Breast feeding your baby was the way that God designed your body. It's natural, and the best for your infant. It helps to bond with your infant, assists with immunity for the baby, and provides optimal growth and neurological development. Other benefits of breast feeding are: protective against communicable diseases, leads to better teeth/jaw development, protects against bacteria, meningitis, provides protection against neonatal sepsis, and is the very best for a premature or low birth weight baby.
Infants that are nursed get sick less often which means they are in the doctors office and hospital less often, they have a lower risk of diseases which include: diarrhea, gastrointestinal, and urinary tract infections. They also have a reduced rate of infections of the upper respiratory tract, less ear infections, less pneumonia, neonatal sepsis, giardia,and less incidence of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
Everyone knows that breast is best, but do you know that no matter how hard man tries, they can not make a formula that is any where equal to breast milk! Your milk is made for the baby that you carried, at the age of the child when the baby is born. By this I mean that if you deliver your baby too early, your milk will have things in it that is special to that premature baby. Just what the infant would need. No formula can do that.
Mothers who breast feed benefit by a special bond that is between you and your baby. It provides you with a way for your uterus to 'go-back' to its pre-pregnancy size, yes you will have cramps as this happens, but you will also have less bleeding. It also burns up calories, which means that you loose your pregnancy gained weight faster. Mothers who breast feed have less cancers-breast, ovarian, and cervical. It's cheaper, less money into formula, it is convenient (no making bottles in the middle of the night), provides the mother with a hormone-induced contentment (you feel that warm fuzzy relaxed feeling), it contributes to natural family planning, fosters confidence and promotes self-esteem.
Nothing! When I was pregnant (so many years ago) we were told to prepare our nipples by rubbing them while taking a shower with a rough washcloth, or soft bristle hair brush or bath brush. Ouch!! All I did was destroy the top layer of skin on my nipples! I decided on my own there had to be a better way. So I did nothing, and you know what? That was best! Do nothing! Your body is designed to feed a infant. You should not use oils, soaps or lotions on your nipples. They can dry or clog the pores (Montgomery glands) that are there to secrete protective oils for your nipples to keep them soft and give a off a faint scent that helps your baby to find your nipples. Lotions can contain alcohol which is drying to the nipple.
It is ok to use lanolin (if no one has a wool allergy) and vit E is great also. Just open a capsule with a pin, and squeeze a little onto your nipple. Pure Aloe vera is also ok to use. (buy yourself a plant, it will be a great investment for many natural uses now that you will have children).
Sit back in a comfortable chair. Place the baby's head in the crook/elbow area of your arm, and turn the infant towards you. The baby's stomach should be to you-tummy to tummy-then use your nipple to tickle the baby's mouth, on the lower lip, when the infant opens his mouth wide, pull the baby to your breast. As you tickle the baby's mouth, it will start his rooting reflex. Some babies may lick the nipple a few times, and that is ok. Be patient, it takes time for a new baby to latch on sometimes. The baby should take in about a half dollar size of your nipple. Be sure that your baby's top and bottom lips are tolled outward, and his tongue cups your nipple and areola. His nose will touch your breast.
If the baby is not latched on correct, you will have a lot of pain, remove the baby by placing one of your fingers into the baby's mouth to break the suction, and pull the infant back off of your breast. As you lower the baby's head, his jaw will bite down, this is a reflex. So keep your finger in the infant's mouth until he is well away form your nipple.
You should nurse with in the first two hours after birth. It imprints on the baby, so they remember how to nurse later. After the two hours most infants go into what I call a 'sleepy mode' where they are very tired and want to sleep for about 4-6 hours. You need to rest with the baby, but you should wake up after 3 hours and nurse again. The more you nurse your baby, the better for both you and your baby.
This is what is often called the first milk. You may have leaked some during the last part of your pregnancy. It is yellow, I like to think of it as rich cream. There is not a lot of it, but it is VERY healthy for your baby. It is small in amount, the baby gets about a teaspoon from each breast at each feeding, but remember it is 'cream'! It is like concentrated milk It protects against infection, it acts as a laxative to help clear the meconium from the baby, and this reduces the risk of jaundice.
You will have this for about 1-3 days.
This is what most people think of as their milk. It comes in after the colostrum is gone. Sometimes when it comes in mothers may feel engorged. This milk changes as the baby grows. It is based on supply and demand, so as your baby nurses, your body knows how much to continue to make. If you skip a feeding, it can affect your milk supply.
Once your baby's lower lip is stimulated, he will open his mouth wide, bringing his tongue forward. The tongue then draws the nipple into the baby's mouth, and compresses the nipple up against the roof of the baby's mouth. The tongue cups and sweeps the nipple from front to back in a wave like manner, as he presses the nipple to the roof of his mouth. The baby's gums cause the milk to be squeezed out. You will know you have had LET DOWN when your hear the baby swallowing faster, or feel the other breast leaking.
When the baby first latches onto the nipple, he gets the milk that is stored behind the nipple, which is healthy, but watery. Its purpose is to provide the water that a breast feeding infant needs. (this is why a breast feeding baby does not need water). After this is empty, then you will experience let down. You may feel a tingle sensation in your breast, or you may not feel anything. Both are normal. This is the milk that puts weight on your baby. It contains the fats needed for the growth of the infant. It is creamy. If you look at the milk at first, it will appear to be blue, to clear white, and look thin, but the later milk will look creamy. You should have let down at least two times before you move the baby to the other breast. This is so that your baby gets enough high calorie milk. Then switch the infant to the other breast, and the next feeding start on the breast that you ended nursing on. Your baby may not want to switch to the other breast, which is ok. You can nurse on one side a feeding, you will adjust to this. Just nurse!
The more you breast feed, the more milk your breast produce. There are some things that you can do to be sure you have enough milk. First be sure your baby nurses often. Be sure your baby is latched on and positioned correctly at the breast. Drink a lot of fluids and eat a lot of healthy foods.
Baby may need to nurse more often when going thru a growth spurt. This is normal. It is the baby's way to tell your body that he needs more milk. Your baby will act like he is not getting enough milk one day, and may want to nurse all day (or so it will seem), just relax that day and nurse nurse nurse! With in 24 hours your body will have adjusted to provide more milk for your infant. This often happens at about 3 weeks of age, but at other older times also.
This is when your breasts are swollen, large like rocks, and hard like rocks, (or so it feels), and often warm. The breast tissue is swelling in response to the second milk coming in. They are not swollen because they are so full of milk, it is like if your sprang your ankle, and the tissue around the ankle swells. The tissue around in the breast is swelling in response to the milk coming in. Try to nurse more often, to help soften the breast. When you get the milk out, the breast softens. Warm showers or warm compresses on the breast helps too, or you can try ice, for the swelling. Just don't leave the ice on for very long. You may need to hand express some of the milk from the nipple to get the baby to latch on. Keep in mind that this does not last very long. About 12-24 hours.
This is when you notice a lump on the breast. If there is no lump, it may just have a red area on the breast. It is important to get this to release. Try to apply heat to the area, nurse often, (if the baby swallows the 'plug' , it is ok, it is not bad for the baby), get plenty of rest, and try to position the baby differently at the breast to may help pull the plug out. You can also massage the area, toward the nipple to encourage the plug to unplug. Drink plenty of fluids. The causes are as follows: (the following is taken from 'the check list for Breastfeeding' from the ICEA 1984
This is often caused by improper position at the breast. Be sure that baby is tummy to tummy. Sometimes the baby has had too long of a time between the feedings and is so hungry that he sucks to hard. You should also change positions to hold the baby as your nurse sometimes to give a change to your nipples. Where the baby's hin is located at is where he sucks the hardest. So changing to the foot ball for example, will align the baby's chin is a different spot on the nipple than the cradle hold. Also be sure you dry your nipples after feeding. You can express a little milk and place it on your nipple and allow that to air dry for 4-5 minutes. Don't use plastic liners, and store liners all have some sort of plastic liner in them. You should invest in cloth breast pads, they do the job well, and you just wash them in the laundry to reuse. Remember don't use soaps or lotions on your nipples.
If you choose to pump for any reason, you can store your milk in a refrigerator for up to 48 hours. When you take the milk out, you will notice that it has separated from the cream part. Just shake it up to re-mix it. It is ok. Warm up the breast milk with warm water in the sink, not in a pan on the stove or in the microwave.
