Asking for it

At some point in the past month Oliver has started ‘asking’ for boob by not-at-all-subtly smacking me in the chest. Of course each time I show him how to do “gentle hands” and I think that it’s finally sinking in as now he gently prods a few times and THEN smacks me (well that’s an improvement, right?) but it occurs to me that we’re now at the point where some folk start to scowl. You know the old chestnut: “if they’re old enough to ask for it they’re too old”.

Of course this ignores the really important fact that a newborn baby can ask for it by crawling up their mother to the breast, by rooting, mewling, and of course crying…

Amusingly with his realisation of the power – that he has virtually instant access to the milk bar – he has massively ramped up his demands. Last month I was offering and being refused except at nap/bed times and I sensed early weaning on the cards. I’d forgot they go through these phases; it’s quite sweet :)

So with his first birthday coming up in less than a week and the forays in communication I guess I’m now heading into “extended” breastfeeding territory again. I think about the future a lot, whether we’ll make it to 2 (the milestone I missed by days with Izz) and indeed how I feel about that given that his latch is still mostly bloody awful.

One day at a time.

Posted on: May 24, 2013 · Category: Parenting 0

I have a nursing tank top that makes my boobs look great

I couldn’t think of a better way to title this post because it’s such a huge occasion for my boobs to look anything other than … actually, it’s probably better for all of us if I don’t finish that sentence.

I recently got asked if I’d like to review a Bravado nursing bra or tank top. Now, I own a Bravado nursing bra already so it seemed like a no-brainer to accept something I knew I would probably like, especially as my existing bra has seen better days. However, I also have had my eye on nursing vest / tank tops to keep the chill off my jelly belly when I’m out and about (you’d think this wouldn’t matter in May – someone forgot to tell the weather fairies) or in bed and have the duvet pulled away from Oliver.

So anyway, I went for the Bravado “Essential nursing tank” which is basically just a vest / tank top (what’s the difference between a vest top and a tank top?) with nursing bra clippy things. They sent me the brown in huge-wobbly-norks size which I had to guess at because things have changed a bit on the chest front since Oliver was born. Damn kids.

At first I didn’t think it was going to fit because I was struggling to get into it, but once I’d got it over the twins (how many euphemisms for breasts can I fit into one post?) and I’d done the boob dance, everything was in place… and then I gave myself a black eye with the protruding cleavage!

Jokes, jokes.

Seriously though, it did something magical with my boobs. Instead of being somewhere in the vicinity of my knees, they were now UP and controlled and where they should be (in theory). And, because like that’s not good enough, I stuck a top on and the smooth cotton-spandex-y material smooshed my belly into something smooth and flat (ish) and I swear I looked like I’d dropped a dress size.

But I do have one complaint. Sorry, I’m trying to not be a miserable bugger here, but it’s got to get a mention: the supposed one-handed clips? Totally not intuitive at all. Most nursing bras, including my existing Bravado, work by lifting the clip up away from the bra. The tank top is the opposite, and you have to sort of tip the back of the clasp forwards instead. It’s hard to explain, and took me several attempts to get the hang of. I mean it’s not a deal breaker by any stretch of the imagination, but if you’re a new mum doing your first feed in public, you’ll want to have practised the unclipping part a few times so as not to look like a loon fiddling with your underwear (as I frequently do … look like a loon that is).

It really is a nice – lovely and warm – tank top though. I’m thinking of getting another one, possible the “Plum”, for when (if) the sun eventually arrives to pair with some jeans (get me, acting like I know how to match clothes up, haaaaaa).

Posted on: May 13, 2013 · Category: Review

Still Boycotting Nestlé

As my post on my decision to boycott Nestlé is doing the rounds on Facebook again (and I mentioned it on twitter this week) I thought I’d write an update on where I am with it.

Firstly, it’s important to note that I’m not just sitting on my computer moaning about unfair marketing. I support Baby Milk Action with paid membership, and by buying their anti-Nestlé / pro-breastfeeding products. BMA are responsible for keeping Nestlé on their toes by campaigning against their unfair labelling of artificial milks in developing countries, as well as leading the way on campaigning against companies targeting health workers with misleading advertising, etc.

Anyway… the actual boycott. I have completely cut Nestlé purchases out of my life, having not knowingly bought a Nestlé (or Rowntrees, L’Oreal, Body Shop, etc) branded product in over 2 years. I accidentally bought some Buitoni pasta not knowing it was a subsidiary of Nestlé but that, I think, is my only slip up. Considering that — prior to the boycott — I would purchase several Kit Kats a week, drank Nescafé coffees almost exclusively, regularly bought Nestlé cereals, ice cream, etc I am quite pleased with how easy to cut the company out of my shopping basket when I put my mind to it.

Of course, even if we assume that I spent £1000 a year on Nestlé products, that’s little more than a pebble in the ocean for this huge multinational monster. But… my post has been seen by over 30,000 different people in 2 years. Who knows how many of those people have removed even just one product from their lives, or talked about the boycott with someone else. I know of several people who now boycott Nestlé because of my post.

Every time someone thinks twice about buying a Kit Kat, I feel like I’ve achieved a small victory.

The Nestlé boycott is the longest running boycotts worldwide and Nestlé are one of the most boycotted brands in the UK. It continues to be necessary because they continue to use underhand techniques to market their artificial milks (not translating safety information on labels in foreign countries, trying to weaken baby milk legislation in a country where thousands of babies die because of inappropriate artificial milk feeding etc).

As well as the baby milk issues, they are also boycotted because of their testing on animals, use of child slave labour to harvest cocoa, rainforest destruction etc

Why aren’t you boycotting them yet?

Update: Wikipedia has a full Nestlé product list including country-specific brands.

Posted on: October 19, 2012 · Category: Misc 20

Breastfeeding a tongue tied baby

Oliver turned 17 weeks yesterday – 4 months old. He had his tongue tie officially diagnosed and snipped a month today.

Immediately after the snip, there was a big improvement. Then it got worse, much worse. Then it started to improve again.

It still hurts (anything from minor discomfort to more uncomfortable pinching/rubbing) during around 50% of feeds. He still struggles to stay latched. He refuses to be fed in the cradle hold which makes feeding in public a pain in the butt. It also means I’m sat hunched over, which is agony on my back. Recently, he will only feed from the right hand side in the rugby hold (under my right arm) which makes the latch even more shallow unless I hold him and my breast very still.

I believe that his tongue tie has at least partially re-healed and that his lip tie contributes to the slipping off the boob.

But… we’re still going. He is still exclusively breastfed. His latch has improved, albeit not as much as I hoped it would. He is less gaggy, and using the tongue exercises we were given I can see he is able to take my finger further into his mouth; he’s getting better at pulling in with his tongue instead of pushing out. I am hoping this means we will see further improvements to the latch as time goes on and he adjusts to take more breast into the mouth (which allows the nipple to reach the soft palette which ensures pain free feeding).

I’m concerned that, unless the gagging/tongue thrust improves, he will have issues when we introduce solids at ~6 months, but that is 9 weeks off so things could be hugely different by then. I’m also concerned that my “choice” of feeding position is placing a lot of strain on my back, but I just don’t know where to go with this… placing him in the cradle position causes him to arch his back away, twist his head either deep into my arm or in the opposite direction. Some people recommend cranial osteopathy for post-TT division to resolve issues like this but I’m struggling to find any evidence that this is genuinely effective (I’m not a “woo”/homeopathy/alternative medicine sort of person).

It’s a good job I’m stubborn, though.

Posted on: September 27, 2012 · Category: Parenting 9

Vindication

When Oliver was born, I struggled a little getting him latched. I assumed it was the position I was lying in; the midwife assisted with his first feed and he fed like a champ. It didn’t take very long to notice he had a pronounced lip tie (see bottom of Oliver’s birth story) but I had plenty of techniques to manage that because of Isabel’s tie (if your baby has a lip tie, try the flipple).

Within a few days I was suffering from intense nipple pain. It was taking roughly 30 minutes to get him latched; I was fighting back-arching, screaming, chomping. By the end of the first week I had my first bout of mastitis (I went on to get it again, twice more).

I knew there was something wrong, something more than the lip tie. I sought advice from midwives, breastfeeding supporters and when that didn’t work, got in touch with the infant feeding coordinator at the hospital where I had Isabel. I was given some positioning tips but told that everything was fine. See for yourself, the comments left in Oliver’s red book (record of health in the first few years):

Further comments verbally from others… “The latch looks great, try a different position to make it more comfortable for you.” and “He’s putting on weight, it must be nothing”.

I persevered. My health visitor and a nurse assisting her added on yet more comments of “everything’s fine”, “he’s doing great”, “but he’s such a big chap” etc etc. They gave me the location of a local breastfeeding café and suggested I’d get on better with some like-minded friends. Nobody directly said “it’s in your head” but I got the feeling that’s what everyone was thinking.

I sent a follow-up e-mail to the IFC on the 18th August, explaining that problems were persisting:

[..] Though your positioning advice has got us thus far, I am still in varying degrees of pain / discomfort with each feed and Oliver’s latch is worsening.

He now clicks continuously through 90% of feeds (I can feel his tongue coming away from the breast and then sliding back under, it’s incredibly uncomfortable), milk dribbling out of the side of his mouth. He slips off the breast easily and will often drop the latch so that he is nipple sucking.

I strongly believe he has a tongue tie of some fashion as I can feel a significant bump under his tongue which seems to be bigger than before?

Oliver is now 11 weeks 3 days and I feel like I’m missing out on a decent breastfeeding experience. I really am stuck and don’t know how to proceed. I’m also worried that now my supply has started to settle
down Oliver’s weight gain may plateau.

Figured it was the weekend when I sent it, it might not get seen for a few days. I waited for a response. And waited. And waited. By the end of last week I was fed up. Fed up at the lack of reply, and frustrated at having spent most of the day feeding off one side because a red patch and soreness had reappeared. Worried that I was about to get my 4th bout of mastitis I shot off emails to every tongue-tie treating IBCLC I could find an email address for.

Ann Dobson replied within 12 hours. She asked for my address to confirm when she would be able to fit us in and then, completely out of the blue, turned up on our doorstep Sunday afternoon. This woman works in London and yet clearly feels so passionately about helping that she travels up and down the country to look at babies.

Within minutes she had diagnosed a 60% tongue tie (which she showed me; by applying a little pressure to the base of the tongue it stuck right out), restricted elevation and “lateralisation” of the tongue leading to a shallow nipple sucking latch with clamping during feeds. Also noted a high anterior palette (typical in tongue tie babies).

So much for “no tongue tie evident”.

Oliver was swaddled and the tie was cut in seconds. He cried a little then latched and fed better than at any point previous. After a little nap he spent nearly 3 hours sticking his tongue out, moving it side to side and laughing.

It shouldn’t have to be this hard to be taken seriously.

Posted on: August 27, 2012 · Category: Parenting 6