Why breastfeeding is good?
- Strengthens baby's immune system
- Less likely to be colic and constipated
- Allergies are kept at bay
- Individualised to the baby's need
- Bonding between Mama and baby
- Not fattening
- Available, sterile and at the right temperature at all times
- Burns Mama's fats!!
I have always thought that breastfeeding would come naturally and easy to me.
Oh boy, was I wrong!
On our first day at the hospital, I started breastfeeding him.
But because my milk has not come in, he was constantly asking to be fed!
He was latched onto me from 8am to 4pm!
My nipples were so sore...(and never recovered until now...:p)
In my first week, he was so verocious while sucking that my nipples actually bled!
It was quite horrific, cause his mouth was smeared with my blood.
At this point, I was crying a lot. Felt like a failure and a bad Mama.
Was so tempted to just give up and give him formula.
I just didn't understand why this happenned.
Was he latching wrongly?
A voice in me says yes, it is. But i seriously don't know how to rectify this.
Apparently he is not supposed to...suck your nipple in like a spaghetti (which he does), or have a clucking noise while sucking (yup, that too!). But he seems to be drinking fine (gaining weight, urinating and passing motion regularly).
The only thing are my sore nipples. :p
What I did to cope with my Sore Nipples
1. Earth Mama's Nipple Butter was a nipple saver in the beginning. It didn't help much with the soreness or the wound. But it did soothe the crack-ness/dryness of the nipples. In fact, this was the first baby item I bought! :)
It is made entirely out of organic and natural plants, which is non-irritant (i am allergic to lanolin). And because it's natural, it is also safe. You don't even need to wipe it off before feeding your baby.
3. Feeding only from one side. I realised that just before it heals properly, Adam will just savage it again, and it will then bleed...yet again. So what I did was to only feed on one side while the other heals. Once that heals, I switched to the other side. During this time, I will pump out the milk from the unfed breast, so that it won't be so engorged!
4. Expressing my Milk. I expressed my milk, especially when my breasts were super engorged. This also gave me a break from feeding from the breast, as I could feed him by bottle. And the husband was pretty excited to do some bonding with his son too...:) Note: It is strongly advised though that you shouldn't introduce the bottle until baby has fully established his latching capabilities.
Do invest in a good pump. I will be writing another entry on my experiences with the Avent Single Electronic Breast Pump.
5. Cry. It is important to relieve any stress. Apparently your milk supply heavily depends on your emotions! Which is so true. During my sore and bleeding nipples period, I was so stressed that little milk flowed through. And this stressed him out. Which made him squirm, tug, bite and pretty much savaged my nipples...which then of course made me more stressed. It is a vicious cycle. :p
6. Avent Breast Shields. These were a God send! At this point, my nipples were no longer bleeding. Feeding was getting a bit easier. But he was still very ferocious at my boob. It is even worst when he is trying to poop while feeding! Cause he will squirm, cry and tug at my nipple. Ouch. And the soreness is quite unbearable, as it goes to my brain. And it doesn't help when the said sore nipples keep getting squashed under my nursing bra. In fact, even the slightest touch/brush against ANYTHING (including my clothes) causes immense pain.
So these breast shields are basically plastic dome-shaped cups which you put on your nipples. It comes in 2 sets. One that has air ventilation and the other one is closed, which can be used to collect milk and ease engorgement.
Some days are good...where Adam and I take on breastfeeding so naturally as if we were born to do it (which we are)...
Some days are bad...where nothing I do, can calm him or satisfy him.
Last Friday...was one of those bad days. Adam is starting to to feed a LOT in the evening. Especially during his bedtime feed. As usual, I will change him into his PJ's, then proceed to feed him. Usually, he will be drinking for 30 mins and be satisfied with that.
But on this day! He kept on asking for it almost continuously for 2 hours! 2 freaking hours! Obviously my nipples were very sore at this point of time. On top of that, he didn't sleep soundly throughout the night. He kept on waking up every hour to be fed again. Which led me to think that probably my milk is not satisfying enough for him.
So...after 3 days of contemplating, researching and talking to myself (consoling more like it) and people around me....I decided to try feeding him with formula.
*sigh*
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