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Hi
I wish I had known about not feeding for over 24 hours. My DD had a breast feed as I was awakening from my anasthetic after an Emergency C/S but then would not feed at all after that. After 24 hours I had only managed to hand express 1ml into a syringe which was given to her. One of the midwives said that hungry babies get very sleepy and I had visions of her just falling asleep and dying of starvation (was a bit fuzzy brained still!) so gave her a bottle of formula in a panic which she guzzled down. She has been formula fed ever since and I can't help but feel a little cheated.
Love Jackie & Emma who will be 1 on Monday

Hi there,
I was really unprepared for the fact that when they say a typical newborn feeds every two hours, you start counting at the beginning of the feed not at the end.
Also my newborn wanted to be fed every hour for the first few weeks, and he was so slow. It was 45 minutes on, 15 minutes off! I needed to know this was okay. There is no such thing as a typical newborn.
Finally it is one of the hardest things I've ever done, but definitely one of the best.
Julia

Hello!
Why don't they tell you that breast feeding when the milk comes in is very different to before? I needed to be taught to breastfeed all over again when the milk came in, in fact I had round-the-clock help for four days and nights and that is really what I reckon you need, oh why dont they tell us more.........!
Annie

Hi everyone,
My advice for mums to be is read everything you can either on here or books.
I read the new updated 'breast is best' by dr penny stanway and came and read messages on the messageboard on ivillage.
I demand feed whenever she needs which can be a lot especially the 2 and 3 weeks growth spurts. Trust your baby to know how much she needs.
Make sure you have support systems in place. My mum and DH were brill at looking after me in the early weeks and very supportive of my descision to BF even though my mum didn't feed me. My MIL is a good source of reassurance though because she successfully fed her two.The only way you'll succeed really is to look after yourself- eat good food and rest as much as possible.
I also had a natural birth with only gas and air and fed Sophie within the first hour and because I'd read all about it I was able to latch her on correctly thus avoiding sore nipples.
I prepared myself by knowing it was going to be hard some days and I have had times when I've felt like running to the nearest shop and buying FF!
Don't have formula in the house "just in case"!
That's all really,
sorry if it's muddled.
Katyx

Also see 'Exploding Breastfeeding Myths'