BREASTFEEDING HELP!!

Rebecca - posted on 11/24/2010

It all depends on the baby. My son never took a binky, and my daughter does. My daughter takes a binky and is breastfeed, and i have no problems with her getting confused...at first i would try to let her use me as her binkiy, but she was getting milk everytime and would spit up more. It all depends on what your baby likes as every child is different. Its a trial and error type thing. you wont really know what he likes until you try different solutions.

Teresa - posted on 11/24/2010

Nurse on demand! That is alot at first sometimes 20 minutes after the last feeding when they are newborn. 2-3 hrs seems too long for a newborn breastfed baby. Just nurse whenever he wants to suck for the first month or so... it won't last forever.

Jessica - posted on 11/24/2010

you can try another binky, it sounds like he just likes the sucking as a comforting thing. its ok to give him it, my son is a month old and we give a binky and he still breastfeeds just fine.

Becky - posted on 11/24/2010

my LO is 7 months now... i tried getting him to take a pacifier when he was a newborn and it DID affect my milk supply.. my advice for you would be to let him nurse WHENEVER he is wanting to suck... constant sucking will increase your milk supply which is GOOD For you because if you are makign too much you can pump in between feedings and start making a supply.. that was the mistake i did... i had a csection too and i was so tired that i never pumped between feedigns.. first time i pumped i was about 2 months PP and my milk supply had dwindled.. you want to trick your body into thinking it needs to make more milk so you can get a supply going..

Jeannette - posted on 11/24/2010

My son never took a pacifier. He too wanted to suck often, so I would usual let him breastfeed. As a first time mom, I didn't know if he just wanted to suck or eat, but either way it worked. Personally I am glad that he never took one, because that is just another thing to wean, but it is totally up to you. You can start giving him the pacifier again. If you aren't sure if he is hungry or not, give him the paci, if he isn't hungry, he'll suck away. If he is hungry, he'll realize he can't get milk and spit it out. But at his young age, he could just be hungry, because he is still getting used to sucking and drinking milk.

Jamie - posted on 11/22/2010

My daughter took a pacifier from the time she was born and was breastfed. It never seemed to interfere with her breastfeeding at all. i always produced enough milk and she grew very well. i know some people say that it is not okay for a breastfed baby to take a pacifier... that it can effect your milk supply and lead to early weaning, but i think if you still feed your baby (on demand or schedule), and don't let the baby get all his sucking satisfaction from the pacifier then you should have no problem.

Lydia - posted on 11/22/2010

i agree, nurse more often and yes it can be hard in the beginning, but it's worth it. i sometimes felt like nursing 24/7 during the first few weeks. sometimes i'd just sit there nursing and crying because i was tired. but it was the best thing, the moments i loved most to see my baby snuggeling on my boobie... and i enjoyed the time i could sit down and not run around the house do work... just enjoy those few first weeks, read a nice book while nursing, you'll not have time to read so much once the baby gets older... don't worry so much about the family. babies do cry sometimes, so what? and i am sure that the comfort nursing will help a great deal, so it wont be too bad with the crying.

Maxine - posted on 11/22/2010

Fantastic advice everyone! Everyone is right Billie, you need to act as the feeder and Nuk (dummy) to your Baby, it ensures that you will always have enough milk supply (and makes your baby happy!)! I was worried in the beginning about nursing in public or around family, but as you get on you get really good at being discrete, so that people don't even notice, and those that do (i have found) always smiled at me and few congradulated me!

I also had the baby blues, but Breast feeding will help! It has been proven that everytime your baby feeds, a hormone gets released into your body which basically fills you with happiness and contentment, so the more you feed the more that will happen, and eventually you will wake up one day and realise you haven't felt blue for ages! Don't hesitate to talk about your blues though! Getting it out is better than keeping it in!

Cara - posted on 11/21/2010

Hi Billie Jo,

I would echo the suggestions of offering to nurse him more often and see if that helps. Babies don't always nurse just because they're hungry...they can also nurse for comfort, which is completely ok and natural. Remember - there was no such thing as a pacifier or binky until just few decades ago!

When my little guy was born he nursed every 45 minutes for about 45 minutes at a time. It was a commitment for sure! But totally worth it. We tried a nuk with him but he never took it anyway. He wanted mama. =)

One thing that helped me a LOT was to learn how to nurse more discreetly and confidently. I never got the hang of a nursing cover but I do use the 2 shirt method which I find easy all around. Just wear a tank top underneath whatever shirt you're wearing and then when it comes time to nurse you pull your top shirt up and your tank top down (by the neck line) under your breast. That way your stomach is still covered and so is your upper chest.

Newborns are a lot of work but enjoy every minute because it goes so fast!

Celeste - posted on 11/21/2010

Binky=pacifier :)

Celeste - posted on 11/21/2010

Every 2-3 hours sounds great! Keep at it and let that little one nurse as long as he wants to. You may feel like it's overwhelming but they are also great times. It forces you to stop and relax while your baby nurses, it's nature's little built-in "time out" for you!!



Good luck with baby blues, make sure you take care of yourself!



Also, please let me know what a binky is, I'm curious now :)

Celeste - posted on 11/21/2010

Watch for signs of hunger. Signs of hunger include sucking on his fists, rooting etc. As soon as she shows those signs of hunger, nurse. Crying is a late sign of hunger.

When you go to your family's for the holidays, just nurse him like you would if you were at home!

Every 2 to 3 hours is good! Just don't limit time at the breast. Let him nurse until he's ready to come off.

Billie Jo - posted on 11/21/2010

Maxine,
I am not too sure what a dummy pacifier is. At home my sister gave me a nuk?? I think thats what it is. My milk is in so I think thats good. So you both say I should let him suck on me?? How does that work? I mean everytime we take our finger out of his mouth starts cry'n. What about when we go to family for the holidays?? I want this to work sooo bad I just dont know how to go about it thats all. He is eating every 2-3 hours. I keep him on for about 10 mins sometimes 20. Like I said he did gain weight at his appt.I am so lost right now.. also I think I have some of the baby blues?? I thank you both for your help & I will give it a try. THANKS SO MUCH!!

Celeste - posted on 11/21/2010

I'd let him nurse instead of letting him suck on your finger or a pacifier. It's important to let him nurse on demand because this helps establish milk supply. Totally normal for a newborn to want to nurse a lot. You can never nurse too much, but you can nurse too little!

Maxine - posted on 11/21/2010

Is a binky a dummy/pacifier? If so dummy is not a suggested thing to give a breast feeding baby, it has been found that mothers who breast feed and give their baby a dummy suffer milk supply problems (a friend of mine had this problem) I never gave my baby a dummy due to this reason and just let her suckle on me for comfort. i have never had milk supply problems, and she started to suck her thumb, but that only lasted less than a month as she soon realised Mommy's nipple is so much better!