I Should've Known
You would think that breastfeeding would come naturally to all women. Not. "Feed the baby for as long as he wants," that's what Evan's doctor told me when we first met at 7am after I gave birth when she learned that I planned on breastfeeding Evan. Good if he was like my officemate's son who'd be done after 10 minutes (wouldn't that be sweet?) But what if after 2 hours of feeding the baby is still not content? Not just one time but on every feeding like less than an hour afterwards?
"No, it should be 15-20 minutes on one breast, then after 45 minutes if he's hungry it's another 15-20 on the next breast. If the baby still wants to suck give him the pacifier," Lourdes told me when I got to chance to talk to her at Evan's baptism lunch. She's a nurse who works for a Women and Children's station. But of course that would contradict the basic breastfeeding rule: no bottle feeding and pacifiers before the baby is 3 weeks old to avoid nipple confusion.
BUT it certainly beats praying for the baby to take a break from his non-stop eating. Wish I had known this.
More baby photos. My nephew and niece Rohan and Lara. My sister-in-law Chariz told me how Rohan would immediately take Lara's place in the co-sleeper once she vacates it.
Other fun and helpful facts about breastfeeding I didn't know before I became a mom:
"No, it should be 15-20 minutes on one breast, then after 45 minutes if he's hungry it's another 15-20 on the next breast. If the baby still wants to suck give him the pacifier," Lourdes told me when I got to chance to talk to her at Evan's baptism lunch. She's a nurse who works for a Women and Children's station. But of course that would contradict the basic breastfeeding rule: no bottle feeding and pacifiers before the baby is 3 weeks old to avoid nipple confusion.
BUT it certainly beats praying for the baby to take a break from his non-stop eating. Wish I had known this.
More baby photos. My nephew and niece Rohan and Lara. My sister-in-law Chariz told me how Rohan would immediately take Lara's place in the co-sleeper once she vacates it.
Other fun and helpful facts about breastfeeding I didn't know before I became a mom:
1. Having to wear a bra to bed (how else to hold the nursing pads). The prospect of doing this for a year can sometimes be discouraging. But I just recently discovered that wearing a camisole with built-in bra is more comfortable and effective in preventing leaks.Just like parenting there are different approaches to breastfeeding. What might have looked feasible on paper, i.e., breastfeeding books, may not work in real life for some. Breastfeeding involves a lot of hard work, patience, dedication, research, trial and error. It's not a simple matter of putting the baby to breast.
2. Disposable nursing pads are expensive. They usually come in 60s and they go fast because you have to use 2 of them each time (unless you're a special case - tongue in cheek), and have to change them several times a day on the first weeks.
3. Log in a chart or notebok the number of times you nursed, for how long, baby poops and pees (try doing that when you're half asleep, exhausted and with dim lights) during the early weeks after birth.
4. One way of avoiding/minimizing sore nipples is to air-dry your breasts after nursing. No room for modesty there.
5. The first 5 minutes of breasfeeding your baby gets the foremilk, which is more diluted to quench babies' thirst, after that is the hindmilk which is creamier and will make the baby feel full and sleepy.
6. Breastmilk adjusts with the weather to suit the baby's needs (e.g. prevent dehydration).
7. The mother experiences a let-down (milk starts to flow) as soon as she hears the baby cry - or even before she hears it. Mother nature is amazing.
8. Freshly expressed breastmilk can be kept at room temperature for 4-8 hours (depending on the temperature) while newly prepared formula is only good for 2. Also, breastmilk that has been a bottle given to a baby can still be good for the next feeding, formula has to be dumped after 1 hour.
9. Unless you're a stay-at-home mom, breastfeeding is not exactly economical especially if you have to invest in a good electrical breastpump ($300+), storage bags ($7 for 20 cts) and nursing pads ($6-$8 for 60 cts).
10. For babies resistant to taking breastmilk from the bottle, the moms are advised to leave the house and have the father feed the baby. The babies' sense of smell is that strong. In fact, it's found in a study that babies' can even tell their mother's milk from another mother's.
Currently listening to: Christina Aguilera "Ain't No Other Man"
Currently reading: You Baby And Child by Penelope Leach
Currently watching: The Family Stone (Sarah Jessica Parker)
Posted by geri at 03:51 PM | 3 thought balloons
geri
Ed, I agree about whatever money spent on breastfeeding is money well spent and is still cheaper than formula (we get ours at $26 Sam's Club; even if I "only" supplement it still goes out fast). I just wanted to point out to would be moms that there will still be money involved as with anything that involves a child. I also can't get over why pads and plastic bags could cost so much too.
I have succumbed to plastic liners, it still saves me time. I get the generic ones tho which costs only half the price of the branded ones. We can also get them at ebay for Lots.
Ed Abbey (guest)
Although Little Abbey used to take a long time nursing when she was younger, she can suck a breast dry in five minutes now and start crying for the second. When she gets to the second, she eats vigorously for a few minutes and then lounges for perhaps twenty before falling off. I can't imagine going two hours. You must be superhuman!
My wife must be different. I think she uses two nursing pads all day without changing. I think she is only on her second or third box since the beginning.
Defintely you can't be modest. Several times I've been scrambling for a blanket to cover her up when unexpectant guests showed up.
I definitely agree that it is money well spent to get a good breatpump (300+) and save your money if you buy a cheap model. It is faster, more efficient and more comfortable to use... so I've heard anyway.
We only used the storage bags during the first couple months when milk exceeded demand and we froze that. Now, we just are able to keep up and don't freeze anything. We store all milk in bottles and don't line them with plastic liners either so that cuts down on some of the costs. We just wash them in hot soapy water for next time which takes only a couple minutes a day.
You are right that breast feeding is expensive and time consuming but I think we both agree it is worth it. And it is still a lot cheaper than bottle feeding formula which the last time I checked costs $20 a can! I've figured that we would have more than saved enough money to pay for the breast pump already. But for us, it was even better since my health insurance paid for the breast pump.
Finally, I seem to have a easier time bottle feeding Little Abbey than my wife does. I can understand. Who wants to eat leftover milk from a bottle when fresh milk in a boob is just inches away!
Lee Osborne (guest)
Hugs to Evan. I love reading the blogs of new moms because we are now planning on having a baby pretty soon!