Regardless of the kind of birth you desire or have, we sincerely hope you have a wonderful breastfeeding relationship with your baby. These simple tips should help.
- When you hold your baby, his or her belly should face your belly. We are a bottle-feeding culture, but that is not how you want to hold your baby when you are breastfeeding. Tuck that tiny arm around you (babies like to keep their fists near their mouths). If you can spend a fair amount of time skin-to-skin belly-to-belly, even better!
- Get as much of the areola in the baby’s mouth as possible. His or her lips should be flanged against the breast. If the baby seems to be more on the nipple, slip your pinky in his/her mouth to break the seal and start over. Trust me, even if it took a while to get baby to latch, if it’s not a good latch, you can end up with sore nipples, including cracks and blisters. Besides, what really stimulates the breasts to produce milk is when the baby is stimulating the milk ducts which are further back from the nipple.
This advice was so helpful for me. I never had blisters or cracking of the nipples, and I never developed mastitis. I attribute my successful breastfeeding experiences to these simple tips. If you would like to learn more, Birth Boot Camp offers a great online breastfeeding class. Breastmilk is the perfect food for your baby. The class is taught by the amazing Mellanie Sheppard, IBCLC, of For Babies Sake in Dallas-Ft. Worth. The Breastfeeding Class is included in our Comprehensive course, or it can be purchased separately.
By: Donna Ryan
