Breastfeeding number two

[kereru]

Hello there, I am planning to breastfeed my second baby. It didn't go so
well with my first. We only made it until ten weeks because of my perceived
lack of supply.

My confidence is much higher this time and I know much more about the
mechanics of breastfeeding.

So my question is, what are your experiences of breastfeeding second time.
Were you more successful? I am especially interested in the experiences of
people who had a hard time first time but easier the second (funny that!)

Thanks in advance

Judy

[Ericka Kammerer]

kereru wrote:

> Hello there, I am planning to breastfeed my second baby. It didn't go so
> well with my first. We only made it until ten weeks because of my perceived
> lack of supply.
>
> My confidence is much higher this time and I know much more about the
> mechanics of breastfeeding.
>
> So my question is, what are your experiences of breastfeeding second time.
> Were you more successful? I am especially interested in the experiences of
> people who had a hard time first time but easier the second (funny that!)


I didn't have a difficult time with any of mine (actually,
I've had more soreness this time around with number three), but I
thought you might find it encouraging to hear that research
suggests that women tend to have significantly more milk with
second babies than with first babies (IIRC, it was something
like 30 percent more).

Best wishes,
Ericka

[kereru]

"Ericka Kammerer" > wrote in message
...
> kereru wrote:
>
> > Hello there, I am planning to breastfeed my second baby. It didn't go so
> > well with my first. We only made it until ten weeks because of my
perceived
> > lack of supply.
> >
> > My confidence is much higher this time and I know much more about the
> > mechanics of breastfeeding.
> >
> > So my question is, what are your experiences of breastfeeding second
time.
> > Were you more successful? I am especially interested in the experiences
of
> > people who had a hard time first time but easier the second (funny
that!)
>
>
> I didn't have a difficult time with any of mine (actually,
> I've had more soreness this time around with number three), but I
> thought you might find it encouraging to hear that research
> suggests that women tend to have significantly more milk with
> second babies than with first babies (IIRC, it was something
> like 30 percent more).
>
> Best wishes,
> Ericka
>

I like the sound of that. My first was very large so that didn't help my
confidence with my supply. If I have more milk that has to be better :-)

Judy

[H Schinske]

Ericka ) wrote:

>I
>thought you might find it encouraging to hear that research
>suggests that women tend to have significantly more milk with
>second babies than with first babies (IIRC, it was something
>like 30 percent more).

That's interesting. It wasn't my experience, but that had a lot to do with the
fact that I had two the first time around! So between lots of demand and lots
of hormones sloshing around, I had piles of milk the first time. Second time,
with a singleton, my confidence in my supply was supreme given my previous
experience, and that was a good thing, because it turned out my supply was a
lot more tightly calibrated to his needs. So I did have everything he needed
(he grew like a weed and was a lovely happy baby) but I didn't leak all over
the place, and I had a much harder time getting any extra to pump. If I'd had
him first and the twins second, I'm sure I would have had much less confidence
about my ability to feed two babies.

--Helen

[Elana]

kereru > wrote:

> Hello there, I am planning to breastfeed my second baby. It didn't go so
> well with my first. We only made it until ten weeks because of my perceived
> lack of supply.
>
> My confidence is much higher this time and I know much more about the
> mechanics of breastfeeding.
>
> So my question is, what are your experiences of breastfeeding second time.
> Were you more successful? I am especially interested in the experiences of
> people who had a hard time first time but easier the second (funny that!)

There are a lot of people doing tandem nursing in
misc.kids.breastfeeding...might get more input there...

E

[kereru]

"Elana" > wrote in message
...
> kereru > wrote:
>
> > Hello there, I am planning to breastfeed my second baby. It didn't go so
> > well with my first. We only made it until ten weeks because of my
perceived
> > lack of supply.
> >
> > My confidence is much higher this time and I know much more about the
> > mechanics of breastfeeding.
> >
> > So my question is, what are your experiences of breastfeeding second
time.
> > Were you more successful? I am especially interested in the experiences
of
> > people who had a hard time first time but easier the second (funny
that!)
>
> There are a lot of people doing tandem nursing in
> misc.kids.breastfeeding...might get more input there...
>
> E

I won't be tandem nursing. I stopped BFding my son over a year ago. But
thanks I will post over there.

Judy

[Cindy Kandolf]

"kereru" > writes:
| Hello there, I am planning to breastfeed my second baby. It didn't go so
| well with my first. We only made it until ten weeks because of my perceived
| lack of supply.
|
| My confidence is much higher this time and I know much more about the
| mechanics of breastfeeding.
|
| So my question is, what are your experiences of breastfeeding second time.
| Were you more successful? I am especially interested in the experiences of
| people who had a hard time first time but easier the second (funny that!)

In my case, my first son had/has a specific neuro-muscular problem
that made breastfeeding difficult. If we had known about it in time,
it's possible I could have learned how to compensate for it, but I
gave up in frustration long before the docs had figured out what was
going on.

My second baby, on the other hand, latched on properly when he was
five minutes old and, I think, didn't let go for about six months ;-)
I won't say things went perfectly - we explored the worlds of thrush,
oversupply, distractability, and unsupportive relatives - but every
difficulty that came along could be overcome, and my confidence grew
every time I solved a problem. Overall it sure seemed easy at the
time and I was sad when he decided it was time to quit.

It sure sounds to me like you're setting yourself up for success.
You've educated yourself and you know that you probably can overcome
any temporary supply problems this time with the right information and
support. You're looking for sources of that support now before the
baby arrives. Congratulations!

- Cindy Kandolf, mamma to Kenneth (9) and Robby (3)
****** Bærum, Norway
Bilingual Families Web Page:
http://www.nethelp.no/cindy/biling-fam.html

[silvasurfa]

"kereru" > wrote in message
...
> Hello there, I am planning to breastfeed my second baby. It didn't go so
> well with my first. We only made it until ten weeks because of my
perceived
> lack of supply.
>
> My confidence is much higher this time and I know much more about the
> mechanics of breastfeeding.
>
> So my question is, what are your experiences of breastfeeding second time.
> Were you more successful? I am especially interested in the experiences of
> people who had a hard time first time but easier the second (funny that!)
>
> Thanks in advance
>
> Judy
>
>

I weaned my first about that age because of bottle refusal. Had to go with
one delivery system, and wasn't up for full time work, commute, pumping,
co-sleeping etc.

Second time around? Just bear in mind... there are very few BF problems to
which the solution is not "put baby on breast more", so get a stack of
novels to read, feed the baby lying down and enjoy your enforced rest.

[Tat]

Hi Judy

I breastfed DD1 for 5 weeks - hated it. Felt like a milk machine, she was
feeding every 2 hours day and night. I was almost thankful to give up when
I got a breast abcess very close to my nipple so she couldn't latch, and the
antibiotics were giving her a terrible upset tummy.

DD2, I aimed to last at least 6 weeks, and said I'd breastfeed for as long
as we were both happy doing it. I loved it from the word go - she was a
champion feeder, and fed every 4 hours just about from the word go. We got
through 6 months, 11 months when she got teeth, 1 year, 2 years, and finally
when she was 2 years and 9 months and down to 1 or 2 breastfeeds a day she
announced that she wasn't a baby any more, and that she wouldn't be needing
anymore "Mummy Milk". I was happy at that stage that she'd self weaned!

I couldn't believe that my 2 experiences had been so different!

Hope this encourages you!

Katie
Mummy to Rhian (7.5) and Kira (3)

[Karen]

On Fri, 18 Jul 2003 13:16:08 +1200, "kereru" >
wrote:

>So my question is, what are your experiences of breastfeeding second time.
>Were you more successful? I am especially interested in the experiences of
>people who had a hard time first time but easier the second (funny that!)


I was successful the first time around, but it was not easy to hang in
there with a very, very ravenous and cranky baby who breastfed almost
constantly. I never worried about supply because he gained weight like
a little sumo wrestler, but breastfeeding him was very demanding and I
was stressed about it at first. He wound up weaning himself at about
10 months.

Second baby it was just a breeze. I put him on the breast in the
hospital, he settled right in and I thought, "Hey, I know how to do
this! This is easy!" He ate well, but was not as hungry as his
brother, and I felt like my supply matched his demand really nicely.
Of course, there are growth spurts to deal with as they get older and
build up your milk supply, but I found it much easier to match him. He
self-weaned about 11 months.

Anyway, hang in there this time and don't worry too much about supply.
If he's soaking diapers for you, he's fine. If you're not sure he's
getting enough you can always ask your doctor to weigh him before and
after he eats.

Good luck! I firmly believe that breastfeeding is one of the best and
nicest things we can do for our babies. :-)

Karen
--
The Orange Cat: Calendar, advice & tips for busy families in the San Gabriel Valley
www.theorangecat.org

[Marie]

I stopped breastfeeding my first at 3 weeks because I had mastitis in both
breasts and didn't think it would get better so I quit (regrettably)
I went on to nurse my next baby for 17 months, with no problem to speak of!
It went perfectly. Even in the beginning there was no problems! When she was
close to a year old, I got mastitis but I knew what to look for and took
care of it right in the beginning, and when she was getting her top teeth in
we had a couple of days of biting but we got through that also. Now I'm
nursing my third, she is 9 months. I've had a few more problems, and have
been through mastitis and the biting again but we're still going.
I feel that after the first baby, it's alot easier. There will be exceptions
of course, but that seems to be the norm. You've also breastfed before so
you do have *that* experience. And the knowledge you've acquired will be a
great help to you if problems do arise (if this child had been my first I
would have quit long ago, I didn't know much about it and didn't realize the
importance of breastfeeding, but I know now so I've kept on)
Marie

kereru wrote in message ...
>Hello there, I am planning to breastfeed my second baby. It didn't go so
>well with my first. We only made it until ten weeks because of my perceived
>lack of supply.
>
>My confidence is much higher this time and I know much more about the
>mechanics of breastfeeding.
>
>So my question is, what are your experiences of breastfeeding second time.
>Were you more successful? I am especially interested in the experiences of
>people who had a hard time first time but easier the second (funny that!)
>
>Thanks in advance
>
>Judy
>
>

[Hillary Israeli]

In >,
kereru > wrote:

*So my question is, what are your experiences of breastfeeding second time.
*Were you more successful? I am especially interested in the experiences of
*people who had a hard time first time but easier the second (funny that!)

OK, well, supply was never my problem, my problem was sore
nipples/ulcerated nipples/mastitis with number one (although it didn't
lead to weaning, it SUCKED and made life extremely difficult) (oh, hey,
sucked, ha ha ha :)). So, with number two, I was lucky. Her latch was
better. I didn't have any problems except comparatively mild (still
significant, but much less than the first time) soreness which was
transient in any case. My daughter is 9 mos old and still nursing well.
Those family members who like to place bets on things like this are
betting that this baby will not self-wean by 13 mos as my son did.

--
hillary israeli vmd http://www.hillary.net
"uber vaccae in quattuor partes divisum est."
not-so-newly minted veterinarian-at-large :)

[Beth Kevles]

Hi -

I had trouble with BOTH babies. I sort of expected it with the first,
but was sore, tired, somewhat depressed ... We did eventually get
through it. The LC we used helped a lot.

With #2 it was even harder. Not only was I sore and tired, but he had
infant jaundice. He wasn't nursing very successfully so had to start
taking a bottle, as well as going under the bili. lights, for a few
days. By the time he was over that, he had a mild case of nipple
confusion. (And when he was jaundiced he went to the ER without me.)
Again, we had a good LC, lots of spously support, and got through it.

It wasn't so much determination on my part, as the assumption that I
WOULD breastfeed and formula wasn't an option. We did all kinds of
things that you're not supposed to do; both kids got topped off with a
bottle of EBM every night for several months, both kids wound up taking
bottles as well as nursing directly. But it never occured to me that
they could take more than one bottle of EBM a day until I started
spending time out of the house. Both got formula in a cup in the
hospital, too. (They were showing signs of dehydration before my milk
came in.)

I was surprised by how difficult it was to learn to nurse #2. I
foolishly though it would be easier than with #1, since I had succeeded
before and though I knew what I was doing. But in the end, it all
worked out.

Good luck to you,
--Beth Kevles

http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic
Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be construed as medical
advice. Please consult with your own medical practicioner.