11 Tips To A Successful Breastfeeding Experience
Dr. Sabitha with 17-years experience in Pediatrics shares intriguing tips on breastfeeding...
Posted on
17 December 2017
Mums just can’t do enough for their precious little ones. And a lot of them can get caught in the dilemma of breastfeeding while trying to do their best in terms of timings, positions, and nourishment needed.
Some of the most common breastfeeding problems mums encounter are when to start breastfeeding, when to stop breastfeeding, sore nipples, breast pumping, when to give solid foods, and so on.
To help you out, here are some tips to a successful breastfeeding experience for both mommy and baby:
- Start preparing for breastfeeding while you are still pregnant. If you have retracted or inverted nipples discuss the issue with your gynecologists and start corrective measures early. Devices which produce negative pressures can help evert the nipples.
- Start breastfeeding as early as possible after delivery. If possible within half an hour of normal delivery and 2 hours of caesarean section.
- Try not to give supplementary foods unless absolutely indicated and advised by your pediatrician. However it may take 3 to 4 days for milk to get produced by some bodies. If so, do not stress yourself, and continue trying to breastfeed in addition to supplementary foods. Stress tends to decrease production of milk.
- Allow yourself good rest. Get some good sleep, food and fluids to keep yourself well hydrated and rested. Almost one extra meal from usual is needed to provide adequate calories for production of sufficient milk.
- Any position of comfort can be followed by mothers while breastfeeding. Make sure to position the baby’s mouth towards where the nipple is.
- Once positioned gently, touch the upper lip of baby with the nipple, directing the nipple towards the upper lip. And as baby opens his mouth, gently push the nipple and areola into the mouth to ensure your baby is latching on correctly. Your fingers-guiding the nipple and areola must be positioned in the fair area of the breast leaving the dark one for the baby. Also make sure the entire lower portion of areola fits into the mouth.
- Your latching is perfect if 1- you don’t feel any pain while baby is feeding, except maybe for the first 2 or 3 bites, 2- baby is sucking slowly, taking a second or two for each suck, with full mouth and cheeks moving. Fast sucking usually indicate your baby is latching on nipple rather than areola.
- Babies chin should press against the breast and nose should be away from the breast. There must also be a slight extension at the neck so that forehead moves away from breast.
- With a good latch baby can empty the breast in 5 to 10 minutes, maintaining 2 to 3-hours gap in feeding cycles during the first days. This gap increases to 3 or 4 hours by the first month, which becomes convenient for mothers to rest in between.
- Feed completely from one side and burp before moving to the other one.
- Gently introduce your fingers to your baby’s mouth before removing the breast to avoid any pain. Cracked nipples are often due to faulty latch.
- Tags:
- babies
- feeding
- breastfeeding
