Breastfeeding 101

Breast milk comes in three stages. Nature made each one just for the age of your kid, making it the perfect nourishment from the first day to the tenth and beyond:

As soon as you start delivering, there isn’t yet any milk to be found anywhere. Colostrum is the thick, yellowish (but occasionally clear) fluid you’re secreting. It’s the same material your breasts secreted while you were pregnant. This crucial mix of protein, vitamins, and minerals can also help protect against hazardous germs and viruses and may even boost the production of antibodies by the baby.

This coating also protects the intestines of babies, which have a developing immune system, as well as guarding them against allergies and digestive problems. Additionally, it promotes the baby’s first bowel movement and lessens the risk of jaundice. Even if you produce a small amount, your baby will only require a few teaspoons of this “liquid gold” per feeding in the early days. Regularly sucking from the start will help stimulate your body to create the following stage of milk in a few days.

Your breasts will serve up transitional milk between colostrum and mature milk on the third or fourth day, depending on how far along your baby is. You’ll notice it when your milk first “comes in,” which looks like milk mixed with orange juice to you. Your kid, on the other hand, will like it much more. It has fewer immunoglobulins and protein than colostrum, but more lactose, fat, and calories. On day three, your baby’s stomach is just the size of a walnut, so don’t panic if you aren’t making much milk.

While it’s true that brief feeds minimize pain and cracking, this is more often caused by getting into a less-than-ideal feeding position than by feeding too long. Instead of placing time restrictions on each feeding, let your little one have her sweet time at the breast and be prepared for lengthy feedings at first.

The average session lasts between 20 and 30 minutes. Keep in mind, however, that this is an average figure. In the beginning and during growth spurts, your baby may require more or less time and need to feed more frequently.

One breast should be completely drained. Every feeding should have at least one well-drained breast. To ensure that the baby gets enough fat and calories, make sure he or she is fed from both breasts. However, hindmilk, the last of the mature milk, is even more vital. Don’t just unplug everything at once. Wait until your baby appears to be ready to stop nursing on breast one before offering, but do not force breast two. You’ll need the best disposable breast pads to keep it under control. Start with the other breast at the next feeding if the baby drains one and doesn’t want any more. 

Keep an eye out for the baby’s cues that she’s ready to be changed. Wait for the baby to release the nipple before ending the feeding. The suck-swallow sequence slows down to roughly four suckers per one swallow if your infant doesn’t like it. Often, your baby will go asleep after the first breast and either awaken to nurse from the second or sleep till the next feeding. Press your breast near your baby’s lips to unlatch it once more, or slide a clean finger into the corner of your baby’s mouth to do so.