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How to properly implement breastfeeding?
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding until the baby is 6 months old. But we don’t put pressure on ourselves … Breastfeeding for a few months, a few weeks, or even a few days will already benefit your baby. How long you breastfeed is up to you, and you alone. In any case, it is essential to adapt to your baby’s needs and to listen to you.
The beginnings of breastfeeding
Some good practices to properly set up breastfeeding from the first feedings to your newborn, in the maternity ward:
– Make yourself comfortable, preferably skin to skin, to allow baby to rediscover known and reassuring sensations.
– Do not hesitate to offer the two breasts alternately, to stimulate your lactation
– If the first feedings in the maternity ward are short, this is normal. Colostrum is very nourishing and baby does not need to drink large amounts of it because her stomach is very small.
– If your newborn baby falls asleep at the breast, you can express a little milk to make him smell or give him with a teaspoon, but especially keep it in the immediate vicinity.
– Between each feeding, you can also offer skin-to-skin contact which allows baby and his parents to discover themselves and more easily regulate their temperature and glucose.
– Stay tuned for any pain: cracks, breast pain, redness that should be reported to your midwife or your IBCLC lactation advisor.
How to get the baby to accept the breast?
First of all, listen to your infant, and observe his behavior. At each sign of awakening, do not hesitate to offer him the breast. Baby is starting to learn and the flavor of colostrum is close to amniotic fluid.
How do you know if your baby is ready to breastfeed?
You can spot hunger signals in the following situations: when your baby opens his eyes, buries his nose in your cleavage when you are skin-to-skin, opens his mouth while mimicking a feed, or is agitated in his sleep. To increase the odds on your side, do not hesitate to be accompanied by a midwife in the delivery room during the first feeding. This usually takes place within two hours of giving birth.
First days: colostrum
For this first feed very important for the proper establishment of breastfeeding, your baby experiences his natural sucking and burrowing reflexes (an attitude which consists of looking for the smell of your breast). He will taste colostrum for the first time: it is the first milk secreted by your breasts, the one he will feast on up to three days after childbirth. It is a thick, yellow-orange liquid that is highly concentrated in nutrients.
Baby does not want to breastfeed and cries
During breastfeeding, especially when it is put on in the first few days, your baby may refuse the breast. Do not worry. Getting started with breastfeeding is not always as quick and easy as you might think. Your fatigue and that of your baby, after giving birth, or a baby blues that sets in, can disrupt the onset of breastfeeding.
Baby can’t suck
Le breast refusal can have different causes. “In the maternity ward, babies after birth may have difficulty breastfeeding and refuse to breastfeed. This may be related to medications the mother may have received during childbirth and that can make him drowsy. We can also have a baby who refuses to breastfeed because he is too tired after a difficult delivery. Sometimes, it happens that a muscular breastfeeding by the healthcare team can interfere with the baby’s sucking. If he does not succeed in sucking, it is necessary to check the position of the dyad, to ensure that there are no tensions such as a stiff neck for example, nor mouth restriction, like a tongue frenulum that limits her movements, or a problem with inverted nipples in the mother, ”explains Camille Chivé, nurse and lactation consultant IBCLC (La ParenThèse Lactée). Once these physiological causes have been ruled out, breastfeeding will take place very slowly.
What to do when baby refuses to breastfeed?
Once you start breastfeeding, it will take several weeks for you and your baby to find your rhythm. However, after several weeks or months, the baby may suddenly refuse the breast again. Why ? When baby refuses the breast for no reason, is restless and shows signs of impatience, he may be upset by a daily change in rhythm, teething, or a change in the taste of your milk that may be observed. during breastfeeding.
Why is my baby not breastfeeding?
“Over the course of breastfeeding we can have babies who can make”breastfeeding strikes”, Refuse or get annoyed at the breast. Don’t panic, there could be various reasons for this: mom’s return to work, mastitis which can lead to saltier breast milk, strong ejection reflex, reflux, thrush, mouth restrictions, confusion.
If you continue to breastfeed when baby’s first teeth are sticking out and he is biting you, he may be surprised or scared by your reaction. Anyway, it is important to identify the cause of this difficulty. Do not be discouraged and continue to promote immediate proximity with the baby ”, explains Camille Chivé,
Baby gets angry at the breast: what to do?
To enjoy your breastfeeding serenely, you have to eliminate as much stress as possible. Make sure you get good sleep, rest and a healthy diet. Conditions that are not always easy to meet when taking care of a newborn baby, and the nights are very choppy!
If possible, try to apply the following tips :
— Stay patient : Sit in a quiet place and offer the breast very gently. You can talk to your baby to explain that you would like him to breastfeed. He will probably calm down at the sound of your voice.
— Don’t force it : no need to force him to open his mouth, you risk blocking him. Try again later if he doesn’t want to.
— Make it easier to latch on and feed : tacos, asymmetric latch on the breast, compress to facilitate the transfer of milk, pass several times from one breast to another so that the baby receives flow and does not need to provide a lot of effort
— Do some skin-to-skin : “You will thus have a front row seat as soon as he tries to suck,” advises Camille Chivé.
— Remove confusing objects : pacifier, bottle
– Continue to maintain your lactation with manual expression, a manual or electric breast pump
– Take advice from a IBCLC lactation consultant, specialized in breastfeeding in order to precisely identify your difficulties.
Baby is restless at the breast
Be careful, if baby gets angry when the milk arrives after a few sucks, it may be caused by a strong ejection reflex (REF). How to recognize a REF? Your milk is going out in a geyser, and the toddler’s stool is a weird greenish color, he wriggles with digestive pain. “Your milk flows abundantly, baby is simply overwhelmed and does not know what to do with it”, explains Camille Chivé.
To help you :
-Express a little milk before feeding, to reduce the intensity of the jet,
-During the second part of the feed, compress your breast to help baby take milk more easily,
– Offer the same breast several times in a row,
– Do not hesitate to breastfeed in lying position.
How do you know when your baby doesn’t want the breast anymore?
When the baby is full and full, there is no need to force him to continue breastfeeding. In fgeneral, when he has suckled enough, his face is relaxed, he is peaceful or half asleep, with his mouth open, at the corner of which pearls a little milk. He took the milk he needed! On the other hand, if the breastfeeding drags on and your baby is nibbling for fun by spitting out some milk from your breast, it is because head for comfort and security.
Some guidelines to make sure your baby is latching on properly
– His mouth should be wide open on your nipple,
– Her lips are well upturned, and they form a suction cup on your breast,
– His mouth encompasses a large part of your areola,
– Your baby’s chin is stuck to the breast,
– Her nose is slightly off the breast, and her head is tilted back.
Baby falls asleep while breastfeeding
If the baby falls asleep quickly on the breast, and you notice that there is little urine and stool in his diapers, and his weight curve is not changing, it will be necessary toensure good milk transfer.
To stimulate this transfer of milk, you can:
– Practice skin to skin
– Make a drop of milk bead from your breasts and spread it around the corner of her mouth,
— Expressing your milk and offer him with a spoon, a cup …
– Modify your position to facilitate breastfeeding: taco grip, asymmetric latch on the breast, compression, pass several times from one breast to another so that the baby receives flow and does not need to provide a lot of effort.
Baby stays hanging on his mother’s breast
If your baby does not let go of your breast but keeps her eyes closed, you can insert your pinky finger to gently release it from your nipple.
Avoid bad postures while breastfeeding
If the baby refuses to latch on and suckle, try to see if it is due to a bad breastfeeding position. So that the breastfeeding takes place in the best conditions, we first think of settling down comfortably, possibly using a breastfeeding pillow. You can also breastfeed lying down with the baby close to you.
How to breastfeed without pain?
Baby should be curled up against you, his mouth wide open over your nipple. Here are the most common (and most comfortable) positions for breastfeeding your baby.
– The physiological position (BN): the baby’s belly is glued to your belly more or less horizontally and his body is supported by your arm
– The Madonna’s position: the baby’s belly is glued to your belly, he takes one of your breasts, his body wraps around your waist and you hold him from the neck to the buttocks with your arms.
– The rugby ball: conversely, baby’s body is slipped under your armpit.
– Straddling: your baby is sitting in front of you, well upright. A position that helps him, if he has a tendency to regurgitate.
– Lying down: you are lying on a bed, on your side, and your baby is installed in the same position, facing you.
Mixed breastfeeding: when the baby refuses the breast …
“When a baby begins to refuse the breast, his sucking may be disturbed by the introduction of a pacifier or a bottle if you express your milk or if you practice mixed breastfeeding. In this case, you must stop the disturbing element, redo skin-to-skin, favor portage, and even breastfeed your baby in calm moments if your wish is to find exclusive breastfeeding ”, explains and advises Camille Chivé.
Breastfeeding difficulties: breast-pacifier confusion
Baby was breastfeeding perfectly well, but nothing has gone well since you introduced bottles or has a pacifier? It may be a breast-pacifier confusion: possible when you decide to switch to mixed breastfeeding, or when you introduce a pacifier or bottle, this is explained by different sucking modes, this that can upset the infant. Indeed, when baby takes his milk from a bottle, the flow is much faster, and it requires less effort. Breastfeeding involves another method of sucking. To prevent your little one from being too confused by this change, turn to bottles with a slow-flow nipple.