As a nurse and breastfeeding consultant, it is one of my most important jobs to guide new mothers to achieve breastfeeding. Perhaps many people think that successful breastfeeding comes from mother’s persistence, but many times, scientific methods and family support are also very important.
The following are two small cases that I have written down casually, hoping to be helpful to you who are also confused about breast-feeding.
When nursing, did you ask the child if he was comfortable?
On one tour of the ward, I saw a mother sitting on the bed bending over to nurse. I reminded her, “it is easy to fatigue the waist and back by bending over to feed. Adjust your posture, you can lean against the back of the bed, relax your body and feed again.”
The mother also felt very uncomfortable bending over to feed her baby. After listening to my words, she changed her posture-lying on her side to feed her baby. I didn’t expect the little guy who had just been drinking milk quietly to be unhappy at once and cried loudly, one after another.
I conveniently took over the child, instantly quieted down, and kept drilling into my arms, constantly looking for his food utensils.
It turns out that the baby likes his mother to sit and hold him for breast-feeding. After the mother adjusted her posture again, the baby sucked the milk calmly and contentedly.
Tips
The main body of breast-feeding is not only the mother but also the child. While we emphasize making the mother comfortable, we cannot ignore the comfort of the child.
The baby can’t speak yet, and the discomfort can only be expressed by [crying]. If mothers don’t notice that the baby is uncomfortable because of the nursing posture, it is easy to mistake the baby for not liking milk or even refusing milk.
Therefore, in the process of breast milk, mothers and children need to try various feeding methods and jointly explore suitable postures for them, so as to achieve a state of mutual adaptation and comfort for both mothers and infants.
There are many kinds of breast-feeding postures, the most common of which are side lying, cradle (sitting), football and cross. (Click here to learn the correct breast-feeding posture)
The production process consumes a lot. Mothers who have just experienced production often use the side-lying type to nurse their babies. However, as the babies grow up, the side-lying type is not necessarily suitable for all mothers and babies, and mothers and children need to explore a more comfortable and suitable posture.
For extremely small babies, mothers with large breasts, patients after cesarean section, and twin fetuses, cross type and rugby type may be more suitable.
Who has the final say on whether there is enough milk?
In the breast-feeding clinic, I once received a new mother 12 days after delivery and asked for help about the shortage of milk after delivery. The milk was not enough for the child to eat. The family all felt that she had no milk and had to feed the child milk powder, but she still wanted to feed the child breast milk.
The most common reason for the shortage of milk after delivery is that the nursing posture is incorrect, and the sucking of the baby cannot give sufficient stimulation to the breast.
After carefully inquiring about her postpartum feeding, I can basically confirm that it is indeed a problem of breast-feeding posture. Just the mother also brought the child together, I gave the scene hand-in-hand guidance, helping the mother to take cradle-like posture to nurse, ensuring that the baby correctly holds milk, including nipples and most areola, and the baby finally sucked up satisfactorily in the mother’s arms.
In fact, many mothers are not without milk after delivery. The appearance of no milk is often caused by the wrong posture and ineffective sucking of the baby’s breast. At this time, family members should give mothers confidence. If their families do not support them, parturients will gradually lose confidence, which makes it more difficult to achieve breast-feeding.
Tips
The secretion of breast milk depends on sucking more, sucking frequently, opening milk as soon as possible and nursing on demand.
In addition to mother, father and other family members should firmly believe this. Believe in children’s natural needs and their own strength, and maintain effective sucking to promote milk secretion.
In clinical practice, I have seen more than once that the mother of premature infants does not have the sucking of the baby, and can still give milk quickly by ensuring the milking frequency of 8-10 times a day with her hands and breast pump. The mother of twins can meet the needs of the baby as well as the efforts of the two babies.
Of course, all this will take some time. During this period of time, the support of the family is really very important. It is better to give the child milk powder directly if she does not have milk, or to watch the child suck a few mouthfuls and not suck milk, so as to give the child milk powder directly. These behaviors will really lead to the parturient [no milk].
In real life, many people like to express their opinions on whether milk is enough or not, but whether milk is enough or not is up to the mother, other family members and children themselves.
When the baby was first born, its appetite was only the size of cherries, and by the 7th day it was almost the size of eggs. The amount of milk needed at one time was really not very large. Adults could not measure the appetite of the child by their appetite.
When the baby was still relatively young, On the premise of ensuring the correct breast-feeding posture, Feeding on demand, as long as the child has the need to feed in time, there is no time and times of regulation. When the baby began to have their own feeding rules, the two feeding room can sleep quietly for about 2 hours, after feeding the breast becomes soft, diapers can wet more than 6 times. It means that the suction is in place and enough to eat. Believe in yourself, don’t always feel that the baby is not enough to eat.
It is really hard to give birth to a baby successfully, but you have to admit the fact that the road to feeding has just started.
There is often no shortcut to successful feeding and quick milk feeding, only by using the right method, then by [persistence] and [support], and by seeking help from professionals in time in case of difficulties.
Think about the long pregnancy in October, which is a few days short and only a few weeks long. Why not give yourself more confidence?