Answers to Questions asked on my Breastfeeding Post

First I just want to say Thank You to everyone for sharing their stories! It’s a pretty personal topic & Im so thrilled that everyone was comfortable enough to share!

I would love for everyone who left me a comment to send me an email. Some of the comments don’t have any information for me to get intouch w/you & I’d love to!

 So I figured I’d tackle the questions I was asked in the post!

 1.      Will you let her self wean or do you have a time frame in mind for stopping?

Im gonna let her self wean. We doing the Baby Led Weaning method. She is already showing signs that she is interested in other things by wanting something to play with while she nurses. And… my cycle just came back so Im assuming that she’s starting to consume less during her feedings.  So we are just going about it in the most natural way possible. Less stress that way.

2.      Did you experience a lot of pain in the first few months?

Yes. I used my fair share of lanolin to keep my nipples comfy. I did learn a nice trick as well. After a feeding, hand express some milk onto your nipple & let it air dry. I also didn’t wear a bra much the first month or so until my nips toughened up. Now, I can’t even feel her nursing & she has 6 teeth! It will get better, I promise!

3.      What fixed your clogged ducts?

Let me tell you the steps I took to remove the clogged ducts.

15 mins prior to nursing, I used a sock full of rice (heated it up for 1 min in the microwave) for my moist compress for 15 mins, longer for stubborn clogs. 

My clogs were always at the top of my chest wall, toward the “cleavage” area.  That was due to me not changing nursing positions so that those top ducts got drained properly. So I would need to nurse w/Josephine’s chin pointing & massage the area of the clog. Since mine were at the top, I had to nurse her upside down. Sounds crazy right? So I would lay on the bed on my side w/my head at the headboard. I would lay Josephine next to me on her side w/her head facing the footboard. Her feet would be under or over my armpit. I would then, while she nursed, “pull” the backed up milk area down toward my nipple as to budget the clog. If that didn’t do the trick after nursing, I would get in the shower immediately after & just let the hot water run on my area of backed up milk & clog & continue to pull down and try to get it lose. Once I could see the clog (usually looks like a lil white calcium deposit or something), I’d squeeze to get it out of my nipple & then the backed up milk would just release… it is always really funny to see that happen.  Once all the backed up milk has stopped flowing out by it’s self, I’ll apply pressure the area where it was backed up to make sure it’s all out. Then I would apply a ice pack to it since it was pretty inflamed. So I hope that helps! Email me if you have anymore questions about that!

4.      What is the benefit of nursing in different positions everytime?

 For me, I got clogs b/c I didn’t change positions. See, you have milk ducts all around the circumference of your breast. When you only nurse cradle or cross over, those top ducts don’t get drained as well. Once I started to implement the football position, those top ducts started to get drained better b/c of the position. My clogs were dramatically reduced by just incorporating a new routine of nursing.  We do it like this.

8:30 am  cross over both breasts

12 pm football on the side that we ended on during the 8:30 am feeding

3 pm football on the opposite of 12pm feeding

6pm cradle on the opposite of 3pm feeding

8pm cross over on both breasts.

5.      Where did you go to see the lactation consultant? Was it through La Leche?

 When we went to the pediatrician on day 7 for yet another weigh in, they told me to go across the hall to go see the Lactation Dept. So it was just across the hall. It just so happened that my friends mom was working there that day & I saw her.  If I didn’t have a super great experience there, I was going to seek out the La Leche League so that would be a great resource for you! They have a great online community as well! I really encourage you to check it out!

I think that covers all the questions I received. If you have anymore, please don’t hesitate to email me!

Josephine’s First Birthday was crazy fun! No meltdowns. Happy lil girl the whole time!

Will be sharing those images soon once we get them all complete!

Here is just a snippet of the lil happy Birthday Girl opening her gifts! 

and Yes, I did make her dress! My SIL made her headband.

Josephine & I got some Spring clothes the other day!

The dress I got was actually in the girls section. Just got a large & it worked out great!

Love it!

We are so ready for Spring!

Well that is all for today!

We are shooting a wedding tomorrow!

So fun! 

Let the season begin!

xo