HELP....Breastfeeding Questions

Sometimes it helps to pump a little before you feed her. The milk could be coming out to quickly for her to swallow well. Clicking and pain are two signs she is not latched on well! So if you can hear the clicking take her off and try putting her on again, maybe try another position, You should be able to hear swallowing. It's great that you have so much milk, and I was in the same boat, but I think it can also give you the impression that the baby is not eating enough, when they really are. If she is having 6-8 wet diapers and about 3 dirty she is doing great. It can take a while for you body to adjust to making the right amount of milk for the baby. But hang in there you are doing a GREAT thing for her by Breastfeeding!

Congratulations on your baby and good for you for seeking the help you need to give your baby the superior infant food. Clearly, you are a proactive mom. I'm sorry you are sore and frustrated.
I don't know of an LC in Salt Lake (I'm in Ogden) but I have a lot of respect for Becky McInnis, a certified nurse midwife who practices at Birth and Woman Care at the Birth and Family Place in Holladay. You could Google her name or go to www.birthandfamilyplace.com to find her. She has more than 20 years experience of midwifery and I'm sure she would be able to help you. She also works with a couple of certified lactation consultants who teach breastfeeding classes and if she cannot see you, she could surely refer you to one of them.
You can also Google IBCLC, as that's the highest level of certification for lactation consultants, and you'd likely find someone who works through a hospital, if that's what you're looking for.
La Leche League is an awesome resource, and it's OK to call a different Leader and see if you get more information. I think you're smart to attend a meeting. In-person help, especially with a latch question, is more effective than phone help.
Clicking can be a sign of being "tongue-tied," which means your baby may have a short frenulum. Notice if her tongue curls up instead of sticks out past her gum line when she cries, or if it seems heart-shaped. Some babies really do have a short frenulum that needs to be clipped (a minor, in-office procedure) to nurse comfortably, but most often the clicking can be fixed with improved latch. I have found the graphic at www.kellymom.com to be useful--go to the "free handouts" section and find the handout called "when latching." It provides step-by-step instructions and a great illustration of the key points of a comfortable latch. This can help you evaluate what's going on and work to fix it.
Milk production is all supply and demand. Don't worry about causing chronic engorgement by expressing milk just to comfort; it's important to treat any engorgement and it will be easier for Baby to latch to a soft breast. Expressing just a bit of milk before latching can also remove a bit of foremilk so Baby doesn't get such a big initial gush, and receives the creamy, high-fat hindmilk sooner. You can find hand expression techniques (the Marmet technique is safest and most effective) at www.llli.org.
Consider nursing against gravity, such as tipped back in a recliner. Consider nursing while lying down, so any excess milk can run out onto a blanket and Baby can re-latch without gagging on a big let-down. Consider nursing on only one side at each feeding to ensure Baby gets hindmilk and to help regulate your letdown reflex a bit on the unstimulated breast. Consider nursing very often, according to your baby's cues. Consider relatching as needed, rather than putting up with a not-so-great latch. Consider treating any nipple trauma with Lansinoh lanolin to prevent any scabs from forming.
Adding artificial baby milk and/or a bottle into the mix at this stage will just complicate your trouble, both regarding latch and supply, in my opinion. I do not recommend pumping and feeding with a bottle--that will feel labor-intensive and discourage simple breastfeeding even after you get over this speedbump. I also do not recommend using a nipple shield at this stage of the game--and brestfeeding is a confidence game. You're still very much in the range of normal for getting settled in to nursing this baby; things will start to regulate a bit better very soon. 5 to 6 really wet diapers every 24 hours is a good sign, along with at least 3 to 4 yellow stools the size of a U.S quarter or larger. If stools are greenish, this suggests Baby is receiving more foremilk (high protein but not high fat) than hindmilk; consider keeping Baby at just one breast per feeding. If you received IV fluids during labor, it's possible your baby's birth weight was inflated by the extra fluids and her weight gain would seem to start off slowly--keep an eye on it, but if all other signs of good health are present, you probably don't need to worry too much *just* yet.
Every day your lactation hormones are adjusting a bit more and your baby is growing and getting better able to handle your let-down, which should ease up within a couple weeks. Hang in there, mama! I'm thinking of you so keep us posted--I hope this is a bit useful. Best wishes!

I'd start with Le Leche. If you still can't get it, your insurance would probably pay for a feeding therapist. They did wonders for our problem nurser. GL! and congratulations!

I've found a serious lack of good information regarding overactive letdown. And that's what it sounds like to me... I went through almost exactly what's happening to you with my DS2 who is almost a year now.

It took several weeks of block feeding (do be careful if you do this... it's possible to get your supply down too low) to get my supply in line with the demand. And I had pain during nursing for the first couple of months, at least. But it did get better.

Best quick solution for me was nursing side-lying. Prop a towel or pillow behind baby so she stays in position. It helps slow the milk down so she won't have to gulp it. My son would not latch well 'cause he was doing a combination of latching on to get the milk and pushing me away 'cause it was coming too fast. Check here http://www.llli.org/FAQ/oversupply.html for more info about oversupply & overactive letdown. There's also some good info at www.drjacknewman.com.

Best of luck & hang in there!

Becca,
My name is T. and I am the leader with the Murray LLL group, we meet this Tuesday at noon. www.lllofmurray.blogspot.com for location information. Not sure if you're planning to attend our meeting or the downtown meeting, so I just wanted to let you know that we are meeting a couple days sooner (since they meet on thursdays) if you'd like to come then.
____@____.com. . . . can you pump until then and avoid using a bottle to feed baby? you can give your milk to her by spoon, syringe, even a cup. . . a little messy, but you avoid nipple confusion which can occur in a baby this little. Hope to see you on Tuesday so we can help you get this sorted out and off to a wonderful nursing pattern with baby!

Oh momma I am glad you asked. I had this with our youngest my 6th baby I have nursed. None of my other babies did this. As with you I have an over-abundance of milk. She would click, click, click as she nursed. Not being efficient in nursing. I asked my midwife about it when she was around 2 weeks old & she put her pinkie finger in to feel how she sucked. She said she sucked fine that sometimes her tongue got a little out of position. She told me to work with her & it would be fine. Hurt nipples, frustration & after about 8 weeks of trying new positions & breaking the suction to re adjust she got it. Every baby latches differently, tongues are shaped differently, mouths, etc. try the football hold, lay daown while nursing, etc. once the clicking starts try re-adjusting & baby will get it. Don't give up you are doing great!

If you feel or know otherwise when you are having 'let down', remove your daughter from you breast by breaking the suction with your finger between her gums and capture the let-down in a towel....Then have her re latch....Worse case scenario, have her relatch each time she starts clicking and try other nursing positions. My mom said she always had to capture her let-down in a towel or the baby would take in too much air, plus let-down is pretty watery and high in lactose, whereas the later milk is thicker and higher quality.

Hang in there!
R.

Becca-
I had a bunch of nusring related issues and actually tell people who want to nurse to invest in some time with a lactation consultant because it may BE natural but it doesn't always COME naturally and is a learned skill.

On that note, I highly recommend Julie with ABC lactation. Her website is www.abclactation.net and her phone is 801-680-(MILK)6455. She is available 7 days a week. She COMES TO YOUR HOUSE which is wonderful because it gives you a chance to have someone help you and your daughter figure out nursing in the space you will actually be doing it. All the off-site lactation consultants in the world won't have your couch, your bed, your chairs, your wherever you want to nurse. She can help you figure it out in your space.

Give her a call today. I think it was $75 to come up to Park City, but she was open to more visits, phone calls, etc. and just spent as much time with us as we needed. I couldn't get anyone else, even LLL, to do this no matter how much I begged. It's a great service and worth it.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Hi Becca. Congrats on the new baby. I had the same problem with #3 for a short while. Until you are able to get to a LLL meeting, try pumping until you are no longer engorged then nurse. It's a lot of work until you get the rhythm of it but hopefully it will help in the long run. Good luck!

I didn't deliver in Slc but there were two lactation consultants at the hospital where I delivered in Rexburg,ID. They had me come in and watched me nurse the baby. That way they can see exactly what is going on. So I would try and call the hospital and see if they have lactation consultants who can see you. They are so helpful. But it wouldn't work very well over the phone.you really need to see them in person. Good luck.

I breastfed three wonderful children and it never was perfect but I won't go into it...my advice to you is try to express some milk before you feed her, she may be getting sooo much at once,(the first rush can be overwhelming to her) because you have so much, and the first little bit isn't always the best anyways(as far as putting on weight) the latter of the milk has more of the fat content to get them fuller and gain more from...so if you want, try that and see...good luck!

Swedish Hospital in Englewood offers a lactation group/class. I haven't gone in a couple of months, but when I was going it was at 1:00 on Wednesdays. It's pretty much a group of woman hanging out breast-feeding their babies while a lactation consultant is there to answer questions. You also do a weigh in before and after feeding to see how much baby is getting to eat as well as weight gain from week to week. It's a free service to anyone, and I thought it was really helpful. It was great getting answers from the nurse, but almost as helpful hearing from the other moms in the room. They also have free nipple cream and pads to help with the discomfort. Help that works for you!

Hi Becca congrats on your little one and good for you (and baby) to breastfeed. It does take some time to figure it all out.. but is so so worth it. I struggled for a few weeks and now my son is almosts 1.5 years and we are working on weaning and it has been wonderful (once we worked together).
Two lactation nurses that really helped me in the SLC area are:
-Karen Geertsen a nurse at IHC Sandy Clinic ###-###-####
-Julie Fikstad a private consultant www.abclactation.com, ###-###-####

Good luck and remember your body was made to do this and your body and your baby know how to work together!

When she has latched on, try gently pulling her chin down towards her chest, this will help to evert her lower lip. A lot of times this will fix a bad latch. Call your OB or your Ped. to ask for a refferal to a lactation consultatnt, I have NOTHING against LLL but I have had much better help from my hospital's lactaion consultant. If you are on WIC they have good advice too, their staff is trained to help with breastfeedinfg issues. I would advoid pumping and bottle feeding, this will not fix your nursing problem, it will just tie you to the pump and teahc your baby to drink from a bottle instead of a breast, whihc can lead to nipple confusion. Keep looking for help, sometimes you have to go to more than one person before you get the help that you need, I know that I did with my first baby! Good luck!

The lactation consultants at St. Marks Hospital in Salt Lake City were fabulous with helping me with countless questions and just plain moral support while I was breastfeeding!

This is the main # for the women's pavillion, ask to be connected to the Lactation Consultants and I'm sure they'll help you.
###-###-#### or ###-###-####

Good luck--keep trying, I never regretted for a moment the time I spent breastfeedint my two daughters, who are now 4-1/2 and 6-1/2!!

Call your local La Leche Group leader. they are really helpful and FREE! Your letdown is probably too much for her to take right now, and the clicking might be her trying to fold over your nipple with her tongue to slow things down. Two great websites for breastfeeding are:
kellymom.com and askdrsears.com.

The thing that helped me with BF'ing however, was la leche league. Give them a try!

I was just reading that the baby's latch might not work if the breast is too engorged- the advice was to put the breasts into a deep pan filled with warm water and let the milk flow out. Once the breast empties a little it might make things work better. Good luck!

Although not fun, you could pump all that milk and give it to her in a bottle.
I too had active let down and what I did was to pump a little before I fed her so I wasn't SO full. My daughters issue was choking on my milk during the entire feeding. She didn't stop doing this for months and months, but pumping first made it better.
Good luck I know it is hard!

I had a lacatation specialist at Intermountain Medical that helped me when I was in the hospital with my little who is 2 months now. She tried everything to help me while I was there. She also said if he would latch on and I still wanted to have my breast milk to pump. A couple of days after leaving the hospital I met with another consultant at Alta View and she helped me too but my son just didn't want to latch on correctly. I got fustrated, he got fustrated so I didn't press the issue. I now just pump and have started to get a supply of breast milk that he takes from a bottle. You could try calling on of the hospitals I mentioned and see how much they would charge for a session with them. If she won't breastfeed I would pump to get the milk. Good luck.