The Supplemental Nursing System I ordered recently arrived on Monday. I had a go using it on myself but it didn't go well and after about 10 minutes of fruitless trying Olivia was purple and screaming, and we were both pretty frazzled.
Not one to fall at the first hurdle I went to see a breast feeding specialist at out local Sure Start clinic. Sure Start is a government initiative to run childcare and health education for families. Our local clinic runs a variety of initiatives including the baby massage we do on Thursdays and a Wednesday breastfeeding support group. The counsellor showed me how to latch Olivia onto the breast while also using the tube to supplement the breast milk. The idea is that the baby receives the normal top-up of formula or expressed breast milk while latched on to the breast so they still get the food they need but the mother's milk supply is also stimulated at the same time.
Anyway, this time we actually got her to nurse while using the supplementer and she took 3oz of expressed breast milk. I think that the supplementer is something that would have been much better in the beginning few weeks when a real difference could have been made to the supply. It is also fairly faffy and time-consuming and probably better suited to those first few weeks when commitments were minimal and I had F_ around to help out with things. I will try it again on my own but I don't think the SNS is going to be totally replacing the bottles as the medium for supplementing her. The breastfeeding support worker who also come to help me put has asked me if I would be willing to speak to some of their groups in the future about my experiences with breast feeding after a breast reduction.
A lot of the things I am trying at the moment will probably benefit baby no. 2 (no I'm not up the duff after 8 weeks - I'm talking hyperthetically!) more than Olivia as hopefully next time around I will be able to try a lot of what we have worked out through trial and error from the beginning rather than faffing around so much.
Things I have found have increased supply:
Taking the prescription drug Domperidone
Pumping to increase demand and therefore increase supply - although next time I will hire a hospital grade pump to maximise effect for minimum time and effort.
Frequent feeding at the breast - although next time I will use the at breast supplementer as well to ensure maximum stimulation of the milk supply
Next time around supply is likely to be better anyway as lactation encourages formation of new lactation tissue and can also stimulate severed connections within the breast to regrow.
Anyone needing info about breastfeeding after reduction should definitely check out BFAR and I would also strongly recommend the La Leche League book 'Defining Your Own Success' by Diana West. The cheesy title aside this book is crammed with useful tips and info as well as success stories from BFAR mothers.
General breast feeding resources I have found useful are :
Kellymom.com - a website packed full of useful articles and handouts on all aspects of breast feeding
Also the instructional materials of Dr Jack Newman, which can be linked from a variety of websites, including Breast Feeding Online . Dr Jack's handouts cover a variety breast feeding topics while his video clips offer a useful audiovisual resource with practical demonstrations of various apsects of feeding.
Not one to fall at the first hurdle I went to see a breast feeding specialist at out local Sure Start clinic. Sure Start is a government initiative to run childcare and health education for families. Our local clinic runs a variety of initiatives including the baby massage we do on Thursdays and a Wednesday breastfeeding support group. The counsellor showed me how to latch Olivia onto the breast while also using the tube to supplement the breast milk. The idea is that the baby receives the normal top-up of formula or expressed breast milk while latched on to the breast so they still get the food they need but the mother's milk supply is also stimulated at the same time.
Anyway, this time we actually got her to nurse while using the supplementer and she took 3oz of expressed breast milk. I think that the supplementer is something that would have been much better in the beginning few weeks when a real difference could have been made to the supply. It is also fairly faffy and time-consuming and probably better suited to those first few weeks when commitments were minimal and I had F_ around to help out with things. I will try it again on my own but I don't think the SNS is going to be totally replacing the bottles as the medium for supplementing her. The breastfeeding support worker who also come to help me put has asked me if I would be willing to speak to some of their groups in the future about my experiences with breast feeding after a breast reduction.
A lot of the things I am trying at the moment will probably benefit baby no. 2 (no I'm not up the duff after 8 weeks - I'm talking hyperthetically!) more than Olivia as hopefully next time around I will be able to try a lot of what we have worked out through trial and error from the beginning rather than faffing around so much.
Things I have found have increased supply:
Taking the prescription drug Domperidone
Pumping to increase demand and therefore increase supply - although next time I will hire a hospital grade pump to maximise effect for minimum time and effort.
Frequent feeding at the breast - although next time I will use the at breast supplementer as well to ensure maximum stimulation of the milk supply
Next time around supply is likely to be better anyway as lactation encourages formation of new lactation tissue and can also stimulate severed connections within the breast to regrow.
Anyone needing info about breastfeeding after reduction should definitely check out BFAR and I would also strongly recommend the La Leche League book 'Defining Your Own Success' by Diana West. The cheesy title aside this book is crammed with useful tips and info as well as success stories from BFAR mothers.
General breast feeding resources I have found useful are :
Kellymom.com - a website packed full of useful articles and handouts on all aspects of breast feeding
Also the instructional materials of Dr Jack Newman, which can be linked from a variety of websites, including Breast Feeding Online . Dr Jack's handouts cover a variety breast feeding topics while his video clips offer a useful audiovisual resource with practical demonstrations of various apsects of feeding.
Sorry I'm late on commenting, but I just came across this post when I googled bfar. I, too, am bfaring, and I did a post recently on it: http://www.thetowells.com/2009/04/for-women-in-my-situation/. And I wanted to tell you good job for what you did for your baby!
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