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How to breastfeed a child

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Breastfeeding at the same time is hard and easy process for both a child and first time mother. It is so beneficial to your baby that it is definitely worthwhile to start doing in order to develop your child’s healthy growth. Normally each hospital should have a lactation consultant who can help you to get started. Just let everyone know that you are going to breastfeed that they don’t feed your child from a bottle with formula after he/she will be born.

What to expect in the first few days of breastfeeding

You might not be successful from the beginning. However, don’t worry and don’t give up because it is not only a learning process for you but for your baby as well. Don’t expect that right after the labor you will have a lot of milk. If your child will start losing some weight don’t get too frustrated, mostly all babies do. Your child has brown fat that will protect him/her in the first 24 hours of life. However, if you had gestational diabetes during your pregnancy and have some trouble with breastfeeding in the first few hours of child’s life then you might be asked to give him/her at least some formula that newborn’s blood sugar won’t go too low. During your very first few attempts of breastfeeding you might feel that your nipples get tender. It is normal at the beginning of a feed to have that. Your nipples will get better about after the first two or three days of breastfeeding.  You might also have strange and unusual feeling inside of your breasts it is normally because your body starts to produce milk. Be careful, however, in that period it is very important to take care about your breasts in order to avoid stretch marks and mastitis.

Tips for breastfeeding

In order to do the first step towards breastfeeding you need to be patient, relax, and get comfortable as much as possible. You should wash your hands with soap and your nipples with just warm water. If you feel like you don’t have enough milk to feed your baby you can read some tips in “How to produce more breast milk”.

Put your child facing to you and rub a few times gently over his/her top or lower lip. You can squeeze a few drops of colostrum (first milk) and put it on your child lips. That should help your baby to open wide his/her mouth as a natural reflex.

Latch him/her and make sure that your entire nipple is in his/her mouth. This is very important in order to minimize or avoid nipple soreness. Check whether your child’s lower lip is not in his/her mouth.

Relatch him/her if you feel any pain or discomfort while breastfeeding. You should do that by putting your clean finger into his/her mouth and then pull your breast out of it.

Let your child eat as much as he/she wants to. However, it is recommended not let drink from second breast if he/she didn’t finish first one. You should feed your baby from both breasts equally and not letting to pick his/her favorite one. This is basically because your foremilk is less beneficial for your child than hidden one.

Don’t forget to burp your child after he/she done eating. Then you may pump your milk or not. It depends on your situation. Normally lactation consultants will try to talk you out of pumping if you are not planning to go work. They say that your milk level will adjust according to your child eating appetite. The more he/she will eat the more mild your body will produce.

There are lots of breastfeeding position exist. You can try a few and pick which works better for you and your child. The more comfortable you and your baby will be the easier breastfeeding will go.

Medical Disclaimer

The author is not a doctor and the information in the article is general in nature with no medical advises given or imply. Talk to your doctor, nurse or medical advisor how to treat health related problems.