I’ve been breastfeeding Luisa for 14 weeks now and along the way I’ve learnt a thing or two. I’m by no means an expert but I thought that following on from my post about the start of our breastfeeding journey I would check-in with a bit of an update and share a few tips. Some of these might seem like no-brainers but they are all ‘mistakes’ I made so you don’t have to.
- Always get comfortable before you start feeding, you could be stuck there for a while.
- Don’t use smelly shower gel. Luisa is not a fan of the taste of Soap and Glory! Now I use coconut oil in the shower or Simple shower gel.
- Don’t spend one single second worrying about what people will think or say if you feed in public. Instead use your time practiscing crazy eyes to dish out at anyone who stares.
- Just because a baby is nursing all the time doesn’t mean you don’t have a good enough supply. It’s likely that they are going through/getting ready for a growth spurt and are nursing more to increase your supply to meet their new needs.
- Keep hydrated & have snacks you can eat with one hand around at all times.
- Eating well will make you more up to the task but I also recommend taking a supplement. I like Pregnacare – Breastfeeding Along the same lines give Neuners Organic Nursing Tea a try. I really think it made a difference to my supply.
- If you’re going to pump don’t try it in the evening or it’ll feel like you’ve had your girls in a vice and you won’t even get a lot of milk anyway.
So as you can see I’m learning all the time and it’s still going well. Luisa is pretty content and gaining weight nicely. She is starting to get distracted more easily whilst feeding now that she’s older so if you’ve any tips on how to keep her ‘on task’ let me know! Have any of you tried a ‘nursing necklace’ with success?
Aww I miss the closeness of feeding!I always found oats helped me with my supply when they were going through a growth spurt.I loved Gumigem necklaces as my daughter was a terrible hair puller x
Thanks for the tip I’ll look those necklaces up x
All very accurate!
Great tips 🙂 I wouldn’t have thought about the shower gel one, but it makes sense – you wouldn’t want to use a fork that tasted of washing up liquid!
Thanks for linking up to #AnythingGoes
Debbie
I breastfed all 3 of my children even after getting mastitis 3 times with the first. I loved every minute of it and luckily produced at least a gallon a day. So much that I had to pump after feeding (found this out after the 3rd time of having mastitis). Never tried a teething necklace but I have read that funnel seed helps produce milk…and very yeasty beer 😉 I am visiting you from #AnythingGoes.
I wish I knew all I know about breastfeeding now when I first had my eldest! He had a tongue tie, which nobody picked up on. He wouldn’t latch on for days and then it was painful for the first nine months and I hated feeding him in public because it was so hard to get him latched on I thought everyone would be staring. When it came to my second I told all the doctors and midwives he had a tongue tie almost straight away (they didn’t believe me to start with) and I ended up feeding him all over the place (standing in a pharmacy chatting to the Pharmacist, walking round a clothes shop, on the train etc.). Much better! Great post. #AnythingGoes
Great tips! Never had any problems with shower gel, but eating curry… that was definitely a no no! #anythinggoes
These are great things you have learned! Keeping snacks & drinks at hand are essential. And you are right, constant feeding goes with breastfeeding & is a good sign 🙂 Keep up the great work! #AnythingGoes x
Hi, great to hear of another mum breastfeeding successfully. Go you!!! My son is almost 15 months old now and we’re still breastfeeding.
In terms of distractions during feeds, I found feeding in a quiet room helped. Minimal movements and minimal sounds. If it was just my hubby at home, I’d ask him to not talk or move off the sofa. If we had guests, I’d go and feed in the bedroom. It’s just a phase. It will pass.
Happy feeding!
http://www.mrsmumnz.com
So true! It is so hard breastfeeding in public, love the crazy eyes idea