Hello ladies, im having my little one 4 weeks early in 5 weeks time and desperatly want to breastfeed her.
Firstly has anyone had a baby at 36 weeks and been able to breastfeed straight away?

I just wanted some positive encouragement really and some tips as to how to get off to a good start.

I had my son in march 07 and only managed to breastfeed him for 2 weeks, i found it very stressful and had very sore nipples. My boobs leaked ridiculously and i felt i couldnt go anywhere or do anything. I had plenty of milk and felt awful for not using it.

How can i make sure i stay positive this time through hard times etc

Im so desperate to succeed this time and deliberatly havent bought formula or bottles etc so i give in like i did last time.

I also didnt get any support last time and te he midwifes really didnt care, I didnt know where to start!!

any recommendations of books or dvds would be much appreciated also

Thank you xx

Nat xx

Hi there,

I am still breastfeeding my first baby at nearly 5 months. It took a couple of weeks for us both to learn how to get the latch right and for my nipples to stop hurting, but since then we've had no problems. Like you, I was really determined to do it and decided not to buy any backup supplies. My mum was really supportive and she bought me this book, which she had read (in an old edition) when struggling with feeding me, back in 1980! http://www.amazon.co.uk/Breast-Best-Penny-Stanway/dp/0330436309

I really recommend it, I read it cover to cover before my son was born and it really helped me to understand how the whole process worked inside out and gave me so much confidence that I would be able to breastfeed and that almost any problem I ran into would be fixable. Then after he was born, I dipped into it again for advice to improving the latch and feeding frequency for sleepy babies, etc. I have the previous edition, but I would go with the new one which will have the more up to date research in.

Good luck! I'm sure you will succeed .

[Modified by: Astraad on November 05, 2009 09:57 PM]

hi hun
so nice to hear you want to bf
i have a 12week old and at first i found it hard work feeding him all the time but after 4 weeks he settled down and now i absolutely love it!! riley was a poorly baby when he was born and only weighed 5 lb5 when he was born at 39 weeks, but he's had no problems, doubt yours will either. my advice is to keep well stocked up on good breast pads, you'll find you need to change them quite often to begin with but soon settles down, let your boobs air naturally after a bath or shower, dont use anthing but water to clean your nipples, get some lanolium cream for use incase your nipples get sore, just keep positive and determined and you will be fine. if you need more help when the time comes you can email me at jojo149@hotmail.co.uk

good luck hun
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

YES!

I had my dd at 36 weeks and bf her until 13 months.

She did latch on but because the mw said you can really feel her sucking I was expecting more to feel if that makes sense. They had to keep her in because she wasnt putting on weight - despire bf often drop their weight in the first 2 weeks (I self discharged, and she put on weight ever since). When I was in hospital she was tubed at one point and bottled but it was all expressed milk.
Yes the first 3 months I would say were the hardest but I perserveered (?sp) and I had set my aim for at least 6 months and opreferably a yr. Im glad I did as it was well worth it after the inital first few months.

Leaky boobs - i was very fortunate and milk that kept coming. My lio unlatched and it squirted out! I brought some breast shell shields - avent. they were recommended on here. They are plastic and fit onto your breast. Theres a small hol that you nipple goes through, your leaking milk is collected in this. You can then transfer the milk to a bottle to use. This means no embarassing wet marks on tops.

Sore nipple - go out and buy some lanisol cream. Yes it is more expensive but everyone I knows recommends it and its fab stuff for sore nipples.

Support - There should be local bf groups in your area. You may find these on netmums or the local mw shouls be able to tell you. How to stay positive. If you know you want to succeed tell yourself that yes at first it maybe hard etc but keep telling yourself it will get better and you are doing whats right for your little one. Stressing about it wont help, make sure you get rest when your lo gets rest. If you ahve a toddler and know its not going to be possible, are you able to ahve help or have someone stay over in the first few weeks to be at hand? I would suggest getting an electric breast pump. It can also help to express if your nipples are full and leaking. Breastmilk can be kept in freezer for up to 6 months i believe. I also brought the closer to nature bottles from tommee tippe to use and she easily moved from breast to bottle. Also theres here on BE forums if you need help, I found it very useful when I was bf for the first time. Theres many people on here who have been in your situation.

Hope that helps. xxx