Tips for Early Breastfeeding
Below are my top six tips for all of my “baby mamas” to ensure a successful nursing relationship in the early days of breastfeeding!
No Meds: Whether it be for pain or for induction, if you can avoid them, do.
Skin-to-skin directly after birth. Offer the breast. If baby latches and nurses for awhile and then comes up, leave baby skin-to-skin so you can offer again when baby shows hunger cues.
Be your baby’s pacifier during uncomfortable procedures: PKU, hearing screen, etc.
KEEP YOUR BABY WITH YOU! Don’t send your baby to the nursery. You will get better quality of sleep AND you won’t miss hunger cues if your baby is with you.
No Bath Needed! Vernix is good for the skin and bathing makes baby more tired than they are from being born. Sleepy babies are hard to wake up to eat. You can bathe your baby when you get home.
Breastfeed on demand! Milk production is a supply and demand process - so breastfeeding on demand helps to ensure your baby is getting what they need while you continue making what they need.
Breastfeeding, Infant, Saunsu
Hey ladies, the second night sucks! Period. Babies want to cluster feed and you’re sleepy. Rest/sleep whenever baby sleeps the first day and set your alarm to offer the breast every 2-3 hours. The second day you just have to dig in, suck it up and nurse through it. It doesn’t last forever. Yes, your baby is hungry. Yes, baby is acting like he/she is not getting enough. Constantly going to the breast is the only way your baby can tell your body, “Hey, I’m hungry!” Allowing this important step helps your mature milk to start coming in on the third day.
One last thing: babies’ fontanels don’t completely close until about the second year. This allows for rapid brain growth. The best food for growing brains is breastmilk. We are not cows. We do not go out to pasture. We are the top of the food chain because of our big brains. Give your baby the best start possible. BREASTFEED. :)