Breastfeeding and Burping

No-one tells you much about this. "It's the most natural thing in the world" Yeah it's also hard. Really hard.

They won't let you leave the hospital until you have established a 'good latch' and this can be horribly emotional.

Feeding your baby - Your baby will let you know (s)he wants food, and you feel nervous, you don't know what to do, you're still tired, and even though your vagina has been on display, you still feel a little shy, because this is one thing not everyone in the whole damn world has seen yet. This will change. Your baby needs feeding more than you need to be shy. You'll soon think nothing to whipping them out in public, or walking around your home in just your nursing bra. It's okay. They've seen it all before. So your baby starts mouthing and it's one of the cutest things in the world. They don't know anything at all yet, this is pure nature and instincts, they are trying to find your breast.

       Make sure you're nice and comfortable, every single time. Don't panic because then (s)he will panic. You're going to be sat in this position for a long time. Do you have everything you need? Do you have a drink nearby and a pillow under the arm that you will be holding your baby in? You cradle her, sideways, making sure (s)he is straight out, so the liquid can slide down her throat and to her stomach with no obstructions. The three positions I know are the ones that they show you how to do, under one arm like an American Football (medium), Between her legs and reaching up to support her head and press it to your breast (hard) and the one my mom told me, with her head in the crook of your arm and your hand reaching down her back to support her bum leaving you with a full free arm (easy)

        You tickle her nose with your nipple, and (s)he will start to get excited and flail a little maybe, make sure (s)he opens her mouth nice and wide, and bring her head onto your nipple and breast. Always do it that way round, do not take your breast to her, because when you relax into it, or move, the latch will change, and it could become painful, or (s)he might come off the breast. (s)he should have a nice full mouthful of areola (the dark pink circle around the nipple) and (s)he should be massaging the bottom of your breast with her jaw as it moves, to make the milk flow more freely. (s)he could be there for a long time, twenty, forty minutes, and then when (s)he's "done" you should pick her up and burp her, and always offer the other breast, even if it is painful, where she could stay for the same amount of time as before. You should always offer the breast (s)he spent LESS time on FIRST next time. It can get confusing to remember, depending how often (s)he is feeding, so you might want to write it down somewhere.

>>>You might not feel like it, you just want to get on with it and get out of there, but whilst at hospital, I would recommend breaking the latch as often as possible, and reattaching her, whilst you have assistance. I didn't, and went through hell breastfeeding. The more comfortable you are getting her to latch when you leave the hospital, the easier your next few months will be<<<

Colostrum - Colostrum is the first milk your baby will need, and the most important thing to give your baby. It is packed with nutrients and immunities for all sorts of things. If this is all you can give your baby it's still a great start. Colostrum is for your baby's first few days, is thick, yellowy, unpleasant to the taste, and comes through a couple of hours after giving birth. There isn't much of it but it's all your baby needs for a while. It will start to change to a whiter colour and become thinner soon after you come home from hospital.

Feeding positions - There are hundreds. They only showed me two in the hospital and I think that might have been the start of my problems. They didn't even mention 'there are other positions but we can't show you them all'. Listen to how your mom fed you, listen to anyone's suggestions, as it can be very tricky, but basically any position where the baby can drink and breathe is fine. You don't have to push down on your boobs like they say, so (s)he can breathe, if (s)he can't breathe (s)he will turn her head away from you herself.

Burping - It can sound horrible on your new little baby, but they are much sturdier than you think. You can pat their back quite hard to bring their wind up (or down) something that can help a lot is simply lifting and changing your baby's position. Everyone has at least seen the classic burping position in movies, with her over your shoulder, but there are other positions too. You should have a muslin square around your baby's neck, or over your shoulder, or wherever you're going to burp her, because it's a lot easier to clean than all your clothes, bedding and whatever else they may decide to throw up/spit up on. It won't happen too often but when it does you'll be glad to have the muslin there.

Burping positions - Rub or firmly pat your baby's back in each of these positions (and any others you can think of!) to bring wind up or down. Don't just rub in one direction, go up and down.

•  Over the shoulder: have her so her face is just above your neck and she can see over your shoulder. Have the muslin over your shoulder underneath her
• Cuddly: lie down on your back and place her on your (still wobbly) belly, and cuddle her. Gently thrust, or wriggle, so your belly and/or breasts move rhythmically. This is one of our favourites. I get a cuddle, she gets to look off to the side at the room and what is going on, and we get wind up too. Have the muslin across your breasts where (s)he is lying, or have nothing on at all and some lovely skin-to-skin contact
• Interested: for an inquisitive, maybe slightly older (your call, maybe around 1m+) baby. Sit up in an armchair or similar with her legs safely but gently secured between your knees. Her bum on one leg she can lean forward across your other leg, your arm across her chest. This gives a great angle to rub her back. You can also gently bounce her or wriggle her, to get the wind up. Have the muslin in your hand, under her chin.
• Lying down: She can also lie across your lap, similar to the position above, with her head dangling off your leg, pointing to the floor, your can rub her back really well, and move your knees to roll the wind around her tummy. Have the muslin laid out on the floor.
• Of course there are many others, whatever works! But these are our favourites and rotating between them tend to get the job done. If (s)he has particular trouble (like mine) you can always give her a bit of tummy time on her playmat/the bed/some large flat cushions. You can sometimes hear the wind sloshing a bit if you pick her up by the armpits and sway her side to side. Do this gently or you will have a face-full of vomit! For older babies (3m+) if they are ticklish, tickling up their back can be great, they shudder and get the wind up themselves!

Nipple cream - you need to remember to put this on after every feed. It soaks into the skin super quickly and helps to prevent cracking and soreness. Your baby can still drink from your breast if you have nipple cream on.

Latch assist - this only costs a couple of quid and might be useful to everybody anyway, but I didn't realize I needed one until I had gone through too much to carry on anymore. Your nipples need to stick out a fair way for the easiest possible latch.

Clicking noise - "if your baby makes a clicking noise when feeding they're not latched on properly" I don't think so. My baby still makes clicking noises, at four months old, with a bottle. I think it's fine, as long as you're not in pain.

Feeding on demand - This is what they recommend but somehow, sometimes, they still decide to wake you up in hospital to feed your baby, or wake your baby, if (s)he isn't crying for food, (s)he isn't hungry and I don't understand why they do this. I think it would be so that they can tick you off on their damn lists of yes this one is fine. Don't let it seep into your mind when you get home. Your baby will let you know when (s)he is hungry, (s)he won't starve. Every four hours is a good guideline time. Might be more, might be less, if it gets to around five hours, you may want to wake your baby for her feed.

Mastitis - this is a blockage in a milk duct. It can be incredibly painful and you can get it more than once. If it's swollen, feels hard, or even feels blocked, it could be what it is. There's not much they can do. The doctor will give you antibiotics and the best thing is to keep feeding. It can be horribly painful, and make you scared to feed, but it's the best thing to unblock it, and your baby feeding works better than expressing. If you do express, you may notice your milk is coming out incredibly thick and unappealing. It is fine to give your baby if you want to. I didn't because I thought it looked awful, but it will not harm her.

Drinking - you need to drink about four litres of water PER DAY to keep your milk flow going. I was advised five liters in the height of summer. I felt like I was peeing more when I was breastfeeding than when I was pregnant!

Drinking - alcohol is pretty much fine. After a night on the boozer you might not want to give your baby your milk, but a couple of units here and there is okay, and it only makes your baby drowsy. If you are expressing, you might want to save alcohol breast milk for the "night night feed"

Sleepy baby - Newborns can often forget what they're doing at the breast or bottle. It's adorable. They just need reminding. Say their name, blow gently on their face, or twist the bottle slightly. They will start and remember that they were eating, and carry on.

Failure to breastfeed - does not mean you are a failure as a mother. Some mothers never get colostrum through, some mothers can't give exclusively breast milk and have to top up with formula, some mothers can only breastfeed for a couple of weeks, it is OKAY. It's painful, and if you can't give your baby what (s)he needs you feel awful, especially when everyone at the hospital seems to be "you will breastfeed or else", but this is the reason WHY formula was invented, right? It happens a lot, and it's perfectly fine. Just because "breast is best" doesn't mean that you're doing your baby a disservice by giving them formula.

Pain - "if you are in pain, (s)he's not latched on properly" I don't think this is necessarily true either, but it's not worth it. Especially in hospital when you have people to help you latch properly. Sometimes if you've taken half an hour to get them to latch on, and then they FINALLY latch, but it's painful, you could be tempted to just let her carry on, but if she learns to do it that way, you could be in for a tough time. It would be fine a couple of times, but you don't want to make a habit of it and let her think it's okay to feed that way.

Pumps - If breastfeeding is too stressful, you may want to invest in a pump. High stress levels can decrease your milk production. It is better for your baby to be getting breast milk from a bottle, than none at all. My goal was always 3 months, because that's what my mother managed and I wanted to be just as good as her, and I achieved that with a bottle, I wouldn't have with breast feeding. If you are going to pump (and this needs to be a fully committed decision) it is best to invest. You need to wake up in the middle of the night and pump just the same as if you were going to be feeding your baby, even if they sleep through you may need to set an alarm in the middle of the night. You shouldn't pump for more than 15 minutes on each breast and don't worry about fluctuations. They are completely natural, and not getting as much as you got last time, or yesterday, or last week, is perfectly normal. You will know if your supply is drying up, a couple of oz's less than before is not a problem. If you're going back to work and still want to give your baby breast milk, you might want to pump. If you want to give her breast milk but you can't get a good latch, you might want to pump. If you have twins, you might want to pump. A good sturdy pump can last the whole time you have milk, and even to another child. I've tried manual, single, double. I would recommend double every day of the week. It halves the time you need to pump, which I cannot stress how good that is.

I had these. Pumping bra is wonderful. Hands free, but you need to sit up straight. You can do this at work, on the computer at home, or even doing standing tasks like ironing or washing up. I liked pumping, it was an excuse for 15min to yourself, because you can't play with baby with all these wires, so I could watch tv, or have a coffee. I had the ameda lactaline double personal. £130 is a lot of money but it lasted 6x a day for a month and 4x a day for a month and a half, and still works now supply has dried up. It's worth investing in a known brand, it's a lot of money no matter what, so paying a bit more for something that has good reviews is worth it. It is also the same pump as what I borrowed from the "breastfeeding support team" for two weeks. See if there is anything similar in your area. They can lend you a pump until you get one, and it could swing your decision.