BREASTFEEDING FAQ
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When will breastfeeding happen for the first time?
I wish I’d known to ask this question before I was faced with a hungry newborn and told by the nurses to breastfeed an hour following the harrowing experience of birthing my first baby. This is when babies are most alert and strongly feel a natural reflex to latch.
How do I breastfeed?
There are signs to look for like nuzzling, moving head side-to-side with an open mouth, licking but it’s a safe bet they are hungry and looking for food whenever a newborn is awake. You’ll find they will search for your nipple if you place them in a nursing position (Watch the amazing natural instinct newborns are born with to nurse here). They will latch on and hopefully you will feel the suction from a successful feeding.
What will it feel like?
We are all special unicorns, right? (22 Women on What Breastfeeding Actually Feels Like)
What is a latch? What makes it good or bad?
Ok, listen up, this is the key, people. If you can’t master this and continue, it’ll be a painful, uphill battle.
A breastfeeding latch just refers to the way the baby grips the breast with their mouth. The best way to see this is through a visual medium. I could never fully understand multi-step written instructions on how to place my nipple to the roof of their mouth when their mouths are most open ensuring their chins are not tucked in while making sure their lips are turned out like a fish.
The following videos feature real women breastfeeding (Not Safe Viewing at Work)
Dr. Jack Newman's Visual Guide to Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding Position and Latch
Sandwich Hold/Asymmetric Latch
What are problems I may encounter?
Milk Supply: The body makes only as much milk as it thinks the baby needs. It’s important to alternate breasts and nurse often to send signals to your body to make more. These are the ways to tell if the baby is getting enough.
Improper Latch: Breastfeeding for the first time can be momentarily painful at first, but shouldn’t continue to be. Nipple pain when nursing is a sure sign of an improper latch and the baby may be gnawing on your nipple. Not only can this be incredibly painful and deter you from breastfeeding, most likely baby is not getting enough milk and your supply will be affected.
Tongue Tie: Sometimes a baby can’t get achieve a deep latch because of a short frenulum preventing the tongue from moving freely. If this is the reason for a poor latch, a doctor can quickly make a cut to fix it. Both my babies had this done. They recovered immediately with minimal bleeding.
Engorged Breasts: This makes your breasts uncomfortably hard and feels like it will explode from the sudden onset of milk supply. This most often happens at the beginning when your body is going into overdrive to feed a newborn. Or later if you don’t empty your breasts enough or when weaning and the baby nurses less. Unattended, this can lead to small lumps in the breast due to blocked ducts. The remedy is to nurse more, massaging the affected area or expressing the surplus manually to drain the breast fully. Otherwise you may get mastitis, which is inflammation and you will experience flu-like symptoms which may require antibiotics.
Is breastfeeding right for me?
You just can’t know the answer to this question until you try.
Women report to feeling blissful with the bonds created during breastfeeding. If this is you, you’ve hit the jackpot. Enjoy!
Others find the round-the-clock demands (constant nursing to human pacifier) to be overwhelming and stressful. It also depends on the baby; Are they efficient eaters or do they constantly fall asleep at the breast and it takes so long for each nursing session, by the time they’re done, it’s time for another?
Are you finding it impossible to achieve a “proper” latch and it’s ruining the pleasure of having a newborn baby? Is it so painful you are getting depressed?
I just want you to know there are options. I believe knowledge is power, and with it, we make the best choices for ourselves. I hope you can find some answers here.
Useful Links:
Lifehacker: Things no one tells you about breastfeeding