Planning to breastfeed? Tips for a strong start.
Mylee Zschech is the founder of Little Big Dreamers. She is a Child Sleep and Behavior Consultant and Lactation counselor helping families transition through the early years. In honor of World Breastfeeding Week, she’s sharing some early tips for breastfeeding success. @littlebigdreamerssleep
When it comes to a successful breastfeeding experience, there are some things you can do right out of the gate to establish adequate milk supply and to quickly identify and mitigate any issues. Establishing some early wins and finding rhythms that work for you early on can be a big help in achieving your breastfeeding goals.
Here are some tips to help you get breastfeeding off to a strong start:
Breastfeeding in the first hour
Skin to skin contact and a first breastfeeding attempt within the first hour of your baby’s life are extremely important. Skin-to-skin means placing your naked baby directly on your bare chest with his or her stomach facing down on your body. Then as your baby is ready, they can move towards your breast and initiate the first feed either on their own or with a little help. This helps kick start your milk supply and gives your baby a chance to practice feeding with colostrum.
Continued skin-to-skin
Skin-to-skin has amazing benefits for your baby not just right after birth but afterward as well. It helps regulate baby's temperature, heart rate, breathing patterns, and even blood sugar level. Skin-to-skin contact acts as a cue to baby to encourage feeding and can work wonders for relaxing your baby and getting them settled in so you can both focus on feeding.
Don’t feed by the clock
Watching for feeding cues is more important than feeding on a schedule or by the clock. Cues like arms and legs moving around, head moving from side to side, making sucking motions, or rooting are all hunger signs. Crying is actually a sign that your baby is past hungry. You can stay ahead of that by watching for these feeding cues.
One other note is that when we feed by the clock, we can often inadvertently space breastfeeds out too far, which can then impact milk supply. It’s all about finding your baby’s natural feeding rhythms and leaning into those.
It’s normal for babies to breastfeed very frequently. Remember those tiny tummies!
Keep an eye on your latch and any nipple pain
Having a good latch while breastfeeding is key to stimulating all the breastfeeding hormones. Your baby should have a nice, big open mouth as they latch onto your nipple. Keeping your nipple right by their nose, and allowing your baby to tilt their head back slightly will help them gape and get the nipple deep into their mouth.
If there is ever any pain don't feel like you should keep going with the nursing session. This can cause nipple damage. You can first make some adjustments to your body position and your baby. But if this doesn't bring relief then break their suction by placing your finger in the corner of their mouth. Re-latch and try again.
Meet with a lactation professional
Lactation counselors or consultants are a wonderful help. You don’t have to wait until you are having a problem to see them. You can schedule a visit while you are still in the hospital or ask a lactation professional to see or call you after discharge so you can ask any questions, get some support, or see if they can share some pointers or adjustments. This will help you feel confident in your breastfeeding journey.
Knowing the key ways to get breastfeeding off to a good start, along with arming yourself with an understanding of how breastfeeding works, will help you on your breastfeeding journey. But please know that it’s okay if it isn’t easy or you have problems. If this happens, the most important thing to do is to reach out for help from a skilled lactation professional so that you can pinpoint the issue and work on getting breastfeeding running smoothly.