“The first four to six weeks are the toughest, then it starts to settle down,” says Cathy. “And when you get to three months, breastfeeding gets really easy – way easier than cleaning and making up a bottle. Just hang in there!”
Any discomfort that a new mom feels during breastfeeding should last only a few days as you learn through trial and error. As you're learning, it may feel strange at first when your baby latches, but it should only be an initial pinch that goes away. If it's more painful than that, it's probably a bad latch.
3 – 6 months (12 – 24 weeks)
Between 3 – 6 months your baby will become a more efficient feeder, and during this time you may introduce solids as well.
If your baby is breastfed, he may spend 15 to 20 minutes at each breast—sometimes suckling both, and sometimes just one. Six weeks is also the time of a big growth spurt, so your baby may also be back to cluster feeding, or very frequent feeds. But don't worry. This is normal as he builds body weight.
Many mothers find the first two to three weeks of breastfeeding to be the most challenging. This is when mothers may be tempted to stop due to ongoing challenges. Most mothers who persist find that the rewards are gratifying and long-term, for both themselves and their babies.
“The first four to six weeks are the toughest, then it starts to settle down,” says Cathy. “And when you get to three months, breastfeeding gets really easy – way easier than cleaning and making up a bottle.
Breastmilk contains all the nourishment needed to promote normal healthy growth and development in babies in their first 6 months of life and remains the most important food during their first year. Solids during your baby's first year complement breastmilk and do not replace breastfeeds.
Your 6-week-old baby's growth
Feedings should be spread out to every three to four hours or so (and maybe even more spread out at night), though demand feeding is still generally the way to go, especially for the breastfed set.
The World Health Organization and the National Health and Medical Research Council in Australia recommend exclusive breastfeeding (i.e. no other fluids or solids) for six months and then continued breastfeeding combined with solid foods for 12-24 months or as long as mother and baby desire.
Watch your baby! If your baby is awake and swallowing at the breast, there is no reason to switch sides. If your baby's swallowing has slowed, they have started to fall asleep, and/or they seem frustrated at the breast, it's time to switch sides.
The range of reasons why a “good looking latch” is painful and not effective at transferring milk is wide. Sometimes it's size, shape, positioning, or maturity. Some babies are born with oral anomalies that make successful latch-on difficult or impossible.
Some new parents find it difficult to manage their milk supply and to help baby latch properly. They worry that their baby isn't getting enough milk, or that their baby is unusually fussy. To prevent this type of stress, learn as much about breastfeeding as you can before your baby is born.
Results from the 2010 Australian National Infant Feeding Survey (the latest research we have) shows that 96% of mothers start breastfeeding. However, there is a rapid fall in breastfeeding rates in the early weeks. By around 5 months (less than 6 months) only 15% are being exclusively breastfed.
Between nine and 12 months, your baby may drop another one or two feeds, as he starts getting more nutrition from solids, taking him down to two to three feeds a day.
Most babies can sleep from 7pm to 7am consistently between the ages of 6 to 9 months, as they learn to connect sleep cycles and develop self-soothing techniques. Read on for detailed advice and strategies for helping your baby achieve a full night's rest.
A newborn's weight ranges from 2.3kg to 4.9kg, and during the first 6 weeks your baby's weight will increase by approximately 0.9kg to 1.6kg.
Your 7-week-old baby should be sleeping really well (in SNOO babies often have 5, 6, or even 7-hour stretches of continuous sleep). And all that rest is helping them make the most of their awake periods.
Myth: Babies who have been breastfed are clingy.
Breastfeeding provides not only the best nutrition for infants, but is also important for their developing brain. Breastfed babies are held a lot and because of this, breastfeeding has been shown to enhance bonding with their mother.
On average, the moms we surveyed who breastfeed spend about 6.8 months nursing their babies. For most, the breastfeeding journey ends sometime between 0 to 6 months: 44 percent say they weaned between 0 and 3 months, and 62 percent report stopping between 0 and 6 months.
The World Health Organization strongly recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life and it states that after that breastfeeding should continue, along with complementary foods, for up to the age of two years or beyond and as long as mutually desired.
So… the rule of three refers to time - ie 3 hours, 3 days or 3 months. 3 hours: If you pump and plan to use your breastmilk straight away, you can leave it out at room temperature for 3 hours.
Typically, older babies feed more quickly as the weeks and months go by, but there may still be occasions when they take their time :) I think that if you are still BFing at 6 weeks (only about 20% of people make it that far), then you will probably have got into a good routine that works for you.
A growth spurt, also sometimes called a breastfeeding crisis, is a response by the baby to a clear increase in milk demand. Your baby will now ask to breastfeed at all times and may be nervous, irritable, and seemingly insatiable. Coincidentally, these demand increases occur around the same time for all babies.
Breastfeeding is hard to keep up. Some 83 percent of babies in the United States start out on breast milk, but by 6 months, just 56 percent are breastfed — and at that stage, only a quarter drink breast milk exclusively, as the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends.