Bounty feature

Breastfeeding

Your midwife and a breastfeeding counsellor can help you get breastfeeding started. In the meantime, we’ll tell you how it works, and what to watch out for

We take a look at

• Getting started
• Learning together
• Positioning and attachment
• Positioning checklist
• Foremilk and hindmilk
• Q&A – how long should a feed last?

Getting started
The early days of breastfeeding matter. You can be sure of getting off to a good start by bearing these key points in mind:

What helps...

• Having as much skin-to-skin contact with your baby as possible.
• Breastfeeding her as soon as possible after the birth.
• Making sure you are holding her well at the breast.
• Getting someone to check that her mouth is well attached at the breast.
• Feeding her as often and for as long as she wants.
• Having her by your bed (rather than in a hospital nursery).
• Getting help from a supportive midwife.

What doesn’t...

• Offering extra feeds of formula milk – your breasts may become overfull and uncomfortable and missing breastfeeds will reduce the amount of milk you produce. This will interfere with ‘supply and demand’. Also, using teats and dummies will confuse your baby and may make it harder for her to learn how to breastfeed.
• Offering water – it may fill her stomach up so that she has no room for breast milk; breastfed babies do not need water.
• Limiting time at the breast – it may mean that she does not get enough breast milk, and it interferes with supply and demand.

Learning together
Breastfeeding may be a new experience for you. It’s also new for your baby. It may take a while but you will learn together. It’s very important to remember that she is ‘breastfeeding’ not ‘nipple feeding’. She will need to take a good mouthful of breast in order to massage the milk from the breast. Make sure you can sit comfortably, and have a pillow or two to hand in case you need them.

Positioning and attachment

1. Hold your baby horizontally. Her forehead, shoulder and hip should be in a straight line. Make sure she is facing you – tummy to mummy’. Support her neck and shoulders between your spread out fingers and thumb.
2. To start attachment properly, your nipple should be opposite your baby’s nose. Support your breast by placing your fingers underneath and your thumb on top, well away from the nipple area.
3. Gently tickle her lips by brushing with your nipple. Wait until your baby’s mouth is wide open then quickly bring your baby to you, positioning the nipple under the roof of her mouth so that the nipple comes to rest at the back of her throat. Her bottom lip should first make contact with the breast on the areola (brown bit) well away from the base of the nipple.
4. You should now make sure that your baby’s cheek is just touching your breast. Her chin should be pressing into your breast and her nose should be clear. You should see some areola showing above her top lip. Avoid holding your breast away from her nose with your fingers. If you’re concerned that she can’t breathe, tuck her bottom in closer to your body. This allows baby’s nose to clear the breast.
5. Hold your baby very close to you until she starts sucking. Once she is taking long, slow sucks, your hand should be brought to rest underneath her.

Positioning checklist
You will soon learn how it feels when your baby is breastfeeding well. In the early days, ask yourself what you can see, what you can feel and what you can hear.

You should see:

• Your baby happily feeding, not fidgeting around.
• Her mouth wide open, with the bottom lip turned out.
• Rounded and plump cheeks.
• Some of the areola (the brown area of your nipple) showing above her top lip.
• Your baby taking quick sucks followed by longer, deeper sucks as your milk starts to flow.

You should feel:

• Comfortable and relaxed.
• No pain in your breast.

You should hear:

• Sounds of milk being swallowed.
• A change in the speed of swallowing from small quick gulps to longer deeper swallows.

Your baby is not properly attached if:

• You see pinched-in lips or her cheeks being sucked in.
• You hear clicking noises or lip smacking.
• You feel pain in your breast throughout the feed. If this is the case, take her off the breast by sliding your finger between her lips and your skin, and try again.

Foremilk and hindmilk

Your milk changes as your baby’s needs change throughout the feed. The milk in the breast at the beginning of a feed is called the foremilk. This is quite thin and watery. As you make milk in response to her sucking, hind milk is produced, which is higher in fat and more satisfying.

It’s important that you let your baby take as much milk as she wants from the first breast at each feed so that she gets plenty of the more satisfying hind milk. She may well look very full and sleepy after the feed. Give her a while and perhaps change her nappy and she may wake up and want some more. You can then offer her the second breast. She may really be full, and just want to drop off to sleep, but that little break may mean that she is now ready for a top up!

Always start the next feed on the opposite breast to the one you started on last time.

Q&A
‘How long should I feed my baby for and how often?’ Kate from Alton

Our breastfeeding expert, Chris McGregor, says:
‘There are no hard and fast rules; feed your baby as often as she wants for as long as she wants. New babies have very small stomachs and they may need to be fed little and often. When you think about it, small frequent feeds are a good way of making sure that you have a chance to sit down and rest, too, while you are feeding. This can be a lovely time when you cuddle your baby and chat to her.’

For the next chapter, Formula Feeding, Click here