Kaboutjie SA Mommy Blogs by Lynne Huysamen
Congrats on your new baby mommy! If you’re starting a new breastfeeding journey, these tips can be helpful with the process.
Avoiding comparisons
Each nursing relationship between a Mom and baby is different. Every woman’s body is different, and some woman may have more milk supply while other may have fewer. Don’t compare your experience to someone else’s and trust yourself and your body. Give yourself at least 6-8 weeks to adjust to nursing.
Read also: 8 Breastfeeding Shakes to Increase Energy & Milk Supply
Keeping hydrated
Make sure you are drinking plenty of fluids. Always take water with you as you never know when you’ll get thirsty. Water intake is essential when you’re breastfeeding.
Get pumping
If your nipples are inverted, you can give pumping a try to draw them out.
When you’re having a cold
You can still breastfeed when you’re having a cold. Your milk will boost your baby’s immune system which can help keep your baby from catching it and if she does it will be short lasting.
Refrigerated breast milk
Milk that was stored in the refrigerator can separate which is normal. Before giving it to your baby, make sure you give it a swirl first.
Don’t worry about the consistency of breast milk
Don’t worry if your milk looks watery as this means you’re extracting foremilk. Hind milk is whiter and thicker. Sometimes you’ll see a residue in the bottle which is the fat in the hind milk.
Milk supply
Nursing and pumping together can help with letting your milk down. Pump on the breast that baby is not nursing on. The more you pump and breastfeed, the better your milk supply will be.
Pain
It is normal to experience some discomfort while nursing but it shouldn’t be painful. Make sure baby is latched correctly to avoid sore and cracked nipples. Warm or cold cabbage leaves are an excellent aid for pain relief. Frozen peas are great to use as a cold compress for engorged breasts.
These are some really great tips. I wish I had known ALL of these back when I was nursing. I only lasted 14 days and that was really due to the comparison factor. I beat myself up with that and just thought it was best to go with formula. I actually didnt know the consistency could change, well let me rephrase I knew it went from the golden milk from the very beginning of nursing to your normal milk but had no idea about the residue or that it could go from thick to thin. You can probably tell by that comment that I didnt pump either 🙁 They say once you know better you do better. If I get another chance I would 100% do better.
You are spot on with that Denawa – the first time I also made so many mistakes and I only managed to breastfeed until 6 months but I was not exclusively breastfeeding, I was feeding formula and breastfeeding. With my second baby everything went smoothly and I breastfed him for 13 months. My big mistake was giving my daughter formula. She was so hungry and I thought I did not have enough milk. I didn’t understand that everything was working exactly as it should and when she started going crazy for milk it was because she needed to nurse more often so that my body would start producing more milk to meet her needs.
Hi there. I like the tips. One that stood out for me specifically is to stay hydrated. I remember I used ti drink plenty of water because if I didn’t I could feel I’m becoming dehydrated. So instead of one glass I went up to two at a time.
Great tips! I sent this link to my sister in law who is currently breastfeeding, I certainly believe that she can benefit from reading this post.
These are excellent points and something that the midwives also told me after delivery. Without it I would have been googling like crazy. Specially in terms of discomfort in nipples. It can be so unnerving for new moms when you don’t know if it’s right pain or wrong pain. I am sure this post is going to help a lot of moms out there
Breast-feeding scares me so much! But when I have kids I’d ideally like to be able to nurse for as long as possible. So, thank you for all these tips Lynne! They will definitely prove helpful when the day comes.