Hi Everyone,
I was hoping that i could get some advise from other mothers about breastfeeding and the experiences they had with their children.
I am pregnant with baby number 2 and i had no milk come in for my first baby until about 2 weeks after the birth. I saw lactation specialists and got the help of many midwives tried expressing and even hand expressing and nothing seemed to work. It was really upsetting to me as i really had my heart set on breastfeeding, My daughter was happy with the formula and quickly settled into a routine! So now i am really undecided about if i want to breast feed with the second baby as i did get very down after not being able to do so with the first.
Any advice??

Had a horrible experience with DS1....'poor' weight gain, formula 'top-ups', fully ff at 9 months after going on a nursing strike, mastitis.

DS2 was a dream in comparison; he was ebf for 7 months and self weaned at 18.5 months. He was a 'poor' gainer again, but because I had been here before knew that formula wasn't liable to help and was likely to jeopardise our bf relationship; he was happy, healthy and all signs pointed to him getting enough milk. I had mastitis in week 2 and oversupply for 9ish months (usually only lasts 8-12 weeks) but we worked through all that.

I had NO clue about bf, especially about how it worked when DS1 was born...all I knew was that I was doing it, even though it was not the 'norm' for me as, I only knew ONE person in my whole life who bf. I did A LOT of reading when DS1 prematurely weaned and I had a lot more knowledge when we decided to add to our family than I did when we were pregnant the first time.

Kellymom was my 'bible' and I consulted it a lot, even second time round. Essentially though I was a lot more realistic in my expectations, and so didn't fall into a lot of the 'traps' I did first time round. I did what was necessary, trusted my body (and my baby) and only ever really had doubts once or twice. I basically took all the pressure off..I didn't have to love it all the time, if I was frustrated about something I could say something; that didn't mean I wanted to stop bf, just that was I was feeling/experiencing was fairly 'normal' and if I wanted to work through it I could...so I did. <span class="emoticon smile">smile</span>

I've only got the one baby who's almost 10 months old and still breastfeeding. We had lots of attachment problems, midwives were all great but in the end could only attach with nipple shields. Had to use them for 4-5 months.

It sounds like you certainly gave it a good go with your first. I can't say I've got much advice, but try your best, get the midwives to help every feed if you want to try breastfeeding again, and stay in hospital until its all sorted out. But if it looks like it's not going to work out, don't stress, your baby can still get good nourishment from formula. Your health (emotional and physical) is so important for your family and your baby, and if you find yourself getting worried and stressed over breastfeeding, your newborn will notice it and become unsettled.

If you do try, remember to try to be as relaxed as possible each time you try. All the best. Hope that makes sense and helps.

Thanks Guys!!
both comments have been really helpful!
I don't know anyone who didnt use formula so i was so in the dark about what to do and what to expect, i would really love to try again, but i dont think i got to learn enough from the first time after not getting much feeding time at all!! I am just scared that this time i am going to do something wrong! I was very relaxed at first because i had no idea what to expect and i just went with it!
I don't want to give up due to one bad experience though, every baby will be different and maybe this time i may get my breast mil early enough to give this baby enough milk!!

Thank you so much for your stories, it really does help to know that others have overcome their struggles too!!

Thanks Guys