Breastfeeding tips – Rare

.....we all heard the classical advice on breastfeeding....the list below, however, is new to me... 

1. Get enough sleep and rest.
2. Never let yourself become hungry. Snacks on fruits and such between meals
3. The cheapest and greatest milk-booster is plain water. Drink lots of plain water throughout the day. Drinking it at one go is almost useless
4. Night feeding (direct latch/pumping) can help you to maintain your supply 

Reverse Cycling

Nope I am not a cyclist now…. I am still a breastfeeding mom! 

Do you know that there is such term in the world of breastfeeding?!

Reverse Cycling!

Hikksss….macam2 la skarang

Anyway, reverse cycling is when baby is nursing more at night instead of day time.

It is ok as long as baby is gaining weight and active (means they are not starving!)

This may happen due to; i) baby too active and too distracted to nurse at day time

ii) mom is too busy to nurse/ working moms

No 1 is exactly what happened to my baby. He started to stop sleeping through the night when he was around 5-6months. The same time when he started to become more interested in his surroundings. I can remember clearly that was the time when the ‘niplash’ started:

Get the idea?! (don’t forget to imagine the pain…. :P)

So anyway….since then, we never sleep through the night again. I can’t remember the last time I have a really good night sleep.

At first, I was pretty depressed about it. I miss my sleep and I am tired all the time. I become cranky and snap at everything…everytime!

But now, I accept the fact that I will never ever sleep through the night again! And I should remind myself that our breastfeeding journey will end sooner that I imagine T_____T

So I am embracing the moment :D

Milk kick in

Okay….hello new mamaS

Let’s talk about ‘milk kick in”

I don’t know who invented this term.

I am not even sure what exactly it means.

Based on my reading on the group, where this term was use far too often, it simply means when your ‘real’ milk come…after the colostrum…

So my question is that, colostrum is not ‘real’ milk?!

I have no idea why such term was created.

What I know is that, this term allow some moms to whine and cry about how their newborn tummy are not full because their milk haven’t  ‘kick in”.

Feels like kicking myself whenever I say ‘kick in’!

What is that?! What is this?!

Your newborn tummy is unbelievably small when they were born! Few drops of colostrum will keep them satisfied.

So why did they refuse to let go of their mommy nipple?!

Because that is the closest they can be from their previous home; your womb!

Because that is the only way they can hear the sound they have been hearing for the last 9 months; your heartbeat! (though I am not so sure how good is their hearing..kikiki)

Because that is the warmest and coziest place on earth for them!

And because, that is the stimulation you need as a new mom for your breast to start producing more milk! (ohhhh…maybe this is where this term started! Okay…my bad)

Women not only need to love their body more…but they also need to trust their body more.

They need to believe that their body are design to survive labour and to give birth to child and they need to believe that their boobies are design to nurse their babies!

Of course there are some of us who have some challenges…but lets cross the bridge when we get there.

Why can’t we simply believe that we can do this?!

And remember…walking is natural as well…we never doubt our feet when we started to walk…but it still need some practice….

Same like breastfeeding.

The best part is, we are now old enough to learn more and to understand more….(compared to the time when we first take that 1^st step!)

All mamaS got milk! :D

When it hit….it hits the hardest

Last week was such a crazy week at work. Super stressful. Super busy.

My yield drop….crazy drop….I power pump like crazy…I eat like crazy as well.

But nothing works! Trust me…

I was close to tears!

Oh well…I was in tears…as I was driving home one afternoon, sending 1 bottle for my baby…just one! When I know he needs 2 bottles at least…I cried…I can feel my heart is broken. Is this the end?!

Never knew it will be this emotional!

Or I am this emotional!

He is turning 1 in 3 months!

Should I stop?!

Of course not….

I guess it is the worst so far because it is that time of the month as well.

Hormonal plus stress at work…

Haihhh…. I can’t stop…I won’t stop…

So now the supply is back up…very slowly…but hopeful…I have to…I have no choice

So keep on pumping mamaS

p/s: what I did was, I feed him more solid food and more plain water….they need to eat more anyway…hahaha….

Why I wish my 1 year old drink (milk) less...

 ... and eat more.

Little one is turning 1 soon.

He is still exclusively breastfeed.

He is also taking solid. Breakfast (most of the time). Lunch and early dinner (or should I say high tea…cuz he would have it around 6-630pm)! Now he even have the appetite for dinner (around 8 pm).

I do hope his milk-drinking session would slowly decrease. I don’t want it to totally stop. NO! but I do hope he would rely more on the food for his energy. WHY?

1st- my milk production is getting less and less…but it still meet his demand! I see this as good and bad thing. I don’t want to wean him yet but I just can’t produce milk just like I did before. I couldn’t miss even one pumping session. Or else he won’t enough milk when I am at work.

2^nd- I refuse…strictly refuse to give him formula milk. I do hope my milk will last till he is at least 1 year and above. The good news is, once your baby turns 1, he can drink milk. I mean true milk instead the formula  heh….i am not informed enough to tell you about formula milk vs real milk. All I know I don’t want my kid to drink formula milk simply because I want him to eat/drink less processed food/drink.

3^rd- I read about how our 2 3 year old rely on milk for their energy. They refuse to eat real food and parents spend fortune on buying milk (money is an issue!). Most of the time, the kid will become underweight/overweight, have dental problems (because most of this milk has high sugar content) and worse, drinking milk far too much, can cause kidney problem (read about this from an article written by a homeopathy doctor…and it seems logic!)

There. That’s my three reasons. I am not an epitome of health. I am overweight most of my life and I am just turning 30.

I just hope my kid will be healthier… ;)

The POWER of POWER-pumping

Ok….so power-pumping is what you should do when your milk-flow drop.

When power pumping, you will pump for 20mins, rest 10mins, pump again 10 mins then rest again, then pump again for 10mins. Means in total you need about 50-1hr. Well there is no definite time actually. Some pump for about 10 mins, rest 10 and repeat till 1 hour. (That’s what I did).

Why power-pump? Power-pump, in addition to drinking enough water and eating sensibly, can actually boost your milk-production. What it is supposed to do is actually sending signals to the brain that the baby needs more milk (through the suction)…hence the body will produce more milk. Forget the expensive milk-booster…this one is a definite success…just remember to eat and drink enough water.

I guess a much disciplined mom will do this at the same time every day. As for me, I power pump anytime I can. It was such a success to me that I guess I am addicted to it. It is tiring…mind you…sitting there for 1 hour…but the result is so convincing. Give it few days for the milk to come in…some said 3 days…some maybe less or more. Persevere..insya allah you will get the reward.  :)

Tips

Where should I even start?

Since the little one came to my life, I barely had time for anything else besides loving him… :P

But it is true…I am smitten! I am in love all over again. Woke up every day and see their faces…I am falling head over heels.

Good news good news… he is still fully breastfeed. Since I have started working, this is a new challenge to me. Maintaining a good supply is almost impossible. Just almost…but it is still possible. 

All it need is extra support and extra rest (which I can hardly get any lately).

People asked me how I managed to exclusively breastfeed him till now…I can’t give you any tips without saying I have been blessed with a very supportive husband and a very patient child. Even when there is no or little milk-flow, all my little guy did was whine…and all I can do is coax him and try again later. 

Nope…my baby is not baby-michelin…but he is not underweight either…and for that I am grateful. 

And nope…my fridge isn’t full with ebm. I expressed the milk today for his use tomorrow.  I keep in it the chiller instead of freezer. I am one of this paranoid mom who believes that chilled ebm is far better than frozen one, with one condition, u must use it within 2-3 days. 

When I am at home, I rarely give him bottle. Direct-latch is always better. Plus it helps with the minimal ebm I have. 

So there…that is all the tips I can tell you. When the milk-production is low, I choose to sleep and power-pump when I have enough rest. When I am at home, I choose direct-latch over bottle-feed. I tried to eat proper food and drink enough water (if not more).

It is hard…it is tiring. I can’t remember the last time I left home without my little guy (except when I left for work)…I can’t remember the last time I slept through the night cuz lately he woke up several time for night-feed. I can’t remember the last time I truly had a long shower… & I can’t remember the last time I stop thinking about him. J being a mom is absolutely tiring….absolutely over-whelming…absolutely time-consuming…but yet I have never feel more alive! ;)

Breastfeeding

Now i understand why some moms loves to upload their ebm (expressed breast milk)...cuz it really take a lot of energy n effort to pump! 

I cant comment more on pumping cuz ...hihi...i am too lazy to do so. Plus i find it easier to dl (direct latch) without all the bottle and pumping and storing fuss. 

When the nurse weighed him yesterday and told me he has reach 5kg, i m overjoyed. I felt like all my sweat and tears are paid off. All my short showers and quickie meal and 2second toilet break seems nothing now. My baby is 5kg in just 2 months. Meaning he is eating(well..drinking) well. Alhamdulillah. 

Give it overnight and suddenly i realized i am being selfish. This is not my 'contribution' alone. This is ours! My husband and me. Sure he is 'exempted' from feeding our baby but he is there for everything else! 

I can still remember when my obgyn asked me if i would bf my child and i said yes. I also told her that my husband is my biggest supporter. She smile widely and say, "his support is all you need"...and oh boy wasnt that the truth...all the help and back-rub he gave...just makes this bf journey so worthwhile. Totally worth while. 

I dont know why some moms choose fm...they must have their personal reason cuz every mom wants the very best for their child.

But those of you who are expecting, maybe i can advice you this, be prepared to bf your newborn. To exclusively bf your newborn. Trust yourself that your body will produce enough milk for your child...because that is the case unless you have medical reason (which is highly unlikely...). The first latch should be within 2hours after delivery...(mine was within 2-3hours...cuz they told me they need to keep my newborn under the warmer or something...they intend to do so for 5hours, if i m not mistaken, but my husband, keeps on asking the nurse and finally they agree to bring our newborn to us...i mean he is ours...didnt i just push him out into the world?! And why would he need a warmer when his mom is alive and able to warm him up?! Manas padu pasal ya..haha)...

Anyway...my point is, try hard and try harder to bf your newborn. If you have a very hard time after deliver and you cant dl..its ok...you can expressed ur milk and gave it to the nurse...ask them to feed ur newborn using feeding cup or spoon or syringe.. tell them that you plan to bf your newborn and surely they will understand...

If they dont...oh well...its ok. Once you n ur baby are home, start to dl...never ever give up...never ever scold your newborn...sooth them and try again...they might wail their heart out...take a deep breath and try again...its ok...sooth them..hold them lovingly...insya allah...  ;) 

P/s: its not that easy for me either but i am desperate....i am desperately wanting to bf my baby...and alhamdulillah my prayers are answered...