Tinyhood works best if you switch to our app
My baby is 2 & 1/2 days old. I’m breast feeding her as much as possible and also using a pump but my breasts now feel like they’re on fire.and my left breast is expelling blood into the colostrum. Is that normal, what should I do for the pain and to help the bleeding stop. I’m so exhauseted and wanting to give up.
Baby is 13 days old ... we had to immediately give him formula in hospital due to severely low glucose ... I did breastfeed as well ... breastfeeding has been very difficult.... he falls asleep within 2 minutes no matter how many times I pull him off and then he relatches ... he also does not suck very strong ... no tongue tie per LC .... also very low supply on my end ... moved to pumping every 3 hours yesterday so I know what he is getting and I supplement with formula as needed .. he requires 3oz per feeding .. except for First pump session of day at 6am, where I get 3oz... I pump 1.5 -2oz with Hospital grade double electric pump every 2.5-3hrs... supplement with formula ... any advice about improving supply .. started fenungreek but not doing anything .. drinking tons of water and resting when baby sleeps ... also mother’s milk tea . Thank you!
Hi, Samatha -- congratulations! If baby is struggling with sustaining a latch, pumping is a great strategy so that we protect your supply and get babe breast milk. However, it may be worth trying a nipple shield in this situation rather than exclusively pumping https://www.medela.com/breastfeeding/products/breast-care/contact-nipple-shield
This is not a long term solution but a good short term way to get baby latching/sucking at breast.
Re: supply, it's still early, your body is still establishing a full supply. When you pump, use your hands to help maximize production. Check out this great instructional video by Dr. Jane Morton, Stanford Univ:
https://med.stanford.edu/newborns/professional-education/breastfeeding/maximizing-milk-production.html
Great!!! Thank you so much ... we did try nipple shield and he still slept and did not suck with intensity
Go back to basics and undress baby down to diaper before a feed. When he starts falling asleep at breast, keep him actively drinking by doing breast compressions (squeezing/massaging breast while babe is latched) -- you'll notice that even if baby's eyes are closed, when you push milk into his mouth and increase the milk flow, he'll react and start drinking again.
Yes we did that to no avail because even though I was doing compressions after about 5 minutes I had no milk to express or very little .. even with significant hand expression only drops here and there ... he wasn’t pulling anywhere near the strength needed to get those drops
Keep up the pumping routine and you should see
Supply increase! Good luck and happy new year!
I’m wondering if it’s safe to freeze fresh milk that has gone from the refrigerator to the counter for a few hours. For example, if I get milk from the fridge to room temp and I don’t end up using it after 3 hours can I put it in the freezer to save it?
There's no official recommendation on this. We know that once frozen milk is brought to
room temperature, its ability to inhibit bacterial growth is lessened. The safest/most conservative answer would be to just use it at next feeding and pump instead.
Ouch Kristina! Let's try and figure out if the baby's latch is hurting you or if it's the pump. On day 2.5 you probably don't need to do both (latching + pumping). If baby is latching well (not painful + sustaining latch for 20+ minutes) at every 2-3 hours, then there's no need to add in the pump right now. That being said, if the latch is what's hurting you and causing you to bleed, then we need to work on fixing that!
Her mouth is little I know she’s not always latching on very well... I’ve tried getting her to latch when she cries, I’ve tried pulling down her chin some so she can get a better mouth full... I don’t really know what else to do there. But the bleeding is when she’s feeding & when I pump as well. I’m so worried my milk won’t come in.
My boobs also got hard and hot last night... could that be engorgement and what should I do to fix that?
Sounds like your milk came in! The best way to relieve engorgement is to feed frequently. Warm compresses and showers help too! Unfortunately that seems hard right now. Let's see if we can get you a more comfortable latch. You don't want to try and latch baby when she's crying. First calm her down on your chest or even giving her your finger or a pacifier to suck on. Then when she's calm let her move down to your breast. THink about teasing your nipple on her upper lip or even at her nose and down to her mouth. When you do this, baby will open mouth wide like a yawn and that's when you guide baby on. Bring baby to you versus you to baby. I really like this resource by Dr. Jane Morton out of Stanford University:
https://med.stanford.edu/newborns/professional-education/breastfeeding/abcs-of-breastfeeding/getting-started---position-and-latch.html