ALL ABOUT BREASTFEEDING
This post took a really long time to write because, well, I’m pretty much always breastfeeding so my hands are full….seems like an appropriate excuse, right?
Anyhow, I’m excited to finally dive into all of your questions and be able to give longer, better answers than a quick response on DM. Some of the questions were sort of similar so I tried to combine them in a way that made sense.
But before I get to the FAQ, I just want to give a few disclaimers:
- My opinion on breastfeeding is, FED IS BEST. However you feed your baby; breast, bottle, formula, tube, whichever you choose, is amazing. We are keeping these tiny humans alive and that’s all that matters.
- There will be no medical advice provided here. This is all based on my own experience. And I’ve only been doing this for 8 weeks so I am far from an expert.
- I naturally had a lot of milk right away. I actually had a bit of an oversupply at the beginning and tried to do things to adjust it. This is not normal. I have much more milk than the average person. This means my pumping schedule will likely look very different from a lot of people and may not apply to you.
Alright, let’s get into this FAQ!
Did you always plan on breastfeeding? Were you scared?
I went into it with a very open mind. If I was able to great, if not, I was totally fine giving formula. I wasn’t scared but more so curious about how it would feel.
Did breastfeeding come naturally? Did Lily Latch right away?
Yes. She latched right away in the hospital, although not correctly, so she tore up my nipples and they were a bloody war zone.
Does it hurt?
Yes. The initial pain from it being brand new does go away after 2-3 weeks, however, it continued for me because I developed a condition called Vasospasm. My pain level was like a 15/10 for a few weeks and is now at a daily 4/10.
When did your milk come in?
Day 4. You know when it comes in. You will wake up with porn-star boobs. They are giant, round, lifted up high and hard as a rock. They actually look really nice but they won’t feel good. Also, hormones are intense when it comes in. I was a rough day for me.
Do you always nurse on both sides? How do you know when she has had enough?
I always offer both sides but sometimes she only takes one. 9 times out of 10 she’ll take both sides. I know she’s had enough when she pulls herself off the boob. I then wait to see if she gives me more cues that she’s hungry (routing, sucking her fingers, crying) and offer the breast again. If she refuses, she’s done.
How long does nursing take?
The first 2-3 weeks would take around an hour. Now (8 weeks) she eats for about 15 minutes per side. Every baby is different though.
Did you see a lactation consultant?
YES. And I highly recommend going to see someone no matter what. Luckily, a family member of mine is a private lactation consultant so she visited me the first morning in the hospital, again when I came home and we also had weekly calls. Most hospitals also offer classes that you can go to. Some hospitals won’t discharge you until you’ve taken the breastfeeding class there. However, I strongly suggest going to see someone a few days after, when you’re not so out of it from the delivery and can actually retain information. In Ontario, you can get a referral to lots of great clinics for free. Just ask your family doctor or pediatrician.
When did you introduce the bottle?
The first night we were home from the hospital (night 3). We had a night nurse for a few weeks who gave her bottles in the middle of the night so DC and I could sleep. We have continued to give her at least one bottle per day so she is always used to them and doesn’t start to refuse the bottle.
When did you introduce the pacifier?
Night 1 in the hospital. I highly recommend packing a sterilized pacifier in your hospital bag. The first 2 nights the baby typically cluster feeds (the nurses warned us of this) which means they will only be soothed if they are sucking on your boob. The pacifier was super helpful to help sooth immediately. She now sucks on her pacifier to soothe her and sometimes sleeps with it, typically only for naps.
What kind of bottles do you use?
Dr. Brown’s Natural Flow Original Bottles.
Are you not scared of nipple confusion?
No. Since day 3 she has taken the pacifier, nipple AND bottle perfectly fine.
Have you ever given formula?
Yes, once on night 3 when my milk hadn’t come in yet the night nurse gave her a 3 oz bottle of formula.
When did you introduce the pump?
Day 4 when my milk came in.
What kind of pump do you use?
Medela Freestyle.
What is your nursing/bottle/pump schedule?
Okay, this will be a it of a longer answer but it’s also the question I got asked over 100 times so I will try and make it as easy to understand as possible.
Lily was born SGA (small for gestational age). So in the hospital, she had to have her blood sugar levels checked every 3 hours, for 36 hours. Because of this, the nurses told me to feed her every 3 hours. If she got hungrier earlier, we fed her but never let her go longer than 3 hours without feeding. This meant, waking her to feed too.
We stayed on this 3 hour schedule until she went back up to her birth weight, which was a couple days after being discharged. Once she was at her birth weight, our pediatrician told us we didn’t need to wake her to feed anymore and we could just feed her on demand. We decided to continue the 3 hour schedule during the day but let her go longer at night if she wanted to.
I still feed her on demand and what that looks like now is during the day about every 2-4 hours and at night every 3-6 hours.
So, it does change every day, but to make it easier, I’ll give an example of what yesterday looked like:
6:00 am – breastfeed, then pump after the feed (I’ll explain why after)
10:00 am – breastfeed
1:00 pm – breastfeed
4:00 pm – breastfeed
7:00 pm – breastfeed
11:00 pm – pump and DC gives her a bottle
3:00 am – breastfeed
The general rule I follow is ‘only pump to replace a feed.’ So if she gets a bottle, I will pump during that time so my boobs to don’t get engorged AND to keep up my milk supply. However, I now want to start building up my freezer stash so people can give her a bottle if we can go out of town, etc. This is why I added in the extra morning pump.
We always try to be one feed ahead in the fridge. This means I always have one bottle of fresh breast milk for the night bottle so we never need to go into the freezer. If we don’t have one for some reason, I’ll throw in an extra pumping session after a feed to make sure we do.
This only works because I have a good milk supply. A lot of people will need to pump after a feed just to get enough milk and trick their body into producing more. So again, this all depends on your milk supply.
How long do you pump for?
I pump for 20 minutes and get 5 ounces.
Do you freeze your breastmilk?
Yes. We are trying to build up a stash for nights out, trips away, etc. I think it is good in the freezer for 3 months.
What pumping bra do you use?
The Bravado Pumping Ease bra. I like that it clips onto the nursing tanks I sleep in.
What do you do when you leave Lily for extended hours?
Someone gives her a bottle and I pump at the 3 hour mark. Again, pumping to replace a feed. This is why you always see me on Instagram pumping at random places on the go.
How do you drink alcohol and nurse?
The rule of thumb I go by is, ‘if you can drive, you can nurse.’ So I only drink to the point of getting buzzed but would be comfortable driving. Right now for me that means 2 beers or 2 glasses of wine.
Did you eat any foods to increase your supply?
No. I naturally had a large supply. But in order to maintain it, I drink a shit ton of water (like 5 litres a day), and make sure to eat lots of healthy grains like oats and healthy fats like coconut oil or avocado.
How long do you plan on breastfeeding for?
No idea. I just take it day by day.
So that should answer most of your questions but if you have anymore, I would love if you could leave them on my latest Instagram post! That way we can continue the convo and people can see my answers.
Thanks for reading!
xoxo
Photo by Scarlet O’Neill