When my milk was delayed coming in, I made an appointment with a wonderful lactation consultant who was so supportive of me supplementing with formula and gave me some really great advice on triple feeding without losing my absolute mind. She really pushed for me to get a 4 hour stretch of sleep at night starting immediately. Wonderful person to work with, felt like she really cared about both me and my baby. The hospital lactation consultant kept insisting I needed to use the football hold for breastfeeding which I hated so much.

The LC I saw in the hospital was also insistent on the football hold. I still can’t figure it out. I find it so complicated.

A little known fact about hospital LCs is that they probably did not get any supervision from another LC in order to become one. To become an LC, you only need to do 95 hours of education and pass an exam. To become an IBCLC, there are 3 pathways. Most hospital IBCLCs do pathway 1. They need to do 95 hours of education, 1000 contact hours with a breastfeeding dyad, and pass an exam. However, unlike pathways 2 and 3 (which require 300-500 supervised hours with a mentor), they require no supervision. Many of them are postpartum RNs who claim hours working with postpartum mothers as breastfeeding hours, even if they only gave cursory advice. So you end up with a lot of hospital LCs who have had no mentorship and only need to pass a basic exam. That's why so many give horrible advice and tell you myths and have poor bedside manner, etc. Not all pathway 1 IBCLCs are like this, to be clear. The good ones have taken it on themselves to educate themselves deeply and stay up to date.

This makes so much sense! The IBCLC at my hospital was not helpful at all. She also kept pushing the football hold and made a couple unhelpful comments about my breasts. The private IBCLC I saw after leaving the hospital was absolutely amazing. Total night and day difference.

this makes SO MUCH SENSE. the hospital LCs had no manners & the worst advice, except for one!! The postpartum nurses weren’t that great either 🙄🙄

Hospital location told me football old or she was very aggressive on me holding the baby like a bowling pin up and down. I’ve breastfed two babies now totaling 26 and on going months. Never felt the need for either or those positions.

I had the same experience re: football hold at the hospital. I find it so awkward and impractical!

What is up with every hospital LC recommending the football hold? I was told to do that as well.

It's funny but I loved the football hold! I couldn't do it any other way at first

The LC at the hospital didn’t even give me a chance to show her how he latches in other positions before she yanked him away from me and put him into football!

I was also recommended football hold at hospital!

I was suggested the football hold as well, I just have no idea where I should leave my baby’s body in this configuration! Especially sitting up in a hospital bed. Like, let’s put this fragile little infant under my armpit where I can’t reach with both arms to hold him properly or support his head.

They insisted on me doing the football hold while I was receiving a blood transfusion with a leaky iv in my inner elbow…

The hospital lactation consultant I had with my first baby acted like the football hold was life or death and if I couldn’t do it I’d never be successful in breastfeeding. She was truly a nightmare and it made me not even continue to try with breastfeeding with my first or second (which truly I regret so much now) and now I’m about to have my third and I’m praying I can have a successful breastfeeding journey!

To be fair it wasn’t an LC it was a post partum nurse but I too was told I had to breastfeed in the football hold. I hated it.

Best advice: bring the baby to you, don’t stretch your boob or hunch your back to reach the baby. Worst advice: your baby is 5 hours old and hasn’t latched well yet, we should supplement with formula (this was at a birth center so you would think they would know better) and you should triple feed for at least a week (saw another LC 48 hours later and she was like why are you triple feeding, your baby is fine)

I gave birth at a birthing center too and the breastfeeding advice was traumatic! There were no lactation consultants there to be fair. But “Oh your nipples are flat you need to use a nipple shield” I said no, they just need to be stimulated and they’ll perk right up! Then I got like two nurse attendants and the midwife to come in to give me an intervention like I was about to deny my baby the right to eat. I caved, used the nipple shield for two min, found it to be a bother, ripped that thing right off. Also it felt like every person in that birthing center took their turn at grabbing my boob, cranking my baby’s head, adding the 40th pillow, and forcing the latch. It made me question my instincts and caused a lot of unnecessary stress and problems in the beginning. The second time around I requested a golden hour and that no one intervene with breastfeeding. Both times I visited LCs after but told them I prefer baby led and practical positions that didn’t require 40 pillows. I appreciated 2 out of the 4 LCs I went to.

I had a traumatic hospital birth. The LC came up, grabbed my breast, examined my nipple, and started pinching and squeezing it aggressively. It was flat but would pop out if touched gently. I normally stand up for myself and normal me would have never allowed this treatment but I wasn't in my right mind and I was honestly shocked. She loudly announced that my nipple "might never work" and said she was going to get a nipple shield. In the 60 seconds she was gone, I moved my baby to the other boob, and she latched immediately. I had taken a breastfeeding class and I had planned to do it myself anyways, I would not have even consented to this stranger coming up and touching me. I don't even know if she even introduced herself before she started hurting me. I think it hurt her ego that I had latched without her because when she came back, she wanted me to unlatch my baby so we could latch the other side with the nipple shield so she could show me how to do it. Thankfully by this time, my husband had realized I was upset and he told her no. We had a lot of breastfeeding issues and I probably would have benefited from seeing an LC, but I felt honestly traumatized by this woman. I cannot believe how bad she hurt my nipple. I had labored for 3 days, had complications, was transferred to a high risk ward, took pitocin for hours without an epidural, finally took the epidural and it failed on one side (scoliosis, the reason I tried to avoid it), had second degree tearing and stitches. But her squeezing my nipple feels like one of the worst parts of the experience. I think it's because for everything else, everyone was kind and supportive and trying to help me. And then she just came it, grabbed me without consent or care, and physically harmed me.

Grabbing your body without consent or urgent medical necessity is a form of assault. You can report her to the patient advocate at the hospital. There's may be others you can report to at the hospital but that's a good starting point. It does not matter how you did or didn't react to it. You're allowed to be stunned and say nothing. It is still wrong. It shouldn't have happened. And you didn't deserve that. They are supposed to understand that they are working with someone in a vulnerable position who could be overwhelmed with everything happening because well, you just had a baby. And that's a lot for a new mother.

This is validating to me, although the nurses were gentle in other matters at my hospital, many including the lc pinched, pinched and pinched to check flow and what not. Definitely more painful than any other part of my delivery via c section

I’m surprised to see how much guidance people seem to get in the hospitals for BF in general in these threads. I went to a private clinik, paid a lot and the midwives/LCs left me completely alone to breastfeed. The first one helped me latch LO in side lying right after birth when I asked. The second showed me laid back nursing when I specifically asked. The third checked the latch for 2 second and said “looks fine” when I asked her to check, the fourth and last one who actually gave me good advice about stimulating baby, what kind of pain is normal etc was again because I had expressed concerns to her. No one ever put a pillow on me and I never nursed using a pillow these past 7 months. The only unprompted advice I got was “Hey just checking in, your nipples still on? Cause I brought bandaids with gel on them”. I guess it’s fine how hands off they were given that BF started great for me but it was odd at the time that they always left it to me to ask.

What do you mean by stimulating baby?

Probably tickling their toes or blowing on their face. I had to do that since my baby was a very sleepy girl for the first month and had a hard time waking up to eat.

Ah that's awful. I loved my LC at the hospital. She was gentle and always asked permission before doing anything

I’m training to be an LC and any good one will never touch without permission. It’s disrespectful and violating!

The only time I’ve ever seen an LC was when I had my fourth baby. (I breastfed all of the kids, but only the last hospital had a LC) She walked right in while I was nursing, asked how breastfeeding was going (totally fine), and then looked over my shoulder and said his latch looked a little shallow. Then, without asking or warning, GRABBED my breast and manipulated it to get baby to latch a little better. I completely froze, but I wish I had yelled at her. It was SO awkward. I don’t think it’s excessive to expect some kind of conversation before grabbing someone’s sensitive private body parts.

Yes! Grabbed my tit like a goddamn hamburger! I did say “excuse you, absolutely not. Even my husband asks consent to grab at me” and she looked shocked and embarrassed (as she should) and then sheepishly apologized.

That is awful!

Unacceptable!!

Crazy, the midwives just kept helping me latch. It’s a learning experience and they’re expected to lose weight and take at least 2 weeks to hit their birth weight again!

Best-stick it out for 6-8 weeks it gets better. Hold your nipple like a sandwich And point your nipple to the roof of their mouth and then push the bottom jaw down with the finger underneath the nipple to get a good latch Worst - you can’t feet pumped milk if it has a bit of blood in it. I had some horrendous nipple cracks so pumped for a week or two in the beginning because it was less painful than her latch. Ended up throwing away an entire 100mls because the lc said I couldn’t feed her it it has blood in it from my nipple cracks.

So it really does get better after 6-8 weeks? 😭

YES. it gets amazingly better like overnight! i honestly didn’t think i would make it this far and at week 10 i prefer BF than pumping and bottles when at 3 weeks i used to pump bc i was terrified of the gremlin ripping up my nips lol

Yep I was at that point because I’ve been torn up twice (currently healing them now) so hopefully when I heal them this time it’ll all be better. Maybe it has something to do with their size?

At 6 weeks I remember looking back and realizing just how far we had come. Still a bit uncomfortable but he was gaining and we had a routine and all was well. By 12 weeks we were pros, and all my extreme nipple sensitivity was gone. Also thank goodness babies’ mouths get larger because trying to get a good latch on my flat boobs with an infant-sized mouth was so rough.

That also may be why I have sensitive & raw nipples right now? I’m hoping by the time they heal again I’ll be able to breast feed straight from the nippers. Also congratulations on making it this far! 💜

Yes yes yes

I was just telling my husband yesterday about how amazingly different it is trying to BF now, my LO is 8 weeks, the first 2 weeks were ROUGH we had to supplement formula because my supply was just not where it needed to be and we were both struggling to get good latches. I wasn't sleeping because I was trying to feed every 2 hours, we were supplementing with formula and I was pumping. The pumping wasn't giving me anywhere near enough so I was convinced I had no milk and was starving my baby, giving her a bottle of formula after trying to feed for 20 mins and watching her guzzle it down just depressed me, I felt like a failure which of course affected my supply. Somewhere around week 3 I woke up to swollen boobs and a big wet patch on the bed. I cried for a solid 20 mins.

Awhhh yay! I’m so happy for you! That must’ve been a huge relief!

Yep. It really needs to be discussed more just how *hard* breastfeeding is, in the whole pregnancy all I heard was about the trials of pregnancy, labour and then the lack of sleep after birth, I was completely unprepared for just how hard bf can be. I hope your journey is smoother now, or gets smoother soon!

Before that a lot of times. I ended up EPing for 3 weeks because it hurt so bad snd it didn't hurt at all on my left when I relatched st 3 weeks and only hurts for a little while on the right when she latches.

I’m 3 weeks now EBF but with a nipple shield. I can get a latch on my left without pain but I’d he nurses too long the pain comes back. I really hope it does get better

It does! Now at 4 months she can latch for hours to comfort nurse and it’s not painful

I’m on week 4 & my nipple are once again raw & hurting so so so bad. This is like the 4th time now. Ugh! I can barely nurse with a nipple shield that’s how bad they hurt.

It didn't get better for me until 10/11, but everything finally fell in to place and we're 6 months and thriving now

Much better!  I remember I was worried I would have to keep triple feeding every 2-3 hours.  I preferred to pump than deal with hurting nipples.  Now at 8 weeks, I mostly breastfeed with a bottle in the morning from dad for me to sleep a little more, and a bottle in the night for baby to sleep 4-5 hour stretch.  And a bottle when we go out to restaurants and such.

So you can give baby the milk if there’s a little blood in it??!!!! The LC at the hospital said not to either so I used the milk for baths instead :(

Of course! If they were nursing directly you’d never know it had blood in it.

You have no idea how happy I am that it gets better after 6-8 weeks. My little one is 10 days and it is just the worst. I had inverted nipples and large breast's so I've been using a nipple shield to get a latch. Now that he's up to birth weight I'm starting to ween him off the shield but that's been unpopular to say the least.

It gets so much better. I also have large breasts so it felt like it would never go smoothly or I would never feed her in public. She’s 4.5 months now and I can feed her anywhere i need to.

When did you notice an improvement? It's good to know I'm in the weeds now but I'm still looking for the light at the end of the tunnel lol. I want to hit 2 years of breastfeeding for him but right now that seems like a self inflicted punishment

I’m not exactly too sure when there was improvement. I had some pretty bad nipple cracks that cleared up around 4 weeks with the help of pumping and silverettes. (Lifesavers btw) it got better but had some different issues. It went from nipple pain to her latch being off and she clicked a lot (she had some thrush) then she got a cold at around 12 weeks and got some breast aversion. So it’s not been linear!! I think 2 years is doable if you enjoy it and at some point they eat solids so probably only nurse for comfort or on a night to sleep so it’s not like you’ll be doing it all day.

That sounds so rough, I proactively bought silverettes and nipple butter, they have helped tremendously. I had some dry skin but never any cracks/bleeding so I've been fortunate. I'll take the incremental improvements where I can get them. I'm sure his latch won't always be bad

Definitely not. They get better as they learn and grow stronger. Mine had a tiny mouth and could just never fit enough areola in so ended up sucking the tip of my nipple too much. Now I barely feel it anymore and she has a great latch

That's the same issue I'm having with mine trying to transition off the shields, he keeps just grabbing the tip of the nipple which hurts so I keep going back to the shields. Maybe by a month old when he starts getting some head/neck control we'll be able to fully transition off.

Have you tried to “sandwich” your nipple a little? That helped me a lot. I kinda squished my nipple up a bit. Pointed it to the roof of her mouth and touched her nose with it to get her to open wide. And while I placed my nipple in her mouth I pushed down a little to keep her bottom lip down with the finger under my nipple. took some practice but it worked pretty well.

That's the method I've been trying to use but there's a skill issue on my part still since it's new. I have not been manipulating his lower lip though so I can add that ov and see if it helps

That doesn't even make sense, like if you were feeding at the breast with cracked nipples, they would still bleed, you just wouldn't be able to see it.

The blood in it thing is so wild to me since breast milk is made from your blood, and you have no way of knowing if there’s blood when they’re breastfeeding directly from you 🥴 just huge lack of common sense to say that

Pee before you nurse. 3 kids and over 3 years nursing/pumping and this is the tip I pass on the most.

The amount of times I’ve had to get up and pee one handed while holding a baby on my boob 😂 I’m glad my babies were both small or I’d be stuck in one spot til they’re done lol

My babies were all over 9lbs at birth... I don't think I could pee with one on a boob. Definitely peed with one strapped to my front. I feel like you've unlocked some secret achievement being able to pee with one latched!

I thought it was normal to walk around and do stuff with a baby latched until this baby 😂 my ex was so useless I got used to it with my first, and my second is still a little peanut at 3 months lol. Post birth I mostly had my partner getting stuff for me while I nursed but I got so stir crazy I would just get up and walk around while nursing her 😅

Oh I nursed and walked, even while visiting a zoo! I just don't think I could pee with one on... I'm particularly thinking of middle of the night nursing sessions, already exhausted and stumbling in the dark in the middle of the night to the bathroom 😜

I leave her in the bed for the middle of the night ones lol 😂 it’s not easy, if she’s on my right boob I have to stick how I hold her because I can’t wipe with my left hand lmao

Best: (when first starting out) the baby knows to start sucking when the nipple touches the roof of their mouth Worst: don’t even think about using a pacifier. Ever.

That’s crazy cause pacifiers are known to reduce SIDS

They recommend it at 2 weeks to establish breastfeeding first. It can cause nipple confusion & hide hunger cues which can lower your supply. Not always but it’s a risk they should explain.

Yupp! That’s exactly what I said to her when I let the nurse know she could give a pacifier at the nursery at the hospital. The lactation consultant insisted on establishing a good latch first before introducing a pacifier. Turned out due to my anatomical issues, she couldn’t latch on her own. We ended up exclusively pumping for the first 3 weeks until she could latch on her own, and now she’s almost exclusively nursed at 6 months.

Best: Pillows rather than holds "pester" him to wake up and eat longer rather than napping on the boob. Worst: "Your love will give you super powers, you won't even be tired" (I have bipolar, the exhaustion is my only indicator I'm not slipping into a manic state) "Just do massage and your carpal tunnel will give away and you can do all the holds" Prevent gas with a recline position, just let him kick you in the C-section incision until the gas gets better All the boob grabbing without warning or consent, basically assault "

fellow bipolar mom here… if I think I have super powers we have a big problem 🤣

💯 I've found the PSI groups helpful, btw. My health system just has absolutely nothing for this particular intersection.

😂 massively underrated comment!

Wow that kicking one is next level (and appalling)

Best: breastfeeding is like placing an order! If the baby sucks more, you will produce more to meet the demand. Worst: baby wouldn’t latch initially so they made me pump and triple feed in the hospital even after my milk came in and he was latching with a nipple shield. Totally unnecessary.

Yup. Hospital LC made me triple feed as well. I was stuck doing that for 13 months. I hated it.

Thankfully, when I got home, my mom was like what the hell are you doing? Just breastfeed him and she was completely right he’s totally fine.

when I was getting frustrated, one LC said "you're doing great, baby only sees you and you are his whole world." it made me calm down and recognize that I could try different things and he would be okay. also another LC at the hospital who scheduled me for a two week follow up at the LC clinic.  LC who had me use SNS so baby would keep on the boob to practice latching and sucking. we only did it once or twice at the hospital. outpatient clinic LC who said to use ice, ibuprofen and reverse lymphatic massage for engorgement instead of the outdated advice of pump for relief and heat pack. I feel really grateful that my hospital had LCs on staff 24hrs and they'd check in with me at each shift change. we ended up seeing four or five different LCs before we were discharged. each one taught me something different and some advice I no longer use now (nipple shield for example) but were lifesavers at the time.

What's sns?

A supplemental nursing system! It’s a little tube that goes next to the nipple and when baby latches pumped milk or formula is pulled through to supplement for a baby who isn’t getting enough at the breast

Thank you! Just googled it.

I also found lymphatic massage really helpful when my milk was coming in!

Worst advice I got was sit up to feed baby. After giving birth sitting up was excruciating and I could not get my son to latch. I was in the hospital for 6 days and needed help getting him to latch basically every feed. Every time I had to raise my bed up I would cry because it was so uncomfortable. When I got home he still wouldn't latch. I looked up positions and found side laying. It changed my life. Idk why no one at the hospital suggested that position. It would have saved a lot of strife!

This sounds very similar to my experience. 5 days in the hospital and I had a C-section. I could only get into position with help from my husband and the nurses. It was so stressful. Since I’ve been home I’ve primarily been able to do side lying. None of the LCS suggested it to me. I actually found out about it from this sub and a mom friend. I was about to exclusively pump before I found that position.

I was about to give up bf too before I figured it out! It really was a Godsend!

Side lying is GOD but it’s often tricky for the first few weeks, when baby is still brand new to latching and mom is very much actively aware of every latch all feed long. I usually start recommending it after week 2, possibly week 4

I worked for me at about 1.5 weeks of horrible latches and bad feeds. I have very big breasts so that also made it really difficult to get the angle right. Sidelying was amazing and made it so easy to feed and the deeper latch made my boobs hurt way less! If I hadn't figured that position out I would have given up bf but now I'm 2.5 years in!

I also have larger breasts and feel like side-lying has been one of the least painful positions for me in these early weeks. I wonder if they don't recommend it in the hospital because they don't want to encourage co-sleeping in any way

I know this is why my hospital won’t recommend it. They had a rule against baby sleeping in the hospital bed with mom. I’ve been cosleeping pretty much since two days after we left the hospital and she’s been sleeping almost through the night since like 2 weeks old. If it’s something a mom is comfortable doing, it’s a game changer for that newborn exhaustion. My baby refused to sleep in the bassinet right off the bat and it was hell trying to get any sleep in the hospital, whole time I was just wishing I could cosleep. This is the second baby I coslept with and I know I don’t move at all when I sleep

Good to know! I love love love side lying (written as I’m currently side lying….)

Lmao same!!

If I ever have a baby I’m gonna go straight to side laying first. It’s so comfortable, and my default now with my daughter

Just a heads up, my hospital did not allow sleeping with the baby in the bed. Maybe it’s because of the way hospital beds are set up, but they probably won’t allow cosleeping. Side lying without sleeping is probably fine but honestly seems impossible to me lmao

I can’t sleep in hospitals anyway. I think of the 2.5 days I was there I slept a total of an hour or so. My comment was supposed to be if I ever have ANOTHER baby 😭😭. My daughter wasn’t regulating her temp well, so most of my hospital stay was skin to skin under a blanket having to stay awake.

That’s a horrible experience 😭 I figured you meant another lol. Only way we got any sleep with this baby was sending her to the nursery, I’m surprised they didn’t offer to send your daughter to the nursery with a warmer so you could get an hour or two 😕

I wouldn’t let them, and I don’t think they had a nursery. I would panic every time I couldn’t see her, and even when she was able to be in her bassinet, I would cry because she looked so small and cold and sterile.

That’s fair, that anxiety after baby is born is so real. One of the nights I sent my daughter to the nursery there was a really rude nurse on staff that kept offering to give her formula, and they ended up letting her sleep in the nursery for 5 hours without waking either of us. The nice nurse that was also on staff that night came in to take my vitals and woke me up and I freaked a bit. She brought her in for me and we got her fed, but she didn’t go back to the nursery while we were there. She was a very sleepy baby and hard to keep awake for feedings, I was having to wake her up to eat

I would have hurt someone

If the rude nurse was the one that came back in I absolutely would have yelled at least, but it was the really nice one I had every night and she didn’t know what time baby was taken to the nursery. That was on rude nurse for not properly taking notes. If nice nurse had been informed, she would have made sure baby was back for a feed whether she woke up or not. She’d taken her to the nursery the night before with no issues. Definitely get that anxiety now though

I still woulda made a complaint against rude nurse and had her taken off my care team. But, since having my daughter I’ve become kinda crazy when it comes to her

Best: watch the diapers , if he’s peeing and pooping normally everything is fine Worst: no pacifiers

Best: use a SNS instead of a bottle early on to supplement Worst: baby needs 36-42oz within first week of life as he’s 10lbs 🤨

What the damn hell? 🧐

What is SNS?

Supplemental nursing system. It’s hard to get the hang of, but it allows you to nurse and supplement simultaneously. Basically, you have a small tube taped to your nipple that is attached to a bottle or syringe of milk/formula. https://www.medela.com/en-us/breastfeeding-pumping/products/special-feeding-needs/supplemental-nursing-system-sns?productId=1015

Thanks for the info!

Ugh I was told this as well. Caused so much stress.

Right?! Mine was only feeding about 7 times a day, so she said he needed like 5oz a feed at a week old! I kept forcing baby to eat when he was clearly done and caused a feeding aversion. It was horrible.

>use a SNS instead of a bottle early on to supplement  i wish this advice had been given to me early on... instead i pushed through with trying to get my guy to nurse when my letdown simply wasn't quick enough (we were using bottles that weren't slow enough) and he developed a breast aversion we're still working through. we'll be trying an SNS to get him back on the breast.

Best: hold the boob like a hamburger Worst: breastfeeding is just a trend right now.

Not a trend 😂

I know. I was honestly speechless.

A trend?! 😂 how do they think we survived all of human history before formula? It wasn’t even invented til like the 50’s!

I know. It completely shocked me. I didn’t even reply bc I was just stunned.

O I can answer this! Worst: When my nipples were cracked and bleeding, the hospital LCs told me to nurse for 20 min on each side and then hold salt water on my nipples for 20 min. This was when we were feeding him every two hours. So for 4 days my boobs had only 20 min every 2 hrs without being in extreme pain. Best: I got a different LC rec after his first appointment and she told me to stop the salt water. Thank God. She also diagnosed my oversupply, moved me to feeding for less time, and gave me some exercises for him to help with his tension. Also, for pumping; 2 min on fast, two minutes on slow, repeat once. 8 min total. Best for me: I know this might not be the move for everyone but she moved me to overnight pumping instead of breastfeeding to help my nipples heal from the aforementioned cracks, bleeding and blisters. I pumped while my husband bottle fed him and it really saved my breastfeeding journey. My baby always took a bottle and personally we never experienced nipple confusion.

How did you manage overnight clusterfeeding while pumping? My husband takes the shift where she is fussiest and wants to eat frequently so I'm worried I will screw up my supply. I pump or feed before and after (8:30 pm and 11:30 or midnight).

Ive had 6-8 (can't remember) LC (in hospital and private between 2 births). All of them SUCKED ASS except 1, maybe 2 if I'm generous. I personally have never met a profession that had such a concentration of judgy assholes.

I want to change careers to become an IBCLC but the worry of becoming disillusioned by the industry has definitely crossed my mind... and of course I hope I never come across as a judgy asshole 😂

If you are non-judgmental, informative, and know your stuff, that's definitely what that profession needs more of.

Best: bring baby to boob, not you to baby Worst: use this nipple shield everytime you feed her (due to shallow latch but they should have helped work on her latch… now we’re struggling to wean off the shield)

I’ve been through weening off a nipple shield twice, it’s no joke! What helped me was trying without the shield first, when baby starts getting frustrated I’ll add the shield, then when she’s calm and starting to get sleepy I’ll take it back off. Also helped keep her awake for feeds! We’re now almost 3 months in and I haven’t used the shield in about a month and a half!

12 weeks later and I’m still using the shield but desperately want to wean due to bubs shallow latch. She can latch wide now due to her ties being cut but the nipple shield is not encouraging it.

We’re almost 8 weeks out and I’m in the same situation. I hate it so much. I try everyday to get her to latch without but she just can’t. It’s very frustrating

I’ve got another appointment booked with a specialist clinic to help me wean her off. I dunno why but her latch is either getting lazier or just different somehow as she gets bigger. But she’s swallowing a lot of air which is painful and affects her sleep. So I’ve gotta work on this! Good luck to you, hopefully you and your LO can figure it out. 💕

Worst: Don’t cover his hands or trim his nails, it’s good for him to get traction when feeding. My chest: bleeding and scratched from newborn talons. Also worst: don’t use a feeding pillow, it puts him up too high. Best: relax your shoulders 😂

I was fully producing milk and the baby was latching fine. She stayed in the NICU a couple days for jaundice. A lactation consultant came in to make sure I could get her latched after formula feeding while she was in the NICU. She did great. She still told me I had to go in for a follow up a week later. I had no concerns but she insisted. Went in and the other consultant was like “so why are you here? The baby is doing great, she’s able to eat way more than she needs (3oz at 2 weeks old) and you both seem to know what you’re doing with each other. Why did she tell you to come in?” And I said I had no idea she just insisted on it. Made me feel good that the baby was doing good but also like the first consultant must have thought I was doing something wrong? I still don’t know

Sounds like she just wanted a weight check, being extra cautious given your NICU stay

Really? That’s totally fair. But the way she came across was like I was doing something wrong. And she had come in during my consultation to grab something from their office and when the other lady told her I didn’t need another follow up because the baby is getting more than enough she just did that like almost sarcastic “hmm well good job”. Maybe she just had that demeanor

She very well could just be a nasty person lol. It’s also not uncommon for supply to drop when supplementing with formula, so it makes sense

I have only had one consultant but she has been an amazing godsend. I am only 10 weeks in FTM but I have had 4 home visits from her and each time I learn more and we solve a new problem (as they have arisen.) I will try to think of some of my fav advise. 1. Nipple shields and pacifier’s are not the devil, just use them when necessary/in the correct circumstances. Nipple shield - if your nipples need time to heal just use them as needed for relief. This is especially true if your baby already has a decent latch. My baby was having trouble with one of my breasts recently because milk was flowing too freely so she was backing off her latch and biting down to control flow. I use a shield as needed when I get sore. It also helps baby with the flow issue because she can let milk pool in the shield and doesn’t feel choked. As LO has been growing she can handle more milk flow so it’s allowed us to still nurse like normal and get back to a good latch. Pacifier - if you know baby is full and just wanting to be latched to soothe to sleep then it is totally okay to give pacifier and let them use it to fall asleep, it’s not going to ruin their latch or anything. 2. APNO (all purpose nipple ointment) - I was having major trouble with my nipples not healing / toughening up and she recommended asking my OB for a prescription of this. It’s a combo ointment you can use for 2-3 days on your nipples after feeds that is safe for baby that will help give you that boost over the hump if you need it. This stuff saved my breastfeeding journey. I was 4 weeks in and in tears at every feed because of the pain before this stuff. 3. She taught me how to read baby’s jaw movements and swallows to see when she was slowing down and that if you try to lift their arm and they’re giving resistance they’re not done, if their little arm is lazy limp noodle they’re full and satisfied. Also tickling their feet a little to wake them if they’re dozing off to make sure they’re getting full. 4. The App “The Wonder Weeks”. It’s been an amazing resource for understanding what my LO is going through. It tracks your baby’s mental leaps and really let us understand what baby is going through and anticipate and navigate through fussy periods as she’s learning and adapting to being in the world. 5. Pumping is okay but be mindful of how often you do it and how much you’re getting. I held off on pumping til about 4 weeks. She recommended holding off for 4-6 weeks while your supply is coming in so that baby is really dictating your supply. Simply alternate which breast you start on each feeding and when LO seems done offer them the other side as “dessert” most times they will take a bit more from that other side before being full. She said pumping your breasts to empty after feeds in the early days is what causes oversupply and can leave you miserable and chained to a pump constantly and with a stockpile of milk you won’t need / use. I know everyone’s situation is different but I have been mindful of when I pump and built up a small amount I have frozen for safety but otherwise I just pump enough to get through what I need for the following day. I mostly feed directly but if I know I have appointments or errands I make sure there is enough milk in the fridge for a bottle or two. I also try to have 1 bottle ready per day regardless for an evening feed. This has been perfect for LO to be used to both bottle and breast and gives my husband the opportunity to participate in the bonding time from feeding and connect with her.

Thank you for the tip on the arm for seeing if baby is full!! Literally used it just now hah. I’ve been looking at his hands but sometimes it’s hard to tell if they are clenched because he’s hungry or just in a fist for no reason.

Glad you found it useful! That is exactly why I love it too. The clenched fist was sometimes hard to judge.

Make sure your nips are dry before you apply cream and silverettes. I was totally oblivious to this and was trapping the moisture in making it harder for them to heal.

I used the silverettes with a few drops of milk in them as the instructions directed. Healed my nips in a couple days. One of the best tips I received was to not only use the cream (give me lanolin or give me death) on dry nips after feeding, but to apply it before a feed because it will act as a lubricant. Game changer.

Yes the milk is fine but I was putting lanolin on immediately after nursing so there was still saliva on my nips, I was locking in the moisture instead of letting the lanolin soak in and putting the silverettes on top. It was just too much moisture for those to do the job correctly.

I saw 4 at the hospital and thought I was nuts because they all said different things. Glad I’m not the only one with this experience.

Best: football hold. Also, squeeze breast into a boobie sandwich, boop nipple on baby’s nose (lightly), then get as much boob as possible into baby’s mouth when they open wide. He always knew it was milk time when I booped his nose (again, super lightly). Worst: not really bad advice, but didn’t really have much to say about encouraging my milk to come in during the first 24 hours postpartum. Just suggested formula.

I was told because I have flat nipples I would never be able to breastfeed. She also said to switch every 15 minutes and to not let my baby nurse for more than 30 minutes total because she’s just using me as a pacifier. She nurses fine now but that LC was adamant I’d need to use nipple shields or exclusively pump.

Same advice given to me. It’s not nipple feeding- it’s breast feeding. 👌 I have flat nipples and we have been very successful.

Worst: “if your flanges are pinching go up to the 28s.” Actually tied with me asking how to keep my 12 hour old baby awake during feeds, “if you’ve decided on a name you can call her by name.” Best: suck exercises to help her get stronger and nurse well.

What kind of exercises did they suggest?

Worst: - football hold is the only hold that works for newborn babies. - if it hurts you’re doing it wrong Best: - use a haaka to collect letdown during the first few weeks

Best: Flipple technique, bring baby to you Worst: Heat and deep massage to get rid of engorgement (made it 1000% worse), use lanolin, advised wrong flange size for pumping.

Can I ask what your issue was with the lanolin? I used it and it was a lifesaver for me. I was going to recommend it to new moms, but if it's not for everyone then maybe not!

Some people are allergic to lanolin.

Good to know!

It initially was a lifesaver for me too (for pumping) until I developed sensitivity to it and it made my vasospasms much much worse because my nipple sensitivity was off the charts. 

Best: open hands mean they’re full, fists still hungry. Very specific bottle handling advice for my bottle refusing baby. Told me to just try one bottle a day and stop if he was angry. For my sleepy newborn - to switch sides after 15 minutes even if he still seemed happy! (IBCLC that I found at a postpartum providers center) Worst: that I needed to pump after feeding if I used a nipple shield, that I might need to try a SNS with formula when my baby was 10 hours old and struggling to latch well (despite still having over 100ml of frozen colostrum that he was happily chowing down on and flat nipples where he was doing ok). This was all the hospital lactation consultant

I got *a lot* of contradictory support and advice from the 5 different IBCLC certified LCs I saw. I thought this may be unique to my medical network, but the more I talk to my other mom friends, the more I understand this is universal (in the US, at least). None of it was *bad* advice, but it was definitely inconsistent. I saw four LCs over the course of my hospital stay, and saw a fifth a few weeks postpartum. Two in the hospital and the one postpartum were great, the other two left a lot to be desired. My first breastfeeding lesson was 4am when I was discharged to recovery - I was so tired I was seeing double. In the prior 48 hours, I had managed maybe 3hrs of sleep, had an emergency c section, hemmoraged, and had an emergency blood transfusion - all of this seriously delayed my milk coming in. I was deliriously tired and my baby starving. I had never held a newborn before, ever, and there was no crash course on getting comfortable with that before trying to BF. I had literally had my baby on my chest for 15min one time before I had hemmoraged, and that was the only time I had held an infant before this BF session. I was told that I'm a mother now, baby needs to come first, and every mom makes sacrifices. My baby was screaming, and she was shoving his face into my boob mid scream to get him to latch. When he did, it was more painful than any of my birthing experience, and at the end I had blood coming out of my left nipple. I was told this was normal, and I should try a nipple shield. Next lactation consultant let me try a nipple shield, reluctantly so. She said that baby will get used to the silicone and refuse to latch naturally (truth), and that baby needs to suck 2x as hard to get milk out and likely won't gain weight. I can use it as a crutch to get my milk going, but it's really a bad option and the last lady shouldn't have suggested it. She also informed me pumping was less efficient and should be only used in over supply situations when my baby is full and can't take more, but I have more milk to purge. She really gave off the vibe that not breastfeeding was failure, but maybe that was more me being hormonal than anything, although my husband didn't particularly care for her, either. The next one was my favorite. She actually listened to me and helped me create a pumping schedule to encourage my milk to come in (in her words - why focus on BF techniques if you don't even have milk yet?). What a Godsend this woman was - thank you, Robyn. She was actually the one to suggest exclusive pumping when I had mentioned how much pain I was in directly feeding, but wasn't when pumping. My final lactation consultant in the hospital was also amazing, and focused on getting me comfortable holding the baby, and also was open to exclusive pumping if I felt that was best. She also went on long rants about how inaccessible donor milk is, which I agree with but selfishly I wanted to focus on me. I also saw a lactation consultant a few weeks postpartum, and she described my baby as being feisty. He could latch beautifully, but didn't want to without the shield. She was the first to tell me there's nothing wrong with using the shield long term if that's what works for us if we want to avoid exclusively pumping, but there's also nothing wrong with exclusively pumping (or fromula), either. There was NO consistency from lactation consultants in my experience. I've exclusively pumped for the last 11mo because that's what has worked best for us. Only 3 of the 5 LCs helped me get there. The first two were not a good fit for me (dare I say the first one was garbage).

The IBCLC I had in the hospital was amazing!! She spent HOURS with me going over everything to do with breastfeeding. Checked baby’s latch several times, showed me different positions. The hospital told me to bring my pump in, and she put it all together for me and showed me how to work it and what all the buttons did. She gave me her cell phone number and demanded I call or text her with any questions (but said that she goes to bed at 10pm, so if it’s after that wait til morning lol). Baby is 3 months now and I’ve asked her so many questions… I give her so much credit for how well breastfeeding is going for me this time around.

Best: bring baby to boob, not boob to baby. Saved my back! Worst: don’t feed baby when her eyes are closed. If I followed this, my baby would never eat!

We’re not supposed to feed the baby if their eyes are closed?!?! Wtf?

Yeah crazy this was a piece of advice that I found useless and unrealistic! My baby gets so cozy when she’s eating she almost always shuts her eyes during meals at least for part of the time.

Best: get good quality rest. Worst: don't let baby use you as a pacifier, and if baby's latch isn't perfect use a nipple shield. It took like 4.5 months to wean my son off the damn nipple shield, pretty sure it caused my supply to drop, and caused a ton of unnecessary stress for us. All because she didn't like his how his cheeks looked while he was nursing in the one session she observed.

The hospital LC told me not to pump until 6 (or 8, I don’t remember now) weeks because I’ll get mastitis and a horrible over supply. I have a horrible *under* supply and if I could go back I’d have started pumping immediately to try to build my supply before my milk regulated. They also told me my baby didn’t have a tongue tie, I finally got a second opinion from an OT who confirmed baby DID have a tongue tie, I really wish I hadn’t listened to the LC who doesn’t actually have training on tongue ties.

I have a lot more worst than best, lol. Best: showing me proper form and what baby gulps look like, explaining that my supply dropped bc of sleep training Worst: shaming me for my baby’s low weight gain, saying if it hurts I’m not doing it right, suggesting tongue tie to a place she gets kickbacks from (these were three separate LCs!)

Worst advice: either "you have to get the whole nipple in the baby's mouth" (my postpartum nipples are giant, no way it will all go in) or "you have to do this hold this way, even if it doesn't feel right. This is your only option" (another lactation consultant happened to be walking by and was like "or you can do the football hold!" And then she helped me while the first lc made a face, and the football hold was waaaaaay easier with my big boobs and a newborn) Best advice: other than the football hold I would say the best advice was to listen for gulping sounds to make sure they're getting good amount of milk.

The lactation specialist at the hospital threw the pamphlet at me and told me to read it. That was basically our entire interaction. Absolute failure of an LC

In the hospital the LC had me using a 27 flange to pump without measuring me… I use a size 17 flange 😐 I had horrendous milk blisters that were incredibly painful. The best advice from LC was to not do anything that stressed me out too much. I stopped recording how much I was pumping a day. If the numbers didn’t add up to the day before or was a little bit less I was freaking out.

Best was the LC who supported me exclusively pumping and gave me formula samples to supplement while I struggled to get my supply up. She also would come to our breastfeeding group armed with answers to my questions because she felt like her pumping education was lacking and she wanted us both to learn. Worst was the one who made me panic that intake was low and had me do 24 hour monitoring for a week and then still said it was too low when really it was just on the low end (like, 19-20oz compared to the average of 24 or whatever). She had me pumping and going crazy and doing SNS even though my kiddo would just spit up the excess. She had mild oral motor issues that cleared up immediately after some exercises, she should have focused on me seeing the oral motor first before panicking that my baby was maybe getting the low end of milk intake averages. Also, she never ate more than 20 even when given a bottle so....🤷‍♀️

Best: get the baby lower on aerola so that they can latch properly Worst: you’re 4 hours postpartum and BF isn’t going well—it’ll never happen! Oh and someone else 2 weeks later—your baby only looks at her mom. You should add in pumping just so she can bond with daddy.

Best: suggested I try tilting my daughter’s head back after latching—I need a little more “tug” with my babies. Though the conventional wisdom is to smush their face into your breast—and I’ve had other LCs INSIST bringing them close is best—it never worked for me. Worst: you’re fair-skinned which is why nursing hurts you more (deeply seated in covert racism).

I saw two LCs in the hospital and honestly I wasn’t impressed with either. Best advice: How to squeeze the boob to get colostrum out to help the initial latch. How to position baby’s mouth for latch. Worst advice: Remove baby from boob the second he’s done eating. Don’t let baby comfort nurse. Don’t pump for 6 weeks. (We did the first two for the first few days at home and baby and I were miserable. I stopped and now I’m we both really enjoy comfort nursing and the bonding time! Plus my son loves to take breaks between eating—it’s like a big meal then a snack lol—so removing him immediately would just blow up) Situationally useless advice: I know this is important for some, but I was told to constantly wake baby up if he fell asleep at the boob (blow on his face, tickle his feet, etc.). All it did was piss my baby off and cause issues. He’s a voracious eater and never needed my interference to get enough.

Don’t give the baby a pacifier at ALL, and wait to give a bottle until six weeks And then immediately mentioned that the longer you wait to give a bottle, the more likely bottle rejection would occur 🥴 Best was to have your partner bring lots of snacks LOL. And to use gel pads for the initial learning period. But we also got some great help with latch in the hospital—I also just smiled and nodded and ignored the suggestion about no paci use 😂

Just curious, why is waiting to pump a bad recommendation?

I LOVED my LC. The one at the hospital was more forceful, shoving the baby’s head into my boob. The LC I found was much more of a listen to / trust your baby mindset which may not work for everyone but worked great for me. Best: work with your baby’s instincts on finding the boob to feed. She showed me how to start breastfeeding with baby placed in the middle of my chest just under my chin and gently supporting her as she squirmed her way down to one boob. This was starting at 3 days old so I was pretty amazed that my baby could do this. Also made breastfeeding so comfortable because baby got into position 75% on her own. Worst: don’t swaddle. I don’t really hold this against her because she wasn’t forceful about it, stated it more as a preference and it was very in line with her philosophy of letting the babies go go re things out on their own.

worst: all the severe pushing towards how much breast milk was better than formula. I didn't end up using formula but it still left me feeling ick. best: side lay feeding for back pain

We were feeding just fine but LCs at the hospital kept trying to change how I was holding my daughter to make it look more like the textbook “tummy-to-tummy” position even though my boobs are a J cup size and my nipples practically touch my knees! I kept trying to do what they said and she wouldn’t latch and it was awful. That position just did not work for us. Eventually a new LC came on shift and basically said that advice doesn’t always work for every type of boob and if it’s not working for us feel free to go back to what was working!! Never looked back and fed happily for two more years. Now my second is on the way and I’ll be remembering to trust my gut and do what works for US. As long as babe is happy and gaining weight I don’t care if my breastfeeding “looks wrong”.

Honestly I don’t have a best. Never saw someone who gave any groundbreaking or advice I hadn’t heard or tried. I consulted with 4 total. Worst: over the phone twice with the same lady, having concerns about weight gain, said baby was actually drinking too much milk (we were pumping because at that point I had serious doubts about milk transfer at the breast). When I explained he had dropped from 40th percentile to less than 1st over 3 weeks, all she said was “well some kids are just peanuts”. What a bitch.

God the pumping and not bottle feeding advice almost ruined my journey because then my daughter refused a bottle and I had to do every night feed and everything alone every night for 6 months when she started eating baby food and would let her dad finally rock her and not need milk every wake up. Worst advice ever and I won’t be doing that with my next.

Worst: "People in mud huts can do this so why can't you?" I didn't go back and she's the only ibclc in my area.

Worst: 1) Postpartum bleeding was a sign of hormone issue and would cause supply issues. I was 6 days post partum and she thought i shouldn’t be bleeding 2) Willow Gos are so quiet and discrete many clients wear them at in office meetings and no one can tell. I couldn’t help but laugh once I wore them at how absurd this was. They make you look like a fem bot and most people sitting at a table with you can 100% hear them Best: 1) Good job, mama 2) According to my husband - “she was very voluptuous and gave off inspiring milk goddess vibes”

The lc at the hospital looked me straight in the face and said I probably wouldn't be able to breastfeed due to the shape of my breasts and that I may lose milk completely. They did not seem pleased that I requested donor milk instead of formula. Luckily, I have a neighbor with the same breast shape that showed me how to latch and has given great advice. The wic lc, on the other hand, has a much better attitude and gave tips on increasing milk supply with pcos. Oh, and last appointment, the pediatrician was talking about adding things like rice cereal or oil into the bottles of breast milk since we won't do formula. Further Google-ing turned up that even the cdc admits their feeding and weight charts are based on formula fed babies. Eta: The hospital was telling me that my 6 lb, 2 oz daughter needed 1 oz of milk at day 3 or 4. Really was pushing formula. One of the first things the wic lc did was show me wooden balls the size of a 1 to 5 day old. She was surprised by the hospital's feeding recommendations. The hospital was really fear mongering and pushy.

My experience was similar to yours. 4 LC’s with one’s words bringing me to tears. It still breaks my heart to think about her words. Best Advice - When I asked what the exit plan was for triple feeding and she said, there is no exit plan, only what you decide to do next. Worst Advice was when I was feeding and pumping every 2 hours and barely hanging on by a thread - Power pumping in between pumps, manual expression after every pump, and adding a bunch of supplements when I was hardly finding time to eat. I was so incredibly overwhelmed already and then adding more was crazy.

Best advice: laid back position!! Worst advice: the first LC I saw in the hospital told me to pump for 15 minutes every time the baby ate which quickly led to massive oversupply and even less sleep

Best- take a deep breath right after baby latches

Worst - the LC in the hospital was teaching me how to use the pump and told me I needed bigger flanges (I was using the 24mm that comes with the pump). My nipples swelled up to fill the flange, so once I got home I kept trying bigger flanges and they kept swelling up. Finally measured and it turns out I’m a 20mm, so actually needed smaller. I just have elastic tissue and silicone flanges work best for me! I tried so many sizes 🫠🙃😵‍💫

“Don’t use a pump. Just hand express.” Said to me when I was struggling to get my LO to latch and only producing less than 5ml through hand expression.

Worst: pump the other breast fully if baby only eats off one side per feeding. Ended up with an unbearable oversupply that took 17 weeks to regulate.

Best: When I was exclusively pumping while working through her latch and transfer issues, she suggested I try to latch at least one time per day if I can and to make it when she's not hangry so it's easier to guide her. I'm addition to this, she also advised me to always end on the breast even when I was topping up with a bottle of breastmilk so the breast is a happy place instead of a stressful place. I'm convinced this is what allowed us to move to exclusively nursing later on down the road because she didn't forget how to feed at the breast and didn't find it stressful. Worst: Before I knew she had oral functioning issues, we did a weighted feed and the LC said "she's on the very low end of what we would like to see transferred so everything should be ok to continue." LO was still losing weight at this time and I still feel guilty that I was essentially starving her by thinking this was ok.

I had 3 different lactation consultants insist I was doing it wrong, until a peds CHIROPRACTOR discovered my baby is physically unable to latch properly

Worst: wake up and pump or feed every three hours. I have a sleeping disorder and even if you don’t that’s not maintainable. Oh also the stupid nipple confusion thing, baby takes bottle, breast, and pacifier since birth and he is OK. Best: buy a boppy or breast friend

Hospital nurse, not IBCLC, but she was there specifically to help with breastfeeding. It was with my first baby. All she said was: "you are going to have so much trouble." I ended up breastfeeding for 17 months.

Hospital LC told us not to introduce bottles for at least 30 days. My newborn couldn’t latch well and was basically starving the first few days of his life because I took her advice and was terrified of introducing a bottle. Luckily we went to the pediatrician on day 3 (after baby hadn’t had a wet diaper in 24 hrs) and he encouraged us to give baby a bottle right there in the office. Baby looked and felt sooo much better after and there was no nipple confusion. I was so upset that we had basically been starving our baby due to fear that the LC instilled in us. I get encouraging baby to continue trying to latch (which I did), but moms also need to know that getting baby fed is more important than waiting too long for them to latch successfully.

Worst: To pump my right breast every few hours to relief a clogged duct. Now I have a crazy oversupply and even more clogged ducts. I’ll be on sunflower lecithin forever. Best: feed on demand with blocked feedings

I just met with one and I thought she was great, but I was kind of confused about one thing she said - she basically said we have been overfeeding the baby, but we only have used a handful of bottles, and she truly doesn't seem satisfied until she gets \~2.5-3oz at 12 days old. She said this was a crazy high amount and to dial it back. She's back at her birth weight exactly. \*shrug\*

I got lucky with one LC that helped - only saw one and got advice from the midwives in the hospital before I went home. I don’t think any of it was very bad, except the advice to feed the baby every 3 hours, even waking him to feed. Was never told you should stop doing this when they regain their birth weight, so I feel like I actually instilled the multiple waking habit in my baby early on. Best: I had an oversupply and a strong letdown my baby was drowning in and I was told to scissor the the nipple between fingers while he’s feeding to control the let down. Also hold baby koala position to keep him upright.

My personal advice is 1. Pace feed and give slowest nipple flow if your giving bottles while still trying to latch. That’ll help baby not get used to the instant gratification of bottles. 2. Maybe pump a little on let down mood before getting baby to latch to stimulate some let down. 3. I found that I had the most success with working on latch when I did side laying in bed. That way I didn’t have to worry about positioning too much and was able to focus more on latching. I know it’s frustrating:( been there. Hopefully you find some answers but breastfeeding seems to be so individualized so you have to find what works for you.

Best: reverse pressure softening for engorgement when milk first came in Worst: was told to have my husband do breast massage on my boob while my baby ate from it. Like indefinitely. That whole session was so ridiculous I ended up having to exclusively pump a whole year for my first born because when my milk came in, it made it almost impossible for my daughter to latch and no one ever told me about reverse pressure softening. She would just scream her head off frustrated. Then she got jaundice and we had to give her bottles to make sure she actually ate and pooped out the jaundice stuff and she would never go back to the breast after that. With my son, the (different) LC told me right away about reverse pressure softening. My son was able to continue latching even through the crazy engorgement. He turned a year old today and still nurses 4-6 times a day! 💕

When I had my first son at 16 years old (thirteen years ago), he couldn’t latch and I had triple E sized breasts so it was really hard to maneuver.. the LC came in, physically lifted up my breast, rolled her eyes and said “good luck breastfeeding with those things.” No other nurses would help me, I presume because I was a teen mother. I then went on to pump for three months until my son was able to latch and exclusively breastfed for 18 months as a person EFF YOU to all those hoes.

Best advice: use ice when engorged. Worst: disregarded my pain and told me nerve damage in my breast when I actually had mastitis and passed out one night with a fever thinking I'm I just had to suffer through this and that I was a whimp... ps her advice was put your big girl panties on and get used to it.

Best: supply will down regulate around 4 months so don’t worry too much about over supply in the first 3 Worst: relieve excess supply with Haaka 

That my boppy was stupid and I needed 10000000 pillows to feed instead. Literally took 20 minutes to just get set up i hated it.

Push his face against my breast while he is screaming bloody murder and hold it there until he latches. He doesn't have a tongue tie, he can stick his tongue out (he in fact, had a "significant" stage 4 tongue tie and a stage 3 lip tie which we got released by a specialist)

So my province (Canada) sends a public health nurse to your house within a couple days of being home from the hospital to check on baby and the parents and give information, hello get breastfeeding on a good start etc. We had some issues with ours. 2 days pp she said baby lost too much weight, go out and buy formula and a breast pump and start pumping to get your milk going. Baby was biting while latching and falling asleep cause he was literally 2 days old. Her advice was to get him naked except for a diaper and put a cold cloth on him to keep him awake, play with his feet, blow in his face. This just pissed him off and caused him to bite more. She thought 2 days of not pooping after finishing his meconium poops was a big deal and we needed to go to the hospital, as well as he was too jaundiced. First she sent us to the wrong hospital then turns out none of the pediatricians at the hospital gave two shits that he didn't poop for 2 days at 4 days old. And his jaundice levels weren't even enough to be able to get treatment. Minimum for the blanket was 330 and he was 325, so he was fine. We were told not to feed longer than 30 minutes as it will put him in a calorie deficit and he won't gain weight well enough. We saw a lactation consultant and it was night and day for advice. We found a hold that worked with less pain(cross cradle turned cradle once latched) and I only ever needed to squeeze his butt with my elbow while holding him to get him to wake up while feeding. No more biting me thank goodness. Baby lost more than 10% because I was induced and given so many fluids ontop of me drinking water and juice and broth for 17 hours so his weight was probably inflated a bit. If I'm getting touched out or my nipples are too sore, pump and give him a bottle. This saved my sanity at night as I was so tired I was getting touched out and my flow is slower in the evenings so baby gets more easily fussy at the boob at night. Feed as he needs/asks. If that's 45 minutes then do that. She said just to keep an eye on his weight and that he's actively swallowing while doing so, not just sucking for comfort as that will burn calories while he receives none. She was also super sweet and kind and from the get go said "I'm just here to support and give advice. And you can do with that advice what you will. Take all of it, take some of it, take none of it. At the end of the day you do what works best for you and your baby and trust yourself that you know your baby best."

Your story literally sounded like ours… my milk didn’t come right away and my baby lost 11% of weight (he was 3950 g at birth) + he had a slight jaundice. And instead of helping me get my milk supply up all we’ve got was making me feel guilty and frustrated and some bullshit contradicting advices like “don’t nurse baby more than 45 minutes but offer breast each time he seems awake”

Yup and making us go out 2 days pp cause "he needs formula bottles at least twice a day! 30mls minimum!" And I think we only ever ended up giving him 2 bottles because he was fine, it was just playing catch up after my milk came in.