There are so many things that I wish someone had clued me into when it came to nursing my infant. I just had no idea how hard it could be or how helpful tips could be from a mom who had done it. Experts are great and helpful but there is something especially helpful about tips from a mom who has been there. The biggest problem I had were the size of my breasts (about a DDD with my first son and an H with my second). I googled for help but found very little. Did anyone else in the world not find it strange to place a watermelon size object on their new baby’s head? Was it just me, or does that seem harmful more than helpful?
Well, after nursing 2 children with very large breasts, I can tell you that it can be harmful (regardless of hearing in my nursing class from a RN that you can’t smother your children with your breasts) if you do not know what you are doing. There are ways though to make it easy and comfortable.
I was determined to nurse my children even though I had no one in my family that had done so. I had one aunt by marriage who encouraged me when I went to her for advice but other than her, I was on my own. I didn’t enjoy nursing my first baby and found it to be a chore most of the time simply because it was uncomfortable and hard. Still, I knew I was in it for the long haul. Nothing would stop me. Nothing did! I suffered for 9 weeks with a yeast breast infection and several days with Mastitis which causes chills, a fever and severe pain. I nursed through it telling myself that this is the cure for cancer for many people. How could I let it go without a fight.
At 9 months old, my son was finished. He didn’t want to nurse anymore and even though I tried to continue, he was not having it. My second baby went 13 months and I was very pleased with both experiences in terms of duration.
But my breasts were huge and it was hard. I couldn’t get up, baby still attached to answer the phone like my friends could. My breasts needed constant support.
My tips are not fancy and they are not scientific but they worked for me.
– Roll up a wash cloth or receiving blanket and place it under your breast to give it a lift prior to nursing. I lost a washcloth once for several hours and found it still under my breast when I nursed the next time. That was a good laugh!
– Try the football hold. This was the only position while sitting that was comfortable for me. It works very well with larger breasts because your baby is not “under” your breast, but in front of it. Pictures of the football hold can be found anywhere on the nursing websites or books but it the position where your baby is laying facing your breast under your arm. He is in a sense laying next to you but in the opposite direction. You can see much better this way since your breast is not blocking the view of your baby. It is much more comfortable because your breast are not in the way of the baby and your baby has easy access to your areola and nipple (both of which needs to be in the baby’s mouth). The other positions sometimes feel like your breast is being pulled by your baby’s sucking and are not as comfortable with larger breasts.
– Try laying down. This is the key tip friends. This is the one position that I didn’t find until my second baby. This is the moment where I began to love to nurse. It was comfortable, relaxing and the milk flowed freely. I used a pillow (usually 2) and basically still did the football hold except the baby laid on the bed with his head on the pillows. I then laid with my arm up slightly with my baby facing me and my breasts. This is the only position I did where I did not need to hold my breast in any way. I could use the remote, read a book to my older son or read one myself. I was that comfortable. The more comfortable you are, the better milk production and let down you will have.
– Support your breast with the C hold. Your breasts need support because they are larger so try to hold your breast with the same hand as the side you are nursing on, you can switch hands to see which one is more comfortable to use if you need to. Hold it making a C with your hand but be sure to hold back far enough (past the the areola) not to stop milk flow. This holds your breast up as you nurse. The alternative is laying your breast down and then pushing your breast in with your hand and this can and usually does cause infection because you are clogging a milk duct which can get infected. Use the C hold for support instead. Once I was able to get the C hold down, I never had another breast infection from clogging my milk ducts.
– Buy a breast pillow with a closure. Boppy brand pillows are great for smaller women and women with smaller breasts but it did not work for me to nurse my baby. It is helpful for playtime to prop the baby up, or later to assist with the baby’s sitting skills but not for nursing when you are my size. Get a breast pillow that you wrap around your body and then fasten either by Velcro or even better by a buckle. This holds the pillow in place as you move the baby or your body. It does not shift or slide once you have that perfect latch that you want to keep. It even helps when you attempt to get up to answer the phone while nursing the baby since he can lay across it as you get up and try to stay latched (only try that when you are more comfortable nursing and can hold on to your newborn at the same time). The pillow that I used was called My Breast Friend and it lasted the entire time I was nursing (13 months). The smaller crescent shaped pillows always tore when I tried them.
– Use a foot stool when sitting and nursing. If you rest your feet on a stool during nursing, it raises your legs up making a better lap for nursing. With larger breasted women, they need all the support they can get.
– Wear a bra nearly every waking and sleeping hour. With bigger breasts, if you are prone to leaking (not all big breasted women are) then you will lose more milk without the support of a bra. As they hang down, your milk will run out causing a mess, a loss of milk and increasing your changes of an infection due to the moisture that yeast thrives in.
Nursing is challenging for most women whether you are small breasted or large. But, I have not met a single large breasted woman who has not had more challenges before finding the ways in which she would be most comfortable and most safety conscious during nursing. Remember to seek help if you need it and try your very best not to quit. You can do this and you will count it as one of your biggest accomplishments in your life when you look back on the gift that you gave your baby.
