Nursing Your Newborn

Nursing a newborn, especially if it’s your first baby, brings about some special challenges. Because, although nursing is considered a “natural” thing to do, baby doesn’t always catch on as quickly as a new mommy might think! (especially if you’ve had an epidural. Narcotics = sleepy baby after birth) So I thought I’d go through a few things that work for me!

Before your milk comes in:
Colostrum is all baby needs those first few days! Supplementing is not necessary or even recommended no matter how big is. Your body needs to start building it’s own supply and will base that off of how long baby feeds. (plus there are major health reasons to not supplement with formula as well!) Is baby crying every hour to feed? Every 2 hours? Fine, feed them until they unlatch themselves!

(and just a bit about crying – they don’t always cry because they are hungry! Did you put baby in the nursery at the hospital? Do you have them sleeping in the other room or in a crib? Expect more crying. Babies that are away from mama will cry more. How would you like to be yanked out of the most snuggly, warm home ever into brightly lit rooms where you lay flat on your back? Keep baby close in those first few weeks and not only will they cry less, you’ll learn their feeding cues much faster! Actually you’ll begin to notice that they root around and/ or put their hands in their mouths before they start to cry.)

Engorgement
Sweet mercy, they’ve grown 3 times bigger than the baby’s head!

It always seems that baby is just getting the hang of latching on and everything changes. Now they have to open up even wider and since the milk has come in, they now have to nurse something hard, not soft and pliable like it was just a few hours before. To helps them out, you can hand express a bit until the breast softens, or you can even try a heating pad (it will make you leak!) to do they same thing. And although uncomfortable and sometimes slightly painful, it normally doesn’t last to long. You can also use a cold compress or take a warm shower to help ease any discomfort. And if you do express, don’t express to much. Otherwise your body will think baby is eating more than they are and will keep producing more.

Learning the Latch:
If you’ve never nursed a baby before ask to speak to the lactation consultant at the hospital or have your midwife help you find the right latch. While it may be slightly uncomfortable, it shouldn’t hurt. Ever. If it does, something isn’t working right.

• Don’t stress if they don’t seem to “get it” right away. Sometimes babies seem to play around and root without latching. It’s ok. You know why? They are actually helping your body with the letdown reflex! The stimulation releases some hormones and lets your body know what to do.
• Try a different position. My first baby could only latch on with the football hold for the first couple of weeks, this new one can latch on no matter the hold. So if baby is having trouble latching on, just switch it up a bit.
• Wait until the mouth is wide open! Otherwise the lips gets pursed and although they can latch on and nurse, it’s gonna hurt! So if you have to, flatten the nipple and pull baby on to it when they open up wide.
• Try and keep them awake! Babies fall asleep so easily when nursing that sometimes it takes a lot of effort to keep them up. I always nurse one side until they unlatch, then I wake them back up (normally with a diaper change) and then nurse the other side. The next feeding I’ll start on the one they ended with last time. That way it keeps my supply even and it makes sure they’re getting both the foremilk and the hindmilk.

When you sit down to nurse:
Prepare to have it take awhile! Feedings can last 30 -45 minutes (once your milk comes in, before you have milk the sessions may be rather short). Yea, most newborns aren’t that quick when it comes to eating. But making sure you have everything you need before you start to feed can make it so much easier.

• First off, wear something easy to nurse in. Personally I don’t care for nursing tops. They always seem to get in the way and baby usually makes a mess anyways so the bottom half of the shirt always gets soaked. I like to wear a zip up sweatshirt or button up shirt. That way you have nothing in the way of viewing baby. (A larger/stretchy v neck shirt works as well cause you can just pull the neck down under the breast) A sleep bra also makes it a bit more convenient the first couple of weeks since they just pull out of the way with less bulk.
• Get a boppy or fluffy pillow. You wanna get comfy since you could be sitting there awhile!
• Grab a small towel or burp cloth. Not only are these good for if baby makes a mess while burping, they work great when placed under the breast and on top of baby’s shoulder. Why? Baby’s are messy eaters and they let milk leak all over! This saves their clothes and your from getting soaked. Plus, at some point baby will choke because they aren’t swallowing fast enough! Not to worry though, just sit baby up with one hand and grab the towel/cloth to cover the spray coming from your mammary gland. Without the cloth you will either spray baby in the face or you’ll be trying for the distance award in the nursing Olympics! (yes nursing is quite the experience!)
• Get a glass of, or bottle of, water! Breastfeeding can be quite dehydrating to your body so I try and make a habit of sitting down with something to drink. This way I’m replenishing as the baby is draining.
• If nothing else will be vying for your attention, grab a book or the remote. With my toddler, we get out some of his books or even watch one of his DVDs.
• Put the phone near you. That is if your baby nurses well without you holding everything at the right angle. Otherwise, let it ring. I do all the time.

Some other things I do
I don’t let the hospital give my baby any type of bottle (formula or glucose water) or a pacifier. Not only do I think that anything other than breastmilk messes with their not yet fully formed intestines, I don’t want them to get used to any other type of nipple. Once baby is latching on and feeding well for a couple weeks I’ll offer a pacifier if I think it’s needed, but not before.

I don’t leave the house often or make any plans the first few weeks. Breastfeeding is important to me and I don’t like to feel hurried either at home or while we’re out.

And the best thing you can have around you during those first few weeks is a supportive spouse and family/friends. If you aren’t getting the support you need at home, look to a group like the La Leche League or even online forums. Breastfeeding is to important to give up just because you’re tired of a spouse telling you to just give up and let the baby have a bottle! Sure breastfeeding is hard, but it gets better as time goes on!

Breastfeeding Resources

I was super excited when Shannon wanted to do a guest post on breastfeeding. While I didn’t have to many issues when nursing Cody, you just never know how it’s going to go for each consecutive child. So I’m so glad to have these resources at my fingertips!



Shannon is a wife, a mother of two boys and a passionate advocate of breastfeeding and homebirth. She is the author of Nourishing Days where she writes about real food and sustainable living.

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I think everyone knows that breastfeeding is infinitely superior to bottle feeding. There are many health benefits for both baby and mom that you can not receive through formula. More than that, though, there is a physical and emotional bond between a breastfeeding mother and her baby that is unlike any other.
Breastfeeding can also be frustrating, painful and disappointing when it doesn’t go as you had planned. I have written about my struggle with breastfeeding and I would like to share with you what I have learned from that experience.

Resources For Boosting Milk Supply
Ideally right after birth our babies would latch on and for the next couple of days get as much immune boosting colostrum as possible. Then, a few days after birth, our milk would come in providing ample nutrition for our babes. For the next few years our babies would have a constant supply of nourishment literally attached to us everywhere we went. That would be ideal.
Unfortunately, breastfeeding doesn’t always run this smoothly. When your baby isn’t getting enough to eat you need to boost supply and you need to do it as fast as possible.

Here a few resources that can help to boost your supply:

• Pumping and more frequent nursing. This is the first thing we must focus on because our bodies will produce a higher supply of milk when there is a greater demand for it.
• Herbs. Herbs such as fenugreek, blessed thistle, nettles, shatavari and goat’s rue are ones that I have tried and found helpful. These come in the form of capsules, loose leaf teas and tinctures.
• Eat galactogogues. A galactogogue is a substance that is purported to increase milk supply. A few of them include oats, quinoa, brewer’s yeast and mineral-rich leafy greens. My friend Amy has posted a recipe for lactation cookies that she has had success with.
• Drink lots of water. Drink to thirst and then some. My midwife gave me instructions to drink enough so that I am getting up to go to the bathroom every hour during the day.
• Get lots of rest. I know that it seems silly to even suggest this because of the circumstances. I have a very difficult time with this myself, as there is always someone to feed or housework to be done. Hand over the reigns to a mother, sister, friend or post-partum doula. My osteopath said “the best baby gift anyone could give is to tuck you into bed with your baby and cook you some really nourishing food.”
• Find a support system. Find a lactation consultant, get in touch with la leche league, find a lactivist doctor, join a breastfeeding group. They will not only encourage and supply you with information, but they will give you the opportunity to be comfortable nursing in front of others.

When You Must Supplement
If all of the above don’t work and your baby is losing weight rapidly, you may want to consider supplementation.
The first question is what should we feed baby?

• Do you have a close friend or relative who is lactating? If so you may want to consider asking them for help. This is called cross-nursing or wet-nursing. This woman could either pump her extra milk and supply it to your baby or breastfeed him or her herself. This is very common in less industrialized nations and was the best solution for mothers before the invention and mass-marketing of infant formula. I still believe that this is the best solution.
• Consider getting milk from a breast milk bank. If you are comfortable receiving milk from anonymous donors this might work for you.
• Make homemade formula. This is the option that we chose and have found it to work very well for both of our boys. Their are many reasons NOT to use commercial infant formula, and homemade formula is a well-researched substitute. We have used both the cow’s and goat’s milk formula recipes and have found success with both.

• What if you could supplement baby without having to give him/her a bottle? The lact-aid allows you to do this. There will be no nipple confusion or less frequent nursing sessions as the baby is supplemented at the breast while nursing.
• If you are concerned about bottle feeding, there are alternative methods.
• If you decide to bottle feed consider using glass bottles instead of plastic. There are many reasons to avoid plastic, especially in baby bottles.