The First Two Weeks



The information in the last few posts were focused on information that is helpful to know for the first few days of breastfeeding. Here is a checklist to help you decide if breastfeeding is going well with your exclusively breastfed baby:



1. Your baby has regained his birthweight by the time he is two weeks old.

2. Your baby wakes up for approximately 8 feedings a day, hungry and rooting.

3. Your baby actively sucks and swallows for 90% of his feeding and when done, either falls asleep at the breast or comes off the breast appearing full.

4. Your may have a sense of breast fullness before the feeding and a sense of softness when done. ** Not all mothers are sensitive to changes in breast fullness**

5. Breastfeeding does not hurt. You have no nipple pain and no breast pain.

6. Most well fed babies will have at least 4 heavy wet diapers every day.

7. Most well fed babies will have at least 3 quarter size or more yellowy mustardy stools every day.

Here are a few other thoughts for you to consider:

8. Your baby appears satisfied after most feedings. It is common for new babies to be fussy for a few minutes after feedings. A burp and diaper change and a little rocking or perhaps breastfeeding for a few more minutes, all should help to calm your baby down.

9. It is also normal for babies to have "cluster feedings", where for a 3-4 hour period each day, they seem like they just can't get enough and feed and feed and feed.

10. If this happens, and the rest of the 24 hour day seems fairly normal, you are more than likely doing fine.


Overall, it is a good thing to stay close to home and recover from the pregnancy and birth experience. Your body has accomplished a lot of hard work and it is okay to take it easy for a short while. However, now that breastfeeding is going well, it is a great time to begin taking short walks or short trips to the store. Get some fresh air. Do something nice for yourself. Go to the library or bookstore for an hour or so just for a change of pace. Meet a friend for lunch. Short outings help new mothers by giving them a change of pace, but also keep it short so you don't overdo it.


Click on this link for further information. ( link appears to dissapear when mouse is moved over it, but go ahead and click as it will bring you to the link). This is a list of signs that help you decide that breastfeeding is not going well. If you continue to have questions and concerns, please call an IBCLC for help.

http://www.aabreastfeeding.com/Do%20I%20need%20a%20consult/how-do-i-know-if-i-need-a-consult.htm

The First Day - Getting Breastfeeding Established - Part Three

Part Three of Getting Breastfeeding Established

What position you use to latch your baby on depends on your comfort level as well as the baby. If you are large breasted or had a cesarean section, it may help to begin with the football hold. This takes the pressure off your abdomen after surgery. This also enables some woman with large breasts to provide shaping and support easier and visualize the location of their nipple as it relates to the location of the baby's mouth.

Whatever position you start with, your baby should be coming to the breast with your nipple pointing to the roof of his mouth. When he opens wide and lowers his tongue, he should come onto the breast with his chin first, rather than rotating his forehead forward which creates his nose being pushed into the breast tissue and his chin far away from the breast.

Here is a lovely video that helps mothers understand what is meant by a wide gape.

http://fliiby.com/file/190881/kmwhezslxf.html

Remember - Breastfeeding should not be painful - Not on Day 1 or Day 2 or Day 3.

If breastfeeding is hurting, please call for help.

As Lactation Consultants, we are always interested in checking the latch. We know that a good and comfortable latch typically equates with pain free breastfeeding and a good milk production. A poor latch that hurts, typically equates with worsening nipple pain and less than optimal, to poor milk production.

They do say a picture is worth a thousand words. Below are some interesting pictures.

Your baby should be interested in feeding about 8 times a day from the second day of life. Your baby should increase in output. The progression of amount and color of output is:

Day 1 - 1 wet diaper and several black tarry meconium stools

Normal meconium stools... lighten up each day until....

Day 2 - 2 wet diapers and several stools which are becoming lighter in color and less sticky

Day 3 - 3 wet diapers and several stools which continue to lighten

Day 4 - An exclusively breastfed baby, who is getting enough milk, will typically have at least 4

heavy wet diapers that day and about 2-3 stools which are yellowish in color and either seedy or cottage curdy in substance.

Day 5 - Continue to wet through at least 4 diapers a day and the stools should clearly be the

yellow mustardy color you have heard and read so much about!

Please keep in mind that mother and/or baby medications and formula, can change the color and consistency of the output particularly regarding the stools.

The following samples are more than likely a sign that breastfeeding may not be going as well as it could and warrants an evaluation by an IBCLC:

1. Any continued breast or nipple pain.

2. Any lack of normal output.

3. Babies who are not waking up for at least 8 feedings a day and whose mothers are experiencing other problems with breastfeeding.

4. Weight loss of more than 10% is a warning sign that your baby is not getting enough to eat and this needs to be evaluated.

If breastfeeding is going well, most mothers will report by Day 5:

1. My breasts feel full before a feeding and soften up quite a bit when baby is done.

2. My baby cues to feed at least 8 times a day.

3. Output matches what should be normal.

4. My baby is clearly hungry before a feeding and after a good feeding, appears satiated and after some holding, burping, diaper change, is clearly content for 2-3 hours most of the time.

5. Mother is not in any pain, other than some breast tenderness as her body adjusts to the changes in milk volume.

6. If baby had lost up to 5-7 ounces, is now beginning to gain weight.

So, this is a blog after all. The information that I give here is basic breastfeeding information and certainly cannot cover all a new mother needs to know. Answers to questions about how breastfeeding is going, and is your baby getting enough cannot always be accurately answered by notes on a blog or information in a book.

Of course, my business is as a Lactation Consultant so one might say it would be normal for me to enourage mothers to seek the help of an expert in the field of lactation. And you are right!

As a Lactation Consultant I have two major goals in mind as I wrote my business plan. The first one is to educate mothers and to do whatever I can to help and support my clients to succeed in their breastfeeding goals. My second goal is to provide a salary for myself and my family while doing work that I am passionate about.

I am part of a large network of lactation consultants who share similar goals. If you need some help with breastfeeding, reach out for professional help in your neck of the woods. You will be pleasantly surprised at how soon you can fix a problem and get on with enjoying your babymoon!

BIP/NIP - breastfeeding in public, nursing in public

Today I gave a speech to my Toastmasters Club.
My job was to persuade my audience about a subject I was passionate about. As a Lactation Consultant, I frequently hear mothers express concern about nursing in public. It is either their own concerns about being discreet or they truly fear being judged by someone else or worse yet, kicked out of a public place.

These fears are not unfounded. Mothers have been asked to leave a store, library, plane or other public place because someone was uneasy at the sight of a breastfeeding baby. When a mother knows her baby is hungry and she is in a public place, she may become anxious about finding a private spot to sit comfortably and feed her baby.




This is particularly true for first time mothers. So, here I am, in front of a very mixed audience of men and women, with ages raging from young 30's to mid 80's. I know that when I say the word breast, there might be some level of anxiety in the room. I did my best to have a nice mix of education, information, statistics. Humor helped tremendously in relaxing everyone.



The speech was a hit as I received many written and verbal positive evaluations. Some of the remarks were particularly exciting. One woman wrote that she was now excited for her daughter-in-law to have a baby as she looked forward to being as supportive as possible, given the health benefits that she learned today. Another gentleman who was in his 50's wrote: "Now I wish I had been breastfed."