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I should have dreamfed or pumped when she started sttn and I probably should have offered more frequently during the day to establish my supply. Still, I EBF for 4mths so I'm not going to beat myself up about it too much.

I took a Breastfeeding class and I didn't find it helped. I also saw LCs at the hospital but honestly I don't find that they helped either. I got conflicting info since I saw about 3 different ones. I probably should have seen one afterwards to try to improve his suckle. I'm not really sure what I will do differently this time. Hopefully, now that I've been through it once, maybe I'll be better prepared.

The BF class my hospital offered was a joke. I'd suggest finding a Le Leche meeting near you and start attending even before your LO arrives. That is one of the things that I found to be the most helpful. I took DS to his first meeting at 4 days old because I was having the same problems with him that I had with DD. We went on to nurse for the same amount of time as I did with DD but DS received very little formula supplementation whereas DD was about 50/50.

I took a class and while it was interesting, it didn't help with our specific issues. It's hard to BF a baby that can't even breathe properly. Having an LC come to my home probably would have been the most helpful, because just the idea of going to the hospital and seeing one was outside my comfort zone in the beginning. I feel kind of...indifferent about the whole thing, though. It is what it is

@Mrs. Jump Rope: I LOVED my breastfeeding support group. They met twice a week and a LC was there. It totally was the only reason I was able to make it BF a full year.

I honestly don't think that a class prior to birth would have helped me except to expose me to things like nipple shields and tongue tie which would have been helpful to know, but we didn't have those issues.

i didn't have a good experience breastfeeding charlie but had one that lasted 26 months with olive. what did i do differently? honestly olive just took to it more easily/naturally. but one thing i did with both kids was work very hard to maintain and increase supply with supplements like fenugreek, mother's milk tea, more milk plus and regular pumping.

i think having a lactation consultant come to your home is probably the most helpful if you are having problems. have the number of one ready to go so they can come right away if you have problems. in general i found the hospital lactation consultants not to be much help, but the one that came to our house was great!

@hilsy85: yep! My midwife was very helpful but an IBCLC might have picked up A's ties earlier.

It took a week for my milk to come in so I want to avoid the delay again (what a horrible week it was!) so I'm thinking about eating more calories, co-sleeping and really working hard to make sure and future LO's have a better latch than Miss A had.

@Mrs. Jump Rope: I'd highly recommend checking out the La Leche support forums, the ladies over there are amazing and supportive and I learnt HEAPS just from reading!

I took a class beforehand and read a good amount of "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding," but I still had a really hard time at the beginning. The things that turned it around for me were an in-home consultation with an LC (FAR better than the conflicting nurses/LCs at the hospital) and regular meetings at my local LaLeche.