Sibley Breastfeeding Class

[Anonymous]

For anyone who has taken this class, did your husband/partner attend with you? If so, did he find it beneficial? My husband just had a work meeting scheduled for the evening we are supposed to take the class. He thinks since the class will not teach him anything, I should let him skip it and go to his meeting.

[Anonymous]

My husband attended the class with me somewhat skeptically and found it quite interesting and helpful in understanding the process. I highly recommend encouraging your partner to join you. Some aspects of breastfeeding, such as the amount of time you will spend nursing, seem ridiculous if you aren't expecting it. A supportive and informed partner can really help support your breastfeeding relationship. He was also a much better advocate for me when other people criticized me since he was educated in the benefits and techniques.

[Anonymous]

I took babecare and birthing at sibley and breastfeeding at Georgetown and found the brestfeeding class at Gtown to be the best. It was fanatstic, and even my husand fully agreed. It was well-paced, taught by a very experienced lactation consultant and kept me interested. On the other hand, both the Sibley classes were poorly timed - seemed to drag on and weren't well-organized and not taught by the most professional people. I highly recommend Gtown for classes...

[Anonymous]

I didn't find the Sibley bfeeding class very helpful. I'd let your husband out of it, but make sure he goes to lactation consultant visits after the baby arrives. The first three weeks postpartum, it took at least two adults to get my baby to latch on and prop up my breast the right way at the same time. Sometimes three! (Thanks, Mom)

[Anonymous]

Agreed. I've taken my husband with me to all my lactation appointments with Pat Shelly and it has been very helpful. The Breastfeeding Center does offer a free Intro to BF class where technically a husband could attend, but they are usually packed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I took babecare and birthing at sibley and breastfeeding at Georgetown and found the brestfeeding class at Gtown to be the best. It was fanatstic, and even my husand fully agreed. It was well-paced, taught by a very experienced lactation consultant and kept me interested. On the other hand, both the Sibley classes were poorly timed - seemed to drag on and weren't well-organized and not taught by the most professional people. I highly recommend Gtown for classes...

I'm guessing there are several different people who teach the BF class at Georgetown. The one I went to was completely useless (and it was also taught by a LC). So I actually wouldn't recommend it based on my experience. DH and I also took a childbirth prep class and another about how to take care of an infant at Gtown, they were ok but at least better than the BFing class and certainly not useless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn't find the Sibley bfeeding class very helpful. I'd let your husband out of it, but make sure he goes to lactation consultant visits after the baby arrives. The first three weeks postpartum, it took at least two adults to get my baby to latch on and prop up my breast the right way at the same time. Sometimes three! (Thanks, Mom)

This will only work if your husband is with you the entire time you're in the hospital. Mine went home (with my blessing!) for some much-needed sleep, and was not there when the lactation consultant finally came by.

As for the Sibley class, my husband found it to be very helpful, mostly because BF was all new to him. I agree with one of the PPs who said it was particularly useful given HOW MUCH TIME I seemed to spend nursing the first month, and how much help I needed from him.

Personally, I did not find the class quite as helpful, but that's because I had done some reading on my own and had talked to a bunch of friends (plus DCUM wisdom.) My husband did not have any of that background.