We learned in the first blog post in the breastfeeding series, “Are there any benefits for my baby’s teeth and mouth from breastfeeding?”, that the dental benefits for breastfeeding are numerous. The benefits for your baby include immune system development and support, strong bones and teeth, healthy oral & gut microbiome, and proper maxillofacial development. If you’re new to this series, go back and read the first one by clicking on this link.
If you are a new mom we have some excellent tips from Melanie Horstman, an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). Melanie is co-owner of Nurture Omaha, a mother-owned and operated breastfeeding and family support small business serving the Omaha Metro Area with support and education on breastfeeding and car seat safety. Nurture Omaha is Omaha’s only IBCLC’s that conduct all of their services in the comfort of your home. Whether you need help latching, need a breast pump through insurance, or need help installing your car seat, Nurture Omaha is the perfect choice!
Trust Your Body
As new parents we often blame ourselves for not making enough milk. What’s wrong with my body? What’s wrong with my milk? If our baby is fussy we often think it’s something we did. We aren’t able to make enough milk, our milk is flowing too slowly, our milk is hurting our baby. These are all common thoughts, but ones that can damage a breastfeeding relationship quickly if you don’t have a good support system to build you back up and help you figure out what’s going on.
If we keep our babies close to our breasts and allow them to latch whenever they show cues of wanting to nurse, our bodies should get an adequate amount of stimulation to produce enough milk for them. Trust your body that if you are putting baby to the breast whenever they show feeding cues and allowing them to nurse until they unlatch themselves, that your body is producing enough milk. Never hesitate to ask questions to your local IBCLC (lactation consultant) – the sooner you get help, the better chance you have of meeting your breastfeeding goals.
Trust Your Baby
Your baby is born with natural instincts to breastfeed. Even an hour-old baby can crawl to the breast and latch on their own, if given the time and patience. Trust their hunger cues, even if they’ve nursed recently.
Learn all of the cues your baby may give you such as:
Rooting: Moving their head back and forth on your skin (searching for a nipple)
Mouth movements: Anything from opening and closing the mouth, to sticking out their tongue, to smacking their lips.
Fists: Hungry babies have tight fists that they often bring to their mouths. Full babies look relaxed and tend to have open palms and relaxed arms to their sides.
Swaddling, pacifiers, and medical conditions such as jaundice can mask these feeding cues. If you ever suspect that they are showing cues too often or too little, put them to breast and see if they will latch (a baby will not latch if they do not desire to), then ask for help from an IBCLC who will help decipher these cues with you and rule out any medical issues.
Nurse or express milk often!
Breastmilk is mainly dependent on supply and demand. This is the number one rule to making breastmilk: The more you get out, the more you make! If your baby is not effectively removing milk, use your hands to express milk or use a breast pump. Then feed that milk to the baby and call an IBCLC to evaluate what’s going on.
If you are pumping or hand expressing and nothing is coming out, don’t worry! This is telling your body you wanted more than what it had. When asking the body for more milk than it had available, you should see your supply increase in a day to a few days with consistent expression of milk.
Use Your Hands
Our hands are one of the most easily forgotten about tools we have! Hand expression can be more effective at removing milk from the breasts than a breast pump, and using our hands while pumping can increase breastmilk output by up to 50%. Our hands are also very helpful at relieving clogged ducts, massaging to increase milk production, and they are a wonderful investigational tool to make sure our breasts are healthy.
Even babies hands are important! Have you ever wondered why babies always have their hands in the way when latching? They instinctively use their hands to help massage the breast for milk removal, to facilitate the breast to have a letdown, and they even push back on the breast to better see so they can aim to the nipple for better latching! Even their arms are important for them to use and move for body awareness and balance. So take off those baby mittens when breastfeeding and make sure they have their hands free to help themselves latch.
Ask for help!
This tip is by far the most important, and has been a recurring theme throughout all the previous tips for good reason. Breastfeeding should not be something you have to struggle through or go through alone. It’s common to have questions, and it’s highly encouraged to ask! Getting help early and often is one of the best ways to ensure that you breastfeed to your goals.
The first few weeks of breastfeeding can determine your supply for the rest of that breastfeeding relationship. We encourage families to schedule a home visit with us within the first 5-7 days of life, and follow up weekly or as needed until things are going well and the family has no more questions regarding lactation.
Breastfeeding is hard work, but the benefits to the whole family are worth it. IBCLC’s are the gold-standard in lactation care and we truly care about each and every family we work with, and at Nurture Omaha you become part of our village. Surround yourself with a support system that will encourage you. Let us help take care of your family; we are always here for you.
About the guest blogger: Melanie Horstman is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), Registered Lactation Consultant (RLC), and Child Passenger Safety Technician (CPST). Melanie has been in the lactation field for over 6 years. She graduated from Union Institute & University in 2016 with her Bachelor’s degree in Maternal Child Health. Melanie is the co-founder and co-owner of Nurture Omaha, which provides Omaha and surrounding communities with in-home breastfeeding support and car seat safety education.
