Official Breast Feeding Support Thread for WDW Parks

[laceemouse]

Great thread!
I haven't nursed in a while, my baby is 12, but I loved nursing all 4 of them for about 18 months each. My son was the only one that got to nurse at WDW, he was 5 months his first trip. He nursed in all of the quiet shows and on benches and stuff. No problem.
My kids are all gorgeous, smart, and healthy. No allergies and we hardly ever get sick, even though they are teens and tweens now.
My mother and older sister hated nursing, but I always wanted to do it. I was lucky enough to have a supportive hubby and be able to stay home with my babies. I miss having babies in the house
My oldest dd is 19 and engaged. I hope to be a support and help to her when she has little ones and hopefully nurses!

[candielips]

Just thought I would share a thought about animals.
We were at Marineland yesterday, kind of like Seaworld but nowhere as nice, much smaller and less animals. We were reading about how Beluga whales nurse their babies for almost 2 yrs. My DH forgot that they were mammals and nursed their young and it got me thinking that we are the only mammal that doesn't nurse our children. I mean the majority of people use formula, at least where I am from.
There is no store for the Orcas or Belugas to go and get whale formula.
The last time I was at our local zoo I had stopped to nurse my DS when my DH pointed out the gorilla in front of me nursing her 2 month old baby.
I like to think we were bonding.

[kpm76]

Quick question: DD was a champ at nursing. We never had any issues, latched right away, always ate well and gained weight etc. My good friend just had a baby a month ago and they are having a really tough time nursing and baby is losing weight, almost to the not healthy point. She's desvastated and I am trying my best to be a good support for her. It got me thinking though. I just assumed that my next baby (I'm due in Aug) would be a good nurser but now I'm worried....every kid is different. Just wondering if any moms noticed that one kid nursed well while other kids did not?

[Magpie]

Originally Posted by kpm76

Quick question: DD was a champ at nursing. We never had any issues, latched right away, always ate well and gained weight etc. My good friend just had a baby a month ago and they are having a really tough time nursing and baby is losing weight, almost to the not healthy point. She's desvastated and I am trying my best to be a good support for her. It got me thinking though. I just assumed that my next baby (I'm due in Aug) would be a good nurser but now I'm worried....every kid is different. Just wondering if any moms noticed that one kid nursed well while other kids did not?

Is this your friend's first baby? Is she getting help? Coaching?

I had a terrible time nursing my first-born. I had inverted nipples and she couldn't get a good latch. Then she got frustrated and wouldn't try. Bless the midwives - they were over every single day working with us two, to try to teach us how to nurse. I had to wear some special bra inserts to pull out my nipples.

Meanwhile I was expressing milk and feeding my baby with a little tube I held on my thumb.

Ultimately, I had to be really kind of tough with the poor kid - pop her mouth open and slap her on and then hold her little head there in a vice grip.

My second-born was no trouble at all. He nursed right away, no problem. After a year of nursing the first, my nipples weren't inverted anymore.

I think since you've successfully nursed one child already, it's highly unlikely you'll have any trouble with the second.

[kpm76]

Originally Posted by Magpie

Is this your friend's first baby? Is she getting help? Coaching?

I had a terrible time nursing my first-born. I had inverted nipples and she couldn't get a good latch. Then she got frustrated and wouldn't try. Bless the midwives - they were over every single day working with us two, to try to teach us how to nurse. I had to wear some special bra inserts to pull out my nipples.

Meanwhile I was expressing milk and feeding my baby with a little tube I held on my thumb.

Ultimately, I had to be really kind of tough with the poor kid - pop her mouth open and slap her on and then hold her little head there in a vice grip.

My second-born was no trouble at all. He nursed right away, no problem. After a year of nursing the first, my nipples weren't inverted anymore.

I think since you've successfully nursed one child already, it's highly unlikely you'll have any trouble with the second.

Thanks! I never thought twice about there being any issue with nursing a second child until this experience with my friend. It just got me thinking that every kid is different. It is her first child and I think there are a few things going on.....first she had a c-section and the baby was not breathing so they had to call in the staff from the NICU so it was a long time for those two reasons before she was able to put her DD to the breast. I put DD on right away, literally and I wonder if that makes a difference? Also, her DD is a very slow nurser and I think my friend is not understanding that every kid nurses differently. She's overtired and frustrated because she feels like she failing, yet doing all she can to make this work.

[Magpie]

Originally Posted by kpm76

Thanks! I never thought twice about there being any issue with nursing a second child until this experience with my friend. It just got me thinking that every kid is different. It is her first child and I think there are a few things going on.....first she had a c-section and the baby was not breathing so they had to call in the staff from the NICU so it was a long time for those two reasons before she was able to put her DD to the breast. I put DD on right away, literally and I wonder if that makes a difference? Also, her DD is a very slow nurser and I think my friend is not understanding that every kid nurses differently. She's overtired and frustrated because she feels like she failing, yet doing all she can to make this work.

I've heard before that c-section kids can have more difficulty nursing, and there probably is a window early on in which it gets easier to put them to breast. I think my dd had a harder time because she couldn't get a latch at first, and then after that she didn't expect to be able to do it. As far she was concerned, that wasn't where milk came from. For a long time she'd fight me hard, and then look very surprised the moment she got a taste of milk.

Has you friend contacted the local LaLeche League? Sometimes talking to experienced moms can help a lot.

My son was a slow nurser, and I just had to get used to putting my feet up for three or four hours at a time. Some evenings it seemed like all I did was sit there and nurse him. Sometimes I'd fall asleep in my chair, and he'd just keep on nursing.

[roobug]

Originally Posted by kpm76

Quick question: DD was a champ at nursing. We never had any issues, latched right away, always ate well and gained weight etc. My good friend just had a baby a month ago and they are having a really tough time nursing and baby is losing weight, almost to the not healthy point. She's desvastated and I am trying my best to be a good support for her. It got me thinking though. I just assumed that my next baby (I'm due in Aug) would be a good nurser but now I'm worried....every kid is different. Just wondering if any moms noticed that one kid nursed well while other kids did not?

Every kid is different - I have twins, and one was a champion nurser once I was able to nurse, and the other took 6 months to catch on and lost a lot of weight and had to be supplemented. They were both in the NICU, and I had a horrific emergency c-section, but that aside my boys where very different when it came to nursing. I was in tears trying to figure out why one was so great and the other was boarder line failure to thrive.

[kpm76]

Originally Posted by Magpie

I've heard before that c-section kids can have more difficulty nursing, and there probably is a window early on in which it gets easier to put them to breast. I think my dd had a harder time because she couldn't get a latch at first, and then after that she didn't expect to be able to do it. As far she was concerned, that wasn't where milk came from. For a long time she'd fight me hard, and then look very surprised the moment she got a taste of milk.

Has you friend contacted the local LaLeche League? Sometimes talking to experienced moms can help a lot.

My son was a slow nurser, and I just had to get used to putting my feet up for three or four hours at a time. Some evenings it seemed like all I did was sit there and nurse him. Sometimes I'd fall asleep in my chair, and he'd just keep on nursing.

I know she's working with a lactation consultant and that is helping. After reading your experience with a slow nurser, I wonder if she just has this idea in mind that you do 20 min on each side and you are done. That's what worked for my DD, and when she asked about my experience, that is what I told her, but I have another friend whose baby only took 5 min and others take forever.....she's really emotionally fragile right now so I am treading lightly. I don't want to be "militant" about nursing, but I have tried to tell her I think her DD is fine, just a slow nurser......

[rparmfamily]

My DD was a slow nurser and a very frequent nurser. Now that she's nearly 12 mo, she nurses like 6 mins and is done, pops off and takes off LOL. Back then she nursed prob 20-45mins (changed sides somewhere in there) and then would nurse again after about 2 hrs.

My 1st was hard to nurse, only made it to 12 weeks. My 2nd was preemie, used the SNS (tube) system and a nipple shield for awhile and he nursed for 2 yrs. My 3rd is about 12 months and haven't had any issues with her, other than she LOVES to nurse LOL. I think it's because it's her way of keeping close to me and getting "time" with me KWIM? being that I have 2 other kids LOL.

[Magpie]

Originally Posted by kpm76

I know she's working with a lactation consultant and that is helping. After reading your experience with a slow nurser, I wonder if she just has this idea in mind that you do 20 min on each side and you are done. That's what worked for my DD, and when she asked about my experience, that is what I told her, but I have another friend whose baby only took 5 min and others take forever.....she's really emotionally fragile right now so I am treading lightly. I don't want to be "militant" about nursing, but I have tried to tell her I think her DD is fine, just a slow nurser......

You can tell her I have sympathy - sometimes I felt like I had a leech attached to me. I'd tell my husband, "He never gets off!"

But my midwife told me that I had to feed my baby as much as HE wanted - that he was the best judge of when he was done, not anyone else.

As it turns out, my son had an "immature" digestive system. He had trouble with learning to swallow and choked a lot when we introduced solids. He really didn't eat solids until he was over a year old, because of this. He threw up a lot when he was small, because he couldn't digest certain foods. He's outgrown most of it, but he'll always be hypoglycemic, and somehow I've always thought there must be a connection here somewhere. Maybe he just had to have that extra time nursing to get all the nutrition he needed.

BTW - he's a big, healthy kid now. He just has to eat healthy, or he'll pay a price. I tell him he's lucky! Most people don't have a body that keeps them on the straight and narrow.

[candielips]

I apologize ahead of time if this grosses anyone out but I have to ask.
Has anyone ever had red breast milk, blood in it?
I was pumping last night and looked down to see red milk I went to the ER only to wait for over 3 hrs and decided to come home and wait no longer. I pumped when I got home as I was engorged and the milk was fine, no longer red or pink but great looking milk.
I spoke to my Dr. today and he said that it is not that uncommon and could be a few different things and if it happens again to come in.
I am just curious if anyone else has experienced this and if so, what was the cause?
A little background info, I am nursing my 2nd child and he is 7 months. I nursed my DD for over a year and never had anything like this. I had mastitis w/ my DD and this does not feel like mastitis.

[rparmfamily]

I've never had that happen...are you sick, having any breast tenderness? Could you have a clogged duct,cet?

[Magpie]

Re. blood in breast milk, here's a good link...

http://www.loveyourbaby.com/blood-in-breast-milk.html

I love the name of the first possibility: "Rusty Pipe Syndrome"!

I'm sure your doctor is right - it's probably nothing more than a broken blood vessel or some such thing. But it sure would be scary to see for the first time!

[candielips]

Originally Posted by rparmfamily

I've never had that happen...are you sick, having any breast tenderness? Could you have a clogged duct,cet?

I can usually tell when I have a clogged duct or may get one.

Originally Posted by Magpie

Re. blood in breast milk, here's a good link...

http://www.loveyourbaby.com/blood-in-breast-milk.html

I love the name of the first possibility: "Rusty Pipe Syndrome"!

I'm sure your doctor is right - it's probably nothing more than a broken blood vessel or some such thing. But it sure would be scary to see for the first time!

Rusty Pipe Syndrome Who's calling my ladies rusty?

Yeah it was very scary to see. My DH almost passed out. Everything seems fine today other than a little tenderness. let's hope for no more "strawberry milk" tonight.

[disneywatcher]

Subscribing to this thread as I am currently a "comfort nursing" mommy. My 18 month old nurses when she is upset or tired. I'm not sure how much nursing time we will aquire on our first trip to The World but I've had loads of practice. My 2nd DD was born in Germany and I learned how to nurse on the go (I LOVED my sling!) and not be seen. With my 3rd and final DD who was born in the US it has been a lot of "covering up" which my DD hates! She pulls the blanket off of her head and likes to look around.