Club Breastfeeding Mums

[DesertWind]

Hi Hi,


I BF my DS for 10 months which is quite long for me! Did it during the 3 mths of confinement and then after returning to work, express out the milk for bottle feeding.

I found that I can only have supply enough for one day and have never understood how some mummies can actually stock-pile milk for many days! Almost gave up half-way because as all experience mummies will know, the milk supply takes time to build up and the milk actually got absorbed into the baby's system very easily hence they are always hungry for more! Not like formula milk whereby it can satisfy the hunger easier. So I ended up almost breast-feeding my baby every hour or so until the confinement nanny got fed-up! But glad I persevered. She was so worried I won't have enough milk for the baby but when the baby burped and hiccupped, she exclaimed with delight \"Yes, the baby got drink! The baby got drink!\".

As for me, the baby suckle so much that most of the time I feel flat so I never knew whether he was actually drinking milk or not. Until the full month when I need to go deliver one-month cake and was away from baby for 5 hours then I suffered engorgement! Then knew I have milk! Hee, hee!

After that, I pumped every 4 to 5 hours at work but I think what the book said is true, you need the baby to suck directly for the body to produce milk. Else when pumping, the supply actually gets less and less!

Ended it all by asking my gynae for some tablet as I wanted to prepare my body for 2nd baby (unfortunately still trying leh.....) after 10 months!

Good news is my DS never had to use the pacifier and so I don't have the headache of weaning him off that.

Although really tiring but no regrets at all. All BF mummies persevere!

:celebrate:

[happyfeet11]

proud to say i BF my boy exclusively for 3 years 5 months 18 days

[toddles]

Had a varied journey.


Bb didn’t latch well initially. cried after every long (1-1.5hr) feed. supplemented with formula. cos even when i pumped, not much came out. pumped every 3 hours, supplemented with fenugreek etc.

never thought i would last 6 months.

by God’s grace, when i tried latching her the whole day when she was 2.5 months, she didn’t cry after every feed. from then on, tbf exclusively via latching cos i was sahm until she was 14 months.

had mastitis at least 4 times till she was 6 months old. most painful thing in my life. much much worse than childbirth. could cry through the nursing since it was the best way of dis-engorging.

by then she was only on 3 nursing feeds a day, supplemented by 100% fresh milk (i have this big thing against formula milk for kids older than 6 months - there was another thread discussing it). when i went back to work, I still latched her twice a day (when she woke and before she slept) until she was 20 months.

I would say it was so convenient when we went out (i got used to nursing her under a shawl). although i didn’t feel the bonding very much, i guess she did, mummy is #1 to her even now.

overall, i would say, not to stress when it comes to bfding. sometimes it’s really very very tough in the initial months, and rather than having a totally mental mummy, better to supplement and have a happy mummy and happy baby. some mums were such bfding nazis that their kid got dehydrated / starved. bfding is just easier for some mums and much much harder for others.

so we should not insist that every mum should feel bad if they for some reason or another not breastfeed. every mum wants to give her kid the best, and needs all the support she can get from all around her.

[autumnbronze]

Fenugreek pills REALLY worked for me. Because it worked so well, I took only two pills and stopped cuz I suffered from engorgement :lol:


Just wanna share this 'express' experience

When DS was about 3 mths, DH invited me to join him for his company trip. He felt that I needed the rest etc ...:love:

So, after being 'lured' into going for the trip, I had to express and store milk for baby (I was leaving him behind with my in-laws). I spent the one mth faithfully expressing my milk on alternate breast every 3 hrs, to the point of disrupting my sleep in the night. I was fortunate, my DS would suckle from 10pm to 12am and sleep through and wake up really early for his morning feed. As it is, I over-estimated. By then, I was really sian of the pumping process. But it was not over. In the hotel, the whole process started again. I remember I had to call room service after storing the milk in the packets so that they could put them in the freezer.

On the day of departure, there was a flurry of activity cuz the person who knew where the packets of milk were stored wasn't around. All my DH's colleagues and partners were waiting as the staff looked high and low for the missing packets of milk. Even the ang mo manager got involved in trying to solve the mystery. It was such an embarrassment :oops: :oops:

Needless to say, the packets were located finally and we rushed to the airport after that. Since then I developed a phobia for expressing milk :shock:

Now, on hindsight, I should have expressed when DS started 'self-weaning' (if there is such a phrase, cuz some mths after his 1st birthday, he suddenly didn't want to suckle anymore, looking away with his head down very shyly whenever it was feeding time :D), but I didn't pursue the matter but switched to high calcium based food and fresh milk after that.

[eeyoreddon]

Hi


Currently still trying hard to feed my 10mth old baby. She really dun like pacifier :lol:

[autumnbronze]

LKVM:

autumnbronze:

Now, on hindsight, I should have expressed when DS started 'self-weaning' (if there is such a phrase, cuz some mths after his 1st birthday

Yes should have done that but I wonder for how long can you store the milk :?

I can't remember now. Maybe the current breastfeeding mummies can enlighten. Is it a month??

[duriz]

autumnbronze:

LKVM:

[quote=\"autumnbronze\"]Now, on hindsight, I should have expressed when DS started 'self-weaning' (if there is such a phrase, cuz some mths after his 1st birthday

Yes should have done that but I wonder for how long can you store the milk :?

I can't remember now. Maybe the current breastfeeding mummies can enlighten. Is it a month??[/quote]Hi all,
If you store BM in the fridge, it can keep for 2 days (max).
If you store BM in the freezer, it can keep fro 2 months (max).

[Breadandmuffins]

[quote]Hi


Currently still trying hard to feed my 10mth old baby. She really dun like pacifier [/quote]
All my BF babies also dun like the pacifier.....they know the difference between the real one and the pacifier , that's why its also called a \"dummy\" in some countries. If she does not like it, its best not to introduce cos' it also takes some effort to wean off later....

[duriz]

LKVM:

Thanks duriz for the info!!

You're most welcome

[duriz]

Breadandmuffins:

[quote]Hi


Currently still trying hard to feed my 10mth old baby. She really dun like pacifier

All my BF babies also dun like the pacifier.....they know the difference between the real one and the pacifier , that's why its also called a \"dummy\" in some countries. If she does not like it, its best not to introduce cos' it also takes some effort to wean off later....[/quote]True that.
DD will NEVER take a soother, EVER!
SIGH.
We brought her to Baby Spa for swimming lessons when she was 3 months young. She cried like there was no tomorrow. The attendent asked us to provide soother. DH and I looked at eachother, and I was like \"erm.... okay....\"
:rotflmao: