FTWM determined to breastfeed

My baby has grown up so much. From a newborn to an infant who has started to walk.

I am a FTWM (Full Time Working Mom) who is still determined to breastfeed my 14 months old child.

Before the arrival of my baby, I was quite hesitant and doubtful about myself. I was worried if I would not be able to successfully breastfeed my baby. However my mind told me that ‘I will try my best’. There are many successful & unsuccessful breastfeeding mummies around me. But that doesn’t mean they are a bad mother.

My breastfeeding journey wasn’t easy during the early days. Especially when my baby was admitted to hospital due to high jaundice. That was the period where I was really depressed. Juggling between breastfeeding, my confinement period & my marriage which started to rock, I pulled through myself till today.

Talk about engorgement, milk bleb, blocked ducts, you name it I’ve experienced it. For the sake of my baby I stay strong and determined.

How do I manage my pumping time?

– Twice pumping session during working hours between 9-6pm on weekdays.

– Been using Spectra M1 pump for a year. Satisfied with the pump. It is affordable, silent, handy.

How to maintain a good supply?

Direct latch! Latch whenever is possible. Especially night feeding. Night feeding helps to build supply. Do not diet! You need to eat whenever you are hungry. Plenty of fluid intake. ie: water & soup. My milk booster are cheese, red bean soup, salmon, tuna, durian.

Drastic dropped in supply?

Yes. Often people said menses will interrupt your milk supply/yield. Thank God it was fine on me. It does not effect much. How about milk killer food? There might be a whole long list of milk killer/milk booster food. But its not necessarily workable on everyone. You gotto experiment it yourself. i.e: cabbage is said to be a milk killer. Somehow I ate quite alot of cabbage…my supply still okay. However my most drastic dropped in milk supply was when I fallen sick. My usual yield of 15-18oz (from 2 pumping session); it dropped to about 3oz (from 2 pumping session). That’s less than half of my normal yield. This lasted for about 2 weeks. I was quite sad and worried if I could not rebuild my supply. Luckily this happened after my baby has started solid food. I was never worried about my supply. Probably because my baby is not a big drinker. Hence I do not want to stress myself about the amount. Remember not to compare your supply. Everyone works differently.

My advise

Be prepared mentally & physically. Do more readings. Simply google on ‘breastfeed’, and you’ll get a handful of information. Despite reading, also watch youtube or attend at least one breastfeeding class in order to get a clearer picture in your mind. A proper ‘latch on’ is very important in the beginning stage. Once you grasp that, the journey will go smoother. I remembered a friend told me this, “Never store FM at home as backup if you want to succeed in breastfeeding”. Keep contacts of lactation consultants just in case you needed it during emergency.

Likes

– The bond between mother & baby.

– Providing the most natural food source to my baby.

– Money saving.

– Lose weight faster.

– Tummy & Uterus shrinks faster.

– Direct latch is very convenient. Because you save alot of time & hassle.

Dislike

– I need to pump or bring along my pump whenever I go out without my baby. (Need to manage my pumping time)

My earlier target was to breastfeed at least till 1 year old. Now that I’ve achieved it. Therefore my next target will be 2 years old. Wish me luck 😉

I want to breastfeed my baby

From the beginning of my pregnancy, I’ve told myself that I want to breastfeed my baby. Hopefully at least till 1 year old. Hoping that I could manage to do it successfully. I felt, being a mother and able to breastfeed our baby is a blessing and something precious.

The beneficial of breast milk… I’m sure there are more than these. I will try NOT to introduce any formula milk to my baby. Friends who are into breast feeding, advised me not to spare/buy any formula milk to so-called ‘stand-by’. This will indirectly give you more excuses to feed on formula milk. Well… I am not going to elaborate about formula milk here… decisions are on you.

Many mummies got panicked when they said they do not have milk on day 1. After reading much info… I gotto know that newborn babies can survive up to 3 days without milk. So, people who are not in the same boat…please stop telling the mummy, your baby is hungry and you do not have milk. That will create tense towards the mummy. Friends advise is to keep direct latch your baby, and the milk volume will slowly increase.

Yesterday, a friend of mine sent a message. Saying his wife has gave birth to a healthy baby girl. He said his wife tried to breastfeed the baby but failed because baby doesn’t know how to suckle. I guess what he meant is baby didn’t latch on? Then I thought this is something I should know and learn too. I’ve never thought about it. All I know is keep on ‘latch your baby’.. but never did find out what if baby doesn’t know how to latch on. So, I google for information. Then I found some good info and also blogs.

The Newborn Latch.

• Take full advantage of your baby’s rooting reflex.
  • The rooting reflex has two parts: turning and opening the mouth.
    1. When you touch your baby’s cheek or lip lightly, she or he will turn her or his head towards the touching object.
    2. She or he will also open her or his mouth really wide, as in a big yawn.
    3. Soon, your baby will learn that your breasts are her or his source of comfort and nourishment, and she or he will turn her or his head from side to side and open her or his mouth whenever she or he wants to nurse.
  • If your baby is already facing your nipple, you can just tickle her or his lip with your nipple until she or he opens up really wide.
  • If the baby is facing away from the breast, tickle her or his cheek with your nipple When she or he turns toward your breast, tickle the lip with your nipple.
  • Make sure you continue tickling until your baby opens up reallywide. Don’t try to attach a baby whose mouth is only slightly open, or you might have sore nipples and all the other problems associated with improper latch-on.
  • A very common mistake is to try to push and turn a baby’s head towards your breast. The rooting reflex makes the baby want to turn towards the pushing object. Many people interpret this to mean that the baby is turning away from the breast. They say the baby “rejects” the breast, and resort to artificial feeding. Don’t fall into this trap! Just tickle the baby’s cheek with your nipple, and she or he will turn towards the breast.
  • When the baby opens up really wide, pull him towards your breast all the way to your chest. It’s important to pull the baby close to make sure she or he gets a good mouthful of breast instead of just the nipple.
• When a baby is correctly latched on:
  • Her or his lips should be flanged out, not sucked in. You should be able to see the inner surfaces of the lips on your breast.
  • Her or his tongue should be covering the lower gum. You can see this by pulling the lower lip slightly out.
  • Her or his cheeks should not be dimpled. Dimpled cheeks during sucking indicate poor latch-on and suction.
  • Her or his nose should be touching your breast. If the baby’s nose is away from your breast, she or he is sucking on just the nipple. You’ll have sore nipples, and the baby won’t get enough milk.
• You might wonder whether you should hold your breast with one hand while you are breastfeeding.If your baby is not latched on correctly, remove her or him from the breast and try again. You should keep trying until the baby gets it right, even if you have to try twenty times. Pretty soon, your baby will learn to latch on properly, and will be able to do it without any help.”
  • You can hold your breast to make it easier for the baby to latch on.
  • If you do, make sure your thumb and fingers are well behind the areola.
  • Many people do a good job of keeping the thumb way back, but they put their fingers too close to the areola, just behind the nipple. Avoid this! Your baby needs to take in as much breast tissue as she or he can comfortably fit into her or his mouth. If your hand is too close to the nipple, the baby will just take the nipple in. You’ll get sore nipples.
  • Avoid the “scissor hold” in which you hold your breast between your index finger and ring finger. This style of holding the breast very often causes the baby to latch on to the nipple instead of to the breast.
  • Use the “C” or “U” hold, where you form a C or U shape with your thumb and fingers (as if you are holding a water glass). Hold your breast so that its compressed shape is in line with the baby’s open mouth (remember, you are doing this to make it easy for the baby to take in as much of the breast tissue as possible).
  • You can also hold and lift your breast to bring it to the level of the baby’s mouth. This is useful for mothers with large soft breasts.
  • You don’t need to worry about pulling the breast back from the baby’s nose to let the baby breathe. Babies’ faces are made for nursing. They can breathe with no problems with their faces smushed right into your breast. Pulling the breast away from the baby can lead to improper latch-on and sore nipples.
  • If you have flat or inverted nipples that stand out when you squeeze the areola, hold your breast so your nipple protrudes until your baby is latched on.
  • Once the baby is latched on and nursing, you can usually let go of the breast.
  • If your baby is able to latch on correctly without your holding your breast, you don’t need to hold it. Women with smaller breasts are more likely to be able to nurse a young baby without holding the breast. As your baby grows, you’ll probably find that you won’t need to hold your breast, no matter how large or soft it may be.

(source from:- singlemomontherun )

Another resourceful blog:- How to Get a Newborn to Latch On

a good animation about latch on

Above are the items that you may need to prepare when you plan for breastfeeding.

Nursing Pillow –  (depends on you necessity, you can use a normal pillow if you are comfortable with it).

Nursing Bra – for your convenience when you breastfeed. Because you don’t need to lift up your entire bra. Try Autumnz for affordable pricing nursing bra. The designs are not bad too.

Breast Pad – When you are breastfeeding, you tend to have more leakage, I suppose. So you may need breast pad to prevent people from noticing the leakage. Breast pads comes in disposable and washable type 🙂

Breast Pump – Some people are producing more milk than what the baby demanded. So, they’ll usually pump the extra milk to store them. Breast pump price range from hundreds to thousand.

Storage Milk Bottles – To store the milk that you’ve pump out. Alternatively, you can use storage bags instead of storage bottles. Lower cost and also space saving in your freezer.

Milk Bottles – I will need to go back to work after my 2 months confinement period. Therefore, I’ll need to train my baby on bottle.

Nursing Cover – In case you need to breast feed in public but you are shy to pull up your cloths openly… you may need a nursing cover. These days the nursing cover comes in variant designs and price.

I hope people around me are supportive on breastfeeding, hoping that I’ll be able to go through the whole process. Baby….please be cooperative with mummy ya…. heheh…