In part 1 of "Balancing Breastfeeding", I exclusively focused on wardrobe tips, this blog post is much more ambitious for me. Below I attempt to summarize my top 9 tips of breastfeeding learned over these past 40+ weeks. And then I end with my update on Elle.
Here's the tips in descending order:
9. Acceptance
When I was pregnant, a Spanish friend told me her breastfeeding woes from 20 years ago when she had her baby in a German hospital and all the German nurses told her -- "you don't have enough milk." Her mother arrived within hours and told her -- "that is ridiculous, every woman has enough milk. You just have to keep trying and drink water, juice, tea -- drink all the time." She trusted her mother and was eventually able to breastfeed. I think there is a lot of truth to the old Spanish mother's advice -- you need to have to confidence in your ability to produce milk.
I share that story because it gave me courage and hope in times when I feared (like most breastfeeding mothers) that I might not have enough milk. It turns out that I had so much milk (or overstimulated my milk so much) that I got mastitis three times. (See tip #3 below). But that oversupply didn't last and there have been times in the intervening months where I have pumped a shockingly low amount of milk.
The bottom line for me is that breastfeeding is a journey. And you have to accept what stage you are at during that journey -- whether you are at the beginning of the journey and you have found out that you can't breastfeed or you are in the middle of the journey and your supply is dwindling. There is only so much you can do and you just have to trust your body to help you balance breastfeeding in the best manner possible for you and baby.
8. Avoiding misc. low supply issues
The majority of this blog post focuses on low supply issues and here are an initial few thoughts: (1) check out the kelly mom website -- http://kellymom.com/hot-topics/low-supply/
7. Night feedings
In the vein of supply issues, you may want to consider delaying putting baby on a schedule of "sleeping through the night." While it seems idyllic to again have a full night of sleep, that full night of sleep could lead to a dwindling milk supply. I have heard from many moms that not breastfeeding during the night has caused them to lose their milk supply.
6. Extra milk
On the other hand, if your milk supply is good and you want to try to get your baby to sleep through the night, then having your partner give your baby extra pumped milk after you have nursed the baby until you are empty can help give her enough milk to sleep through the night. This is a way to counter low milk supply in the evening. For a few months, Wilson was giving elle her last waking bottle at 9 pm or so and then have her fall asleep upright to counteract digestion issues. I think that many women's milk supply is lower in the afternoon/evening after they are tired and have been expending calories all day. Getting that extra boost of milk (after you are empty) can help the baby sleep through the night.
5. Feeding in the quiet
While I am a big proponent of breastfeeding anywhere (public, private, in mixed company, on the plane, etc.), I found that breastfeeding in a calm quiet place can be very helpful to get baby to eat all the milk. Baby wants to play and experience so it can be really hard to get them to focus. Breastfeeding in a quiet regular place gives them the cues that they need that this is what they should be doing right now.
4. Pumping tips
For me, pumping has been an integral part of the breastfeeding experience. This is not just because I am a working mom but I feel that it has been such a relief to know that Wilson can give Elle a bottle of my milk if I am out for a run or on an errand. It has been immensely helpful but there are a few tips that have helped me: (1) pump to mimic when your baby is receiving any type of milk (e.g., pump before you leave this house). This assists with keeping your supply up. (2) pump in the morning when you usually have a lot of milk.
3. Letting your body adjust
As I stated above I had mastitis 3 times in the first month of Elle's life. It was horrible. I think that it was partially due to my paranoia about having enough milk so I pumped milk in addition to nursing Elle. I also didn't proactively try to stem my oversupply, in part because we were not at home in Nassau and I was living in an airbnb for the month.
It is important to realize that your milk supply won't immediately adjust to your actions. It is an imprecise supply so you have to be patient and gentle when either trying to stimulate or decrease supply. Some techniques to deal with oversupply that I have found to be helpful are: (1) nurse only on one side per feeding; and (2) lay on your side to nurse to allow the milk to dribble out the baby's mouth.
And one more tip to deal with undersupply -- let your baby suck whenever and however long your baby wants to. In other words, try to put your baby to the breast as much as logistically possible.
2. Stress
As we all know, we live in a life of constant stress and breastfeeding adds to that stress. Because even when you feel like you have the exact right amount of milk, that milk might not "let down." In other words, your milk may not come out when you want it to. This is because lactation doesn't come from a machine, it comes from us--complex organisms who can't always force our body to do what we want it to do on demand.
Stress of having to nurse or pump within a certain time frame can interrupt your milk flow, the psychological overwhelming the physical. So my biggest advice is to try to find coping mechanisms to deal with the stress. I found that seeing a lactation consultant early on (home visit paid for by insurance) was really helpful in decreasing my stress levels about whether Elle was getting enough milk, how we were doing, etc. I had a lactation consultant come even though the lactation consultant in the hospital had applauded how I was such a great breastfeeder for a first-time mama. Despite this praise, lactation consultants are so helpful in a world where we are no longer surrounded by other women to give a ton of advice on breastfeeding.
1. Water
Drink water until you're sick. Well actually, I don't want anyone to get hyponatremia but, as a big water drinker already, I have been shocked by the amount of water that I need to drink to keep my supply up. We go through several 5 gallon bottles of drinking water a week at our house, and Wilson is gone at work most of the day. I notice a direct impact from all that water. For example, I have noticed that after I drink a big glass of water while pumping, then often within 3-4 minutes more milk comes out of previously empty breasts. It isn't a lot of milk but for me, it shows how important having a steady stream of water flowing through my system is.
Some adages about water are: (1) drink a big glass of water right before you feed/pump; and (2) if you aren't peeing a light yellow or clear fluid then you aren't drinking enough. I heard the clear fluid adage with respect to athleticism not with regards to breastfeeding but I think that it is especially important in the breastfeeding context. And if you forget to drink a glass before you start breastfeeding, get your husband to bring you a bottle post haste. He needs to help in whatever little way possible.
Please feel free to leave your own tips, suggestions, comments below.
Elle update
Elle was a champ on a brutal traveling schedule. Woke up Friday morning in Chamonix France then woke up Saturday morning in Geneva then woke up Sunday morning in London and finally home Sunday night to the Bahamas. When we got home to the Bahamas, a big surprise was waiting for her -- her uncle, aunt and cousin who is four months older than her.
Playing with her visiting cousin this week has been such a highlight. She LOVES her cousin -- she enjoys laughing with her, sharing toys with her, "kissing" her, and watching her. In fact, watching her cousin crawl, dance, climb, stand, and move around has been very motivational for Elle. She is starting to really move her arms and legs to get close to crawling forward instead of just creeping backward. Elle is also discovering all the noises that she can make and how she can "dance" bounce her torso up and down and she can even wave her torso up and down. And speaking of waving, her waving of her hands corresponds much better to saying hi, or bye, or all done. She still waves her hands to signal "party time" but she seems to also use the waving more strategically to communicate things beyond joy or party time.
And the biggest news is that Elle may have actually said her first word -- "bye". She said it twice yesterday in context to say goodbye to people so we may have now really gotten the first verbal word. I, of course, think that she already knows the word "mum" since she will say that sometimes when she is crying for me. But Wilson is skeptical, he is a strict constructionist on this point. So maybe now her first word is bye? Will see if she continues to say "bye".
No comments:
Post a Comment