what breastfeeding problem did you have? has a Lactation Consultant helped?

Question

what breastfeeding problems have you had and how did you solve it? what help did a Lactation Consultant give you (not just with a problem but in general)

its late (so i might not be making sense) and dh and i are talking about breastfeeding and how to make sure it succeeds. i told him people post their problems and the solution people often offer is to find a LC but i often don't hear if the problem was solved and how

Answer 1

Oh I hate to hear all these horror stories!!!

A GOOD lactation consultant can be your best friend and help you through any situation. One thing that you MUST do though is be sure to follow up. Many symptoms that moms experience can be caused by several things, and there are always several different ways to solve problems. If you see an LC once and her suggestions don't solve your problem, go back! She should welcome as many repeat visits as it takes to help you succeed. That, after all, is the goal.

I also hate to hear of women being made to feel guilty if breastfeeding isn't working out. If you're visiting an LC then you're obviously wanting to continue....pushing and blaming aren't going to help anyone.

Breastfeeding comes naturally to many women and they succeed without ever having a problem. But for many others, it requires a lot of determination, work, and perseverance. An LC can help guide you along the path and provide much needed support and encouragement.

Answer 2

I never had to see a lactation consultant, but some of the promlems i encountered were:

First growth spurt. It catches you by surprise and youre not always sure whats going on. My son would latch, suck, suck, unlatch, repeat. for three days straight! About drove me mad!

The next issue i had was oversupply. When he was about 3 weeks old, i read that he should be nursing off both sides each feed. I thought i was starving my baby by only doing one per and promptly started doing them both. We then ended up with an oversupply (meaning my breasts got too much stimulation and started producing more than he needed) and he would cry and unlatch at every letdown. Very frusterating.

The next problem we had were allergies. We were a bit late to catch them (5 months) but, my son had been congested from about a month on. I thought it was just "newborn congestion" and his doctor had no suggestions... by 5 months neither of us were sleeping and i turned to the internet for answers. I found that congestion is ussually related to a dairy allergy and once i cut the dairy we were both sleeping again.

So basically, i got alot of help online. I joined several breastfeeding support groups online (mostly myspace, some kellymom.com, some mothering.com) and found that mothers who have been there have ALOT of collective knowlage and are a great resource for other moms. I highly suggest you find a group online and IRL and a good lactation consultant (keyword:good).

Goodluck!

Answer 3

the biggest problem I had was lack of sleep lol. I would wind up falling asleep nursing and eventually the baby and I kicked my hubby out of bed all together, breastfed babies only sleep about two hours between feedings- but I started pumping and that eased the burden cause someone else could feed in the morning while I caught up on sleep. Other then that was breast tendernous, my babies were rough when they got to the nipple and well it just as well bruised everything not much to do but I wish I had a consultant to consult. The nurse at the hospital will get you started with the breastfeeding support groups and teach you what you need to know to be successful if you ask

Answer 4

Check out www.breastfeeding.com it may help.
Unfortunately I only breastfed my son till he was two months old. I wish I would have done it longer but it was hard to pup at work and the stress from work was not helping with the lactation. The hospital will provide you with a lactation consultant when you deliver but I don't think that's enough. Call someone your self and have them come to your house to help you. I have heard from people that it does help. One thing I know is that stress is a big problem trying to lactate, so just make sure you relax yourself. Make it you and baby time and make it special and relaxing for you. And don't give up, keep trying and trying. Even though my son is healthy and great I still wish I would have tried longer.

Answer 5

There were two LCs at the hospital where my son was born. One was absolutely useless! She just kept saying it would be natural, just relax, blah, blah, blah. Well, it wasn't easy or natural and I was not relaxed! I ended up having supply problems and going back to see the other LC. She was like a military captain. She shoved my baby's head into my breast while he screamed bloody murder. Then she tells me, "You are too tense." Well, yeah, she was smothering my son! Anyway, she did at least get me on Mother's Milk Tea, which helped tremendously, and sold us a good pump. Overall they were both fairly useless.

My supply did finally come back, but it took my sister-in-law who is a doctor and has breastfed her two children to get me back to nursing my son regularly and eventually exclusively. She sat with me for two days every time my son nursed and helped me get him to latch on correctly and listen to his swallowing and watch time and basically help me to know what I was doing so that I could relax. Now my son is six months and I am planning to go for another six. I was really determined, totally supported by my husband, and I prayed a lot, or I might have just given up ~ and it did cross my mind.

I am sure that bf comes naturally for some women, but it was hard for me and I wish I had been more prepared or had better help sooner. I am so glad I stuck with it because it is the most rewarding experience to bond with your baby that way.

In the end, I think you should do lots of research yourself on correct latch and signs the baby is getting enough, find a friend or family member who will "coach" you for at least a week or more, and if you get an LC pay for one rather than depending on the ones at the hospital.

Good luck!

Answer 6

thrush = horrible horrible pain, nystatin is tedious to use but also a lifesaver.. my son is 9 mos old and still nursing, albeit rarely anymore since he's on the move. No LC in my area, I just bought some books & educated myself. The benefits I found are the rest you are forced to get while you nurse, the bond, and a very healthy child. My son has only been sick once, and it was pinkeye from his cousins. The downsides I experienced are no weight loss, I have only lost 10 lbs but have heard some women lose the weight when they wean (I can hope!) sole responsibility for feeding the baby (we tried the bottle but he experienced the controversial 'nipple confusion'), now that he is older he can take both, and jealousy from family members who wanted to feed him a bottle (my mom mainly LOL) Nursing in public was no problem for me, cuz I always go and ask for a private spot, like walmart I ask for a dressing room. Oh and a bit of advice if you do decide to nurse, my son got teeth at four months and started biting me. Do not slip your finger in their mouth, as this only induces giggling and chomping harder. Press their face into your breast, I know it sounds awful but it causes them to let go, I read that piece of advice on www.babycenter.com, a great website in my opinion, also have a free magazine for preg/new moms. Well good luck, and no matter what you decide remember your love is all that matters to this little person.

Answer 7

I had plans to breastfeed my son and I was really looking forward to it.

Unfortunately, my son was born 6 weeks premature by C-section and was unable to suck. The only thing I could do was pump, and I never got more than a 10 ccs (not even 1/2) even though I pumped religiously, day and night, for several weeks.

I saw 3 lactation consultants and tried everything - oatmeal, more water, sleep, mother's milk tea, fenugreek, and even a prescription. Finally they told me that some women simply aren't able to breastfeed, especially with my circumstances. I finally quit, and I'm glad I did. I cried every time I gave my son a bottle of formula when he got out of NICU, but it was best for our family.

Breastfeeding is best, but please don't feel bad if you can't!

Answer 8

I wanted to breastfeed but had trouble. I have an "inverted
nipple" on one side, which makes it virtually impossible
for latching. They both did great on the other side, but
it got too sore and I still had to express the difficult side.

I ended up pumping for a few weeks, to give the kids the
best start I could, but pumping 24/7 proved quite hard-
by the time you were done, and cleaned up and put
everything away, you had about an hour break before
having to do it all over again.

I did end up switching to formula which did seem to give
the kids constipation issues, which were dealt with
easily enough. And both my girls are quite healthy and
happy now. (Ages 11 and 6)

Answer 9

In the hospital -not much help -it was a homebirth transfer to a hospital that hates homebirths apparently:
1)Well first my son wasn't allowed to eat for 20 hours, and I fell for the dumbass reason. So he was used to sucking in fingers and wouldn't suck on my nipple because it didn't go far enough/was hard enough

2) Also I didn't get access to a breastpump until after 18 hours or something, so that wasn't good.

3) Then the LC would only say to use a nipple shield so I did. BUT I could NOT let down in the hospital because of the stress.

4) Which was heightened by the fact that they gave my son too much of the wrong kind of glucose IV. Which they didn't have consent for to start with AND then caused his kidneys to fail. Then to wean him off the glucose after they gave him drugs to make him pee (BTW it is completely normal for a newborn not to pee for 24-36 hours after birth, and it isn't a problem until you pump over a lbs of fluid in over 12 hours). Then I had to weigh him, feed him, weigh him to know exactly how much he was getting so they could know how much they could reduce the glucose. Then I would cup feed what I had pumped after the last feeding then I would top him up with formula (which I slowly just dumped down him, and then changed him. Usually he wouldn't even accept all of the pumped milk, as a newborns stomach is the size of a chickpea. In addition he hated formula and I hated formula but I was continually being threatened by social workers and doctors and I hadn't slept for 4 days at that point because as soon as I lay down to get some sleep about 24 hours after birth they needed my bed)
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So that is just about as bad as it gets.

OUT of the hospital there was a Lacation Clinic and the LC was awesome, there were public health nurses that filled in which were pretty good, and there was a second lactation consultant who worked two days a week who had an attitude but still managed to fix things.

First I had to get off the nipple shield while managing my supply by pumping (which some sources say is needed when using a shield and some don't. I ended up engorged, but that isn't to say I would have had enough without pumping. If you are pumping and must feed pumped milk use a cup or syringe. Anyone can syringe feed it is easy and syringes are available at almost all drug stores). It took awhile, basically I would try without, feed for a bit if he cried we'd use it, I'd try to switch it out when he changed sides. Practice, practice, practice. Basically he was lazy and the shield was easier BUT in the end I think he preferred the contact.

The the latch still wasn't good so I would have pain. We'd go back and they would point out something, head a little lower, chin farther back, etc, etc. I'd go home it'd be ok for awhile then I would go back. It was basically good after about three visits the first week. These were about 30 minutes long or longer but there would be 10-20 women in the room all being helped by one woman, which was fine because honestly she just got you latched on and would check in every so often to make sure the latch was still good. It would probably be more uncomfortable if she stared the whole time in a one-on-one but I never had that with the good LC (once with the bad one and we were glad when someone else showed up. It was just a fluke no one was there)

After 2-3 appointments (though I didn't have to call ahead just show up) we were good for about a week. Then my son started to clamp down while feeding. After less than 24 hours I had the start of a crack on both nipples (a while line that kind of sticks out surrounded by pink irritation). I was in so much pain I was going to die, I woke hubby up and we were at the clinic as soon as it opened. My milk was coming too fast, so we fined tuned the latch and I would lean back when I fed. So gravity was keeping the milk back a bit. It took about 12 hours to really feel better.

And that was it until teeth. *lol* Hint for the future if you have a bite that won't heal use polysporin even if you don't think it is infected. Use a small amount and if you feel the necessity to you can wash your nipples before feeding.

Good luck, hope it is much easier for you! But you can work through ANY problem, you have a strong momma bear deep down inside.

Joining the La Leche League is excellent as well, so you can meet other moms who do breastfeed. Start going before you give birth to make some friends just in case.
http://llli.org/WebUS.html (Change the country in the upper right)

Answer 10

my problem was that i had flat nipples so my baby couldnt properly latch on. i had a lactation consultant try to help, she recommended a nipple guard, which didnt really work, it hurt REALLY bad. she got my baby latched on without it once but it was so painful i couldnt bear it. i ended up strictly pumping milk, but could only do it for 3 months before i was totally worn out from it. i would have to wake up with my baby, feed her, get her back to sleep, and then pump. and keep repeating the process. it was just too much work.