Reply to I do have my heart set on breastfeeding this baby

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[quote=Anonymous]Have a list of lactation consultants ready to contact after the birth. Agree that you should take classes ahead, but it will be important to know who to contact after if you need help. Make sure they are helping you at the hospital, too. If for some reason the baby is not awake whenever a nurse or something else comes in to watch you nursing, make sure that you call them when the baby wakes. It is important they make sure the baby is latched well. There will probably be lactation consultants at the hospital to help, too.

I also encourage you to work with your feelings ahead of time to make sure that you can handle it if something goes wrong with breastfeeding. Examine why it is so important to you, and have some alternative ways to achieve those goals if it doesn't go as planned. For example, is your feeling that you want to bond through BFing? If it doesn't work out, be ready to do lots of skin-to-skin and snuggling anyway. Is your feeling that you think it's the healthiest option? Research the best formulas ahead of time so you can feel confident if you have to supplement.

DC1 was a BFing nightmare. He couldn't transfer milk for some reason and had a ton of allergies that resulted in him being super colicky and throwing up huge quantities of milk if I ate certain things, but it was super hard to identify what those things were. I was SO certain that I was going to BF and so miserable that I couldn't, and it honestly contributed to developing PPD. It felt like a rejection by my baby and a statement on my quality as a mother. I see now how ridiculous that is (and frankly, he is a teen now and still a picky eater!).

DC2 was super into BFing but had a tongue-tie, and it HURT. Although I thought I was a pro after seeing a million lactation consultants with DC1, it still took way longer than it should have to figure it out. If you have pain, ask about tongue tie early. The beginning was awful, but once we finally sorted it out, he nursed like a champ until he was almost 2.5 years.

My point is that you can't control some things, so just focus on what you can control, and recognize that none of this is a referendum on your capacity as a parent.[/quote]

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