i just gave birth to a lovely baby boy last weekend... since hospital n baby formula encourage breastfeeding, i wanted to do the same... i tried breastfeeding from day one until today but baby seems not full wif the milk that i provided... yesterday i felt breast engorgement but when i pump there's only abt 20ml for abt 2 hrs of pumping... did i do anything wrong? i called up my SIL n she advised to use warm towel over the engorged breast n massage hard... how do u actually massage it? grope it like porn star?? since baby is not getting full from my milk MIL has given baby formula milk for 2 days liao... we would alternate breast milk n formula milk... experienced mummy n daddy pls advice me... thanks in advance

update : thanks to all the support, advice n encourage

here's a list of bf mummies:

nicKit - bf since oct 2010
phythia - bf since aug 2009
Mommy_2011 - bf since jan 2011
EnPoiNte - bf/pumping since apr 2011
Syd G - bf since sep 2010
qarezma - bf since aug 2011
mIssfROGY - bf since 17 Nov 2010
Snowee - bf since Apr 1, 2011
hellokitty82 - started bf on Sept 2010 and fully stopped on Aug 2011
kittybunny - bf since nov 2011
victoria_lucas - bf since nov 2010

here's a list of hb supporting bf mummies:

VaLeNrUdOn - supporting his wife since may 2011
coolmast3r - supporting his wife since march 2011
SurpriseZZZZZ - supporting his wife since jan 2011
gundamalpha - supporting his wife since nov 2010
nugget - supporting his wife since nov 2011
metaltooth - supporting his wife since nov 2011

The Breastfeeding Advocates in Facebook
The Breastfeeding Advocates

Malaysia Breastfeeding Peer Consultant
Malaysia Breastfeeding Peer Consultant

List of MBfPC in Malaysia
MBfPC Name List

lactating recipes n bf frenly confinement recipes
Breastmilk-Boosting Recipes- Fish Tail and Papaya Soup
Moms in Mind: Recipes for Lactating Mothers (Postnatal)
The Chinese Soup Lady & Chinese Soup Recipes » Blog Archive » Papaya Fish Soup
Table for 2.... or more - Confinement

if u ever get in arguments abt bf, here's some winning answers

The Alpha Parent: How to Win Any Breastfeeding Argument

This post has been edited by nicKit: Jan 20 2012, 10:47 PM

Hey

Welcome to motherhood.

1) To increase milk supply, feed on one breast and pump the other (not for too long, 10-15 mins will do, you'll get around 10-15ml of colostrum only)

2) Massage it like how you'd massage your tummy (swirl) or like how you flatten your playdoh (er. this one needs a video..)

3) Feed your baby every 1.5hr - 2hr. You'll lose sleep, you'll feel tired, you'll feel like feeding him formula so you can sleep longer. If you're really determined, you'll pull it off

4) Engorgement happens when your breasts are switching from colostrum (the yellow milk) to white milk. It's ok, keep feeding and try to take warm shower often

5) Your milk supply will turn whitish after 7 days or so. Then your breasts will not be so big but there will be a lot of milk as long as there are a lot of stimulation.

Good luck! It's not easy to breastfeed but it's gonna be worth it

I am a successful two babies bf daddy. I agreed with your point no.1,2,3 and 5 but not no. 4. You should never take shower during confinement and trust me if you go ask all those seasoned mothers, this is the thing that you going to regret at later life.

Your husband play a big role here like encouraging words and very important if you stay with your mother or in-laws, never tell them how difficult it is as they are the culprits to ask you stop. They will say all kind of things that the baby not enough eat, so small, and something like that. Your husband beside can help you clean up the bottle after every feed, he can also help you massage the breast whenever there is engorgement. Take it as a fun time like the movie "The ghost" enjoy the time you together and very important is strong mind that you sacrifice it for your beloved baby.

More frequent feed especially girl as she feed less everytime and less sucking power will help to release the engorgement. Alternate each breast per feed and if you don't do that the one that receive less simulation will be very painful. Don't worry about less milk for your baby as baby actually can survive for 7 days with very little milk - doctor told me that. So, just don't give up and if you can try avoid to mix with formula milk.

You might not know your baby is very smart, because she or he can differentiate between easy milk or hard milk. What is that? It is alwasy easier to sulk bottle milk than breast milk so if you do that often, they will reject breast milk. Trust me, this is a big NO NO if you want your baby to continue taking breast milk else it will stop very soon. I am not here to scared you but just sharing the experience for those who failed and those who succeed.

Remember, strong mind that your baby can have enough milk and slowly whisper to her/his ears that they like mommy milk and will suck harder each time. There is another thing not all people can do it. If you feel really painful on your breast, you can ask your hubby to suck to release some milk. Yeah yeah i know what you are thinking but hey, I just warn you that not all people can take that but it will definitely help you!



Best,
escargo75
- mod edit : no blog linking -

This post has been edited by Syd G: Oct 28 2010, 05:39 PM

thanks for the advice... warm shower i took is wif the herbal bath... i'll take note... btw how often is the engorgement? coz i only feel it once since yesterday... can bb take water plus glucose? mil said bb should take water too...

No shower is a Chinese pantang ya?

As for engorgement, mine lasted for 2 days.

According to Ministry of Health Malaysia and WHO, first 6 months should be breastmilk only, no nid water.

let's c if i'm doing this rite...

yesterday abt 8pm breastfed alternate breast for 30 mins
baby slept until 10:30pm
breastfed alternate breast until 1am
baby slept until 5:00am
breastfed alternate breast until 6am (both fall asleep lying down coz i was sleepy)
baby slept until 9am
breastfed alternate breast for abt an hr

did i do anything wrong?

Every baby's different but yours look fine.

Lucky you get more sleep. My baby drinks for 30 mins every 2 hours

how do u soothe baby's crying? coz u know elders dun like baby crying... they'll think baby isn't full, mummy not taking care of baby... how u manage to ignore baby cry...sometimes i ignore baby cry coz i've already fed him for 1-2 hrs but then mil will say y u feed so long? baby cry then give him formula, he'll get full n go to sleep...

This post has been edited by nicKit: Oct 29 2010, 02:57 PM

yes, you got to get full support from ur husband to breastfeed your baby.

drinks lots of water or fluid - breastmilk main content is fluid


If you are in Penang, go to Adventis Hospital. They have dedicated & experienced nurse that actually breastfed her kids who will teach & coach you to breastfeed. they might even able to link u to other mom that produce too much milk who want to give away fresh breastmilk

This post has been edited by scoop7: Oct 30 2010, 12:46 AM

IMHO it's very hard when the grandmother try to intervene everything that the mother's doing. We can give you advices but are u willing to go against your MIL?

if i prove that i CAN provide enuf milk then i think she has nothing to say... rite now i try to breastfeed first then worse to worst formula... hb suggested to pump b4 his feeding so we know how much he takes... wat else can i do for improving breast milk quantity? my milk now looks like milk cair instead of pure white milk... i dun feel any engorgement anymore... btw how do u know that baby is sulking milk n not just sulking the nipple for soothing? coz he tends to fall asleep when sulking... i dunno if he's feeding or just playing wif the nipple... when i c him closing his eyes n looks like sleeping i would lay him down... but he'll open his eyes wide and ask for more milk... i dun feel anything (except the sulking nipple pain) when he latch on... i understand that he has to latch on the whole nipple n behind the nipple... he dun need to cover the whole breast rite?

come to think of it mayb i dun drink enuf fluids...

This post has been edited by nicKit: Oct 30 2010, 03:25 PM

breastfeed will give more benefit to 3 parties.

1. mother - get slim quick and save + reduce the cancer chances to attack woman
2.baby - got the best milk in the world

3. daddy - can save more...:-)

Congrats dear! I am also a new mother of a 1.5 month baby girl.

To increase your milk suppy, try fenugreek seeds. It guarantees an increase in milk supply. Put in a teaspoon of fenugreek seeds into a glass of warm water and then drink the water - twice daily. You can choose to chew on the seeds, even if you dont want it it's fine. You can google this method to see for yourself - I tried it twice and had an increase of milk flow.

The other option is to put warm towel near your boobs for a few minutes.

You could always breastfeed your baby first for about 20 minutes, and if he's still hungry then you supplement him with formula - 3oz or less.

nicKit,
Hows your urine colour? If it's dark yellow then you need to drink more

---

Added on October 30, 2010, 4:14 pmBtw when baby breastfeed and drinks (instead of simply sucking), can hear gulp gulp gulp sound.

But some babies can become lazy may not want to breastfeed cause it takes more effort to suck from breast than from bottle. This is why bottlefeeding shouldnt be introduced so early.



This post has been edited by Syd G: Oct 30 2010, 04:14 PM

does breast size have anything to do with the amount of milk produced? a lot of asian girls especially chinese have very small breast, and i wonder where does all the milk come? or where is it stored?

1. No

2. Boobs will get bigger.

when i tot i could overcome giving breast milk to my boy things go awry again... yesterday we tried pumping n giving breast milk by bottle... no problem... breastfed him when he woke up midnite for abt 30 mins alternating breast... woke up every 2 hrs for 3 times... no prob... but then the 4th time (around 5am) no matter how much i breastfed him he would only slept a while (abt 30 mins) then cried again... it's going circles for the whole day... i tried pumping today but was taken back coz suddenly blood came out... but it's just a while coz when i tried to squeeze the breast, the milk came out normal (white)... i oso noticed that my boy may not b latching on well n not suck hard enuf... he tends to fall asleep abt 5 mins of breastfeeding n wakes up when i try to put him on his bed... imagine my agony... here's a few questions to anyone who can share ur experience n tried n tested method:

1. does enviroment affect the baby? coz midnite to 5am is quite quiet in my around compare wif day time...

2. how to make him suck harder n not fall asleep during breastfeeding?

3. does anyone have a pic of a properly latched on baby on breast?

Sorry to hear about your experience Sounds like he wasnt latching on properly. Is he still fed formula too?

Here's a really good latch on video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zln0LTkejIs

*hugs hugs* unfortunately ya... coz baby can't b left crying for hrs n hrs n i have to "entertain" him wif my breast n picking him up n down... i'm lucky it happens during my confinement where my mil is around... it won't b good if it happens after my confinement... i'll go bonkers... just when i'm prepared to wake up every 2 hrs to breastfeed him... formula or breast milk i think he dun mind... his prob is probably latching n sucking... latching coz lack of guidance? sucking coz of baby bottle... like escargo75 said, easier to suck on... coz even adults find it easy to drink from the bottle...

He prolly picked up bad habits from his formula bottle feeding . If still fails then the next best thing is to stop feeding on boobs directly and give him pumped breast milk in bottle instead.

Another thing that I always do with my baby is to put her on diapers only and put her on my chest for skin-to-skin contact. If she's slightly hungry then she'll crawl to the nipples and latch on herself It's called 'breast crawl'.

Here's a good video on it :



Dont give up yet

This post has been edited by Syd G: Nov 1 2010, 07:14 PM