Usually, we talk about three Cs of breastfeeding: Calm, Comfortable and Close. Today, we'll touch on these, but we want to highlight what may become the 4th “C” – Cancer Prevention.
Rule 1: Ensure your newborn is getting a good latch. Experiment and get help if necessary. Rule 2: Feed at least every 3 hours and 'on demand' in the early days to ensure your newborns' tummy is full and to build your milk supply. Rule 3: Beware the serial snacker!
Point out to the mother the same four key points about the baby's position: in line, close, facing, supported. She can support her baby's back with her lower arm. She can support her breast if necessary with her upper hand. If she does not support her breast, she can hold her baby with her upper arm.
Step 7 of the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding states: Practise rooming-in – allow mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day. Routine separation should be avoided. Separation should only occur for an individual clinical need.
Freshly expressed or pumped milk can be stored: At room temperature (77°F or colder) for up to 4 hours. In the refrigerator for up to 4 days. In the freezer for about 6 months is best; up to 12 months is acceptable.
What is the rule of 6? The rule of 6 is: 6 hours on the counter at room temperature, 6 days in the fridge, 6 months in the freezer. Your breastmilk should always be stored in sanitized/sterile containers. Almost all breastmilk storage bags are sterile.
Tips for pumping breast milk
Breastfeeding after returning to work or school can be a challenge, but it can be done successfully with the right support. Here are some helpful tips: Try to pump as often as your baby usually feeds. This may be every 3 to 4 hours for about 15 minutes each time.
The breastfeeding magic number
Your “magic number” is the number of times you need to empty your breasts per 24 hours in order to keep your supply robust. On average, your magic number is 8 (hence the recommendation to breastfeed every 3 hours).
It is recommended that you exclusively breastfeed your baby, with no other milks, food or drinks, until about six months. At about six months it is further recommended that you begin to offer solid foods while continuing to breastfeed until 12 months or longer.
Successful Breastfeeding Begins Right at Birth
Even those who have lots of experience with breastfeeding may be surprised to see how much colostrum can be expressed within the first post-partum hour. It is indeed a golden hour for breastfeeding mothers!
3. Discuss the importance and management of breastfeeding with pregnant women and their families. 4. Facilitate immediate and uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact and support mothers to initiate breastfeeding as soon as possible after birth.
Baby comes off the mother's breast looking relaxed and sleepy – the baby is satisfied. Mother's breasts feel softer and less full after breastfeeding. Mother's breasts experience the letdown or breast milk ejection reflex. Mother's nipple is elongated after breastfeeding but not pinched, blanched, or damaged.
I still recommend the 240-minute rule by nursing/pumping for 30 minutes up to 8 times a day for the first 12 weeks then reassess. If you are nursing and pumping, you would just subtract your nursing time that 30 minute session.
If a mother has consumed more than a moderate amount of alcohol, she may choose to wait 2 hours (per drink) to breastfeed her child, or feed her infant with milk that had been previously expressed when she had not been drinking, to reduce her infant's exposure to alcohol.
Between the age of 2 to 3 months old, healthy babies are often able to sleep for six hours without feeding. Research suggests that about half of babies are able to sleep at least six hours without a nighttime feed by 3 months of age.
In an average fifteen to twenty minute breast milk pumping session, most moms express between . 5 ounces and four ounces of breast milk total. Some moms called “superproducers” are able to express four to eight ounces of breast milk per pumping session, but that is definitely not standard.
Breastfeeding, even just once a day, is worth it.
Your body is regulating your hormones and your endocrine system with stimulation.
The general rule of thumb is that mom should pump at the same times that her baby would normally feed. This will give her body the signals to keep making breastmilk based on the baby's needs."
Chocolate contains theobromine. Because theobromine is a stimulant, it could, in theory, cause the breastfed infant to be wakeful and fussy. If indeed the chocolate does contain caffeine, there's a double whammy.
Breast milk is made up of 88% water so if you're not drinking enough water while breastfeeding, this can disrupt your breast milk production and affect your baby's feeding.