I’ve heard that newborns seem to breastfeed all the time…I won’t argue with that. The last few days it seems that most of the time when Mackenzie’s awake, she’s attached to me. And unfortunately, that leaves very little time for much else. I’m managing to keep up with laundry pretty well…and I can use the computer pretty well while feeding…but that’s about it. My mom is here now and helping to take up the slack…but I feel like I’m kinda useless and always have trouble letting other people help me – especially around the house. I have issues… But I am very appreciate for her help since it’s clear I would never manage to get everything done. Maybe things will be clean enough when she leaves that I can manage to just need to maintain things…instead of having a million things to catch up on to begin with.
I was cruising around and came across this great article with cues to watch for like “sucking on her fingers or fist, rapid eye movement or body movement while sleeping, and the soft sounds she makes.” If you can accomplish that, you’re much more likely that she has a full and satisfied feeding. Breast milk is digested after about 2 hours…so it’s no wonder that babies often wake up already hungry. Now I just need to focus on getting the perfect latch so my nipples don’t feel like they’re being pierced about 15 times a day.
I remember those days! I mastered washing dishes with one hand, holding her with the other. Do you have a sling? A lot of breastfeeding moms I know use one so that their baby can happily breastfeed while they are doing housework. I was able to get a lot more done once I got one. I tried a lot of different baby carriers, but my sling was my favorite.
I don’t have one yet but am planning to try out sewing a few myself. Have the fabric…just need to sit down and do it. But that definitely sounds useful since the Bjorn carrier really doesn’t give you any option to feed.
Breastfeeding was a killer for the first little while. Everytime the baby latched on, I’d have to brace myself.
I was about ready to give up with my first, and my Mister talked me into one more week- by then it had stopped hurting. Their poor little mouths are just so tiny it’s hard to get them to latch on right.
I am SO glad to hear someone else say that. I was starting to think I have thrush or something…but mostly I think I don’t have her latching on just right yet. They even had a lactation specialist at the hospital…but somehow they don’t ask enough questions or tell you exactly what to expect. And all the websites say that it’s just supposed to be so easy and not painful at all. I guess I’ll just hold out for a while longer and see what happens. We have so many doctor’s appointments coming up that I guess I’ll just ask one of them if it’s still an issue. And in the meantime I’m trying a few new positions to see if I might be able to get a better latch.
When they were little, I had an easier time using a boppy and doing a football hold. Plus ticking their little mouths with your nipple until they open wide and then shoving as much in as you can. 🙂
It helps to let yourself air out whenever possible too.
I hope it gets better soon. Once it stops hurting, nursing is my favorite time with a new baby.