Oftentimes, moms are just so happy the baby is on,
that they don't want to break the latch and start again because they feel like they finially got the baby on
let's just leave the baby attached.
But, if you are in pain - it's not going to work for you … as well as if that latch is not correct,
the baby's probably not getting the most effective milk transfer that they could.
I could tell that when I was comfortable - he was comfortable.
When I was tense and uneasy …
there was no way he was eating comfortably.
There are several different positions with breastfeeding - basically the right one …
is what works for you.
So, try them all out see what works for you and what gives you a comfortable latch.
The first one is the cradle hold. I usually don't recommend it for a brand newborn
because they don't have the head control to be able to maintain and find
that latch on their own.
Usually, it's like their poor little heads are all wobbly and
and if you think about it - if you hold in the cradle hold, their noses are
now lined up towards your armpit. I know I don't have a nipple my armpit …
So you kind of want to make sure the babies over here …
which is usually not very comfortable for you.
So, if you do a cross craddle hold
where you take their bottom and put it in the crook of your arm - arm up the spine
and hold at the base of the neck. They need to be able to tilt their head back
to get a nice wide mouth.
So if you hold their head back, you can't do that. So just support their neck
and at the base of their neck and their upper shoulders. Okay …
line their nose up with the nipple and then tickle their nose or upper lip …
they're going to tilt their head way back to open their mouth and then …
just give them a gentle tug in …
and should land the nipple in the the comfort zone of their mouth.
The comfort zone in your mouth - if you run your tongue over the roof for your mouth
you feel the hard palate in the front - When you get all the way up to the top
that is the soft palate.
That's the comfort zone. Your nipple stretches about two-and-a-half times the
size to reach to that nice comfort zone.
But it doesn't hurt if it reaches that spot.
So if it pinches or it hurts … you know you have a shallow latch where the baby is not
getting enough of the breast tissue
in the mouth - and that's causing it to pinch.
so simply break the latch by sticking your finger in the corner the mouth
until you feel their gum line - drop their jaw, their lower jaw
to release that latch. Because if you just slide them off
that's going to cause friction on your nipple and cause pain or breakdown.
Other positions are the football hold.
It's a great position if you've had a c-section because there is less pressure
being held on your belly
So just simply same position - tush in the crook of your arm
arm up the spine and hold at the base in the neck. Slide them down to your breast -
But you're going to hold it kind of on your hip.
Okay, make sure use pillows and blankets to roll up so you are holding the
baby at the highly abreast
You always want to make sure your supported when you're breastfeeding
Because breastfeeding's
can last for a longer period of time.
This is a breastfeeding pillow. It is the best thing ever.
It helps you to raise your baby a little bit higher …
So you don't have to bend over and hunch your back.
Baby store sells specialty breastfeeding pillows …
however it's not necessary to have one. Simply rolling a blanket up or using a
pillow can help support your arm.
Typically there is no time limit with the baby on the breast.
There's very old-school thoughts of giving the baby 10 minutes or 15 minutes
on each breast.
If you think about it logically, if I told you you had 15 minutes to eat.
I came up to you
at fifteen minutes and I took your plate a foot away and you're still hungry
you be kinda upset and hungry. Okay if I tell you had it for i5 minutes,
but at 10 minutes you were full …
you can feel uncomfortable because you are trying to force feed yourself
and you can't do it. So if you follow your baby's cues …
you let them stay on the breast as long as they are actively sucking - and if they fall asleep
or they self detach -
Or if they are a sleepy baby you can't stimulate them to go anymore …
then you know they are kind of done on that side - you break the latch - sit him up
burp him, wake him up again if you need to - and then put him the other breast …
and let him go again …
as long as they're actively sucking, they fall asleep or they self detach.
If they're still hungry when they come off that second breast …
you can offer my third or fourth breast - you can switch hit, it's okay.
Breast milk is produced by supply and demand.
Okay, so you need to let your baby do the demanding they need -
to make the amount of milk they need.
And your body will produce it.
In the a couple weeks a breast feeding my first I had a lot of pain.
At some points I thought that I might have an infection and I didn't it was just
you now… it was just pain which is painful to start with.
Breastfeeding is not supposed to hurt. Pumping is not supposed to her.
if it does, if it pinches if it's just even uncomfortable
you should ask for help.
I did call the La Leche League - I called them I think twice a week in the beginning
and they gave me a lot of helpful tips and pointers
on how for my milk to come in.
How to relax - how to drink something while you're breastfeeding - I would have never known that.
I was determined to also
breastfeed my twins at the same time just because I wanted to have them on the same schedule.
So getting them to latch on at the same time was a bit of a challenge
and then it became paintball and then I thought I was doing something wrong
It's really just a process that you have to continue to work through.
It's never too late to get help - but the sooner you get help …
the sooner things are going to start getting better for you.