Breast Prep?
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Category: Pregnant
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URL: https://www.ohbaby.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1432
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Topic: Breast Prep?
Posted By: tania4
Subject: Breast Prep?
Date Posted: 25 January 2006 at 9:38am
Can anyone help?I was unable to breastfeed both my daughters,one because she was born at 30 weeks and had no one tell me how to deal with the stress and to perservere,and the second because all she did was chew my nipples which bled constantly and my milk didnt come in properly.Is there any secret to preparing your breasts to help the milk come in and to harden your nipples??I have purchased nipple shields just in case I need them.
Any help would be great as I really want to succeed this time 
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Replies:
Posted By: lizzle
Date Posted: 25 January 2006 at 9:40am
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My MIL told me to rub them with lanolin. I have no idea if this works as , sorry - don't wanna rub it in, i had no problems with breastfeeding.
My midwife said that no prep is needed really, however, i know in Nanas day and Mums day they would do stuff. Don't know if this is helpful at all!! |
Posted By: newmum
Date Posted: 25 January 2006 at 10:08am
I didn't do prep either but Lanolin saved my life in the first week or so. Sorry I'm not much help either  ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: toniellis
Date Posted: 25 January 2006 at 11:15am
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Hi there, I used to just squeeze a little bit of colostrum out & rub it into my nipples before Alex was born. I duno if it helped but I'm still bfing my son and he is 15 months old now. And in the whole time I've only had to deal with one small crack. I could have just been lucky though. ------------- Mum to Alex (11), Blaire (10) & Erika (8) and Damien (6) Successful HWB VBA2Cs! Soon to be surrogate |
Posted By: MINXY
Date Posted: 25 January 2006 at 11:32am
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Someone told me everytime you get out of the shower rub each nipple harsly with your towel about 10 times this helps make them tougher and easier when you have a baby breastfeeding.
When I tried this after a couple of days I had bloody sore nipples but I did notice they had toughen up a bit. I must admit I have stopped and dont know why...must keep it up. 
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Posted By: fairsk8
Date Posted: 25 January 2006 at 11:58am
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My mum said not to use anything on your nipples like lanolin or anything because it softens them instead of hardening them but when you finish b/f squeeze a little of the hind milk out and rub it on and then let it dry before covering your nipples up again, your nipples prepare themselves naturally. The first couple of days b/f does make them a little tender but they sort themselves out. With the chewing of your nipples it could of been because of the attachment,baby may not of been latched on properly, iwas not shown how to breastfeed properly until after a week of b/f and my nipples were bleeding as well, but once my mum showed me how to get him latched on properly he has been fine since and i have had no problems. Don't know if this is any help. ------------- http://www.bump-and-beyond.com/"> 
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Posted By: fattartsrock
Date Posted: 25 January 2006 at 3:00pm
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I didn't do anything to prepare them. had a bit of discomfort, but nothing major, no cracks etc. my midwife told me not to do anything to "toughen" them up, and the nurses at the hosp told me to rub the colostrum into them.. good luck! ------------- The Honest Un PC Parent of 2, usually stuck in the naughty corner! :P |
Posted By: tania4
Date Posted: 25 January 2006 at 4:15pm
Thanks Everyone I guess I will have to wait and see how I go,I just really,really want to do it right this time.Hopefully the nurses at Rotorua Hosp are better than the ones I had in Gisborne
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Posted By: mum2paris
Date Posted: 25 January 2006 at 9:45pm
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try and get as much help as you can from the nurses and midwives at the hospital, and also the lactation consultant can help too if they have one - talk to them about the problems you had last time and oput things in place this time to ensure your success. I had probs 1st time round - this time i haven't cos i perservered and although there were a few probs at around 6 wks i fought thru and am now still feeding Ayja at 8mths. support and knowledge are the best preparation really. ------------- Janine and her 2 cool chicks, Paris & Ayja 
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Posted By: Maya
Date Posted: 25 January 2006 at 10:34pm
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Rubbing colustrum in is supposed to help, but it's not a good idea to do this pre-birth as there have been some studies linking nipple stimulation to premature labour as it releases oxytocin, one of the hormones which causes contractions in labour. But after bubs is born it's a great idea.
The only advice I have is to get good support - I had mastitis when Maya was 3 weeks old and had 9 days in hospital with it. I would have given up b/feedinf then because of the pain, being sick etc. but I had a very supportive midwife which really helped. -------------  Maya Grace (28/02/03)
 (02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
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Posted By: nikkitheknitter
Date Posted: 26 January 2006 at 8:47am
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The lactation consultant I had up at the Rotorua hospital was Margaret. She was pretty good but I found her a little too forceful. The other midwives were brilliant, really patient. This sounds freaking weird, but they ended up hand expressing out of my breasts for me!!! At the time I didn't think anything of it and now I look back and I'm like "what the hell!?!"
Anyway, just to show the lengths they will go to to help out! I had to give Hannah formula top ups as she was such a big baby and so hungry and my milk didn't come in until day 3. Margaret was not happy about the formula but my midwife recently told her I breastfed until 13 months so she was very happy with her efforts. In the first couple of weeks I had blistered and bleeding nipples, I used lanolin and perservered and it eventually became enjoyable. Apparently Rotorua has got extra strict on the whole breastfeeding thing. My midwife made comments about how it's like police work. They are making sure every mother reads and signs the anti-formula form every time they give a bottle (which was policy when I was there but never implemented, I think I signed it once). I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or not but at least they are supportive of breast feeding! |
Posted By: lizzle
Date Posted: 26 January 2006 at 9:51am
| those midwives often make me feel really sorry for those people who, for some erason can't breastfeed. |
Posted By: nikkitheknitter
Date Posted: 26 January 2006 at 1:42pm
| And Tania, my dad's girlfriend is the manager of that section of the hospital, I could probably find out who the nice midwives are regarding breastfeeding and get Carolyn to swing one your way when you are in? |
Posted By: tania4
Date Posted: 27 January 2006 at 8:50am
That would be so great nikki,when I was in hosp with my youngest they made it really stressful by trying to force Olivia on while she was screaming A friend of my mothers was a midwife there at the time and she was on when I tried the 3am feed and Olivia went straight on for her but unfortunately that was her last shift before going on leave They also gave Olivia cold formula on a spoon (which I am not sure about this)but she ended up having reflux and they would put her down on her back and I would hear her choking on her vomit In the end I put a sign on her telling them to put her down on her side!As you can see I havent had a good time of it in hospitals so I really want to do it right this time.Maybe going home asap would help,as I could do it my way??
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Posted By: nikkitheknitter
Date Posted: 27 January 2006 at 12:41pm
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haha yeah, no interference there!
But I think the support of good midwives is invaluable. Hopefully things have improved since then. Will have a word to Carolyn for sure and let you know what I find out
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Posted By: 98765
Date Posted: 28 January 2006 at 12:40pm
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My mum told me to get ur nipples out in the sun to toughen them up ------------- http://lilypie.com">  
www.jackkeith.blogspot.com |
Posted By: Kim
Date Posted: 28 January 2006 at 11:53pm
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My Mum told me that as well! ------------- Zac Mark - 30.11.05 Samara Ailsa - 13.08.07 |
Posted By: AlyAyde
Date Posted: 29 January 2006 at 7:51am
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your skin is much more sensitive to sunlight when your pregnant. ------------- Jayde 25/12/04 Alyssa 08/04/03 http://Alyayde.bebo.com |
Posted By: tania4
Date Posted: 29 January 2006 at 8:34am
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After the heat we had here yesterday i dunno if I would want to put my poor nipples out therelol
Imagine getting them sunburnt 
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Posted By: newmum
Date Posted: 29 January 2006 at 10:07pm
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My mum told me to brush my nipples with a toothbrush no way was I going to do that!!! ------------- http://lilypie.com">
http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: tania4
Date Posted: 30 January 2006 at 8:38am
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ouch!!That made my eyes water just imagining it
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Posted By: preggy_sunflower
Date Posted: 02 February 2006 at 10:13am
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I read in Penelope Leach's book that your nipples do not need any toughening up at all, that they are just fine as they are..... ------------- Joshua Hadynn - Born 3 May 2006 |
Posted By: tania4
Date Posted: 02 February 2006 at 10:45am
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Thanks Heaps everyone
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