* Pictures are from last weekend when my parents came to visit Jackson for the day---they really love him and he was very excited to see them
I have recently given some advice to some new moms so I thought I would share:
1. Bottles The top three bottles I have found to be are:
a) Platex drop in bottles that I use or anything by Platex that is a slow flow nipple
b) Nuby bottles
c) Dr. Brown bottles if you can figure them out
The key is for your baby not to drink to fast, and I have found that advent bottles are too fast and babies drink it too fast and get sick…but yet again every baby is different
Thought on Breastfeeding
*Breast-feeding was the hardest thing I have ever had to do! It is different for everyone and for some it comes very easy… You are NOT A BAD MOM IF BREAST-FEEDING IS NOT WORKING! Please do not let your babies have to go to the hospital because you will not supplement. They have come a long way with formula
When you breast feed at first, I used a timer and did 15 minutes per side. The breast milk usually does not come in for 3-5 days (mine day 7) and you need to eat really well and 500 more calories a day. You probably do not want to eat any salads. The milk will come in based on how long you breast feed for so if you only breast feed for 5 minutes at a time do not expect to have a lot of milk.
* Every different doctor I went to seemed to say something different. Some said I should breast feed every 2 hours others said to wait. Since you do not know how many ozs you are getting I am not sure what new moms should do. I would try to still wait for 2 ½ hours from the beginning of the first feeding.
* Using a breast pump is good but you need to sterilize the pump every time you use it. I used Medla microwave bags for this. You will only be able to get half of the milk that you really have in your breasts
* It was the hardest when I was both breast feeding and supplementing. If you do this you need to breast feed for like 15 minutes each side and then right after feed you baby anywhere from 2-4 ozs of milk at first. I only did this for like 3 weeks and when you finally pick either breast feeding or bottle feeding it becomes so much easier! Babies need a minimum of 24 oz of formula in 24 hours and a max of 32. Every since
* Be aware that if you strictly breast feed though, you baby might not ever take a bottle
* Be aware that jaundice is caused by breastfeeding so if you baby has a high level of jaundice you probably want to supplement formula.
* Go to a breastfeeding class if at all possible
* I will not even attempt to breastfeed my future blessed children (for many personal reasons) But I would recommend all new moms to at least attempt it.
* At the end of every day I put all 5 bottles in the dishwasher and wash them every night
* I wash the pacifiers in that contraption you can get at Walmart for $2. Pacifiers are not evil!
* I am also washing my top of the high chair in the dishwasher once a week.
2. What type of formula do I use?
- I have always used Similac Lactose free but now they have changed the name to Similac Senstive (it is the only similac that is has an orange label). This works really well with gassy babies and for new babies with sensitive stomachs
- If you use the powder kind you need to make it very exact and just make it a bottle at a time. Either boil your water to make the formula or use nursery water (in pink container) found at Walmart
- Jackson has gotten use to the ready feed and he was waken up in the middle of the night when we were using powder so we have had to go back to the $6 a day ready made
- Make sure your baby gets at least 27 ozs in during the day even if you have to feed him for like 15 minutes and then wait a little bit and then go back to feeding him---if you want him to sleep through the night. After you have heated the formula up (I put very hot water in a plastic cup) You can use the formula for 1 hour, then you need to throw it away! If you try and put it back in the refrig and then give it to them later---IT WILL MAKE THEM SICK
3. What type of diapers did I use?
- I used the Swaddler Diaper at first and all the way to size 2. I like Pampers Diapers the most and Huggies are good too. Luvs only worked for him when he was at the end weight of the certain size
- I use Pamper Senstive Wipes because
4. Schedule of a new born (
7am Diaper Change, Eat
8:30-10 Nap
10 Diaper Change Eat
2:30-4ish Nap
8:30-10ish Nap
10 Diaper Change Eat
Hope this helps!
11 comments:
As someone who has breastfed from the beginning, I thought I would add my 'two cents'.
*Breastfeeding is the hardest thing you will do, and to stick with it requires a lot of 'sticking with it', no matter what! As you said, Emily, there is NOTHING wrong with not breastfeeding. God has allowed doctors and chemists to come up with formula for that very reason.
*If you are breastfeeding, take advantage of your lactation consultant. She will be a gift from God. You will have lactation consultants in the hospital, and usually your pediatrician's office has one 'on call' or that they can recommend. My lactation consultant has graciously answered questions and calmed many fears and doubts that I had.
*My daughter does not like a bottle. I would suggest if you ever want to be able to give a bottle, try to regularly offer your child a bottle--we only did it sporatically, and she hated it! If you pump and give a bottle once a week (I have friends who give their newborn a bottle every Sunday) that will keep your baby 'exposed' to bottles but not cause a reliance. Also, don't feel ashamed to use formula during those times--when you are first nursing, it is hard to pump much milk because you are nursing SO MUCH.
*The best advice I had for length of time to nurse was to allow the baby to 'soften the breast' (sorry for the 'graphic language'). Your breasts get full when you have a newborn, and you want them to empty the breast. Trust me, it is hard to explain, but you can tell the difference!
*If you are going to nurse, invest in quality nursing bras. I love the bras by Bravado! which can be bought online or in specialty maternity stores. They are pricey, but very sturdy and have held up really well for me. If at all possible during the first few weeks after your baby's birth (even if you aren't nursing), avoid underwire bras. Your breasts are going through so many changes that the wires REALLY cut into you!
*As a new mom, you are always filled with doubt and worry. Listen to your child, observe your child and get to know your baby. You will be AMAZED at how quickly you will learn to read the signals, and tell what the baby needs. Trust your instincts, even if they go against all the advice you've been given. And when in doubt, call your doctor! Rather be safe than sorry with a little one.
Having a baby is a wonderful, grand, frightening, awe-inspiring adventure! I recommend it to everyone!
Leah,
Thanks for your comments. I agree that you have to stick to breastfeeding. I would have loved to have stuck with it, except for the fact that by my trying to breast-feed Jackson, he was getting sicker and sicker and was about to be hospitalized. Then, we switched to the bottle and he instantly got better.
Our lactation consultant was wonderful as well, but when I told her that I was going to have to switch to the bottle she was not very nice. Sometimes I think that breast-feeding advocates such as consultants would rather your baby become dehydrated and sick rather then switch to forumala! This is what happened to Jackson.
I didn't produce enough milk in time to feed Jackson. Why would God design that? I think it goes back to sin and it's effect on the human body. Of course, God designed breast-feeding to be the best and natural way to feed babies, but because of the Fall it just doesn't always work out that way.
I thank God that He has enabled science to produce formula that is just as good at nourishing our babies or else Jackson may not have made it.
My main point is that every woman is different and their bodies are different. Many women who cannot breastfeed (because of sin's effect on the body, in my opinion) feel like failures because of what I call the "breast-feeding pressure."
The breast-feeding pressure is similar to the "natural-birth" pressure of delivery, when in fact, there is nothing natural with delivering with no medicine or drugs because God cursed delivery. If anything, natural birthing is cursed by God and as my husband urged, "do anything to alleviate the curse."
Lastly, I really think that God was speaking to me through my doctor when she urged me to not feel like a failure if I decided not to breastfeed. She said that she wished she had not folded under the pressure because her babies were hospitalized for lack of natural lactose being produced from their mother's breast.
So nice to hear advice from moms, and I thank Leah for her "two cents" on breastfeeding. I ditto everything you say. And I will say, that it can be a very hard thing to do, and it does require a lot of patience and sticking to it. My first baby got the hang of things so quickly, but it took my second baby 3 months for things to really click and work well. And my kids never took bottles. But, the good thing about that is that I was never without food for them!
Anyway, bottom line, you should follow your instincts and do what is best for your baby. But if you are on the line about breastfeeding, give it just a little longer, and it might just work out!
Oh yeah, Bravado bras are really great, and definitely worth the money!
Oh gosh Emily! I hate to think that there are parents out there that make their kids sick just trying to breastfeed...those should most definitely switch to formula. I have several friends that physically could not breastfeed their babies and formula was just the answer for them!
Alyssa,
Thanks so much for your comments. They are so helpful! You and Leah can really give tremendous advice about breastfeeding and I am so thankful for that. Again, I think all first time moms should try to breast feed, and if they have a nice big baby then they should try their best for at least 4 weeks (I always heard that the first 2 weeks are the hardest). However, my baby was only 6 pounds and 14 ozs so he got down to almost right at 5 pounds which was scary and in like 3 days. I think if you have a nice 8 pound baby you are able to try for longer. I did everything, pumped, fed him for 15 minutes on each side every 3 hours, but towards the end hardly anything was coming out of my breast.
I also forgot to mention that I know some women who did not feel like their babies were getting enough, so they strictly pumped using the really nice $300 Medela pump that she borrowed from someone. She pumped for an entire year! So that is an option for some moms.
I think all first time moms should really try their best to breast feed; every woman is different. And hopefully they will be blessed like you, Alyssa, and produce a lot of milk for their baby. Because I tried breastfeeding for 6 long weeks and still did not produce enough, I will not be trying that again with my next children. Thank yall so much for your wisdom! I would have loved to read advice from 3 new moms while I was pregnant or right after I had Jackson..
Emily-
I totally agree that there is often WAY TOO MUCH PRESSURE to do things a certain way with your baby--breast feeding, "natural" child birth, Babywise, not babywise, homeschool, not homeschool, and more. My doctor gave me the funniest tip when talking about "natural" childbirth--he said that is just a "normal" childbirth, regardless of pain meds, instead of a C-section! We as moms should not allow the world to pressure us into believing that one way is the only way-that is Satan trying to cause us to doubt! (I had pain meds and an epidural, and that was wonderful--again, God giving doctors knowledge to bless us).
I also agree with you that problems with breastfeeding, labor and delivery and other issues stem directly from sin and the fall. Our bodies are now cursed and filled with sin, and that corruption extends to even the way the body functions. For that reason, we get sick, babies cannot nurse, and more. Praise the Lord for the hope and redemption of heaven and redeemed, perfected body!
Thanks for freely sharing what has worked for you. It is so encouraging to see how vibrant, active and healthy Jackson is now! Children are such a blessing, and it is so much fun to see through various blogs how different each child is. I hope you have a great Lord's Day!
Hey Emily! I was reading your blog and this one interested me!! I agree that there is pressure on moms to breastfeed but I do agree that it is for a reason. For example, one time Bayne and I both got sick and instead of her having to go on an antibiotic, the doctor just said that since I was fighting the same illness, I was producing the anitbodies to fight it which she received from the breast milk!! It worked too!! She was well in less than a week!! However, a mom should never feel pressured to do anything ESPECIALLY with a newborn!!
I really wanted to share what awesome advice my pediatrician (who happens to be one of the most strongest Christians I have met...he has some incredible faith!!) gave me about breastfeeding that really helped to stick with it! He said to basically do what Leah said and listen to your child rather than any book! So when the child is crying because she is hungry go ahead and feed her AS LONG AS it has been around 2 hrs. he says that basically God created you to produce the amount of milk that the baby needs. The more she needs it the more you produce and eventually it all evens out and you are not feeding ALL OF THE TIME! Whenever Bayne was going through a growth spurt she would go from being hungry every 3 hrs. to being hungry every 2 hrs. It would only last about a week and then she would go back to being hungry every 3 hrs. because I was now producing more milk! Its pretty cool to think that God created mom and child to be so connected!! My pediatrician always told me that before there were books there was just God, mother and child and that God and your child are going to tell you exactly what he/she needs!!
In Christ,
Lisa
Breastfeeding came easy to me; however, I have never tried to put my baby on a schedule. I practiced "on-demand" feeding as was recommended by my ped. and lactation consultant. This meant about every 2 hrs. but sometimes he would eat again after 1 hour or 1/2 hour for the fist moth or so. It is taxing on mom, but it does get better. And yes, I do believe he was hungry every time---distinct cry and hand-chewing. I was also told not to worry about how long he ate at each breast and as he has become better at breastfeeding, he has become much faster. You have to remember that babies have very small stomachs at first and will get hungry again quickly. A breasfed baby will not overeat! They have to learn how to breastfeed--not only how to latch on, but also how much to take in to not be hungry again soon. This is a trial and error process, so if baby is hungry again 30 mins. after eating, he should be fed, not made to wait 2 hours and be miserable. Plus as Lisa mentioned, this helps up mom's milk production. I really don't think God intended us to put babies on our own personal schedules. Think back to how things were before modern civilization. Mom would be home with baby all day and feed him when needed. Mom didn't have 50 million other things to do and she didn't have a clock! Although we are busier today, and some like me, will return to work, we need to remember that our babies don't realize we have other things to do. They do know when they are hungry though.
Someone mentioned a lactation consultant--they will tell you to feed on-demand. If you are having any trouble breastfeeding, please try to find one. They are so helpful. I am not totally against formula feeding, but I do feel that people should give breastfeeding a chance and try to stick to it for a while--I had no trouble, but friends of mine that did have trouble said it got much better after 2 or 3 weeks. They also used lacatation consultants. There are things you can do to up milk production (one is pumping). The lac. consultant even went over a list of do's and don'ts for meds. before I even left the hospital because some things, like Sudafed and the Pill can lower milk production. I'm not saying to make your baby sick by refusing to switch to formula, but there are other things you can try first if you really want to continue to breastfeed and a lac. consultant can help.
At about 10 wks. my baby starting setting his own schedule although we are still flexible. He has just begun to sleep through the night and eats e every 2-3 hours during the day (no solids yet). A breastfed baby will eat more often than a formula-fed baby--it is digested faster. Every baby is different. Some are more efficient at taking in milk from the breast; therefore, they take in more and need to be fed less often and vice versa.
Also, I pump because I will be going back to work. We give a bottle when in public or when leaving him at church nursery or just when hubby is home alone. He has had no trouble going back and forth between bottle and breast, although some babies do. Pumping was frustrating at first (got very little), but again be patient. When you miss a feeding (baby has a bottle), you can usually get more---4-6 oz. each breast when pumping because your body was ready for that feeding. Another trick I used when initially stocking up was, feed him on one side only for 2 feedings in a row and then pump the other side. Also, once baby sleeps through the night, pump one breast in am and feed on other (they are so full after 6-8 hours!!). I DO NOT HAVE TO STERILIZE MY BREAST PUMP PARTS EVERY TIME--I read the info. very carefully. I had to sterilize the first time and subsequent uses are dishwasher or handwash. Maybe other pumps are different, but I have the Medela Pump 'N Style.
I hope this helps anyone thinking about breastfeeding or struggling with it. By the way, my baby never was jaundice either.
While I think it is great that you are offering your perspective for some new moms - we all need to hear reassuring words, there are a few inaccuracies. BREASTFEEDING DOES NOT CAUSE JAUNDICE. My child was jaundiced from the moment she was born, breastfeeding is what helped her flush out the protiens. A mother's milk is designed to help with those sorts of things - it's amazing the way God designed us.
It's obvious that you had a difficult time breastfeeding and I feel your pain. Women are put under a lot of pressure when in reality every woman and every baby is so differnt. I know my own personal stress level made breastfeeding more difficult. But even having some problems, I am able to look at breastfeeding objectively and not put a negative spin on it. I would hate to think that someone would choose not to breastfeed based on how difficult you are making it sound. Every woman needs to make their own decision. I absolutley suggest trying for several weeks - listen to your baby and your body, they were designed by God to match. If after giving it an HONEST try, formula may be the best option based on your baby. Everything happens for a reason, listen to your body, your baby and your God to make that decision.
This is Emily's husband. She's too nice to write this but I would really appreciate it if everyone would give us at least a name before posting a comment. Anonymous responses are difficult to respond to, if at all.
- Charlie
Hi Emily,
I have this really neat opportunity to work with LUVS’ new Bear Hug Stretch diapers, and I wanted to tell you more about it.
I couldn’t find your email address here, so I thought I would try to reach you this way.
Please let me know via email if this is something you want to hear more about. Thank you so much!
Andrea
andrea@rocketxl.com
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