Tips and tricks for anyone else trying to breastfeed right now, plus specific advice for those with large breasts.
It’s World Breastfeeding Week! So, let’s have a little chat about the complexities of feeding a newborn baby.
After 9+ months of pregnancy, you go through the insane task of bringing a child into the world and then you finally get to go on a well deserved relaxing beach vacation. HA! Just kidding, you have to attempt to master this new skill that you basically cannot learn until that very moment, which also happens to be essential in order to keep your baby alive. You must do it every few hours.
Cool, cool, cool.
Breastfeeding is HARD. Even if you have a smooth journey eventually, those first days are mentally and physically draining. Hormones are all over the place (ohhhh the tears and the PAIN). Individual milk production is seemingly random and often unfair. Nipples are sore and I definitely had to break plenty of cringe-worthy latches. IF circumstances allow you to continue, it does get better and easier over time and is a beautiful way for you and baby to bond. If it doesn’t? That’s absolutely okay too!
I am a firm believer in fed is best. Breastfeeding is so tough and a lot of factors are at play. Tons of my friends had to get creative in order to feed their babies. Topping up with formula? Have to use a nipple shield? Need to see a lactation consultant? Not producing enough milk? Emotionally/physically drained and can’t continue to BF for as long as you’d wanted? THAT IS OKAY! I hate how easy it is for Mom Guilt to be woven into a breastfeeding journey. If it doesn’t work for you for whatever reason, that is absolutely fine. Please don’t let anyone shame you about it. You brought this baby into the world, you’re amazing.
General Breastfeeding Advice For Those Early Days
I would like to start out by saying this is NOT a how-to. The following are some of the notes I made myself, so if you are currently struggling with feeding, please take what you can from the following if it suits you. Most of these tidbits came from my midwife team, nurses, and various friends. We found this list quite handy, so shoutout to my village for the support. Couldn’t do this without ya!
Ask For Help
We’ve already established that this is a difficult skill to grasp, so from the get-go, seek guidance from the professionals. I’m not normally one to ask for help (though, I’m working on it), but my friend encouraged me to demonstrate Lucy’s latch/feeding to every nurse at the hospital and I am SO glad I did! It’s wild how often I’d just whip my boobs out for anyone and not even mind LOL. Each nurse had different techniques and hacks, and taking a little from everyone, Lucy and I were able to establish a latch and I went home feeling much better about feeding. We had stayed overnight at the hospital (this was a few weeks before lockdown), so if you aren’t able to hang out at the hospital for assistance, make extra appointments with your healthcare provider if you’re unsure and hound them with questions.
If you are really struggling, you’re definitely not alone even if it feels isolating. There are so many great resources out there for new moms, so please reach out to your midwife, doctor, community health nurse, or even a Mom friend! Lactation consultations are an excellent resource and there’s no shame in checking in and asking questions. The experts want what’s best for you and baby!
Strip Down To Feed
We were burning through outfits every day because, after each feed, everything would be covered in milk. My SIL (who had a baby weeks before us) told us that they stripped their babe down to just a diaper before each feed. Mind. Blown. We kept our apartment warm anyway and I would just drape a blanket over Lucy, worked like a charm. Saved us so much laundry and it was great having that blanket on hand for inevitable spit-up.
Use A Breastfeeding Pillow
Personally, I found a breastfeeding pillow to be a newborn essential. If you’re wondering which one to get, I’ve heard great things about the My Brestfriend Nursing Pillow. I tried it out at our midwife’s office and can confirm that it’s great! Didn’t purchase one because my cousin passed down a generic pillow for me to use and it has served us well. I’m 5.5 months in and we still use it every day. I wish I’d brought mine to the hospital with me so I could have established the proper posture there while I had all the nurse’s support. Next time for sure!
Create A Designated Feeding Spot
I carved out a corner that became the breastfeeding station in our living room. I kept my pillow set up intact, which included the breastfeeding cushion, pillows for back support, and for the first few weeks, my pregnancy pillow as a donut to sit on because things were sore and swollen. There was a table right beside me and I kept the essentials there, like snacks and a water bottle (one with a straw is helpful because you don’t have two hands while feeding), Vitamin D drops, a clean Haakaa, nipple cream, the base of my electric breast pump, and a long phone charger. You spend so much time feeding in those early days that I wanted to be as comfortable and stocked as possible.
Breastfeeding Tips For Large Boobs
Okay, let’s be honest and say that everyone’s breasts seem ginormous when the milk comes in, so interpret this how you’d like. Let’s just say that mine started off at a 36E cup before the milk came in and then who knows what heights they reached once they were engorged.
Roll A Blanket Or Towel Under Your Breast
I found the C and Y holds worked best with my breasts that seemed to be triple the size of Lucy’s head. My goodness, they were a real hazard for a new baby! The Y hold took a toll on my fingers, but it was at times the only way to feed. My hands were so weak that I would dread having to hold my breasts up and for some feeds needed Adam to help hold them because my fingers would start shaking. A slight relief was rolling a blanket or towel underneath my breasts to help give them some height! That way, there was less weight on my fingers and hands for the hold. It definitely helped me a lot, especially as my hands fatigued.
Invest In A Good Nursing Bra & Reusable Nursing Pads
The bosom needs a lot of support, especially when the milk arrives. My everyday favourite was the Bravado Original Full Cup Bra in Black. One regret I have, is that I didn’t think to size up in my postpartum nursing bras. My extremely large bazoongas were bursting out of the nursing bras I’d purchased for postpartum, which is really too bad. Now that things have settled down they fit well, but next time I will be sizing up for my bedtime bra and everyday nursing bra for sure. Though I just recently stopped needing them, having reusable nursing pads was a saviour for months. I rotated through 10 of them and would just constantly be throwing them in with our almost daily laundry. Newborns are messy!
Try A Different Nursing Position
I do a cradle or cross-cradle as a standard position. A few nurses at the hospital had tried to promote the football position, but it felt awkward for us. One evening, exhausted, my body in shambles from sitting the same way on the couch for feeds and my spirits down from the loneliness of feeding alone in the living room, I attempted a side-lying feed in bed. With such large breasts, I was able to manipulate their positioning towards Lucy and it clicked for us immediately. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work for everyone, but IF you can manage it, it’s my favourite way to feed in the evenings and the middle of the night.
Yoga For Your Hands + Upper Back Stretches
I’m not even kidding, my hands are still sore. You can even get carpal tunnel from breastfeeding – yikes! I wish I’d started this months ago, but it’s never too late to help out your poor body cope with parenthood. This baby is only getting heavier! My RMT recommended a series of Y, T, W, and L stretches to ease tension and strengthen my upper back. I found a visual resource along with some other great upper back stretches here. I know the recommendation is not to look down at baby while feeding but I just can’t comply. I am always looking down at my baby in awe or zoning out my phone, so I probably pay for it in added neck/back pain.
I’m also about Yoga With Adrienne, so here is her Yoga Tips For The Hands video as well as Yoga For The Hands, Fingers, Wrists video. Covid makes it trickier, but checking in with your RMT, physio, chiropractor, or acupuncturist can definitely be a huge help. This parenting thing takes a toll on the body!
Nursing On The Go
Do what you can to set yourself up for nursing success while you’re out and about. While Lucy’s neck strength was still developing, I would actually put the diaper bag underneath her as a makeshift nursing prop of sorts. I try to choose a bench with back support if I can. At someone else’s house, I obviously put a pillow underneath Lucy if that is an option. I don’t always cover-up, but I do feel extra weird about it having such large breasts. Which, isn’t fair and I hate that I feel that way, but it’s just how it is. If I am covering the feed, I find a looser covering works best, even just a swaddle blanket tied around my neck. Especially in this warmer weather, the smaller covers are too warm for the baby.
A breaking news update, my next nursing hurdle is teeth! Lucy’s first tooth JUST cut through this morning and wow that latch hurts like hell. I’d wanted to feed for longer, but if she continues this on-off distracted eating WITH teeth, we could be calling it quits sooner than I’d anticipated haha.
Did you have any luck trying to breastfeed? If so, how long did you continue for? Any pieces of advice you’d add to this list? Would love to hear about your journey in the comments below!
The post Breastfeeding Advice From A New Mom appeared first on Alicia Fashionista.