Breastfeeding Stories

Sejak akhir2 ini bila blogwalking kat blog ibu2 yg baru melahirklan anak pertama, kebanyakannya struggle utk breastfeed baby. Yes, semua ibu mengandung berkobar2 nk BF baby sehingga 2 tahun, namun perjalanannya tidaklah semudah yang disangka. It all happen based on nasib badan, nasib bayi pandai isap susu and keadaan environment.

I need to collect every knowledge to back up my BF plan huhu.... Hopefully segala urusan breastfeeding saya dipermudahkan dan berjaya mencapai target 2 tahun.

Short-time nurser/Frequent nurser

http://farrahim.blogspot.com/2010/10/breastfeeding-i-dont-have-enough-milk.html 

1) My 1st son nursed so briefly, like for only 5 minutes or even less!


2) Sometimes, or even many times, he’d ask for milk again the next 1 hour, or 30 minutes, or sometimes even every 15 minutes!

3) He’d go on crying every evening from 9pm till 10pm, and I had sore arms from rocking him to sleep every nite.

4) I was well into my 2nd month post delivery and yet on many days I could only pump half an ounce of milk, from BOTH breasts! So frustrating that I GAVE UP pumping!

I went through all that, with patience, and endurance, and persistence, and most importantly, with A LOT of faith, and believe that I will go through all those, and I WILL succeed in breastfeeding my child, despite people telling me that I don’t have enough milk because my baby kept asking for milk every now and then.

And guess what, I managed to breastfeed my boy till he turned 2yo, and I only weaned him off because I was heavily pregnant and was starting to get contractions due to breastfeeding.

Here’s what I’d like to explain to you:

1) Short-time nurser/Frequent nurser – Some babies are like this. It is normal. My 1st child was like this, but my 2nd child is totally, completely the opposite. When you have a short nurser, he would most likely nurse frequently too to make up for the small amount of milk that he took. Think of it like this, some of us adults are small eaters, but eat very frequently. It’s the same concept, more or less. So please do tell your wife to just breastfeed as per demanded by the baby.

Sometimes it gets very tiring. Find ways for improvement. Like wearing shirts and nursing bras that will give easy access to the baby. Or learning to nurse whilst lying down. Or use a nursing pillow.

2) Colic – I suppose you have done plenty of readings about this. I was not ready for colic when I had my 1st child. But with my 2nd child, I armed myself with my baby carriers, to save myself from sore arms and those long tiring nites. No, not those Baby Bjorn types. I used ring slings and wraps. These carriers kept my baby close to me, kept him calm, saved me from having sore arms, and most definitely kept me sane!

3) Pumping output – Your wife could get 1.5-2oz. I could only get 0.5oz. Your wife is so lucky to have you to ask around about this. I did not know who to turn to at that time. If this is your wife’s first time breastfeeding and pumping, it could be that your wife’s body has yet to get used to the pumping routine.

Pumping output DOES NOT equate to production amount. And pumping certainly does not work the same way as a baby’s suckling. She will need to pump routinely (daily and at around the same hour). This routine will let her body get used to the pump, and it will also send signals to the body to “produce more”.

I can say this, because I more or less gave up pumping during my confinement because I did not know about this concept. When I returned back to work, I only had about 12-20 packs of milk in my freezer as my backup, despite having 3 long months of maternity leave. I got very little amount of milk when I started pumping at work, very very little. But as I continued with my daily routine, eventually my body got used to it and I could eventually pump more and more.





Baby x reti isap susu, Nipple sakit
http://myaishah.blogspot.com/2010/10/my-breastfeeding-journey-so-far.html


Baby 'Lazy Feeder'. Hisapnya sekejap, tidurnya lebih. Masa awal-awal tu, memang tension tak hengat. Asyik menangis je sebab penat dan sakit pinggang. Nipple luka, terkoyak, rabak, semua pun ada. Bengkak susu jangan cakap lah. Sampai demam-demam aku dibuatnya.


Solution: Jadi, ajar baby untuk direct feeding. Dan aku dah sedar kat mana silapnya. Rupanya, baby akan marah bila lubang nipple buka terlalu banyak dan susu laju masuk mulut dia. Sampaikan dia tersedak-sedak. Jadi, apa yang aku buat, aku pump terlebih dahulu sebelum direct feeding supaya breast tak penuh sangat.



Susu Bengkak
http://sotodanwajik.blogspot.com/search/label/.breastfeeding.


sebelum aku dimandikan dgn air daun sebagai penutup berpantang, dia ajar cara nak urut bon-bon if this thing happened again. so aku belajar... sebab dia kata kalau tak buat cepat2 bila susu bengkak, boleh menyebabkan nanah bagai. mak dengar rasa ngeri dan alhamdulillah, ajarannya terbukti berkesan bila bengkak susu happened for the second time, i simply applied what i've learned from her. my bestfriend amy yang juga kena bengkak susu ku ajar buat benda yang sama dan ianya menjadi.


kalau ikut aturan yang mak bidan tu ajar... rasanya lebih kurang sama dengan yang nieza cerita. my simple version taught by mak bidan seperti di bawah:

1.mula-mula siram badan especially bahagian bon-bon bawah pancuran air panas

2.then slowly using your left hand( kalau bon-bon sebelah kanan) and vice versa untuk massage your bon bon dari atas ke bawah.

3.urut dekat kawasan yang bengkak dan cari urat yang tegang

4.mulakan perlahan-lahan sebab bengkak susu ni memang sakit.

5.dah lama sket tekan lebih sket atau kalau kita jenis yang tahan sakit tekan kuat pada urat yang bengkak tu

6.masa tu, your other hand mesti letak pada hujung nipple dan picit perlahan-lahan.

7.make sure ada aliran susu keluar dengan pancutan yang kuat. kalau tak terpancut maknanya saluran masih tersumbat...

8. keep doing it, but don't over do it... bukan apa takut tak tahan sakit.

9. lepas dah selesai... mandikan bon-bon kita tu dengan air suam.

10. masa nak pakai bra, tepek skali daun kobis yang dah disejukkan dalam fridge. tujuannya untuk melegakan kesakitan. saluran susu tersumbat ni sebenarnya panas. that's why sampai boleh bawak demam. kalau rajin, tukar daun kobis tu after 10 minit. trust me daun kobis tu kejap je boleh layu...

nak diingatkan di sini, rasa panas kat bon-bon tak kan terus hilang walaupun milk duct dah tak tersumbat. dalam dok diam tu... urut bon-bon perlahan just to make sure bengkak duct tu dah kurang. sambil-sambil tu selawatla. anak kita adalah indicator terbaik nak tahu saluran tu dah ok ke tak by the way he suck our bon-bon. kalau nyonyot tak henti tu maknanya dah tak tersumbat. tapi kalau dia refuse... ulang balik step 1 sampai step 10...

Akan diupdate lg. Sebab dah nk balik.