You can also try to lay next to him with no top when he is just resting

I hadn't thought to do that yet. I'll try it out to see if that works.

your babies fussiness can be from your level of stress. Try and take care of yourself, get as much rest as you can, eat well, and stay hydrated. I love the advice that amanda gave, lie down with him and spend time just cuddling, get all that oxytocin (the love hormone) flowing through you.

Make sure he opens wide before you put his mouth on the breast, use you free hand to cup your breast (make a c with your hand and squeeae around the nipple) try and get him to latch onto the whole areola, that way he takes the nipple in and doesn't just bite the tip. If he gets just the tip it will cause you pain and he won't really push down on the milk ducts, so this might be why he pulls off in frustration and fusses. Stay calm and keep trying, massage the breast to help with letdown and relax. the more relaxed you are the better chance for good letdown.

my thoughts are with you, I am so glad you are reaching out for help.

your babies fussiness can be from your level of stress.

I didn't know that Kension could pick up on my stress level. I did find a position just a little while ago that he latched on perfectly for 45 minutes tonight. It's a little complicated to get myself set up, but it works for now.

David is planning to buy me a rocking chair so we can use for breast feeding. Do any of you recommend any particular one or not to get it at all? Right I only have the bed, floor, a fold out chair and sometimes a two seater couch to sit on.

It is a luxury purchase, BUT I love my rocker/recliner. It is big, poofy and ugly, but has huge arm rests and is easy to position myself comfortably during marathon nursing sessions.

I bought a nursing rocker specifically for the purpose of...nursing. Well, Savannah and I both hated it for that purpose. However, there are lots of other women who swear by them. If you don't have one yet, I would STRONGLY recommend getting a boppy. I HAD to have this to BF Savannah for the first few months. I would wrap it around my waist and lay her on top of it. Without it, I couldn't ever get a hold that wasn't awkward. I also preferred the football clutch hold because I found that she got the best latch (see image below). Be sure that you stay hydrated and sleep when he sleeps. I can remember being in tears so much that first month or two because I felt like a failure because I didn't "get the hang of breastfeeding" when I thought it would be so easy to do. I hope that you find something that works for both of you very soon!!

Great image allison!

I think we may have a boppy pillow in our yard sale stuff...I will look tomorrow when I'm up there and see if I can find one to donate to you. You can find them at walmart I think, they are a really huge help.

A comfy chair would be very nice, you could look around at yard sales and maybe find something...

David got me a boppy from walmart. It is useful, but only if it just stayed on my lap for long enough. I have tried the football hold, and Kension hates it. He'll thrash about until I change positions.

David wanted me to ask some advice about electrical pumps. We have a manual one, but we can only get up to 2 oz in an hour. We both want him to be able to feed Kension also, especially those nights I can fall asleep before 2 am. Any suggestions for an effective but cheap one?

I would not recommend pumping (except for engorgement) until breastfeeding is well established. It can cause nipple confusion, etc.

I have not had any success with any less expensive pumps.

I have used the WalMart manual pump and did just fine. When I pumped while working, I also used a manual pump, a higher end one and did fine.

I think 2oz in an hour seems pretty good.

But, I agree with Jenny that pumping can result in a downward spiral for actual breast feeding. Maybe you could actually get a face to face help session with a lactation consultant or LLL leader. Toddler meeting is Wednesday, maybe you could make it.

BF'ing is definitely like learning to ride a bike...you gotta practice practice practice and you end up finding your own way eventually! Another thing you could try or practice, since the baby is newborn is leaning back a recliner or be semi-reclined on a couch and nurse him on top of you, tummy to tummy. The milk will flow a little slower, and instead of the extra flowing onto/into the baby, it will flow onto you. Yeah, it'll be a little messy. I would tuck a burp cloth under my breast to catch all of the extra!

My Regan did the same as yours....fussy fussy, flailed his little arms and legs all of the time. It was so frustrating. The only thing that ended up working for us was when he was newborn, laying on top of me, and then when was a little older, laying down, with a burp cloth underneath to catch the extra and when he got even older, nursing in a carrier with him sitting up in it. Then, when he was 11 month we finally got a hang of the cradle hold! Yeah, it took us that long.... :( It won't happen to you b/c you have lots of help!