BFing out of the house

[Claki]

While things are improving for us every day, I am still having lots of BF challenges. My over supply problem is getting better and my hindmilk/foremilk imbalance is better, but my letdown is still making the baby latch improperly about a third of the time. It also means he unlatches frequently and often I get him back on again. Or he just twists and pulls my nipple trying to slow down the flow. He also does that when he has a BM while feeding, it's sort of comical b/c he moans and pulls, but it's agony.

However to BF everything has to be perfect and we have to be sitting a specific way. He will only latch with the cross-cradle technique and lying on the boppy. We aren't leaving the house right now for religious/cultural reasons, but after he reaches 40 days we will be going out. I am not opposed to discretely breastfeeding in public, but I can't imagine getting him to latch one properly without my couch and boppy. I don't understand how everyone else can make this looks so easy. He's five weeks old and I still feel like a beginner.

Does anyone have any tips? I know i could always pump and bring expressed milk, but I want to avoid using my pump b/c I am so leaky when we get off our schedule and it was my pumping that exacerbated my supply issue in the first place.

[elektra]

The first few weeks are really hard for me too. I had some issues as well, but by 5-6 weeks, I got into a groove with both of my kids but I don't think I did much BF in public (if any) for the first 4 weeks though.
I would first try at home without the boppy.
Do you have a cover? I always use(d) a hooter hider when in public. I know feelings are mixed about those, but it made me feel more comfortable. And especially if you have a baby that pulls off alot, it's just easier to be discreet with a cover if you are concerned about that.
My DD never took a bottle well in the beginning (she caught on at around 4 months) and the one time I brought some expressed milk for her when we were at the mall when she was about 2 months was a nightmare. It is really much easier to just BF in public than to bring the bottle, in my own experience.

And then poor DS has nursed just about everywhere you can imagine! Airplanes, in the moby carrier, the ergo, (with me holding him in my lap on the toilet :bag), in bed..... you name it. That was more out of necessity.

I think it just takes some practice.

Maybe make your first outing somewhere close to home without tons of people around to do a sort of trial run to see how things go before you are trapped at a crowded mall an hour from home or something.

[MommyAllison]

It will get easier as he gets older and more experienced. I always have oversupply too, and overactive letdown. Just wanted to say that if you're still having issues with that when you're BFing out of the house, take a burp cloth and keep it close. ;) It was so ridiculous I had to laugh or cry when I forgot and had milk spraying at church. Burp cloths are great! :)

[firsttimemama]

I think this will get better with time. I've always heard as babies age sometimes they grow to love the fast letdown. Even in 1-2 weeks, things may be different than they are now.

When I first started taking baby out, I would nurse in fitting rooms (like at the mall) or in nursing lounges (again, at the mall.) I would go to a bedroom if we were visiting with family. This wasn't for the family's comfort, it was for my comfort. Until I got more comfortable with nursing in public.

[Katigre]

As he gets older he'll be able to do more of the work of latching as he'll have head control - so all you'll have to do is put his head near your open breast and he'll latch and feed without you having to support his head in the cross-cradle - I know it's hard to imagine now, but you'll get there in just a few weeks!

I would practice nursing in different positions, you can do the cross-cradle while standing up too. I'd also work on ditching the boppy - remember to pull your baby toward you instead of bending down toward your baby, that will help. If you can put your feet up somehow that will raise your lap and help.

I had babies who couldn't drink through my letdown until they were a few months old, until then whenever we nursed (both in public and at home) i'd have a burp cloth ready and when letdown started they'd unlatch, I'd soak up the flow with my cloth, and then I'd relatch them once it slowed down again to continue feeding.

That eliminated a lot of the problem and then suddenly one day they could just drink through the whole thing without a problem and I was able to eliminate the whole 'unlatch-soak up-relatch' maneuver (using a nursing cover allowed me to do this out in public discreetly).

HTH!

[doberbrat]

you still ARE a beginner at 5w. try not to stress. we had latch issues (though not as severe as yours apparently) and bf in public was hard in the beginning. I got a ring sling w/a longer tail to cover up and that helped. I also kept a boppy in the car since I happened to have 2. w/tinted windows I could really let things 'hang out' in the van.

When you're going out, figure out where you can nurse before you go. a diaper bag can be used to prop baby up as well. bru have nice nursing rooms. the nicer dept stores like nordstroms have 'lounges' attached to the bathrooms and just about every store has a dressing room. Not that I'm advocating hiding away but in those beginning days when you just arent comfortable bf in public, you do what you have to so you can get out.

while bf in the dressing room, make use of the mirrors - figure out how much of what shows and how you can hide it and how much you're comfy revealing and then it makes for an easier transition to nursing in public. Me, I was neurotic about my flabby saggy belly showing. (much more than my boobs ironically) so I learned to wear a jacket to provide 'side' coverage. others wear tanktops.

by the time baby was a couple of mo old, she had better head control, our latch issues were more or less under control and NIP was a breeze.

congrats on the new additon.

[mousemom]

I had lots of latching issues with DS and problems similar to what you are describing up until he finally started to really catch on at about 9 weeks. I too remember trying to figure how in the world anybody could nurse anywhere other than home when it was so difficult to do it in what should have been an ideal setting, with all my pillows, etc. I don't think I nursed anywhere out of the house until around 2 months. And then, it was at our local mall, which fortunately actually had a nice, private nursing room with a comfy chair. I still generally try to nurse in private places like dressing rooms or quiet corners, but that is just for my own comfort and b/c DS is easily distracted in busy areas. But it really does get easier as baby gets the hang of it and then you won't need any special pillows or anything.

Oh, and with the pulling issues, my LC said to keep a finger right near his mouth and unlatch as soon as he started pulling, try to burp him and then try latching again. I hadn't been doing that b/c getting him in position and latching was so hard to begin with, but not letting him pull really did help my nipples and frequently he would latch better after that. Good luck!

[catsnkid]

Gosh, I started taking him out right away but that's me- I hate being in the house! It gets much easier and soon you will not need boppies. I have BF in the car, fitting rooms and bathroom lounges at the mall. I only had to to a bathroom stall once thank god. Recently I did a furniture store and just covered up with a blanket.

[Claki]

Thank you for the input. I believe you all that it will happen, but it's so hard to imagine breastfeeding without any kind of pillow or support. I'm not even sure how to practice it.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I found that necessity was what made me figure it out. :) There was one unplanned, marathon day that we had to be out and about and I just had to figure out how to feed him. Once I had to do it and got over that hurdle, I figured it out. Necessity is the mother of all invention, right? :)

When he gets bigger, he will get stronger and you won't have to the same kind of support. That helps. Nursing tanks are nice for doing the latch discreetly.

GL!!
Beth

[egoldber]

When he gets bigger, he will get stronger and you won't have to the same kind of support. That helps. Nursing tanks are nice for doing the latch discreetly.

:yeahthat:

As he gets older and hold his own head up it is soooo much easier. I also liked nursing tanks for hiding my belly. I was never concerned so much with showing my breasts as I was my postpartum flabby belly LOL!!!

With Sarah I never nursed much out of the house. With Amy, because I was always out and about with her older sister it was either nurse or have real problems. So I got very proficient at it. :) I know it seems daunting at first, but you can do it! :cheerleader1:

If you haven't found a local LLL group, you may want to try there first. Nothing like nursing in a room where everyone else is nursing too. ;) They would also be happy to help you with tips for discrete latching. This is a VERY common question there!