by Sonya
Breast Feeding
3:44 am in Breast feeding by Sonya
I have breastfeed both my children and both times it was a totally different experience.
First Time feeding: cracked nipples/nipple shields/mixing bottle and breast feeding/easily distracted
I had NO IDEA how difficult breast feeding was going to be, I thought you just stick them on and away you go. To be honest I found it harder and more painful than labour!!! The first couple of days in hospital I actually thought this isn’t too bad and instead of sitting still while feeding I was up walking around – BIG MISTAKE little did I realize he wasn’t latching on properly and it lead to bleeding/cracked nipples OWWWWWWWWWWWWW It was soooo painful, they let me have a rest for 24hours where I used the expressing machine and bottle fed, I then tried again but still so sore. They then suggested (with great hesitation) nipple shields – these were my SAVIOUR!!! (I did have a friend though who found these the worst things ever so I guess it’s individual preference) I found the shields protected me and I was able to stand feeding him again. I actually used the shields for around 9 weeks and then was confident enough to remove them.
Archie was quiet small born and I felt he never really ate much but at the same time seemed a little unsettled. In hindsight I think he was a grazer and I should have probably fed more regularly, yet I felt that I should stick to a 4 hour feeding schedule (as that’s what the books I read say) I remember his feeds were roughly this:
7am, 11am, 3pm, sometimes another at 4pm if he was really whingy, then one at 7pm.
He then would have a feed at 10pm and one at 3am.
He did drop the 10pm feed around 4 months but that 3 am feed ......I’m embarrassed to admit this but kept going till he was 1year and 3 months old!!!!! As he was little though I took every opportunity I could to feed him, that was until the Dr said no more night feeds, as the night time is when they produce growth hormones and he needs this time to grow!!! That stopped me in my tracks.
The whole time I was feeding I feed Alex with a mixture of formula bottles and breastfeeding. A piece of advice a friend had given me was always make one of the feeds a bottle feed that way you have reassurance your child can be looked after by someone else encase of emergency. I think this was one of the best bits of advice I ever got. Some nurses did warn me that the baby may have nipple confusion or not want the breast after the ease of the bottle but I didn’t find this a problem at all.
I started by just making the last feed before bed a bottle and my husband actually gave Archie this one. I then made all night feeds bottle so that we could share the load. I ended up breast feeding Archie until he was 7 months old this is when he started day care and to be honest I didn’t really have the time to express so chose to go on to formula bottles from that point on. By 7 months he was just having three bottles a day: 7am 12pm 7pm
I never really enjoyed feeding Archie, besides the pain at the beginning as he got older he was very easily distracted which meant he would unlatch himself and look around all the time while feeding, leaving me exposed for the world to see!!!
Second time feeding: Breast feeding easy/wont take the bottle.
Zac was a fantastic feeder from the get go, he was quick and was satisfied, it wasn’t long before he was sleeping through 630pm till 5 in the morning – so very different to Alex. The one problem I had with Zac is he would not take the bottle !! I tried every type of bottle/teat/formula/breast milk/hot/cold etc... and NOTHING worked! He started at daycare when he was 7 months old and still wouldn’t take the bottle. I couldn’t actually go in and feed him during the day so he just went without – mind you they tried but he would just spit out the milk. Instead they would feed him baby porridge/formula with a spoon or some yoghurt.
When he was around 10months old I had had enough of breastfeeding, even though he was a great feeder I just didn’t feel like feeding him anymore and I wanted to be able to have him babysat without me worrying he is not eating. I decided I would just give up and give him cheese/yoghurt and other dairies to make sure he still got his calcium. I also decided I would try the bottle one last time and you wouldn’t believe it he took it!!!! And from that moment on he has been bottle feed (formula)
I know so many women have trouble with breast feeding and feel pressured to continue feeding even when they are in pain or find it stressful. I think that bottle feeding is a fantastic alternative for mothers in this situation.
