latch or express? dilemma!!

dear felicity,

do not feel bad, i went thrg crying my heart out once after hearing negative comment. but after struggling and having comfort fr hubby, i know sometimes things will not go on as planned.

even if u bottle feed, baby might not have nipple confusion. mine only have confusion btw pacifier and bottle teats. he is ok with latch and bottle since young. and to me, as long as we mummy give him our best, regardless of partial fm or full bm. yours still manage to take yr milk.

my flow ony increase after 1 mth, so pls do not be impatient. tell yrself, be strong try all means to get more milk. but not negative ideas or crying which will decrease yr milk flow when stree, u want the best isnt it, so please not cry.

if things still dont get better, why not change method. rules are saying bb are the best sucking machine, but why are there still mothers doing exclusive pumping instead? there is still chance. you can still opt for exclusive pumping every 3 hrly, even in night, and bottle feed with express milk. een if each session is less, by then u might combine and give a full meal fr yr bb.

i was extreme few months ago after confinement:

i drank fenugreek 3 times a day, another day cook papaya soup for myself a whole pot of it an drink thrgout, and date water another day. kept drinking so much that my stomach was bloated. and it does help. remember these water are not miracle, they need time to work, be patience.
 

felicity

Active Member
Thanks ilovebbdylan. I'm feeling better... Will be strong. Friday I pumped v v little n was v demoralized.. Then ytd slightly improve but still not near my previous max amount yet. Ytd had papaya soup also, and kept drinking the red date longan tea... My source of fluid intake. Hopefully slowly build back... Been latching, expressing n feeding ebm, plus one fm feed per day...
 

felicity

Active Member
I think maybe papaya soup helps or I was really too stressed up last week... Now milk supply is coming back to 110ml combined each time... Haven't exceed that b4 though... Hoping can go up even more!!

Thanks everyone for "listening" and encouraging me... I really really appreciate it :)
 
papaya soups does help , i know it because everytime i had it, my breast get fuller faster:)

sometime, i did not even add fish and it is good enough, much easier to cook.

it just takes time and patience:)
 

felicity

Active Member
Thank u ilovebbdylan :)

Now I v puzzled.. Why my breasts can be v engorged n hard but pump until soft only do little milk.. Sigh..
 
hello pauline,
i just cut the papaya into cubes and boil over slow fire for 30 mins. i added wolfberries too.

and amazingly, unripe papaya will be sweet when cook also:) usually i dont add salt, but up to u.

by the way, buy green papaya with slightly ripe parts(minimal). normally cannot finish using one whole papaya, can divide it up 3 times. put papaya in fridge to slow the ripen process so can last longer.
 
also can use slow cooker for convenience. instead if fish, u may use pork ribs (which is oiler, i dont really like) but i replaced with lean loin meat if i want to eat with rice. u can also eat some of the papaya:)
 

felicity

Active Member
I hv a recipe from TMC.. Besides fish (which I think is optional, my mum also nv put when cook for me cos she's vegetarian, guess can add other types of protein like ilovebbdylan. my mum added mock fish which is a soy product so also protein) the other ingredients r: red dates, wolfberries, ginger. No need seasoning.. But the recipe says cook for 4 hrs!! :O
 
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pmcheng

Member
Felicity, continue to press on alright? Totally understand how you feel - I also cried everyday during confinement over concerns of low milk supply coupled with a bb who like to suckle for long periods.

If possible, try to keep switching bb frm side to side and not latch on one side for too long. This was an advice given by my hospital nurse. I didn't pay much attention to this advice when I returned hm after hospital stay, and let bb suckle for v long until I bled :( then I persisted to latch while trying to let my body heal so that milk supply isn't stopped. Of course in between I had to give FM becos needed my body to rest n stop bleeding.

Today, my bb is going 9mths. I'm not the full of milk kind and the amt I express at work still not enuff to let bb go 100% bm. He still needs fm supplement and he's on solids now. But I just continue to express n give whatever I have cos i cld see my bb being stronger becos of bm (even tho not 100% bm).

You hang in there alright! Bb will definitely grow and become easier to care for. The toughest and most emotionally stressful part is 1 to 2 mts. Thereafter things will stabilize and u will also be more relaxed :) Everyone goes thru the same phase. Mummyhood makes us stronger! :) :)
 

felicity

Active Member
Thank u pmcheng! Thanks for sharing your experience.. Ya sometimes she suckle so long n so hard I feel pain all the way inside n up my chest, not just the nipple, like she's stressing n overworking all those glands.. and that makes me worry sometimes :/
 
another thing to add, make sure bb is latching correctly. my friend suffered as she thought bb latch correctly but all along bb isn't. hope yrs did the right way
 

andieluv2

Member
Yea.felicity, dun give up!!! I.was.also very stressed during my confinement. I was only pumping 50mls every.3hrs.whn.i.reach 1 month!!! imagine??!! But i still insist and now my baby is 3months.old, i juz converted him to full bm 2wks ago!!! i am pumping 100-140mls combined and my fren.blessed me with her ebm as she.got surplus. But i manage to use my.own evm for baby everyday and i still got abit.of surplus!!! so dun give up oki. I really understand how sad it.is. But giving fm.doesnt make u a lousy mother. In fact i feel that u are a great mum bcoz.u.neber.tot.of.giving up and still persist.on!!! so jia you.oki!!! remember, u're not alone!!!
 

felicity

Active Member
Mine will start w a lot of pain cos maybe she got too excited to find the nipple w her mouth n just anyhow grab v hard on the nipple with her mouth.. And like chewing on it for a while.. I saw b4, she does it to bottle teats too.. When she's finally suckling properly it's fine.. Then sometimes dunno why she gets frustrated n bite v hard n pull n tug.. Super painful!! ><

Thank u andieluv!! I will press on!
 

jonquil31

New Member
hi felicity! i am currently nursing my 10 week old baby and i can totally understand your struggles... so much so i cried when i read your posts... I don't have any advice but i just want to tell you you are not alone... coz i too break down each time my baby wails after offering both breasts and it breaks my heart each time i hug her and say those exact words "sorry darling but momma don't have enough milk for you"... to me, those are the hardest words a momma ever has to say...

i salute you for holding on... and press on... i am pressing on too and am telling myself as long as bb has wet diapers and is gaining weight, i will tbf for as long as i can... keep going!!!
 

andieluv2

Member
felicity:695974 said:
Mine will start w a lot of pain cos maybe she got too excited to find the nipple w her mouth n just anyhow grab v hard on the nipple with her mouth.. And like chewing on it for a while.. I saw b4, she does it to bottle teats too.. When she's finally suckling properly it's fine.. Then sometimes dunno why she gets frustrated n bite v hard n pull n tug.. Super painful!! ><

Thank u andieluv!! I will press on!
My baby also lidat. Lol. Thats why i decided.to go onto exclusive pumping for her. To me if i can latch directly thats the best. But if.cant, giving her my ebm.is the nxt best choice. As long as she gets the goodness from my ebm. And juz 2wks since we converted her to full bm, we.realised tht she grew fatter!! especially her thigh and calves!!! Even her anklet got too tight for her that we gotta loosen it!! lol..and seems like her normal fitting PJs suddenly.look.so small on her...lol... As for the bonding, u.still can get from cuddling her, talking to her, holding her close to ur chest or even kangaroo care!!! its all bonding time!!!

For me its also true.if i am stress and if i dun drink enough fluids (at least 3Lper day), supply will drop. Thats how scary it is. And bcoz my hub got sensitive skin and i am worried that it will.pass to my baby, thats partially the reason why i.insisted on bf-ing even whn the whole world tells me why am i insisting on something which makes.myself so miserable. Its not as if i cannot afford formula milk. Even whn my mum argued with me abt drinking my fren's ebm,.i argued back. I said i rather her drink other ppl's human milk, i oso dun want her to drink cow's milk whn the cow is.not even a human to begin with. Of course, i won the battle. so press on my dear. U are far better than me. I plan to give.her ebm till at least 6 months. I even took 2month no pay leave.juz so that i could achive that..thats how persistent i am and i am not gonna give up easily. Same for u. Jia you.
 

felicity

Active Member
jonquil, thank you for letting me know that I'm not alone... I hv tears in my eyes when I was reading your post too... I salute you too! Yes we will press on and keep going and give the best to our babies!!

andieluv yes!! Jiayou to all of us!! I took 5 mths no pay childcare leave lol so must really be persistent and make full use n latch/bf all the way!! In fact I'm latching her right now... She slept for less than 2 hrs after the last latch n wailed so bitterly again :/
 

kwokm

New Member
Mine will start w a lot of pain cos maybe she got too excited to find the nipple w her mouth n just anyhow grab v hard on the nipple with her mouth.. And like chewing on it for a while.. I saw b4, she does it to bottle teats too.. When she's finally suckling properly it's fine.. Then sometimes dunno why she gets frustrated n bite v hard n pull n tug.. Super painful!! ><

Thank u andieluv!! I will press on!
I've learnt to tell myself when things do not happen the way we want it to we need to remind ourselves that "it soon will pass". Just press on and give bb the best and it will bear fruit. So press on. You r doing a great job.

As for your experience above it seemed like bb has nipple confusion. So maybe asking your parents to feed using syringe or spoon may help. Coz u need lots of fluid to produce milk try all types of drinks nursing tea, instead of tablets. I tried GNC tablet it helps for each pump but my under lying prob is insufficient water plus the heaty food and constitution my body is fighting for water. Plus red date if u have long Gan also very heaty. I had to drop the longgan. Like one of the mommy says try to have at least 3L is a good volume to consume.

I believe u have milk. That is why bb smell u, want to latch. In order to have milk u need to be stress free. So maybe when u r stressed or tired, for that feed give ebm. Coz bb are smart. Their senses very acute. They will often chose mom over anyone else. But our body is not machine. Needs it's due rest. So even when u rest keep bb away so u can rest well.

Lastly my advise is to use donated ebm, which is anytime better than giving formula coz the taste is different. Formula is sweeter and bb takes to it easily then bb may start to be chosy.

U have been doing great. More than 24hr mom & nurser. u need to rest to go on a longer journey. I often remember whenever u r traveling on plane they often tell passengers during emergency attend to yourself first. So similarly in this instance.

Jia you & God bless.
 

felicity

Active Member
Thanks kwokm!! Yup I went to read up on nipple confusion after reading your post.. Indeed the symptoms are all so familiar! I limit her fm intake to once a day (or not at all) n because she struggles a lot hubby still prefer to bottle feed her :/ so I let him.. Hope she can associate daddy to bottle n mummy to breasts.. She does latch faster than b4, doesn't struggle as much, so thank goodness, I hope this improvement continues!

Thanks for your encouragement!! Any nursing tea to recommend?
 
i used sacred tea , at least works for me. only tried this brand, thought quite reputable since in parent magazine. but dont really like the taste, but u know la, got to die die finish for the sake.

http://www.originsjamumassage.com/product-Sacred-tea-testimonies.html
 
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