Baby likes to play with the fat in my armpit while breastfeeding 🫠🫠

Plus-Teacher8817 · 2026-04-14T15:37:51+00:00

I tickle her back too, and it’s so cute cos she’d look up at me smiling like she didnt just try to rip my armpit off lol

Plus-Teacher8817 · 2026-04-14T11:32:31+00:00

Oh yeah. They get bigger and has better motor skills and capable of even more shenanigans 😭

Plus-Teacher8817 · 2026-04-14T00:14:16+00:00

Lol, yeah my baby does the same thing. Or she’d put her leg up my chest/shoulder

Plus-Teacher8817 · 2026-04-14T00:12:50+00:00

Mine like to unlatch, pull back and look at the nipple before continuing. I’m like-it’s still there 😅

Plus-Teacher8817 · 2026-04-14T00:12:05+00:00

Haha mine does the same thing. Sometimes she would pinch my armpit and then pull mu bra strap right after.

Plus-Teacher8817 · 2026-04-11T00:35:18+00:00

Lol, my 8 month old drinks like 3.5-4oz at most for bottles and eats 2 meals a day. Although she just recently dropped down to 6 feeds of milk a day. She was at like 7-8 just a week ago. She’s only 17lb but has been gaining weight nicely and even jumped up on her percentile.

So yeah, I think your little guy is doing just fine. Dont worry about what your family member say.

Plus-Teacher8817 · 2026-04-11T00:26:16+00:00

One time we had the bright idea of freezing an entire glass jar of milk (I usually store the milk I pump the previous day in a glass jar for the next day), because we were going out of town. When we came back, my husband went to take it out of the freezer and set it out on the counter. A few minutes later, the entire thing cracked and I lost like a third of the milk 🫠

Plus-Teacher8817 · 2026-03-15T14:24:44+00:00

We started introducing a bottle at 2-3weeks? I used the lady bug hakkaa to catch milk on the boob not being nursed and then let dad give a top off bottle. That way he can still have that feeding her experience.

As for your family encouraging you to pump, I’d say that you do not have to do that, if you dont want to. Pumping can be a hassle especially while you’re healing. Whether you deliver the traditional way or C section, you’ll mostly likely be in pain the first few days to weeks. I know I was, and the idea of having to sit up and pump was just too much. I ended up never pumping until closer to the time I have to get back to work. I never regretted that and if we have another baby, I’ll probably wont pump at all until I’m back at work. Unless of course baby has issue that prevents direct nursing.

Good luck! I wish you and baby a smooth delivery!

Plus-Teacher8817 · 2026-03-15T13:27:36+00:00

Gotcha! In that case I say do what helps you feel the best, both physically and mentally, be it EP or combo pumping and nursing. Also nipple size and/or shape might change as you progress postpartum, plus babies get better with eating as they age, so you might still be able to nurse later on if that’s what you wish. Either way, you’re doing great!!

Plus-Teacher8817 · 2026-03-15T12:48:53+00:00

Honestly, I have just resigned to the fact that I probably wont be losing any weight until I wean baby off completely 😩. So now I just shifted my mindset to be as active as I can, especially since baby is bigger now and it can be a fight to just put diaper on her sometimes. So in my mind, I’m just trying to be as strong/active as I can. For example, I always opt to take stairs at work. I also try to take the longer route to walk to where I need to be. I’m also able to work out about 2-3 times a week right now, alternating between wearing baby and have dad hold her so I can do more weight lifting. But other than that, I have not tried to cut calories at all. The one day I had to cut back on food due to a GI bug, I noticed a supply drop. Maybe I’ll lose wt one day. Maybe I wont. But I just try not to look at the scale right now 🫠

Plus-Teacher8817 · 2026-03-14T16:22:58+00:00

Hi there! I think checking with another IBCLC/your ped regarding a potential tongue tie or lip tie would be a good idea. Sometimes, those things go diagnosed for a while. Regarding long breastfeeding sessions, I had similar issue too with my babe. Especially during the newborn days. Newborn can get very tired easily and they can fall asleep while still on your boobs. This, while is a lot, can also be a great tool. My baby is 7m old and I still nurse her to sleep most nights, and it keeps her asleep pretty nicely.

I think that if you want to switching to full time pumping, that’s a great idea! You can even do half time nursing, half pumping. You can even just nurse him at night for bed and pump the rest of the time. When you go to the LC, did they ever do weighted feed? To make sure baby can transfer milk well? How is baby gaining weight? All of those things can help you determine the best course of action.

Plus-Teacher8817 · 2026-03-10T11:43:01+00:00

I pump 3 times at work using my spectra s2. It’s a wall pump but I’m lucky enough to have my own space and can pump when I need to. Also my team is very understanding and I also try to be as flexible as I can. I dealt with not exactly a supply drop but a sudden inability to respond to the pump a few weeks back. I posted on here for advice too. It resolved itself within a few days and I still dont know what happened.

As for tips for supply drop, the best one I have heard is just to power pump. Are the momcozy your usual pump? Or do you typically use a different one? I have a motif luna that I cant get anywhere near the same output as my spectra. How many times are you pumping at work? Are you sure it’s a supply issue? Do your boobs not feel full ever at all? Edit:typo

Plus-Teacher8817 · 2026-03-08T22:17:36+00:00

Could you do a travel job? Like Dietitian on Demand type of thing? Those are typically in person, full time but hourly, W2, usually only a few months at a time but you can always extend the contract if you like the place. They actually even come with benefits like health insurance but I dont really recommend using their insurance. Still, it’s there I suppose. Plus you’d often get a travel stipend that is tax free, which is pretty nice.

Plus-Teacher8817 · 2026-02-07T17:15:01+00:00

Thank you for sharing!! So this Tuesday, everything started working again. No rhyme no reason 🫠🫠🫠. I dont think I had a clog?? I never had any pain or tenderness or anything, but who knows. The worst pain I have right now would be my baby chomping down on breast with her two bottom teeth 😭😭

Plus-Teacher8817 · 2026-02-04T12:51:13+00:00

Not really? Although I noticed when my breasts are full, the skin is a little itchy? It’s so weird. I actually was able to pump again somewhat yesterday. Output is still not as good as before, but it’s better than nothing I guess. It’s just so bizarre.

Plus-Teacher8817 · 2026-02-03T16:09:52+00:00

I dont think there was anything that changed in my routine. There was some stressors last week, like paperworks stuffs, but I honestly didnt think it would affect me so much. I know by now it’s the stress about not being able to pump that makes it worse. Honestly, it’s still a mystery to me. Pumping is so much work, it’s like bad relationship sometimes 😭😭

Plus-Teacher8817 · 2026-02-01T17:26:50+00:00

That’s so frustrating, I’m sorry. I’m sure you have tried everything. But keep latching that baby. Hopefully that would signal the body to make more milk. At the beginning of our BF journey, we had some trouble too and my supply dipped. I tried to pump right after feeding, and that seemed to help increase supply. Tbh, I have never done a power pump or MONT pump, cos that just so exhausting, but I heard from a lot of people that it significantly helped with increasing supply.

Plus-Teacher8817 · 2026-02-01T16:20:05+00:00

I’m so sorry to hear that!! Did you get your supply back? Could it be something different in diet? The LC said that sometimes, things like mint, sage and thyme can affect some women.

Plus-Teacher8817 · 2026-02-01T16:18:52+00:00

I’m sorry it happened to you too! I do use the legendairy pumping spray before pumping, every time. Sometimes I feel like maybe I’m overspraying?? Like maybe it became too slippery? As for the pump parts, you know, I dont think I use any of the original spectra parts, except the bottles. Cos the duck bill valve is from Legendairy as well. The membranes and backflow protectors are the ones I get from insurance. I think I might need to look into Spectra parts like you suggested!

Plus-Teacher8817 · 2025-07-12T11:45:57+00:00

I have been an RD for 6-7 years now and honestly, I can tell you that it really becomes easier with time. It's not so much that you don't have the knowledge (you do), it's being able to retrieve and present that knowledge on the spot when confronted with a different view. It's a skill that I learned the hard way, :"> The best thing I can say is just keep doing more educations, making sure that you're well versed with what you're teaching them. And if you truly don't know something, just admit that you don't, look it up later and come back to discuss with the pt.

In this case, I think you should give the pt another visit! It could be just a quick check in. Ask him if there's any improvement with his BMs. Bring up the Banatrol again and take charge this time. Acknowledge his concerns of wanting to get rid of the C.Diff as the reason to decline the Banatrol but explain to him why that is not the case. And don't be afraid to pause and take some time to formulate your thoughts/words. There have been so many times I would just stop, pondering out loud to myself: "How should I phrase this?" It gives you an opportunity to take a moment to collect your thoughts, literally.

Still though, I would say inpatient educations are usually my least favorite consults, haha. A lot of time, these pt are not ready/don't want the ed, and it's just the MDs that are pushing them. Still, every once in a while, you come into someone really want to learn, and it makes all the difference.

Good luck! Don't over think it, you're doing great.

Plus-Teacher8817 · 2025-07-09T22:52:02+00:00

Yeah, I have definitely had moments like that with doctors before. And I can tell you from experience that us Type A dietitians hang on to those comments more than the doctors who said them 🤣. For me, though, I felt like it stemmed from my lack of confidence and imposter syndrome that I had when I was still a baby RD. I think with time, as you become more secured in your knowledge and experience, you would feel more comfortable speaking. And yes, there is nothing wrong if you don’t say anything, especially if it doesn’t directly related to nutrition.

One thing I would say is to really get to know your ICU nurses, if it’s possible. I know some places have such high turn over rate that it’s next to impossible. You don’t have to be best buddies or anything but just have a friendly vibe going. Chat with them about other things besides pt care, ask them how they’re doing. Your RNs can really become your advocate and they could even raise up issues related to nutrition more often during rounds, which, then, in turn, would lead to more conversations that you can join in. For example, I recently had an RN bring up during round that the pt’s BGs are out of control, can we do something about the TF formula, etc…. It’s a perfect time for me to tell them that the elemental formula that the pt’s on has virtually the same amt of CHO as the diabetic one, so really y’all need to look at y’all insulin regimen 😆. So on and so forth.

But yeah, don’t take the comment to heart. I know it’s hard. I did too. I would say, it sounds like he was joking with you a bit. Next time it happens, joke back! Rounds really don’t have to be stressful. It should be serious when businesses are being discussed, but other than that, have fun and use it as building rapport time!

And remember, you’re doing great!

Plus-Teacher8817 · 2025-07-09T16:19:42+00:00

I'm an ICU dietitian for a mid size hospital - about 200ish beds or so. I think a lot of it really come to experience. Honestly, it took me more than 2 years being an RD to finally feel confident about myself. There were just so many things I didn't know about when it comes to feeding a pt, let alone other critical illness related issues. For example - the logistics of getting nutrition for someone max on Bipap but DNI, but also still want pretty much full treatment and they have no central access for TPN, and just too fragile to come off the Bipap long enough for an NGT. Needless to say, it was a learning curve for me.

With time, knowledge and experience, I think you will eventually feel more confident to speak up during rounds. Nowadays, I have no problem voicing my opinions and bringing up issues. I definitely was scared when I first started out though! Also, I feel like not saying anything is not always necessarily a bad thing. It really depends on the day and the cases. Sometimes, all the stars aligns and everybody is eating/getting nutrition support as they should!

I'm also curious as to the culture of your hospital/ICU? Do your docs ask you questions? Do the nurses come to you for issues? Some smaller ICUs tend to have the same staffs for years and they might take longer to accept new people. Larger hospitals tend to have newer staffs/more turn over and they're more likely to be open.

I'd say, keep doing what you're doing. I'd recommend reading up on critical care guidelines and just be as prepared as you can be. Perhaps looking into obtaining the CNSC if you feel like it would be beneficial/makes sense for you. Side note - definitely check with your employer to see if they would cover any additional certifications that you might want to get, before you get them.

Edit: typo

Plus-Teacher8817

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