solids before primary? need good mommy advice!

[admin]

I need some good mommy (or daddy) advice)! My baby will be having primary the week he turns 6 months (in 3 weeks). He is exclusively breastfed and hasn't started solids yet. I want to make it all as easy as possible, of course. My doctor says to go ahead and start now. I don't know what too expect as far as recovery, possible fussiness, etc. Anyone think it would be better to wait until a few weeks after? I though maybe other families might have dealt with this since primary is generally within these months. Thanks so much!

[admin]

Well, if he is hungry, start him now. My child had a fairly easy recovery from primary (most of them do- all they need after surgery is Tylenol) I would try to feed him solids in the hospital the day after surgery, I don't know that I would mess with it right after surgery, they are usually kind of groggy and sore the first day; unless breast milk just isn't enough anymore, then by all means, feed him. Just relax and listen to him, he will tell you what he needs. Good luck to you, let us know how his surgery works out.

[admin]

Personally I'd tell you to leave surgery out of your decision making process about this. If he wants to continue nursing, then continue and if he wants to eat solids, then let him eat solids. Some kids need the breast more after surgery for comfort and some kids shy away. There's no way you're going to know in advance.

My little one nursed fine. Right after primary she drank some diluted apple juice from a bottle (her first time actually) and then I pumped that night. The next day she wanted to nurse as soon as she woke up. Two months after surgery she stopped completely just one day and that was it. She was done and that was the end! Good luck. I hope that all works out well.

[Samsmom]

My son had primary surgery at 6 months. He exclusively was breastfed as well. He was not interested in solid baby food. He only ate cheerios and crackers. After surgery it was difficult to nurse him on the right side because he had surgery done on his left arm. So I just pumped for the first couple of feedings when it was time to nurse on the right side. I think that the nutritious breast milk is the best thing for these healing babies. I'm sure what ever decision you make will be the best. We are all just trying to do what is best for our babies.

[TNT1999]

Good question. As someone else suggested, I'd keep the surgery out of the decision. Is your baby showing signs of readiness now? Does he sit up good with support? Does he look interested in food when you're eating? Does he try to grab at your food? If he seems ready now, you could always start to introduce solids and see if he's interested. If not, then try again in a week or two. I breastfed my daughter with the BPI. She was well into solids when she had her first surgery though b/c she was 10 months old. If your baby does start solids now, he might not be interested for a few days after surgery, which is fine, just wait until he's ready again. I found with my 2nd baby, he was interested and started solids at about 5 1/2 months old, but at times wasn't interested and would just nurse more.

I was always thankful to be able to breastfeed my daughter after 3 of her 4 surgeries b/c I knew it comforted her. I remember that after primary it was uncomfortable for her to nurse on one side for first day or so though. The hospital had a lactation center with electric breast pumps available for use. When it was hard for my baby to nurse, I had a bottle available for her. I would suggest either bringing or pump from home or even easier, calling the hospital to see if they have a pump available for your use (which they should). The have plastic parts that come in a package that you keep (and can even use again at home if you have a compatible pump). They billed our insurance (for the plastic pump parts) on my baby's account and the insurance covered it for us. Where is he having surgery? Did the dr. give you an estimated time frame of how long to expect the surgery to take? I ask b/c you'll probably want to plan to pump during that time (whenever or however frequently your baby nurses). If your baby ever uses a bottle, bring a couple with you so it's a nipple he's used to. If your baby doesn't ever use a bottle, the hospital can freeze your milk for you while you're there and mabye you can bring a small soft insulated bag to bring the milk home. Even if you never use the milk, at least you won't slow down your milk production b/c you'll be pumping.

BTW, when the baby is admitted to a room after recovery, you can also ask them if there's a pump you can keep in your room (if he's not up to nursing) so that you don't have to leave the room to go pump. TCH was always very accomodating with that for me b/c once my baby was out of surgery I never wanted to leave her side.

If the baby doesn't start solids before surgery, then you can probably give it a try very soon after you get home. You'll be surprised at how quickly he will probably bounce back to himself.

BTW, if the baby hasn't ever tried a bottle and you want to introduce one, there are two kinds of nipples recommended by Lactation Consultants that I know of -- the Avent nipples, or the Evenflow ULTRA ones (if you look at them, they're wider than the regular Evenflow ones). My baby occasionally has a bottle of water and does well with the Evenflow Ultras, but didn't ever do well with the Avent ones.

One more thing I just thought of is when they give you the pre-op instructions, they'll prob. say nothing to eat or drink after midnight. Findout what time your baby will be admitted and what the estimated time is for surgery. Ask if you can breastfeed until 4 or 5 a.m. b/c breastmilk is digested more quickly than anything else and could be considered comparable to clear liquids (apple juice, water, etc.) as far as pre-op instructions are concerned. Sometimes emergency surgeries come up and the surgery time gets delayed and that can be very hard on a little one, so the later you can safely feed the easier the morning wait will be.

I think it's great that you've exclusively breastfed to this point! Good for you! If you have any other questions or concerns, feel free to e-mail me at bpmom@comcast.net.

~Tina (Mom to Nicole, 5 1/2 y.o. w/LBPI & Joshua, 9 1/2 month old, C-Section)

[Ashleigh's Mom]

My daughter was already on solids by time surgery came (she started at 4 months). To be honest, she wasn't the least bit interested in them after surgery. She did have a little trouble and had to stay a day longer in the hospital (she was having trouble coming off the respirator so they kept her on it overnight. We took her off the next day and she was fine). So I think whether or not you start them before surgery won't matter too much after surgery. It took Ash a few weeks to get back into her old eating habits (and sleeping habits). The bottle brought her more comfort (she started refusing to breastfeed at 2 1/2 months so I had to wean her). I think that breastfeeding will bring your baby the most comfort and that he would not be interested in food after surgery anyways so do not feel pressured into starting food now. Good luck and I wish you all the best!

[admin]

When I figured out that my son had pain nursing on the one side after primary I used the football hold for nursing him. I did this for about a week. The football hold is also the easiest position for nursing, easier for a baby to latch on and doesn't tire them out as fast. My son had difficulty breathing and eating at the same time as a newborn (diaphram issues)so this saved my determination to breast feed.

[admin]

WOW - thanks so much to everyone for the great advice. I currently don't have internet access at home so it's been hard to keep up. I feel confident now that we'll do just fine breastfeeding for the next couple of weeks to get through the surgery (at Hermann) then we'll try the solids. Thanks again. I don't know how I would cope with out this group's support!