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ADVICE RATING

4.30 (Worth a try) from 37 votes (1737 Visits)

the best advice i was never given

(September 2006) (rank 76th)

Coming home from hospital with a newborn baby is a terrifyingly exciting experienc. Unfortunately our brains are so full of fairy floss that you cant think to organise yourself to make life a little easier. So here are a few tips I wish I had of thought of in

time for it to work.

When I was breastfeeding I was ravenous and dying of thirst so I had my mum make me a tray of muffins so i could munch out whilst feeding, sometimes I would make myself a cheese sandwich ahead of time and cut it into little wedges that i would also munch on. I carried around a sports bottle full of cordial (flavoured water) to drink, I think I must have been drinking 2litres a day!

Another handy hint while my milk was drying up..... My breast leaked by the gallon so it would go through the breast sheilds in a matter of minutes so I used the remainder of my maternity sanitary pads instead. I cut them into 3rds and stuck them inside my maternity bra. They took all my leakage and the sticky backs were great to keep them in place!

I gave up breastfeeding after a week as i was truly exhausted and found my 10yr old son was needing some attention and I was forever feeding the baby. My wonderful midwife told me the most reassuring piece of information. She said "breastfeeding is only a tiny tiny part of such a big picture.... only do it as long as you are happy doing it" I was so obsessed with getting the breast feeding right i was forgetting to enjoy my beautiful new baby. So I put him on formula and fell in love.

I hope that this information can help someone.

Any contributed content above is the subjective opinion of that member or external author, and not of Minti.com Pty Ltd. If you are searching for health related advice we strongly suggest you seek professional medical support. View our Terms of Service for more details.

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ADVICE RATING

4.30 (Worth a try) from 37 votes

Thankyou for your vote (you can change your vote at any time). Please leave some helpful comments about this advice using the box below.

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	November 21st \| MandyW

Re: the best advice i was never given

too bad i didnt have this advice, but then again, my body was delayed. i gave birth to twins, but didnt have any milk, even after using yeast tablets, so they were put on formula. weeks later milk started dripping. they are 8 months old now, but are still on the formula and guess what? my breast are full now! talk about delayed. i just touch my breast and milk comes streaming out, there's no chance i'm feeding them this milk though. dunno how safe it is and both of them had their 1st 2 teeth at just before 6 months old

Reply

	February 2008 \| mom2jedd

Re: the best advice i was never given

OMGosh I did the same thing with all my ater birth pads. I cut them up and used them to "catch" my leaking.....LOL Glad I am not the only inovated individaul out there. They worked great.

Reply

	February 2008 \| janicepovey

Re: the best advice i was never given

Great Advice, enjoyed reading this and i'm sl glad that you are now enjoying your beautiful baby girl.

Regards Janice

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| February 2008 \| dannii17

Re: the best advice i was never given

great advice, i dont think ill be trying the breastfeeding,not to sure yet..but ill remember your tips to pass on to family and friends

Dannii xxo

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| September 2007 \| lexiw

Re: the best advice i was never given

Great advice well done

Lexi xxx

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| October 2006 \| elizabeth

hmmmmmmmm

there is some great advice in here. But.... yep, I'm a nipple nazi! I really think that a mother should try and feed the baby for at least three months. They get so much natural goodness from it. I just think that three months is not a long time to sacrifice when you do look at the big picture. I don't believe that mothers should torture themselves and feed through horrendous conditions. But because you feel like your just feeding continually I don't think is a justifiable reason. Just my opinion.

Oh just one last thing, you do have to do the right thing by you and the baby. If feeding formula to your babe is fine by you, then really, who cares. All we need is love sweet love.

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| October 2006 \| bleshu

hmmmmmmmm

Your philosophy does not make you a "nipple nazi". You are open to mothers not breastfeeding if it is causing them or the child distress. "nipple nazi" is used to discribe the midwives and some mothers who harrass and bully mothers into breastfeeding when it is obvious they cant or simply dont want to.

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| April 2007 \| dcsmom

hmmmmmmmm

You mean, like my husband's old doctor that told me that my son was sick because I wasn't breast-feeding him any more after 7 months. The one that then told me off for being a bad mommy because I didn't insist he breast feed until he was 2.

You mean, that kind of nipple-nazi? Poor hubby had to go and find himself a new doctor.

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| October 2006 \| CTmama

Sometimes You Have To Go With Instinct

I had a terrible experience nursing #2. I nursed #1 for a year and assumed I would do the same for #2. Except he didn't want it. And I spent 6 weeks doing everything I could try to get it to work and finally thought...you know, this boy and I will bond better if I just feed him the way he wants to eat. And stopped obsessing. He's a strapping kid now. And I'm glad I let it go when it wasn't working.

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| September 2006 \| rkcrtbrown

Good advice

i wanted to breastfeed. My daughter wouldn't latch on. The hospital told me to continue to try breast feeding but put her on a bottle. i did. she did not want anything to do with breast feeding. I pumped my milk for the first four months for my daughter. Then my twin boys came along and i was more determined than ever to breast feed. In the hospital we tried the tandem feeding only worked with the nurses. One of my sons had alot of problems latching on and told me to put him on the bottle. I was determined not to do it. I finger fed him breast milk and breast fed the other. For two weeks, i tried to breast feed and he kept losing weight. i put him on the bottle. Formula for the most part and i pumped one bottle a day so he would have the same benefits. I breast fed and pumped for 4 months and then it was too much. People told me that it was ok but i wanted to.
But now looking back, it was an extremely hard time i should have just enjoyed my children and not worried about the whole breast milk thing. i finally listened at 4 months.......................

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| September 2006 \| bleshu

Good advice

I really feel for you. Breastfeeding is really hard for alot of women. We are made to feel guilty if it doesnt work or we simply dont feel comfortable doing it. I was really lucky this time around as I had a wonderful midwife who believed that if mum's not happy then neither is bub. I enjoyed it for the first 4-5days then i began to stress out just at the thought of it. the turning point for me was when I became frustrated with my son when he couldnt latch on. I realised I no longer enjoyed it.... I didnt get to enjoy my first son when he was born due to difficult circumstances of my life at the time..... I was not about to miss out on the joy of my last baby. I sincerely hope that you still dont feel any guilt over not breast feeding your twins, the best thing you can do for your children is be happy, that is truly all they need from you.

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| September 2006 \| Jessgore

The best advice I was never given....

It is amazing just how tired you get from breastfeeding.... I breast fed until Francis was 8 months and it was amazing just how much energy I regained after I stopped.... Every one is told breast is best, but if you need to go on formula don't feel guilty for it.... As mentioned in the advice, breast feeding is a small part of the big picture. If you are not happy doing it then don't. If you are not happy neighter is the baby.....

For the first couple of weeks I had a lot of trouble breast feeding, my boobs were bigger then my baby's head and he was getting smothered.. Poor little thing... And eventually we worked on it together, but during that time I was content knowing that he was still getting fed with formula.... As long as he was not hungry... I was happy....

Also great Idea on the maternity pads.. I wish I had of thought of that. I was going through so many breast pads I should have brought shares in the company....

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| September 2006 \| bleshu

The best advice I was never given....

I know how you feel with the massive boobs! mine were GIANORMOUS because I was doing it wrong, he couldnt latch on properly it was a nightmare!

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| September 2006 \| cheleinkal

You're lucky to have had someone sensible backing you up

I wish I had had the same advice on breast feeding you had, I'm sure the anguish and guilt about starving my baby was a contrubuting factor when it came to my PND and Agoraphobia. I had 3 months of hell and was told continually that "Breast is Best". Everyone but my Mum, but I figured she'd been out of the baby brest feeding loop for 33 years, her advice is probably out of date and it was a case of 10 to 1 for breast feeding. In the end I had to go over east to be in a wedding and I just couldn't sit there and either feed or express ALL day long, so I switched and was completely dry in 2 days.......by the way my sister in-law used Sudafed to dry herself up with, apparently it's the sudoefidrene and it prevents the leaking and the pain etc. I had pump bottles full by every chair I could possibly chose to sit in and emptied them everytime I fed, I got thirsty just THINKING about breast feeding....amazing.

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| September 2006 \| bleshu

You're lucky to have had someone sensible backing you up

My husbands mate at work calls the breastfeeding brigade "nipple nazi's" I thought that was the funniest thing i had ever heard! It's so easy to get bullied into doing something you are really not comfortable with. My theory is that if breast feeding was so easy they would never have invented formula.

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| September 2006 \| angelmum

the best advice i was never given

I always had a cup of tea, bottle of water and some sort of snack, I used to throw down the tea in between breast change and half the water, the trouble was I was always dying to go to the loo before the feed was finished!! I fed my first two ok my but third I also gave up after a week, I had no guilt I knew it was best for me and for him. Good advice....

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