I’m hoping to do some leaflets with top breastfeeding tips on but I need your help!
New breastfeeding mums often worry about milk supply, have you got any tips that helped you? I know that oats are supposed to increase supply which is a great excuse for flapjack! And I know that a lot of people worry during a growth spurt because they think their milk is running out, when actually it is just changing in nutritional value.
What would you have liked to have known when you first started breastfeeding?
My very top tip is to position bottles of water near where you might settle down to breastfeed. I always forgot and as soon as my son latched on I got really thirsty!
Lisa
Always carry extra breast pads with you. You never know when your errand is going to take a little longer then you thought.
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A proper breastfeeding v-cushion rather than a thin v shaped back support pillow would be my top tip.
I was fortunate enough to borrow one from my local breastfeeding peer supporter, and it made an enormous difference to ease of feeding for me. Useful for supporting aspiring sitting tots too..
I even found a pattern for making a travel feeding v cushion that you could stuff full of coats! (was of course far too tired to make it tho lol)
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Eat regularly – your body is working hard and needs regular fuel. I would also recommend co-sleeping, makes night feeds so much more manageable.
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Attend a ‘breastfeeding’ support group BEFORE you have your baby. Get to know what’s out there in case you ever need that support. Say ‘i will’ not ‘i’ll try’.
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I found it really helpful when someone told me to get rid of the question ‘Surely, he/she can’t be hungry again?’ from my mind… it freed me to listen to my baby (rather than books or clocks), enjoy her and give up trying to work it all out!
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My tip, which isn’t really a tip at all, would just be to believe that you have enough milk to accomodate your newborn’s growth spurts & just to feed as much as your baby wants. Make sure you are eating & drinking & that before you sit/lie down to feed you have been to the loo, got yourself a drink & a snack & that you are comfortable.
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If you do have a sore/cracked nipple that really hurts to feed from change the feeding position to relieve pressure from the crack. Swap to the underarm/rugby ball or visa versa so the top lip is on the other side to the crack. Reduces pain and allows the crack to heal quickly with out compromising milk supply/engorgement.
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Exaggerated attachment REAALY helped us so maybe info/diagrams/pics on that?
Signs of mastitis and how to prevent…
And maybe a guide to feeding cues and demand feeding (with importance of skin-to-skin for prolactin)?
I second the cushion and water ideas, too!
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I think I would have liked to have known sooner that not all babies come off by themselves when the milk is finished! Mine would stay there for hours! It helped to be told by the breastfeeding counsellor there are two different types of sucking: the first is hard and rhythmic and a bit painful, accompanied by swallowing – this is feeding; the second is lighter and fluttery (and a little annoying at times), with less frequent swallowing – this is for comfort and they might actually just be fast asleep and nibbling! Your breasts will never be completely empty of milk, if you notice 5 or 6 sucks before they swallow then its likely they have reached the ‘end’ of the milk and its time to swap over.
Next piece of advice – go and see a breastfeeding counsellor / breast feeding group. They are brilliant and not scary at all.
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Believe in your body!
(Simple but effective)
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I would definitely say “visit a support group while pregnant”. It’s always what I tell my pregnant friends. You see that it’s a nice friendly environment and be more likely to go and ask for help when you need it. Plus it’s always hood to witness others feeding, before I had my first baby I’d only seen BFing once and wasn’t paying any attention.
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Learn to tell the difference between a suck and a drink. If you know this then you will know whether your baby is getting milk or not and you will be able to take action if the baby is just sucking and not drinking by using breast compressions and switching sides more quickly/frequently.
Keep up your fluid intake, not just water…soup, vegetable juice, raw vegetables etc.
Avoid artificial nipples like pacifiers that can mask feeding cues and hunger signs.
If your (young) baby falls asleep at the breast it is not necessarily because they are done, but could be because the flow slowed down and they got bored of sucking instead of drinking.
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Don’t ever expect a breastfed baby to “settle” or sleep for hours like a bottlefed baby does. Be prepared to be feeding them every twenty minutes the first few weeks. This does not mean you don’t have enough milk!
Almost everyone I know who gave up breastfeeding did so because they thought their babies weren’t being satisfied and thus they were failing.
Put everything else out of your life for a few weeks and really commit yourself to your baby and breastfeeding.
It’s so much easier in the long run and completely worth it.
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I would recommend practising feeding while lying down. I never mastered it with ds1, which meant night feeds completely exhausted me. With ds2 and dd I go the hang of it and was able to doze through night feeds which made me a better functioning human being by day.
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Positioning, positioning, positioning! All other tips are good but none is as powerful as deep attachment with the baby in an effective swallowing position. Working as a BFC I have seen good positioning transform a mother’s experience many times. One baby gained 3oz a week until 5weeks, we worked on postioning and amazingly he gained 15oz in the next week and another 11 the week after that. Magic!
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Be prepared mentally first of all that it might not be an easy sailing to start with.
I would also recommend Holle nursing tea (there’s a link somewhere on Lactivist to get free samples), it surely helped me to have a more established and consistent milk flow. Tastes nice too.
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Remember babies can have a huge growth spurt around 4 months and it’s normal for them to feed very frequently for hours. It’s not a sign that they need weaning.
Trust your boobs – expressed amounts are not a good indication as to how much milk you are producing.
Breastmilk has a highest fat content at the end of a feed so don’t cut a feed short.
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I still forget about the water! I sit down, latch baby on & then have to sweet talk DH
Haven’t read the other comments, so apologies if I am repeating anyone else here….
I have found it really helpful to have a ‘breastfeeding station’ – a place that is just for me & baby, where I have everything I need to hand. I have a rocking chair, blankets, cushions, books, phone & iPod (!) all within reach, plus a soft light for nighttime & nappy stuff. It has made things so much easier at night & early morning. Being comfortable when feeding is no.1 for helping me feed often.
I also found it easier at night in the early days if I was fully awake, rather than drowsy, which makes me want to go back to bed – so the light & books helped there.
I have a similar set-up downstairs for the evenings, which helps with the long feeds then.
I think this all depends on what baby wants too tho – with previous babies, I have found slings & co-sleeping to be really useful.
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Chloe – really like your comment:
“Put everything else out of your life for a few weeks and really commit yourself to your baby and breastfeeding.”
I think that is very important. It helps you to learn from the baby – rather than trying to get the baby to fit in with what everyone else thinks is normal.
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I’m still nursing my 4th child, she turned 4 in August. I have forgotten those initial moments when you first start nursing. The first 4 months are extremely difficult. Especially for your first child, and second child after that it gets much easier with experience.
I used cold clean Cabbage leaves and placed them into my bra when I was engorged and did that for about 5 days. With my 3rd child I accidentally got my milk ducts clogged and that was a nightmare- got clogged from a moisturizer I was using on the rest of my body.
But my milk supply has fluctuated many times to where I thought I might loose it. I have food allergies so I’ve had to take Benadryl and I just made sure I took it sparingly and only when I absolutely had too when I could not breath- that Zyrtec almost instantly dried up my supply so that I use it only as a last resort if I think my allergic reaction may require medical personal.
So when I thought I was loosing my milk supply I drank herbal teas. The kind where only one ingredient is in the tea. My favorite is “Milk Thistle” “Alvita” brand. It has revived my dying milk supply more than once, plus I also used my baby too. During a period where the Zyrtec basically dried up my supply, I drank the herbal “Milk Thistle Alvita” tea, drank water and then had my baby nurse. She told me there was no milk coming out, but I told her to keep trying that it would come back and it did about the second or third time that she came back to nurse.
Medical doctors really do not understand or know about nursing or how amazing the human body really is. I discovered that I probably could have nursed my previous child during the time that I was pregnant with my next child. I also discovered that with a regiment of herbal teas taken before giving birth and the first hours of giving birth- will make your milk supply come in with in 24 hours- which the hospital nurses do not believe you when you tell them you have your milk in. As an experienced mom who has nursed all her babies for 2 and a half years each or longer- I think I would know when my milk is in. I brought my coffee pot to the hospital with me to make hot water in my room so that I could have my herbal teas around the clock and I laugh because the hospital nurses thought I was drinking coffee!
Well, I gotta say…. “Experience makes you knowledgeable”.
You have to hang in there and do what you think is right and what feels right even when everyone around you is telling you the wrong information.
If I could have done each of my children over, of course I would be drinking the herbal teas one per day for 3 or 4 days before I switched them out. I’d of done that thru out the pregnancy which I did for my later pregnancies and then continue with the herbal teas the first year of nursing and only when necessary after that.
Plus.
I would have cuddled each of my babies on me- nursed them constantly the first 2 weeks without getting out of bed- (that would have been so nice)
I would have let the little one sleep on me and nurse on me for those 2 weeks straight. Then I would have continued to carry the baby on me while baby slept and ate and while I got back to my house routine. With my last two children, I started to understand that the baby has a different routine than what those books and doctors say.
I basically cuddled and carried around my last 2 children especially my last child- I had the baby sling and wore that everywhere.
Nurse your baby- DO NOT EVER GIVE UP! and Don’t listen to your doctor if they tell you to stop nursing.
Arm yourself with information and tell that doctor… that growth chart did not measure nursing babies!
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Another thing that helped me. Which I forgot to mention.
Was this book. “Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing year” by Susun s. Weed ISBN 0-9614620-0-0.
This was a book that mentored me thru difficult times and told me what to do.
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Hi Lisa – Thanks for your support with this leaflet for Mama Packs!! Yzzy was asking on MP thread, so I felt ok to email you all!xx
Not looking at the clock at night, or anytime, trusting in your Mummy instincts, V pillows! eating well, drinking loads of water, and making sure to delegate jobs to other family / friend members, so you can concentrate on baby and yourself, co sleeping was brilliant, and lie down to nurse gets rest and relaxes you both! and oh try and NOT be Super Mum, take a day at a time, buy or rent a copy of “Womanly Art Of Breastfeeding , Three in a bed, or invest in Sharon Trotters TIPS breastfeeding guide” and find a good Mum to Mum network of locl BF Mums, I found and joined LLL – amazing support, and made many close friends there with both breastfeeding journeys with both our sons. see my website for BF links! Mostly Enjoy your baby and ignore comments and trust your instincts!
Pip Wheelwright – Boobie Buddies Ltd.
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Lots of things!
It WILL hurt at first – get a tube of lansinoh, rub expressed milk into your nipples and sit with them in the air for a bit. Ignore people who tell you it’s not supposed to hurt!
Newborns do feed little and often, it’s nature’s way of getting your milk supply established and increasing to meet the demand as baby grows, it doesn’t mean you’re not producing enough milk and that your baby isn’t satisfied.
Cover up clocks, and don’t wear your watch – do not time your baby, don’t worry about how long he/she goes between feeds, OR how long he/she feeds for when she’s latched on.
Comfort sucking is NOT a bad thing.
Feeding to sleep is NOT a bad thing.
Formula fed babies don’t necessarily sleep through sooner, OR sleep for longer, OR settle for longer inbetween feeds.
A nice sturdy rod works wonders for a bad back :p
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Don’t listen to Granny – so many of us were bottle fed and our mums, though trying their best just can’t see why our babies feed frequently and wake for feeds at night.
In the first weeks/during growth spurts be selfish, sit down, lay down, do what you need to do for your body and your baby and let everyone else stress about the housework/dinner.
Co-sleep.
Learn ‘how to’ before you’re a hormonal new mum. If you know half of what you need to know while you’re still sane and not convinced your baby is starving you’re already halfway there.
Read read read, I’ve been shocked at reactions from GPs, Health Visitors and hospital midwives who are shockingly misinformed about so many aspects of breastfeeding.
Be in tune with your baby, I was warned giving up breastfeeding would be uncomfortable and stressful. Each of my children was fed til 2+, the last one still is and at 2 1/2 had just dropped to one feed a day, she is growing up at her own pace.
Use a comfortable sling.
Be confident breastfeeding in public, your life doesn’t stop when you become a mum and babies are wonderfully portable.
Expect and understand growth spurts.
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Definitely don’t watch clocks or make lists of how many feeds or how long.
Also, don’t be afraid to co-sleep. If you follow the safety co-sleeping rules this could be the perfect arrangement. It means that you can get some sleep whilst your baby feeds so that you can manage the day.
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As a new mum-to-be at 40, I knew absolutely nothing about babies, breastfeeding or parenting. I had spent 20+ years being ME… Well, when my darling son arrived almost a year ago, I had a huge shock. Things I learned very fast (although it felt like an eternity):
Breastfeeding hurts for a lot longer than people tell you. But, if you persist, it really is the best thing ever. Feed side lying. It’s so comfortable.
Co-sleeping is awesome.
Slings are essential and there should be more information about babywearing in the first few months for new mums. In fact, if I had known about babywearing, I might not have spent so much dosh on that fancy pram that we didn’t use for the first four months.
Reusable nappies are habit forming.
The local free breastfeeding cafe in my area provided me with wonderful support and dear friends that you don’t mind getting your tits out with in public places.
I only liked one of the 6 midwives I met during my pregnancy & birth, her name was Ugo and she delivered my son in under 30 minutes of my 14 hour hospital visit.
Breastfeeding has not helped me get my figure back. I’m still a larger 34E (pre-baby 34B) with hips and tummy to match. But who cares?! My little one loves poking my tummy and caressing my skin.
There are not enough good nursing clothes out there. If I could sew, I would totally make my own. A seamstress I am not. : (
Lilypadz are really good reusable pads, but expensive if you are a self employed / un-working new mum who has decided to stay home longer so she can breastfeed on demand at 11 and a half months.
Avent ISIS Duo is unnecessary, but very effective. I should have bought the single boob pump. All the other pumps I tried were rubbish.
Breast shells were useful in the early days when sore nipples were really bad. I’d rub my milk on my nipples, put the shells on under a bra and hold my son while he slept. I was like that for second two months of his life.
I occasionally read KellyMom for support when I start thinking that I should be weaning from the breast. I’m definitely the last mum I know personally to give up — I haven’t dropped feeds, because I have never counted them. If my son sees my bare breasts and smiles, I offer it up. HV says feed baby food first, milk after. I feed my son from my breast w h e n e v e r.
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Don’t bother with a breast pump, hand express – it’s easy, cheap, no pump to steralise, and the motorised ones can damage your milk ducts, apparently.
I pumped for two of mine, one for 6mnths as I had to work part time, and doing it by hand worked beautifully for me!
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