Breastfeeding Support Group

[jenjen]

zpt, wah... u really very weida... if it's me, stop i wun bother to try to salvage leow...

shane, yes... still BF if mummy is sick...

jenifur, how old is ur bb? 6 wet diapers a day is the std... but wet = pee... not necessary poo... some bf babies dun poo for a few days at a go... apparently they absorb all the nutrients so nothing to poo...

serrich, oh dear... hope sherilyn gets wells soon! my gal dun want pacifier leh...

 

[oreos]

hi zyp,,
dun give up and keep in trying if you are really keen to relactate. However instead of just pumping blindly, why not see a lactation consultant first and see how it goes? Ask you something, when you EBM at work, where do you go to? Any special rooms that you can use? I had to stand in the toilet and do it.

ineedhelp,
you mentioned that you are ginving your bb EBM, that means that your milk ss is here? I am not sure if this helps but, I understand from a friends that if you give your bb the bottle so soon, they'll tend to reject your breast even more coz the flow of milk from the bottle faster from the teat than the nipple.Why dun you alternate your feeding patterns? Some feeds give EBM, some direct latch from you?

 

[sourapple]

Serrich,
Good to hear Sherilyn is back to nursing well. Babies will latch on when they r really hungry.

Tingting,
I remember u from the Punggol 21 thread. U mentioned your boy is turning 3mths next week. It may be that he's having his growth spurt. Personally, i find it hard to go thru this period as need to feed him frequently and he's also easily distracted while nursing and tends to struggle alot.

Try latching him in a quiet place without distractions (esp tv). U can cradle him and rock him by pacing around the room, then try latching him when he's calmer whilst pacing. Babies tend to get even fussier if they can sense our frustrations with them and react by struggling alot. Do continue to latch on! Jia You!

 

[tingting]

hi cookie,

my boy is abt 8 weeks, so just starting his 3rd month. The growth spurt is when they have completed 3rd month n going on to 4th? a bit confusing on how to count...

just now tried to latch him on n surprisingly he took it quietly... could be bcos i had emptied my breasts before that, so the flow not really fast for him... but dunno whether there's enough left for him leh... though he's not fustrated, but suckled for a long time. When i removed him, his tongue was still clicking, but doesn't root for my breasts.

 

[jenifur]

<font face="Calisto mt"><font color="0000ff">JenJen</font>

My girl is only 12 days old. So far from morning 8:00am till now, she had a change of 5 soiled diapers, all yellowish poos probably due to her previous Jaundice episode. My mum said I've spoilt her by feeding her as &amp; when she cries but I'm worried that she's not getting enough milk.</font>

 

[seabreeze]

serrich ...

hi hi ... bb going to br 1mth old next week ... time really flies aft his arrival ....

my boi like got very big appet recently ... feeding him like once every hr in the day ... but he just latch on for 15min max only then he will doze off .... try to wake him up but he will just ignore me lor ... so not pumping out to store yet ... think will start the pumping 3 weeks before i go back to work lar ... dun wan keep the milk for too long oso ....

hope that you little one is feeling better now ...

 

[sourapple]

Tingting,
Growth spurt is 2mths going onto his 3rd month. Your fast flow may choke him and cause him to stop suckling. Hand express out before nursing can help slow down the flow.

Jenifur,
Your gal is still young, can feed by demand i.e. as and when she wants. This ensures she takes enough and boost your milk supply. Until the age of 3 mths and older, baby can then be fed on schedule.

 

[tingting]

cookie,
i think he got phobia of the fast flow already.. now sitting in the feeding position makes him cry sometimes... btw, when letdown first occurs u'll notice that there are some "jets" of milk squirting out right? Can check whether how many "jets" do u notice at letdown? I noticed that initially i have only about 2, but when i expressed today, can detect about 5 or 6! I look at the fast flow n really pity my boy... hope expressing before feed can help.

 

[jenifur]

<font face="Calisto mt"> <font color="0000ff">Cookie</font>,

Okie thanks. Will feed her by demand since it's ok cuz in e hospital they keep emphazing on every 3 hr interval....</font>

 

[tingting]

jenifur,

feeding on demand is actually not totally according to baby's schedule. It means feeding every 3 hrly, or more frequent if the baby demands it. This is mainly to stimulate supply of BM, and to make sure baby has sufficient nutrients, cos they tend to be sleepy initially and choose to forgo food, which is no good for their development. At night, can let her sleep until she wakes up for feed. After ur supply is established, can ease up on the 3hrly schedule. For me, i let baby lead totally around week 3.

 

[jenifur]

<font face="Calisto mt"> <font color="0000ff">Tingting</font>,

I'm now feeding her every 3 hrly. Is jus tt she's also crying in between to be fed.. I will usually feed her but my mum said I'll spoilt her like tt. Now when she cries in between, my mum will let her drink plain water instead.</font>

 

[tingting]

jenifur, ur kid is still young, not advisable to keep giving water cos when they cry for food they're hungry. Dun worry about spoiling. My PD said that giving them water is like filling their stomach with nothing, and after a while they'll cry even louder cos they are more hungry now. Thinking of it, this makes sense cos even we adults drink water to fill our stomachs instead of eating when we want to diet right?

 

[tuffy]

hi jenifur,
yah - you should feed if the kid cries for milk. afterall, you don't really know how much she took when she latched on earlier. Unlike the case of expressed bm or formula, you can tell how much she took and if she clearly had enuf, there is no need to feed in between. Having said that, sometimes bb cries for different reasons - not necessarily because she is hungry. Even in such cases, they will be happy to latch on thus giving the false impression that they are hungry. It's more like comfort suckling. after a while, you will kinda figure out whether she is hungry or just wants so cuddling. quite often, they wanna sleep but cannot drift off on their own so they get a bit cranky.

re jets of milk
I noticed my left breast only has about 4 jets. Will the jets increase over time or this is it? my bb is now 11 weeks. Would syringing the nipple help?

 

[tingting]

re: jets of milk
tuffy, maybe over time the jets are "opened" due to frequent suckling/expressing? as babies grow they'll take in more milk right? if flow still the same then they'll be taking ages to finish a feed... that's what i feel...

 

[sourapple]

Tingting,
I also have abt 5 ducts when I hand express milk. My boy sometimes choke on the fast flow, then hell wail and refuse to drink. No choice lor, I gotto carry him by walking around the house and try feeding him at the same time. Q siong when hes 6kg now.

Jenifur,
I was conned by what hospital told me too. Got very nightmarish when baby cries non-stop esp the first week. Then people told me feed baby on demand and it got a lot better! Im still feeding baby on demand all the way until now that hes 3mths plus, I wanna introduce a feeding schedule for him.

Tuffy,
I think each nipple should have around 5 ducts. My colleagues noted that too. Massaging breasts will help get milk out and maybe ull discover a few more.

 

[tingting]

cookie, i have the exact same problem as u... it's impossible for me to try to get him back to the breast once he starts rejecting it.. i'm now part feeding EBM, or if i can express some out first, then i'll latch him on direct. Bcos of this problem i'm actually considering total EBM... but it's a pity cos direct latching is indeed easier (minus the emotional strain)...

 

[sourapple]

Tingting,
Sometimes direct latching can be a physical strain. But it certainly saves more time than feeding EBM, imagine the amount of washing and sterilising to be done.

 

[tuffy]

re jets of milk
hmm... i have been letting my gal suckle on my left breast first during each feed. Not much improvement leh. My right breast is far more productive so far. Produces 3 to 4 times more than the left. I have got this white bleb on my left nipple now - wondering if I should syringe on it or around it.. anyone has any experience on this?

 

[tingting]

cookie,
for me, not so much physically tired, but feel so sad when baby cries at ur breasts... my boy has become efficient in suckling.. usually finishes in 10-15min, but just cannot handle fast flow yet... hope will improve soon...

 

[zypto]

<font color="ff0000">Jen,</font>
No weida *blush*
Every mummy hopes for the best for her baby, me too.

<font color="ff0000">Esther,</font>
I used the vacant meeting room in my office to pump. The room has no windows, so just locked door and use. Boss and colleagues are very supportive so I had no problem expressing at work. The only constraint was time. My job is hectic, though nobody restricts my time to express, I got stressed and would rush thru each session. That affected my output.

You poor thing, have to stand in toilet to express. Why don't you bring a towel or something, go to a cubicle with toilet bowl, put your towel over the seat cover and sit while you pump? Like that will affect your output or not? I learn to know that a relaxed and condusive environment is important for quality pumping session.


But I surrender liao... Argh!
Not gonna try anymore since my boy is on semi solids now, and his taking his milk quite ok. I plan to introduce vegetable into his diet next month.

Told my hubby about Fenugreek and lactation consultant. He's not supportive... Since I've weaned naturally, why give myself so much stress? hmm...

<font color="aa00aa">Mummies who are still nursing-- PERSIST!</font>
Though I'm out of the league, I'm all behind you! Just heard from my mum that my grandma BF her till 2 1/2 yrs old. I so pei fu her!

Lesson I've learned- Take maternity leave 3mths in a shot. Precious time could be used to establish good flow of BM. I started work at 2mth 1 week after birth with my half plus six supply... after that it just didn't increase much, only maintained.


Oh today brought my boy to a birthday party. An old auntie saw him so chubby told me that he must be formula fed. I felt so unjust. Told her straight that he drank BF for 5mths. She said, got enough BM meh? Must have mixed right? I was so irritated. At the same time, guilty that I wasn't able to provide TBM long enough.

Hope I can be more successful with my 2nd kid...
Not being able to BF doesn't make me lesser of a mummy... I still love my boy lots!

 

[zypto]

serrich,
So good way to 'force' latch on is to starve her huh? Keke...

 

[tuffy]

hi ladies,
my gal is now 2.5 months and i find that she is not v efficient at the breasts. She keeps falling asleep.. Also can't seem to empty them at the end of the nursing session. Is there anyway to make her finish her meal more quickly?

 

[zypto]

Tuffy,
Keep talking to her or gently tickle her on the neck or behind the ears. The 2nd method worked very well for my son. Sometimes both of us will doze off together.

 

[spongme]

Hi, ladies! Morning! I'm new to this thread, thanks for all the sharing, I learnt a lot from all of u.

Hi, tuffy!
My bb is 9 weeks old. He also takes a long time to feed, at least 45 mins to an hr or more. Notice that he likes to doze off (can hear him snore!) or just keep still &amp; wait for let-down, then u can hear him swallow.

I used to think he's sleepy or lazy to suck all the time, but since I started pumping, I realise it's my fault: my let-down is very few &amp; many mins apart. So he's actually a very patient bb...

 

[tuffy]

hi zyp,
I tried doing that - she still takes forever and I suspect most of the time, she is just suckling for fun and not for milk. but will press on...

hi sp,
welcome to the thread!

yah roar, takes so long to drink right? and after one hour's rest, hungry again. sometimes it can be quite sian.. So when I feel super sian, i just give her ebm instead. Like you, my letdown also quite slow sometimes. me cannot control lah.. sometimes not even sure got letdown or not. When I hear that pple get jets of milk coming out during letdown, I wonder if that happens to me. never see before leh. at most drip drip.

 

[spongme]

Hi, tuffy!
Yeah man, the most is 1 hr's rest between feeds, towards late afternoon &amp; evenings it's worse, half hr rest only.

Yr ms is better than mine, at least when u sian u got ebm to give. I got no chance to ebm unless I give fm &amp; skip bf him. Usually got to skip 2 feeds in order to get enough ebm for 1 feed leh, pathetic hor?

My letdown also never spray one, at most drip a few drops. My pumping sessions still very long, at least half hr to 1 hr (I give up after 1 hr if can't get the amt I need for 1 feed). Then got to pump again later to make up the balance. Stress...

 

[gracemum]

hi, jenifur and all mummies,

i'm new to this thread, my little girls now about 2 weeks old,
i have short ninpes my girl reject to suckling,but i use pump to pump out to milk and feet with milk bottle.

i have problem, my girl got a lot wild, my sister says it because i don't eat confinment food than why my milk got wild, ask me to stop bf
now i can't stop milk come out from my breast

what should i do???

 

[tuffy]

hi sp,
how often do you pump now? my session also takes at least half an hour. Somemore, gotta milk the breasts too before I can more or less empty it. What I do when I notice that the jets are getting less strong is to massage the breasts and manually express into the funnel. After a few times, I will put the pump back on again - sometimes, more jets will come out. Also, after pumping on one side, switch to the other. Then switch back again. Do this back and forth until there is no more milk - I find that this method gives more hindmilk. U may want to try that.

how much is your boy drinking now? Don't stress lah - if you get too tired, will affect output. If you are not strongly against FM, i think there is no harm giving it if it gives you a bit more rest. But of course, you must be diligent in expressing at regular intervals even if you are not feeding lah.

 

[qdee]

Hi, I was here previously but was MIA for awhile.
Need to ask 'experts' here.
I've TBF my gal for 6 mths plus and now my bb is on partial BF. I wonder if it's possible to start to TBF again?
I stopped TBF coz there's no place for me to pump. Initially did it in an unused toilet in the server rooom but it was renovated so I have no place to express.
Now i realised that I can use another place to pump. But i tried and tried but I cant get the amt I used to get. It's soo pathetic that it's discouraging me to express at all .. like waste of time.
Is there a way to go back to TBF? I partial BF for 1 mth already (means no pumping in the afternoon for a mth).

 

[spongme]

Hi, tuffy!
Err, I'm not sure how to massage or manually express, usually can't squeeze any milk out. Hee, I also keep switching sides. Besides that, I also tried "teasing" my nipples, saw my bb do that, it works.

My bb can easily drink 120ml of ebm. I think if I give him more, he'll drink it up too. Usually I can't get enough ebm despite a few sessions of pumping, so if let's say I get total 200ml, I'll just make into 2 feeds of 100ml instead of 120+80. Think doesn't really matter since my MIL will feed him again after 1 hr. For fm, she feeds 3oz every 2 hrs.

Actually, I don't mind giving fm at all, my bb is already getting 5-6 feeds per day of fm in the day. If at nite I also give fm, then my ms will reduce even further becoz I can't seem to pump till empty.

 

[tuffy]

hi sp,
I thought fm is meant to last 3 hours. if you are feeding every 2 hours, perhaps can try increasing the volume of the fm feed. will he take it? Is your boi really hungry 1 hour after ebm? sounds quite soon leh..

 

[spongme]

Morning, ladies! Sorry to talk abt giving fm in this thread... hope no offence...

Hi, tuffy!

My MIL said not to increase fm vol yet becoz he takes half hr to finish 1 feed. She wants to wait till he can drink faster. I think it's becoz the Avent teat is very hard. When I feed him with Pigeon bottles, it's 10-20 mins only.

We bought only Pigeon bottles, but my MIL got influenced by my BIL who said Avent is the best etc., so she asked our cousin to buy the Avent bottles &amp; she only uses the Avent bottles to make fm.

Well, I'm working &amp; she's taking care of him. If she's patient enough to every time spend half hr to feed him, and happy to feed him 2-hourly, I'm alright with it, hahaha...

My bb doesn't sleep much in the day, after feed max he'll keep quiet for half hr, after that he'll start to fuss. So if the previous feed is ebm, she'll just assume he's hungry &amp; feed him again after 1 hr. Whether really hungry or not I'm not sure also, me blur mummy...

But it's possible lor, becoz my ebm is very watery.

 

[tuffy]

hi sp,
hmm.. sometimes bb fusses because he wants to play or cuddle leh. this is esp so as they get older. but it's hard to control such things when someone else is the caregiver. For mine, she fusses at times too and will suck her fingers non-stop but the moment she is picked up, she will be settle down. So quite often she is not hungry. have you tried nuk bottles? the latex teats are v soft and I think most bbs have no problems drinking from them.

 

[absolut]

Qdee
It is possible to increase ss again but you've got to be patient coz ss cannot be build overnite. The best way to build ss is to latch as often as possible. If not possible, may just start pumping again. Dun get too discourage with the qty pumped out at the beginning. May take 1-2 weeks to get your body to understand that you need more ss. All the best!

 

[qdee]

absolut - thanks for advise. I dun think i can ever go back to TBF lah coz i wont be able to latch her on so frequently - only weekend can latch her whole day. Also coz ss is lesser now after awhile she'll scream her heart out.
But i will try anyway. Hubby said i siow wanna stress myself to build ss again. But he's still giving me encouragment.
I guess i just wanna make my gal bf for as long as possible.

 

[spongme]

gracemum,
Don't stop bf leh, so wasted. If bb got wind, can get Infacol or gripe water to feed bb.

tuffy,
Didn't try nuk. Can nuk teats fit on Avent bottles?

Qdee,
Wow, u managed to tbf even after u return to work. Keep pumping, yr ss will increase again eventually. Jia You...

 

[tuffy]

hi sp,
nope - nuk teats cannot fit the wide bottles. maybe can buy one bottle and let your boi try. If not difference, then don't bother loh. But if it helps, then I think it is worthwhile to switch.

I like the nuk bottles for the colourful designs too! not that the bb appreciates - more for mummy!

 

[qdee]

sp thanks. yeah i TBF for abt 6.5 mths &amp; partial BF after bb started solid.
U can buy pigeon peristaltic teat which can fit avent bottle.
My baby can only suck that after 3 mths of sucking my boobs. Think that's the closest. She rejected every other teat.

 

[ineedmilk]

Hi everyone,
Is it true that if i express out bm, my milk ss will slowly decrease as compared to direct latch?

As my bb sucks very slowly and falls asleep all the time (most of the time she takes hours to finish a feed, i was thinking of expressing and then feeding her ebm instead of direct latch. However, dunno if my ss will decrease if i do so. My gynae told me that pumping is not as effective as bb sucking to empty breasts.

 

[qdee]

ineedmilk, i agree with your gynae.
I prefer to direct latch, easier.

 

[qdee]

ineedmilk, forget to add, bb can clear your breasts more efficiently and really empties them.
But for pump, need to work a bit hard, massage and pump, massage and pump to get all out.
How old is bb?

 

[ineedmilk]

Qdee:
My bb is now 7 weeks old. She was premature (only 2kg at birth) but now is 3.4kg.. but her sucking still quite weak. I thought once she put on weight to normal babies weight, her sucking will be stronger but it didn't. She still very ladylike in her sucking..

 

[raisintan]

Hi breastfeeding mummies,

Would like to check with you ladies if there're any nursing bras in the market which are padded or at least lightly padded at the cups?

My baby is about 5 weeks old. Since week 3, she's been feeding every 2 hours. That leaves me with about an hour between feeds to do stuff, which is very rush and tedious for me. Do your babies go through this stage as well? I'm wondering if she'll ever stretch her feeding timing, or is it cos I'm not producing enough milk?

 

[qdee]

Raisin, think Kiddy palace has some slightly padded ones.
Think the reason y no padding is coz we need to put breastpads? So if bra padding, plus breast pads = bigger breasts? heeh.

I also went thru this cluster feeding. At abt the same period which is ard 4-8 wks. Cluster from 7 pm, 8pm, 9 pm, 10pm, 11pm .. then sleeep alll the way till 5am.

Sometimes cluster ard 11am, 12 pm, 1pm, 2 pm .. then sleep all the way till 7pm heeh.
Thnk it's normal

 

[qdee]

ineedmilk - why dun u give Mdm Wong (TMC lactation consultant) a call? Maybe she may be able to help u. Coz for premmie need better support

.
Think i hv a number somewhere ..u interested? If yes, I'lll dig her number for u

 

[raisintan]

Hi Qdee,

Thanks for sharing.. My baby is now feeding every 2 hours round the clock leh, even at night, very tiring.. I really hope this is temporary..

 

[sweets]

Just a question to all here, I'm REALLY hoping to TBF and have not stocked up on anything related to bottle feeding besides a 4oz bottle. Any moms out there will advocate that I standby some milk powder? I'm concerned that it may provide an easy way out for my "SWAT" team when they may say I don't have enough milk in the initial days. What were your experiences? Would would you recommend?

 

[ineedmilk]

furryfurry:

pls stand by some milk powder or get some samples from yr hospital b4 u are discharged. Reason is if yr milk have not come in the intial days, should at least feed something to the baby if not may get jaundice.. due to dehydration. That's what happened to my baby. You can cup-feed or syringe-feed yr baby to prevent nipple confusion.

 

[qdee]

Hi furry, my opinion no milk powder necessary.
For both my babies, my milk din come until after 5th day. For some pple they will hv droplets of milk - for me it's totally empty!! Even my colostrum, came in at abt 4th day or so.
For my eldest, due to stress and anxiety, I did the most regretful thing - i asked my hubby to buy milk powder out of desperation. Needless to say, she was bottle fed after 2 mths.

For my 2nd, i was determined to give my best... so I din standby anything. But what I did was, I din allow anyone to visit me in hospital. During that 2 days in hospital, I get my latching right, i get over my nervousness and anxiety and get more rest to prepare myself to weather the stormy days ..
Before i was discharged, I talk to the lactation consultant. So by the time i come home, my baby was happily latching away even tho there's no milk. So for five days no milk, no water for my gal. She has jaundiced but it cleared after the 10th day when I managed to BF her fully.

Again, it helps if u have supportive pple around u. My hubby and my mom are very pro BF. I myself was BF till almost 4 yrs old. So I have to say the person taking care of u during confinement plays a crucial part too

Oh another thing, actually ppl always say for jaundiced, bb should pee .. but my PD said for jaundiced the more bb poo the more toxin will be cleared that's y he said BF bbies will clear the jaundiced earlier coz they poo many many times a day.

 

[ineedmilk]

Qdee:
Guess it depends on bb. I bf my bb without FM but she doesn't poo every day. There was once she didn't poo for 7 days in a row! She is already in her 7 week and she still has jaundice. Anyway, probably also becos my bb is premature that's why she more easily jaundiced. I really still think that if i had fed her FM during the 1st week, it wouldn't be so bad for her. Like you, i had no milk in the 1st week.