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

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...

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?

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

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

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?

*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...

no giving up... dun worry... at least my hubby wants me to breastfeed or give breast milk till at least 1 yr old... breast crawl... that's interesting... i'll try it... another discovery was it was easier to get more milk from one breast while baby is feeding on the other... i was like ...but after breastfeeding n breast milk he's still hungry coz his mouth keeps moving... not wanting to sleep... i wonder how much does he drinks? we tried to estimate by bottle for breast milk... silly? mayb i should just try other method... he hasn't slept much today... dunno whether he'll b real tired to stay awake tonite...

NeoXeroX, at least now i know i'm not alone i tot enfa mama a+ is for preggy...

i wish there's more support for breastfeeding from hospital... the day i gave birth the midwife just position baby against by breast n that's it... luckily my sil gave me pregnancy n parenting book to read... else i dunno wat to do... gov hospital should give more guidance to first time mummies... just across the causeway, the hospital over there shows mummies how to breastfeed, latching, bathing n even recommend which formula milk... the midwifes are gentle somemore... where to find such service here? private hospital??

Cas, wat n where to get fenugreek seeds?

is there any other way to boost milk supply??

thanks for all the feedbacks...

neo, i think only can go surveying after confinement papaya soup... will try to find out

fateen, cabbage is consider as "cold" so kenot eat during confinement... mayb after confinement... btw i heard from my bro that cabbage can oso b use on the breast if u wanna wean off... it's said to reduce the pain...

does the two hrs per feed stay long? i read from book that abt 3 mths they feed abt 5 times including nite feeds... then gradually less n less... true?

neo, i know formula fed baby can establish "schedule" faster... but wat abt breastfed baby?

been trying to breastfeed baby whole day wif just one or two glucose water n one formula at nite... but the catch is to put him into rocking baby bed after feed but if i dun, he'll still for milk...

i know i still have a mth plus to go but can't help worrying abt baby's feed when i start work later... how to breastfeed if i'm not around? my milk is still not enuf for pumping... even pump not enuf for whole day...

cas, it sucks to go back to work n missing out baby development but wat to do? no money no milk

neo, for the last two days i've been trying to give breast milk only during the day n nite feeds... currently, only 50% successful... at nite my hubby will feed him kao kao formula (n oso to bond wif baby ) before sleep... last abt 3-4 hrs... unfortunately there's no fridge in my office... but office is near to home... will b trying anmum lacta to c if it works... another thing is i'll b resigning after i go back to work... so i can continue breastfeed after that...

syd, i eat a lot for confinement but i keep feeling thirsty eventhough i just drink... the thing is i kenot drink plain water for my confinement n that's keeping me thirsty... n ya... my urine is dark yellow... still 2 more weeks then i'm out of my confinement... currently i've stop pumping for a while coz i know i dun have enuf to pump... i'm waiting to c if anmum lacta n diminish thirstiness would help boost milk supply... if i had enuf sleep, heck no...

sometimes i would cry when baby cries coz i would blame myself for not providing enuf milk, dunno wat he's crying for, etc... being first timer sucks... but i'm lucky to have a caring hubby (coz he dun want me to become depress)

neo, baby will stay wif us at nite... so it won't b diff after my confinement... if my hb is willing to sleep wif me n baby despite baby cries at nite... i asked him to sleep in the other room coz i pity seeing him having panda eyes n less sleep but he insist to stay i think the teh is red date tea... i've got the instant one but only recently rajin put inside thermos (coz no cold water during confinement)... earlier i drink ginger tea n end up baby heaty i think coz lots of tiny transparent "bubble" on his forehead... anyway, baby now oso having S-26 coz mil used to give S-26 to hb... i agree that baby/toddler/child should like or suit the milk powder coz like my fen's case, she had to change powder again n again coz her son is allergic... the last i heard they're trying organic milk powder i've just started anmum lacta yesterday n let's c how it goes...

syd, sometimes it's to believe or not... i can't believe how many pantang during confinement but like they always say it's just for a mth... coz if we fall sick then who's going to take care of baby if baby is dependent on us?

syd, here i have to finish everything on the plate so can't eat/drink is not a pantang here... bathing is still acceptable but wif herbal packs... at first i dun really understand y kenot bath... but after i read the confinement recipe book q n a i understand y... just the water fluid thing... no cold water, no plain water... even i can plain water, the wine/DOM/alcohol will make me sweat n hot... so i still lack of water...

syd, me too... i would go thru a labor delivery than going thru confinement

neo, warm towel... will do that after confinement coz kenot touch water ma... but i do keep a hanky to wipe off excess milk n vomitted milk i din know ginger have to take after feeding... coz usually i would feed him after my meal which is always a coincident which i hate oso...

btw out of topic do ur babies sleep like having a nitemare? my boy recently make sounds like he's having nitemare...

neo, we've been adviced to swaddle (bungkus the baby wif lampin so the hands stay put beside the body) n been doing it since... but i dun swaddle tight so baby ends up wif hands outside mil said no need bao yin dan <.<

updates, i've started a time log to c how long he's stuck on my breast n sleep... from wat i c, he's on the breast (dunno feeding or sucking) for abt 15-30mins n sleep for abt 20+mins... it's just one day... dunno if it's the same for tomolo... oh ya, i only feel engorgement during nite... morning dun feel anything at all except milk leaking when baby starts to lacth on my breast... any opinions?

syd, interesting article but in my place it won't work... unless we move out... here we have lots of opinions from everywhere... so it's making it hard for us the parents to implement our own taking-care-of-baby... btw does baby sleeps after breastfeeding? coz my boy likes to fall asleep... no matter how we rock, play wif his finger, body or leg, or waking, he sleeps in my arms... like a log... then wakes up when i put him down... sometimes i hear him swallow hard sometimes nothing... now i got blamed for spoiling him in my cuddle n sleep wif sucking...

syd, mine sleeps then wakes up abt the same time as urs but he'll always get hungry... is ur girl the same? he always seem hungry all the time... it always make me think if i actually have enuf milk for him... to provide milk every 30-60mins then doze off for 10-30mins... i dun even have the time to pump...

merchant9, thanks...

abt anmum lacta, i was told it was to improve the quality of the milk i still need to find ways to improve the quantity of the milk... but from wat i read, if baby is gaining weight then the milk flow should b fine rite? but i'm not sure if formula at nite is the one making baby gaining weight...

me n hubby tried burping but often there's no burp le... any other successful burping method other than patting on baby's back?