Baby Gabby is now 2 weeks and 4 days old! she's doing great, but we are having a little trouble breastfeeding...half of the time she'll latch on fine and nurse well, but other times she'll start throwing her arms in the way of my breast and try to aviod it almost.....it gets sooo frustrating because i know shes hungry and want to nurse, but she's tossing around sooo much we cant do it good. Also Dave sees me get frustrated when that happens and looks at me like i'm hurting her...then he wont say a word to me, and ignore me...i talked to him about it today ,and he just said "you get soo mad, but it's not her fault!" i never said it was her fault, i know shes just a baby and cant help it, but he doesnt understand how tough it is to wake up every 2 hours in the night for 40 mins trying to breastfeed an impossible baby! He gets me soo mad sometimes....i havent gotten any sleep in the past 3 weeks, and he's getting mad at me for being some what cranky! But i guess its just his way of thinking...he will never know until he grows a pair of boobs and has a baby attached to him all day every day.....i mean, dont get me wrong, i love this baby to pieces and everything, but he makes it twice as difficult as it has to be...i almost feel a depression coming on becuase of it....but i'm fighting it.
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that\'s tough when dh is not being supportive. breastfeeding is a huge commitment and it can be frustrating at times. do you think she is maybe allergic to the milk or that she has gas? when keira would scream during bfing i would give her mylicon drops and that seemed to help. i remember the second night she was home i had to call a friend to come over in the middle of the night b/c i couldn\'t get keira to latch on. two things helped: 1. pumping a little to help my nipple stick out so she could latch on 2. being relaxed. just talking to my friend and listening to music while i was trying to nurse made it so much better. i noticed that my shoulders would always go up when i was nursing. try to relax as much as you can while you nurse. it will get better. around 2 weeks keira went through a growth spurt and wanted to eat all the time and then we were able to spread out her feedings by 15 minutes each week until now at 9 weeks we are between 3-4 hours during the day and 6 at night. it will get better.
as for the depression. keep an eye on it. if you feel yourself getting depressed make sure you talk to someone you trust.
glad gabby is doing great. such a cute name!
Abram was the same way. What we did was swaddled him before eating so his arms would be at his side and that pretty much solved the problem. Hang in there the first couple of weeks are the hardest. I made a joke the other day that I could breastfeed Abram with one arm while walking. That\'s how easy it is for me now. By about six weeks you\'ll be a pro, trust me. And your right, your husband will never understand what it\'s like to feed a baby. Just wait until he can do more with the baby and he will react the same way. The other day Abram peed on Richard 3 times while he was changing him and Richard got soooo mad. When things like that happen he understands how I can get so frustrated sometimes. Just hand in there. I\'m sure you are doing great.
I totally agree with the top two, they are right on!
It begins to get easier and easier after a while, soon you will be making jokes about how frustrated you were! Just hang in there, it gets a LOT easier!
And when you start getting frustrated about having to feed her a lot at night, think about having to get up and go mix a bottle of formula and then warm it up and then sit there and hold her until she is done. Breastfeeding is actually so, so much easier because all you have to do is whip out a boob! :-)
You are doing GREAT, and the others are right, men don\'t get it! Keep your chin up, we are all here to support you!
Have you tried the nipple sheild? It worked wonders for me until Jonny got used to nursing and didnt need it anymore around 8 weeks old....
i know how you feel :) i had problems with latching as well. my girl would only eat from my right breast. then doc told me to move her in the same position to the left one and feed her. and it worked! and yes our hubby\'s don\'t understand sometimes that it takes a lot out of us to take care of both the baby and them. i\'m the same way too. i get really really cranky if i don\'t get enough sleep. you\'re fine :) how fast she grows! time flies so fast.
I had the same problem with Noah before we brought him home from the hospital and so I asked the lactation consultant to come in. Have you consulted one? I found the one I worked with to be VERY helpful!
Now when Noah doesn\'t latch I either change his pants (sometimes his full diaper is the problem, and other times he\'s too warm and cozy) it sounds weird but sometimes it seems like they\'re too cozy to wake up enough to eat so I take his little outfit off to cool him down and then cover him with a blanket once he\'s latched. Good luck and hang in there!
Have you thought of maybe pumping a little during the day and giving her that at night? I hope it gets better