Breastfeeding and Formula

There is an herb called Fenugreek which helped my milk come in after a c/s. I also had a little beer! It does help and tastes yummy!

I definitely plan to Breastfeed. I am excited about it and ready to stick with it for at least the first year.

I b/f'd all my kids. Logan was the longest at 3 yrs 10mths along with Grayson who was 15mths and i got pg at the same time i weaned them both. I am exicted to b/f again. I have a high testonstrone level so i have a milk production issue. I take 3600 mg of fenugreek pills a day, thats 3 pills 3x a day and drink mothers milk tea 3-4x a day. I love this site for all my b/f'ing questions http://kellymom.com/ It answers any questions that arrise! I was also a breastfeeding support counselor for a while. But i still too have questions that pop up so i like to go there for help.

One word of advice for those who want to stick to it.. Dont give up before the first 2 weeks. If your dry, cracked or bleeding, go to a proffesional for latch on help rather then give up. Put your own b/milk on your nipple as well and air dry.. they will heal so much faster. Breastmilk also cures blocked tear ducks .

I got my new boppy pillow cover in the mail today i bought from Ebay. Its brown with pink polka spots! LOVE IT! I have had this boppy pillow for over 8yrs and breastfed my kids with it.. its green though.. so i figured a nice matching cover will do!

SarinasLilAddition wrote:I also plan to breastfeed. Since I hit 27 weeks, I've been wearing "Breast Shells" to form my nipple for proper latching on, and let me just say THEY WORK. When my DR suggested them I thought he was a little cooky, but I'm so glad I listened. I also have leaked since very early.. so hopefully that's a sign of my milk production to come. *FINGERS CROSSED*

Where did you get the "breast Shells" from. I am interrested in getting some.

Thank you. I am going online to shop for them now.

I plan on breastfeeding, and I REALLY hope that all goes well. But if I must, I will bottle-feed... don't know what formula, though.

Yeah I had to use the shells right after Olivia was born to help with the "form" and I even had to use the shields after she was born, it was a lot of work for me, didn't feel so natural and with going back to work at Week 16, I just don't have the time during the day to pump, so I wasn't sure what I would do at that point...if I was going to stay home long-term I would probably work harder at it.

April gave some great advice, for my friends that it worked for, they had to give it a good month before it really worked. One of our lactation consultants said that roughly 25% of babies get "it", and know what to do, and the other 75% have to be taught, some learn faster than others and some just don't get it. I think milk all depends on the person too, some people don't get their milk until several days after the LO is born and some are busting at the seams before they even arrive. My Ta-Ta's (I am trying to leave Olivia to say Ta-Ta's) never filled up, never got hard, never got sore, I just didn't produce milk...I have read that sometimes that happens for people with Thyroid issues...so maybe that is my deal, who knows.

I just know for some of my girlfriends it was so stressful, it wasn't until they gave into formula that they started enjoying motherhood...granted that might be a little extreme, but it helped me not fall apart when it didn't work for me, I have seen so many struggle that I know its a personal thing.

Great advice, Leigh. I wish that someone had told me that way back when.

I love this site; you ladies are a wealth of knowledge. I do hope to BF but I know it may not work out. so we will see.
can someone put this as a stickey this is great stuff that I hope we will not have to look for later.

I b/f all my kids so I will with this one also. Thankfully, I don't have any issues with my milk supply. I b/f for varying amounts of time, depending on each child.

dd 1: 13 months, she was allergic to dairy so after I weaned her (dried up after going back to work at 12 mos) she ended up having Nutramigen from 13 mos until she was 2 yo. After that she could tolerate milk.

dd 2: 11 months, dried up from stress at work.

dd 3: 8 months, could have gone longer but she was a stinker. She would bite me and no matter what I said or did she would laugh and then do it again. She still is a stinker!

ds: 17 months, I became at sahm when he was 4 mo that's why I made it so long.

For this baby: my ob and the diabetic NP both think I was probably type 2 before I got pg. I'll find out when I test after baby is born. If I am type 2 then that may determine how long I b/f for. I really don't want to stay on insulin if I can go on a pill. The longer I give myself shots, the more sensitive the areas are getting in terms of it hurting and me bruising. If none of the diabetic pills are safe for b/f, then I may end up doing formula. It sounds selfish, but that's how I feel.

I also plan on breastfeeding this little one. I produced enough milk with DD to feed an army. My LC said she had never had someone produce that much milk ( I could pump 15 ozs. every 3 hours after nursing DD). I did use breast shields when nursing to get my inverted nipples (TMI) to come out. I need to get new sets and start wearing them now to hopefully aid in that.

I don't agree that breastfed babies need vitamins. Breastmilk has everything a baby needs. I never gave my DD vitamins and she was very healthy (still is).

When I went back to work, we supplemented with the Target version of Gentlease. If we need to supplement this time, I will probably do the same.

Also, check with your peds office to see if they have LC's on staff. Mine does and I just paid my co-pay to see her. It was a little awkward because my LC was the parent of one of DH's students.

I don't think that is selfish at all. You have to do what is best for you and what is going to make you the best Momma you can be.

One thing my OB told me along with my Pediatrician is that while BF is "best" its only best if you are eating REALLY REALLY well and have a super balanced diet. If not, the baby would be better off with Formula since its so balanced and gives them all the vitamins they need. My good friend from work eats only McDonalds, Pizza and Chicken Nuggets, she BF until her DD was 6 months old and her Pediatrician told her to stop that she was actually not helping her DD at all, she was approaching failure to thrive and now her DD is 10 months old and super healthy and doing really well on formula.

For the new breastfeeding mommies: I learned the hard way: Never stop breastfeeding cold turkey! My son decided to suddenly stop on me at a year old. I was in so much pain!!!!!! I should have cut down gradually by pumping.