Breastfeeding Questions

hi carang
today was hell, she has been cranky since afternoon and has been crying like she is in pain.

Sidetracked a bit here...i noticed a small whitish colour thing ON her gums. I dont think it's teething, cos it's OUTSIDE the gum, not sprouting inside the gum, so i have no idea wat it is. My mom says it's "malt teeth" in chinese and its supp to be painful and it'll "blow up" in a few days time, something like an ulcer, but i have no idea wat it is. Anyone knows?

Back to the BF, yes, i noticed when i tried pulling it away, she'll hang on tighter and suck harder. But the vicious cycle repeats. I know the demand and supply idea, but i was saving the other breast more on having a full breast for her to "start" on her next feeding, cos as i understand, our breasts are never truly empty, if she latches, there'll be milk BUT the flow will be slow, sigh...unfortunately i have a very impatient feeder so....by giving her a near empty breast, she will be edgy and fussed at my breast more. :(

As for pacifiers, i avoided using it in the early weeks, as in bottles as well, to avoid nipple confusion, when i was still establishing my milk supply. I tot i could give it to her next time in the future. Who knows, now she rejects everything plastic!!! We've tried everything, giving it to her when she cries, when she's calm. halfway there, in a sleepy state, u name it, we tried it! I soooo want to give my breast a break, but now, at night, she ALWAYS need to suck on my breast before going to sleep! When i remove my breast and stick in pacifier, she will open her eyes wide-wide and starts to whimper, shake her head left and right and if i continue to coax her to take the pacifier, the whimper will become a full blown cry!

U see me asking questions here and worrying cos frankly i'm really really tired and wondering if there are ANY ways i can reduce her reliant on me. I love her to bits, but i hope i wont be stoned here by saying, i need some of my life back. She doesnt take bottles as well, so the tot of expressing out and letting my DH do some feeding (who is truly supportive and willing to help) while i sneak out for some "me" time or getting some sleep is out of the question.

I kept telling myself she WILL grow out of it, and well, that's the only consolation i have right now.
 
oh yes, i was told sucking on a pacifier and on our nipples requires a diff "set of skills" ie different mechanism. So, dats why babies can tell the diff...whenever i stick the pacifier into her, she doesnt seem to know how to suck it (or is it DONT want to) so i dunno if she's too smart to notice the difference and rejects it or too slow in knowing HOW to suck a pacifier *LOL*
 
neither of my children had any problems differentiating between sucking on a bottle/pacifier and sucking at the breast.

i have heard of nipple confusion, but i really question the idea as i believe humans are pretty smart creatures and the survival instinct is fairly strong. i think that a baby can figure out how to get the milk it needs...but that is just my opinion.
 
my son rejected the pacifier too, i think he figured there was no milk so there wasn't any point.

we introduced the pacifier to my girl on her 1st day at home.
 
carang said:
I have heard of nipple confusion, but i really question the idea as i believe humans are pretty smart creatures and the survival instinct is fairly strong. i think that a baby can figure out how to get the milk it needs...but that is just my opinion.
Click to expand...

Dear Cara,

I don?t want to criticize you but a sample size of two is not very many. I?ve come across hundreds of babies who have had problems breastfeeding after getting used to drinking from bottles.

Babies learn to suck, drink and coordinate all their muscles and at the same time breathe correctly by practice. Getting milk is the reward the baby has for practicing. So when the baby gets milk, even just a few drops of colostrum, he assumes that he is feeding correctly and continues to suck in that way. If the baby doesn?t get milk he stops practicing and either goes to sleep or cries in frustration.

Before the baby knows exactly how to suck care is needed so that nothing interferes with his learning. This is why we suggest not giving bottles and pacifiers for the first few weeks. Once the baby is confident, however, introducing bottles and pacifies usually doesn?t cause problems.

Nipple confusion is when a baby hasn?t learnt the correct sucking, drinking and breathing technique to draw the milk from the breast into his mouth. If has been estimated that 95% of newborns will encounter nipple confusion to some extent if given bottles in the first three weeks of life.

This doesn?t mean that bottles and pacifiers should never be used but it often prevents problems if you introduce then after four to six weeks.

Best wishes,
SARAH
 
fennho-- about the whitish thing on her gums, look inside her mouth and on her tongue to see if you see more of the white patches. It could be thrush, which is a yeast infection, and babies are in pain when that happens (which could be why your little one is not breastfeeding and is crying so much). You might also check your nipple/areola area if there are any white patches on there also. It may also appear on your baby's genital area.

I'm thinking maybe your baby is having a growth spurt so she is crying, fussy, and doesn't want to feed??

It is recommended to feed on one breast for as long as baby wants. Offer the second breast, but if baby is not interested, then that is fine also. The reason for feeding longer on one breast is so your baby gets your hind milk, which if higher in fat to help your baby grow. The foremilk (the milk at the beginning of a feeding and is watery) is mostly water to satisfy your baby's thirst quickly.

And you are correct. Bottlefeeding and breastfeeding requires a different sucking mechanism for baby. When on the breast, baby needs to use the tongue and jaw to suck to get milk. If baby is full, she will just stop moving her tongue and jaw and can therefore control how much she wants to drink. When on the bottle, gravity just takes place and milk will drip out as long as you turn the bottle upside down. Baby does not need to work as hard but only needs to make sure she swallows on time (sometimes baby cannot swallow in time and chokes). Bottle fed babies also tend to be overfed because they cannot stop even though they had enough. (The sucking mechanism on the breast has been shown to help with baby's oral development).

I hope you and your baby resolves this soon. But you are doing a good job and you have already done the first step in asking for help and suggestions. Good luck to you and your little one.
 
hi sarah, i realise that my sample group is fairly small. but i do think that many babies are just fine figuring out how to feed.maybe i was just very lucky, after my first night of trying it just came very naturally to me. i do realise that many women do have terrible problems where bf is concerned. i also think that many are so scared of "doing it wrong"
that they get so stressed out they forget to follow their instincts.
 
Some women are lucky, and have babies that seem to know what to do no matter what.

Unfortunatley I did everything right, but still had a baby that couldn't figure it out.
It got to the point that he was practically starving and feeding with a cup or eye dropper still didn't encourage him to latch on.

I had a lactation consultant by my side for 6 weeks and it still didn't happen, once he was given that bottle, he never looked back.

You have to remember that babies in developing countries die within the first month because of breastfeeding problems, so it not just mum's who are worried about 'doing it wrong'.
 
Thrush

Dear Fennho,

If you are worried about Thrush there is an article in Close to the Heart, our newsletter for mothers in Asia, on our web site at http://www.lllhk.org/Publications.html

It is in the Early Year 2007 - Vol.8 No. 1 issue on page 10. (This is page 12 in the pdf file.) This article will explain the symptoms and the treatments.

Best wishes,
SARAH
 
Fenho,

It sounds like you are really really flustered and at your wits end... This sounds like an obvious idea, but have you considered having a professional lactation consultant come to your house to witness the way you are doing things and give you some face to face advice "on the scene"? You emails are long and tend to get confusing the more aggravated you are (plus it is difficult enough just explaining some of these issues to other people over text), and it seems like the most obvious way to give you assurance and to help your baby is to let invite a professional to your home to see what's going on in person and give you in-person advice, maybe help you with technique, etc.

LLL is fantastic at that kind of thing and I know the Annerley offers post-natal services where they can send lactation specialists to your home, no matter where you live in HK SAR. Of course it's at a cost, but it seems it would be one very worthwhile investment in so many ways.

Just a thought, but sorry to state the obvious if you're already done this or are doing it.
 
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