It is the end of World Breastfeeding week, and I wanted to share these tips with the Bella Bellies Community to help support breastfeeding. I loved breastfeeding my babies! To me it was a sacred-like time for the hustle and bustle of the world to go away, and for us both to sit down and be together. Breastfeeding supports baby's overall health and well-being and helps reduce mom's risk of breast cancer. Below are twenty tips that I learned while nursing my daughter and son.
20 Tips I wish I knew before I started breastfeeding
1)
Make
an appointment with the lactation consultant, in advance of birth, for a
prenatal visit and a postpartum visit.
During your pregnancy, consider
meeting with a lactation consultant in advance of birth so this professional
can give you advice unique to your breasts and current health condition. This is great preparation for the 2nd or 3rd nursing session,
which tends to be the most difficult. Also, consider deciding if you like this
lactation consultant, or would prefer to enlist the services of another for
your postpartum care. Unfortunately lactation consultants are not always
available at the hospital for hands-on assessments and evaluations. As a
postpartum fitness professional and child birth educator, I recently attended a
meeting at an amazing hospital where there are phenomenal lactation
consultants. However these lactation consultants are not available 24/7 and on the
weekends. For instance, if a patient delivered on a Friday evening, after 5:00
PM, it is likely she will not be seen by a lactation consultant before being
discharged from the hospital. It is rare any hospital will be able to promise
an appointment with a lactation consultant who is available 24/7. Furthermore, nurses typically have 3-4
patients that are under their supervision, consequently the nursing staff may
not be available to provide the hands-on teaching skills.
2)
Thomas
Hale’s book on nursing and medication is handy to have around
3)
Nothing
technically can prepare your breasts in advance of nursing
However, during the prenatal phase,
preventing chaffing or dry skin around and on the nipples may help prevent
cracking of the skin, postpartum, when baby is nursing.
4)
Prepare
for taking care of you!
There is so much emphasis on
preparing for the baby with baby showers, baby clothes, baby’s name, baby’s
room and the list goes on. But this little critter is depending on mom for
nourishment and support –baby needs you and it is imperative you take care of
yourself. Prior to birth, set up
stations filled with healthy snacks, water, pillows for back support and more
around your house. Postpartum, prioritize sleep / rest and consider adopting
methods to safely co-sleep.
5)
You
may consider a baby scale
This can provide you with feedback,
so that you can nurse and then weigh baby to note how many ounces baby has
consumed.
6)
Find
a breastfeeding moms support group
For instance join a La leche league
support group, hospital support group or start your own
7)
Skin-to-skin
contact is critical after birth
Two hours of skin to skin contact immediately
after birth and ongoing improves baby’s vital scores and receptivity to
nursing.
8)
Choose
a supportive pediatrician
Nursing mothers need support,
ensure you have a pediatrician that provides you with support and evidence
based care relative to nursing.
9)
Limit
guests postpartum and prioritize taking care of yourself and your baby.
You
may consider wearing a bathrobe when greeting guests to send a subtle message that
you are needing to rest. Also, you can greet them while you are still in bed. A
little bit less subtle is hanging a well-crafted sign on the door that reads,
“Mom and Baby Resting, Please Enter Quietly”. Or speak with your support (for
instance your partner, family or postpartum doula) about being direct, but
polite with guests and scheduling an appointment 4-6 weeks after the birth.
10) Set-Up Easy Hand Washing Stations
for You and Your Guests
11) If baby is gassy, speak with your
pediatrician about simethicone drops, such as mylicon, or gripe water
You may also speak with your health
care provider / pediatrician about making your own gripe water by mixing and
boiling, 1 teaspoon of fennel, 2-3 chamomile tea
bags, 1 cup of water. Once cool, give baby 1 teaspoon of the mixture as
needed.
12) Let baby set the pace,
it may take a few weeks but eventually your baby will find his / her rhythm.
13) Engorgement
When your milk comes in it is common for your breasts to feel
engorged. Personally it felt like there were rocks in place of my breasts, but
it passed quickly. To help manage pain, consider running warm water over your
breasts and expressing a bit of milk to help manage. And / or consider placing
cold cabbage leaves over the breasts to help reduce inflammation. Personally, sleeping
and continuing to rest on my back helped me the most.
14) There may be an initial
amount of discomfort during the initial days or weeks, but nursing should not
cause you acute pain. If it does speak with your health care provider.
a. Tenderness is normal but chronic discomfort and pain is not. Ensure
your set-up is correct; baby should be at an angle such that baby’s ear,
shoulder and hip are in alignment, with there being baby belly to mommy belly
contact. Also, ensure the entire nipple and areola is inside the mouth and the
lips are turned out, being particularly aware the bottom lip underneath the
areola.
b. Consider using lanolin ointment on the nipples and areola for
comfort, if the lanolin ointment does not work, then express a little bit of
breast milk onto the nipple as a soothing ointment.
c. Switch it up
i.
Cross cradle position tends
to be best
ii.
Football hold
15) Know the truth about
alcohol and breast feeding
Breast
milk mimics blood alcohol so it will be present in your breast milk at least an
hour after drinking, even if you pump and dump. Alcohol is eliminated from the
breast milk just like it is from the bloodstream.
16) Keep your breasts dry to help
prevent a fungus
17) Prevent problems by considering
herbs…lecithin is great for avoiding clogged milk ducts
and blessed thistle, goats rue and fennel are great for increasing milk flow.
18) Not all babies who are nursing accept
the bottle --and my children were two of them
Here are some tips that
helped me:
a. Exclusively
nurse if practical
b. Speak
with your health care provider about cup feeding or spoon feeding
c. Speak
with your health care provider about finger feeding, in which the finger is
inserted into the mouth (nipple-like) with a tube that slowly drains.
d. Choose
a bottle top nipple that is similar to your nipple
e. Pumping
1. Pump
in the morning when milk supply tends to be the greatest
2. Pump
long enough for the hind milk to come in and let down. The fore milk is a water
like composition and has a blue tinge to it. The hind milk is a fattier,
filling milk and tends to have a richer more cream-like color.
3. To
pump more milk consider consulting a lactation consultant for a medical grade
pump.
f. Consistently
provide baby the bottle at the same time during the day, ideally when baby is
in a quiet alert state, meaning a state where baby is awake, alert and content
g. Ensure
the bottle and nipple is breast temperature
h. Smell
–either encourage mom’s smell by having the bottle provider wear mom’s shirt
and / or nursing in the same environment. Or, if this upsets baby, remove mom’s
smell from the area and provide baby a bottle in a space where mom is not
present
i.
Distract baby by walking with baby and
trying to give baby the bottle
j.
Consider maintaining eye contact with
baby and skin-to-skin contact with baby, similar to how mom does when she is
nursing baby
19) Create a safe and happy place to
nurse, where you feel comfortable and all your needs are met. Relaxing while nursing
will reduce tension, if the body is tense it will inhibit milk production.
20) Sometimes there are bumps in the
road, but do not give up. I loved nursing both my children and I
wish the same for you.
If
you have any ideas or tips, email me at info@bellabellies.com
to share and support our Bella Bellies Community.
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