- Today, we're going to be talking about boobs.
Hi everyone, welcome back to my channel.
If you're new my name is Emily
and I am a mom of three boys.
I'd love you to subscribe and stick around
if you like what you see.
But today I'm gonna be sharing with you
my top breastfeeding tips that I wish I'd known
before I started breastfeeding.
So I have exclusively breastfed all three of my children.
My first two for over a year each
and Jackson is currently four and a half months old
so I'm still feeding him.
I think when I was pregnant I had this misconception
that breastfeeding was gonna be
this really easy thing to do
and while it is a very natural thing
it's actually quite tricky at times
and it takes technique and perseverance.
A quick disclaimer, I'm obviously not a doctor
or a lactation advisor,
I am just an experienced mom of three
and whether you choose to bottle feed or breastfeed,
who cares as long as your baby is fed and thriving,
that is the main thing.
We all know the benefits of breastfeeding
so I'm not gonna go into all of that.
This is just my experience
and what I've learned along the way.
So my first and most important tip
is to make sure your latch is correct.
If it's not correct, then that is when you get pain
because your nipple will be rubbing on the hard part
of your baby's palate which is the roof of their mouth.
If your latch isn't correct,
it can affect how much milk comes out
and it can also make your nipple scratch
against that hard palate.
So it's really, really important
for successful breastfeeding.
There will be a small amount of pain
in the first two weeks, that is normal.
If you're pregnant or you've just started breastfeeding
it is definitely worth doing some research now
as to what a correct latch looks like.
I will link a couple of videos down below
that I think show it really, really well
but the way I will explain to you a correct latch
is you want to see your baby biting on your breast
rather than looking like they're sucking.
So you want to see this bone here
and their jaw moving like this
on your breast rather than the sucking
because if they're biting,
the nipple is sat at the back of their throat
which is where it wants to be
rather than at the front of their mouth rubbing.
The way that I would get the correct latch
is I would rub my nipple on my baby's nose
or top lip and that makes them open their mouth
really wide and then you get as much boob
and nipple as you can into their really wide mouth
and then that normally makes it in the correct place
but definitely do some research.
I'll do the links down below.
If you think the latch is incorrect,
do not be afraid to take your baby off of your breast
and start again.
Yes they're gonna be upset
and they're gonna cry but it's better to get it right.
So put your baby finger into their mouth,
just get them off and start again.
And they probably will cry when you take them off
but then you have a big, wide mouth to try again.
My second tip is to try out different positions
especially in the early days.
My favorite ones were the traditional cradle position
in a chair or on our bed
or the side lay was also really good for relaxing.
Or the rugby hold as well.
By trying out different positions
it can help stimulate different parts of the breast
and then also distribute the rubbing as well
so it's hopefully not as painful
and it can also help you to discover
which ways work best for your baby and for you as well
because everyone is different.
My next tip is if you are struggling get help early.
Don't be afraid to ask for help.
It's a really difficult thing to do
and nowadays when you have a baby in hospital,
like when I had my son Fraser I had him at two o'clock
in the morning and I was told that I was ready to go home
at eight o'clock in the morning.
So that really was not enough time
to establish breastfeeding
but once they see you breastfeed a couple of times
and they're happy they just send you off on your way.
Call a lactation advisor, call your hospital,
I know where I live they have a breast friends cafe.
There's all kinds of help out there if you look for it.
Don't be afraid to get help.
It's better to do that, rather than quit.
In my experience breastfeeding is really hard
for the first two or three weeks
so if you can get through that
by the end of the two or three weeks,
you know what you're doing,
your baby knows what you're doing
and breastfeeding becomes
this really easy thing
where you can get all of the benefits from it
like no sterilizing, it's portable,
you know all of those things.
So don't give up, just try and get help.
Right, so my next tip is really, really important.
You need to keep up your fluids and your snacks.
You need to drink enough water for yourself
but also to feed your baby all of this liquid.
So, you need to be drinking all of the time.
Carry around a bottle with you if you can
and I used to always think when the baby's drinking,
I should be drinking.
So when I was breastfeeding
I would have bottles of water around me.
I actually ended up hiding them
under my breastfeeding chair, in the cracks of our sofa
et cetera and I carried around this blue bottle with me
at all times as well.
It's worth telling your partner or your mom
or whoever's gonna be helping you in the early days
to make sure you drink enough.
So when you're breastfeeding,
if you don't have a glass of water with you,
your husband really needs to get into a habit
of bringing that over to you.
Drinking loads of water is also a really good way
to boost your supply.
There are loads of products and supplements that you can buy
but I think the most effective way
is to just drink more and to pump.
Same goes for snacks, treat yourself
you are burning an extra 500 calories a day breastfeeding
so get some danishes in, get some yummy snacks in
to keep up the calories in your milk for your baby.
If you're not eating very much
then your baby probably isn't getting very much
so keep up your wholesome meals,
keep up your calories,
I know you probably wanna lose the baby weight
but it is the best thing to do
in the early days and breastfeeding will also help you
get that flat stomach back as well.
Next tip is don't clock watch
and don't compare yourself to others either.
With my first son I become obsessed with
how long he'd fed for, on what side,
I had all these fancy apps on my phone
but really it stressed me out more than it helped I think.
With my subsequent babies I've been more relaxed.
I've just fed on demand for the first eight weeks
and then I've had a bit more routine after that
but I would just feed on demand
on the side that feels fullest
and don't compare yourself to your friends that bottle feed.
It's a completely different thing
and don't even compare yourself to your friends
that breastfeed because all of our bodies are different,
our babies can take more or less.
My baby that I have now feeds within five or 10 minutes
whereas my first son, I felt like I was sat there
for a good half an hour.
Yeah, our bodies are different and our babies are different
and that actually brings me to my next tip.
Which is to try and be as relaxed as you can.
I know it's really hard when you're a new mom.
I was quite an anxious new mom.
But by being relaxed and actually looking at your baby
when you're feeding them,
that will help with your milk flow.
So try not to be thinking about work
or having an argument with your husband
while you're feeding.
Just try and relax and it will help your milk flow.
The essential products you'll need for breastfeeding
are a good supportive chair and pillows.
They don't have to be specifically for breastfeeding
as long as you have a good chair
and some pillows around.
Breastfeeding's actually quite physically demanding
on your back and your arms
and the way you position yourself
so it's really important
that you have good support around you.
Also you'll definitely need
to get yourself some breast pads.
I have used Lansinoh in the past
and also Boots Own but you'll need them
because you will probably have some leaks
and you don't want any embarrassing moments
when you're wearing gray
and you've got a big black mark on you.
So get yourself some breast pads as well.
Definitely get yourself a water bottle as well
so you can carry it around with you
and always keep yourself hydrated.
And also some muslins for spit up
and also if you're breastfeeding out in public
they can help sort of cover you up.
You can get fancy breastfeeding cover ups
but I think that sometimes they almost bring
more attention to you than if you just do this.
I'm breastfeeding him now
but I don't the average person would walk past and notice.
I also just wanted to say that how you know
that your baby is getting enough
is if they're having at least four or five
wet or dirty nappies a day.
They seem quite content in between feeds
and they're regularly putting on weight.
If they're doing all of those things
then you're doing a great job.
A next tip is to make sure that you burp and wind your baby.
It is a complete myth that breastfed babies
don't need wind.
(baby gurgles)
Ing, they absolutely do.
They still take air down
and I like to burp between sides
or even halfway through a feed
because I find if I burp him
then he can also take more and will sleep for longer.
So make sure you wind them.
Sometimes I burp Jackson for as long as I've fed for.
So that is it for my breastfeeding tips.
I really hope you found them helpful.
Please give this video a big thumbs up if you did
and don't be shy asking any questions you have
in the comments below
and I will make sure to reply to you
and yes thank you, and I will see you very soon, bye.