Yes. That was my answer to this question. After all, my friends who had babies were able to breastfeed without any major issues. It’s a natural act, I thought. I might not know exactly what to do, but the baby will, right?
Wrong! Breastfeeding is not something that comes naturally. It’s a skill that has to be learnt. Don’t get me wrong, I’d done my share of research and all my pregnancy books confirmed this point. I’d studied the pictures, the different positions and tried to imagine how to hold my baby. It was difficult to imagine though. I was uncomfortable with the thought of milk coming out of my nipples. It was just weird.
How to build up your breastfeeding confidence?
Was I confident about my ability to breastfeed? At first yes. I thought that if my friends had done it, I could do it too. My confidence dropped when I encountered the first problems at breastfeeding. I just couldn’t get my baby to latch on properly and as I watched the other women in the hospital lying down with their baby suckling on their breast I quickly became nervous. Why couldn’t I get it right? With nervousness came my lack of confidence. I felt ashamed every time I called in for the nurse to come to aide me and my baby at breastfeeding. I was upset at myself for not getting it right. At that stage I’d already lost all my confidence.
With my confidence gone, a chance to breastfeed also vanished.
“A woman’s confidence in her ability to breastfeed is crucial to her success”, claim Tine Vinther and Elisabet Helsing from the World Health Organization. They are right. This lack of confidence triggers a process chain:
Lack of confidence = negative feelings = stress = slow/no let-down = screaming baby = lower confidence = ….
How to prevent this from happening?
- Recognize your struggle. Ok, so it’s just not working. No matter what you do, breastfeeding is just a nightmare. It’s painful and your baby keeps coming off your nipple and screaming. Don’t get mad at yourself or your baby. Give your little one a bottle of pre-pumped milk or formula to satisfy her hunger. Pump your milk in the meanwhile and try again at the next feed. Try to pinpoint the cause or possible reasons for this. Does it seem to be your nipple shape? Are your existing bruises making it difficult for you to relax? Once you pinpoint the cause, it becomes easier to find a solution.
Continue reading ‘Preparation for birth: Will I be able to breastfeed?’
There are various ways to freeze your milk, some of these are more costly than others. Here is a ranking of different ways to freeze your milk from the costliest method to the least costly
1. Medela freezer bags
2. Lansinoh bags
3. Ice cub trays and then transfer to Ziploc bags
When you want to defrost your milk best is to take it out of the freezer and defrost in the fridge. It generally takes about 12 to 24 hours to defrost. The defrosted milk should be used within 24 hours. You can then warm it in a bottle warmer.
Continue reading ‘Freezing and unfreezing breast milk’
If you are prone to mastitis, the general concession seems to be that nipples should always be kept wet. At least this is what I was told at the hospital. If they are slightly wounded and you let the milk dry up, you create a trap for bacteria.
1. Use special compresses for the nipples.
There are different brands depending on where you live. Best is to ask your pharmacist for special compresses for wounded nipples. These compresses are wet and they keep bacteria away from the nipple, as well as constantly providing moisture. As these can be quite costly, especially if you have to use them during your entire pumping experience, it’s ok to change them once they dry up that way you don’t have to go through two packs every day.
2. clean your nipples with boiled salted water after each session
3. Use a special nipple cream (Lansilot) after each session
Provide breastmilk to your little one. After all this one point by itself outweighs all the things we hate about pumping. So actually this doesn’t count. Here is a list of 10 highlights of our pumping sessions.
1. Getting out a clog after two days of massaging, hot water and all the treatments you can think of for getting the damned clog out
2. Looking in admiration at your slight increase in milk supply again after the clog is out
3. How the sound of the pump can magically put your baby into sleep
Continue reading ’10 things I love about pumping breastmilk’
Pumping breastmilk for your little one is easier said than done. There is lots of hard work and dedication that goes with that. I thought it would be good to provide a list of the top 10 things I hated about pumping. It ended up to be 14 and I am sure I could easily extend that further. It would be great if you share your hates as well. Send me your top 10 and I will put together and publish our most common hates.
1. Looking at the clock and knowing that the pumping session is about to start
2. Looking at the clock and knowing that the pumping session is about to start and the little one is in the middle of a crying tantrum.
3. The LO is feeding sooooo slowly from the bottle and you want the clock to stop as it ticks past your pumping schedule. You know that you still have to burp and clam the baby Continue reading ’14 things I hate about pumping breastmilk’