try the pump without the massage cushion.
 
Blueydoo,

no need for water seriously... i breastfed my boy for 9mths last time and he also refused water for months... only started to like drinking water after he turned 1yr old. now he's 15mths and he happily drinks his water when we give it to him

cos if u give young babies water, chances are, the small tummy will be full from water, no extra space for the delicious and nutritious BM.

if u ask any doctor, they'll say the same thing.

as for poo poo part, it vary from baby to baby. my colleague's daughter poo onc every 7days... some 2-3days... whereas my boy does it everyday...

as long as the poo is not hard and no blood in stool, dun be so worried... let nature take its course
 
if got problem latching on, ladies... try to get help from lactation consultants... it's a lot of persistence really... cos if u pump, supply might drop from time to time and u may give up more easily...

latching on really gives u time to bond with ur child... just u and him/her...

if not for my current pregnancy, i'd have continue to breastfeed my boy as long as possible.

Jia You, ladies!
 
terrier and cin,
when you latch one one side per feed, how long do your bbies feed for? my girl is 2weeks old and she also only feeds on one side at each feed but she stays on only for approx 10mins no matter how i stimulate her she's in deep sleep. is that too short? i think i have an over active letdown which result in my bb not needing to suck v much. and she sometimes struggles and pulls away when my letdown comes. she poopoos v frequently but only in small amounts.

does anyone experience this problem and when will it go away?
 
Hi mummies,

Does anyone has problem of hardened areola? I've not been brestfeeding my boy for only a day, but did continue pumping. Any chance that breast pump will toughen the areola area?
 
Hi ValC,

my bb also only feeds 1 side. He's abt 7 weeks now. Tink my bb also feed for abt 10 mins. To me, I think it is ok 'cos I feed on demand. In the initial weeks, he demand for milk approx 2 hrs interval. Now, it is approx 3 hrs interval. He's growing and happy/contented, so I dun think 10 mins is too short.
I also hv a v strong letdown....my bb will unlatch and cry when there is a letdown and I will hv milk spraying into his face and clothes. Seems like we can't do much abt this
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. PD said can pump a bit away so that the pressure is not so great...apparently will get better when bb is abt 3 months old 'cos bb is older, can manage the flow better. She said if not, just prepare a lot of towels.
 
blueberries, finally I find someone who can relate to my prob. for me my right breast is more severe than my left. and I find that at night she fusses more.

does ur bb have a strong ferocious suck or a gentle one? mine is mostly gentle except when she 1st latches & when she pulls & tugs. do u think it's becos there's no need to work at sucking so hard to get the milk?

is his poopoo frequent & little or a lot & less often?

I have bn having fever on & off at temp of 38&above. not sure if it's becos right breast not emptied leading to block ducts.

is ur son geting used to the letdown over time?
 
Hi ValC,

Sorry for the late reply. DS is down with flu.

His sucking varies....sometimes to the extent of almost just licking at my nipples, lapping up the milk that's dripping away. But usually if he is really hungry, then sucking is strong. This happens mostly in the middle of the nite.

Poo-wise, he has graduated to 1 big poop per day since abt 1 month old. Initially, always poo-ing when feeding. Hates it when it is in the middle of the nite, so usually pass over to the CL to do the changing.

Hope your fever has subsided. If not, watch out for breast infection. Clear your blocked ducts and see if fever still persists.

No, not yet used to the letdown. Most of the time there's a lot of crying 'cos he's irritated and he complains a lot. Must stop, carry him upright, walk around, rock him and comfort him with words....damn laychey. Now is worse 'cos he got blocked nose, cannot suck and swallow properly. Only when he is really hungry, then he seems able to handle the letdown.
 


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