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Breastfeeding Tips and Experiences: The Second Time Around

July 20, 2013 12 Comments

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So this post is really only going to appeal to a small group but those that it does reach will hopefully take away at least one tip or trick to help you through what can sometimes be a very frustrating time.

One of the most amazing and frustrating parts of raising a baby is breastfeeding.  I breastfed E for 9 months before my supply couldn’t keep up with his demands and I started supplementing.  I did a lot more actual breastfeeding than pumping with E than I’m doing for MiniE and it’s not secret that I’m not a fan of pumping but it’s necessary.

Having a toddler and trying to breastfeed is proving to be much more challenging than I could’ve imagined but I’m committed to it for at least 6 months so every challenge that comes up, I’m willing to push through.  Here are a list of the challenges I’ve overcome or are trying to overcome.

I’d love to have an open conversation about what’s worked for you and what hasn’t so that we can all learn from each other:
Breastfeeding Tips
1. Traveling and Breastfeeding:  This is a tough. I traveled, by plane, with E when he was 3 months and I was NOT happy about it but I did keep pumping.  I’m still not sure how I banked enough to even go but somehow I did.    Here’s a couple tips:
  •  Make sure you have a battery pack that will power your pump ready to go.  You might need it if you’re going to be on a long flight.  Tell the flight attendants what you’re doing.  We don’t want anyone getting suspicious when you walk into the bathroom with a black bag.
  • When you’re in the Airport, look for a family bathroom.  They have outlets and you can lock the door for privacy.  That’s the best place I have found to pump in an airport.
  • You can ship milk home or check it.  I used a cooler that I got from a mail order medication and shipped it back frozen but checking it is just as easy.
  • Make nice with the hotel staff.  They had a fridge in their break room where they kept my milk frozen for me.  I would drop it off every morning.  At the end of the trip, I took them Starbucks which they appreciated.
3. Pumping and Working: This is probably the easiest problem to manage since my work is so accommodating to new moms.  We have a “new moms” room which you can schedule for half hour at a time.  I schedule time on my calendar.  I pump at 9:00 or 9:30, 12:30 and 3:30.  I usually have fed MiniE by 7:00 that morning.  Few Tips:
  • Make time and stick to it.  Just like a workout routine. You have to make it a priority.  No one else will.
  • If you don’t have a new mom’s room, find an empty office.
  • To sterilize pump parts, use a product like the one pictured to sterilize in the microwave.  Most workplaces have one of those.  🙂

2. Low Supply: This is my current challenge.  I think there is a lot contributing to this..I’m not getting a ton of sleep, I’m exercising almost daily, I’m not getting enough water (which I just corrected today).  During the day, I was only able to pump about 12 ounces for every 8 hours but today has been a test which has been successful.

Today I challenged myself to drink 32 oz of water for every time I pumped. So far I’ve pumped twice, drank 64 ounces but have produced 16 ounces so far!  That’s a record for me.  I guess you will know you’re drinking enough water when it feels like you’re pregnant again, running to the bathroom everytime you move.

So from now on I’m going to use this as my ratio:  32 ounces of water for every 4-6 ounces produced. That’s like 160 ounces a day!! At this point, you can just call me camel!

3. Sensitive Baby Stomach: This was a big one for both kids not to the point where they needed prescribed medications but I’ve done a lot of other things to make sure that they were comfortable.  With MiniE, I started noticing that she would get really fussy in the evenings when she was about 3 weeks old.  After talking to my doctor, they recommended that I take out certain foods to see if that was the problem.

So for a week I ate BLAND foods..lots of granola, turkey, baked chips. I took out Dairy, Caffeine, Leafy Greens, Broccoli, and Garlic which is primarily my entire diet and sure enough after about 4 days, she started showing signs of relief.  Then I started adding things back..

  • Leafy Greens and Broccoli first…2 days and MiniE was still comfortable.
  • Garlic…2 more days…still comfortable
  • Caffeine…2 more days…some fussiness but not like it use to be.  (Item #1 that was bothering her)
  • Dairy…2 more days…BINGO!  She went back to true discomfort.  You could feel her stomach was hard,etc.
So, from about 3 weeks on, I’ve been dairy free (or mostly dairy free).  We also started her on ProBiotics which helped.  That and some of these little exercises when I see her really struggling have done the trick.  She’s a much better sleeper at night. As you can see, she didn’t mind being my assistant in this video.  🙂
 Again, this isn’t necessarily a glamorous topic but I know there are lots of new moms or new moms to be out there and I want to share these things so you don’t have to learn them yourself.
What have you learned as a nursing mom? What advice or tips would you share with other moms?

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Comments

  1. Jan says

    July 20, 2013 at 3:48 am

    You are doing GREAT!!! I pumped for two full school years (one for each kid) so I definitely feel your pain. Both of my kids were sensitive to dairy and from what I’ve heard that is VERY common. They both grew out of it by 5-6 months if I remember right. Praise God because by then they were nursing a ton and I needed some calories. LOL Your kids are very lucky to have such a devoted mom!!

    Reply
  2. Kelly McNelis says

    July 20, 2013 at 11:00 am

    You’re doing awesome! Keep it up!!

    Reply
  3. Madeline @ Food Fitness and Family says

    July 20, 2013 at 11:33 am

    Awesome job! With me, it was the water and the calories in that I had to watch to keep my supply up. Also eating oatmeal every day helped. I made it my goal to drink my 1L hospital water bottle at least 4x a day to make sure I was drinking enough water. We will see how it goes this time around bc pumping could play a much bigger role if I am in grad school.

    Reply
  4. Michelle says

    July 20, 2013 at 1:33 pm

    Keep it up mama – you are doing great. Especially when you have to travel!

    I pumped for a year with my older two without issue, but I am slightly concerned this time around because E is such an eater. I’ve only been back a week and I think he’s comfort eating – hopefully it levels off soon! One thing I do recommend for increasing supply is pumping after the first morning feed. It’s when your body has the most milk. I don’t just do it during the week, but the weekend too so I can add a few extra ounces to my stash.

    Oh, and I’m not sure which pump you have, but does it have the letdown feature (the Pump in Style and Freestyle have it)? I find that after pumping for about 7-8 minutes if I run the letdown feature I get about an ounce more than if I don’t. Weird, right? (of course, you might already do this!)

    Reply
  5. Jess @ Blonde Ponytail says

    July 20, 2013 at 6:37 pm

    Thank you Thank you for this Katie! I need your number on speed dial! You were so helpful and I’m crossing my fingers Jada feels the relief after eliminating dairy (and some others)!

    Reply
  6. Sarah @RunFarGirl says

    July 20, 2013 at 6:47 pm

    Great tips. Both my little ones have been sensitive, but at around the 8 week mark they seem to adjust and they were less gassy and fussy. Jack is now 9mo old and primarily on solids and nursing 3x daily. Sophia weaned herself when I went back to work and was done with the breast by 12 months. Now that I’m a SAHM I think I’m going to have to be more deliberate with weaning Jack. He loves to nurse. I’m running HTC with Nuun next month and wondering how that will go for me. I’ve never had supply issues and plan to pump before going to build a supply Jack can have while I’m gone and then pump while I’m gone. I probably won’t be sending the milk home thought. By then he will be 10mo so if I get home and he is no longer interested in nursing I’m fine with that.

    Reply
  7. Nicole @ Work in Sweats Mama says

    July 21, 2013 at 12:29 am

    Great tips! I breastfed both of my daughters through their first birthdays and had to take some LONG business trips when I went back to work. I’ll never forget my first international trip. I had to dump all of my milk – watching my liquid gold go down the drain was horrible! Thankfully I had a stockpile in the freezer at home, but it didn’t make it any easier. The family bathrooms in the airport are definitely the way to go. I had to pump in a handicapped stall once. So disgusting – I wasn’t as sad to dump that milk! I LOVE the microwave sterilizing bags. Essential for pumping moms!

    Reply
  8. MILF Runner says

    July 22, 2013 at 2:43 am

    Everyone needs to do what feels right for them. I was a stay-at-home mom with all my kids. I breastfed exclusively for the first 6 mos. None would take a bottle. I pumped but it was for no reason since the bottle was out. I was never a “career gal” so leaving my baby was never necessary…and I couldn’t fathom needing to do that. Also, for me, anything that seemed to interfere with successful nursing was discontinued. I stopped dairy without hesitation when that was put out there as an option (totally worked). Exercise? Stopped it whenever it seemed to present breastfeeding probs. They are only babies for such a short time was my rationale. I’m not a breastfeeding Nazi. I truly feel that whatever people need to do to make life work for THEM is what they need to do. I totally think the key to having a solid and lasting nursing relationship with your little one is to stay relaxed and enjoy the time with them. I know that’s hard when things seem to be going “wrong.” It always helps to have a good buddy with experience who can talk you down from a ledge when need be! Good luck to you!

    Reply
  9. Kristin @ A Mom on the Run says

    July 26, 2013 at 3:46 pm

    I’ve had this in bloglovin’ for a few days and finally had a chance to reply, so sorry for the late reply!

    I struggled with low supply with both of my kids and I found that combining fenugreek and shatavari really helped. I also ate a LOT of oatmeal, drank water like crazy, and ate lactation cookies. http://www.drmomma.org/2010/08/lactation-cookies-recipe-increasing.html

    They sound weird, but they’re good, my husband even asks for them 🙂

    Reply
  10. Gina says

    August 21, 2013 at 4:40 pm

    I love posts like this as I always learn something new! I’m nursing for the second go around (have an 8 week old and 22 month old) and have the same fussiness/reflux issues. We try a lot of gas tricks, but I need to eliminate dairy and probably caffeine too…will be sad to not be able to drink coffee, but can try adding it back in. I’m going to check out the above cookie recipe too. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. 5 Tips For Healthy Travel | Moms Little Running Buddy says:
    June 30, 2015 at 10:03 pm

    […] I don’t want to leave you breastfeeding traveling moms out, I did a few posts on how I do this.  This is my second time around doing this and it seems to work so far. 16 Hours of Meetings and 11 Ounces of Liquid Gold  |   Breastfeeding The Second Time Around […]

    Reply
  2. Let's Talk Boobs: Breastfeeding says:
    November 16, 2015 at 3:12 pm

    […] problems returning to sleep led me to consult fellow fit mom Katie about a breastfeeding diet. Katie changed her diet when she noticed her daughter was uncomfortable […]

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