How do you know when to throw up your hands and call a professional to help you with breastfeeding?
1. The pain of breastfeeding makes you wish for the days of leather straps and a strong shot of whiskey.
Breastfeeding should not make you dread every feeding. It should not make your toes curl. It should not make you cry. Sometimes, yes, it can be mildly uncomfortable for the first couple of sucks, but it should not make your nipples bleed, bruise, or bevel. That is not normal, and you should seek help from an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) before help from a plastic surgeon is needed.
2. Your baby isn’t gaining weight
Don’t reach for that handy dandy bottle of formula that came in the mail just because you signed up for a baby registry! Instead, pick up the phone and call for help. If a baby hasn’t gained their birth weight back by 2 weeks, it doesn’t mean your milk isn’t good, or there isn’t enough. It could mean that they aren’t able to transfer enough because of latch or perhaps because they would rather sleep! Simple tweaks to breastfeeding management might be all they need to get them gaining again.
3. The baby won’t latch
Sometimes, due to extenuating circumstances, babies develop a preference for the bottle, and prefer not to nurse at the breast. If this happens, you aren’t alone, you don’t have to give up, and breastfeeding CAN be regained!
4. You would like to have your boobs back but you don’t know where to start…to stop.
IBCLCs have knowledge to help you from pregnancy all the way to helping you come up with a weaning plan. Weaning gently is one of the hardest things to do emotionally, don’t go it alone.
4. Something went wrong the first time
If this is your second (or third, or fourth) and you have struggled with breastfeeding in the past, set yourself up for success, and get a prenatal consult. Talking with a professional with what went wrong before can help you work out how to avoid the pit falls and “boobie traps” that are so common in the first weeks of parenthood.
5. Any other reason that you feel like you can’t do it alone
If you want to punch the next person that tells you how “natural” breastfeeding is, it might be time to call in an expert. If it is a quick question, call me, I do free help over the phone. If it is a problem big enough to warrant a home visit, then we will take those steps, but questions are normal.
Ultimately, the early days of parenthood is rough enough without trying to take it all on alone. Peeing is also natural, but if it burned every time, and you started seeing blood, you would go to a doctor, right!? Don’t feel like you must go this alone. Historically, we used to have our aunties, mothers, cousins, friends, sisters, all who breastfed openly and around us, to be our lactation consultants. We have ALWAYS needed help learning this skill, we just don’t have the support systems and knowledge we once did (thanks Similac!).