Breast performance
Breastfeeding
isn't something most people find easy straightaway, thus the proliferation of
breastfeeding counsellors, books and, even, DVDs! We asked breastfeeding expert,
and consultant to the stars, Clare Byam-Cook to share a few of her top tips
for breastfeeding success with us.
1 Throw out the V pillow!
Not only do these clutter your house and cause extra unnecessary expense, but they are utterly hopeless at getting your baby in the right position to feed. The shape means that the two points hit the back of your chair and push the V pillow out so that the baby can fall in the resulting gap. They are seldom high enough either for mums and babies. You're better off piling up lots of pillows so the baby can lie level with your breast, with or without you holding on to him.
2 Don't align nose to nipple
Forget everything the midwife, NCT breastfeeding counsellor and books told you about aligning your baby's nose to your nipple. It's utter nonsense. If you were bottlefeeding, would you shove the bottle up your baby's nose? Line the nipple with your baby's mouth and, instead of waiting for your baby to 'open wide', squidge your breast into a suitable shape for him to latch on to. Again, I would advise going against conventional advice here. Instead of supporting your breast above and below your nipple (six o'clock and 12 o'clock), use your fingers to squeeze either side (three o'clock and nine o'clock). This will result in a better shape for your baby to latch on to.
3 Move quickly!
Once you have positioned yourself correctly and comfortably, have your baby lying 'tummy to tummy' and mouth to nipple, shape your breast and get him on quick! Delays will give him a chance to pull out of position and latch on incorrectly - and bite you!
4 No pain = gain
Whoever tells you that breastfeeding should feel uncomfortable to begin with is wrong. From day one you should feel NO pain. If you are, it's a sign that your baby isn't latched on properly. If, at the beginning, you also feel a strong pulling sensation, this also means the baby is not correctly positioned, most probably she's too far away from you. If you don't sort it out, pulling will turn into pain as your baby's sucking action gets stronger.
5 Perfect timing
For the first few days, before your milk comes in, a baby that is latched on correctly should only need to spend approximately 15-20 minutes (7-10 minutes on each breast) at each feed. If she is feeding for much longer than this, she is almost certainly latched on incorrectly and is therefore unable to extract your milk effectively. Don't listen to what people say about letting your baby dictate the amount of time she should be on there. If she's on there too long you are, in effect, giving her a dummy not a bottle
- and making yourself sore in the process!
6 Fill them up!
Don't rely on your baby being able to tell you when and how often he needs to feed. You should know roughly what a newborn will need by the way of food and sleep and try to provide it. After all, if you went into a pet shop to buy a hamster you would expect the owner of the shop to give you feeding instructions, not the hamster! Surely the situation is the same with a new baby!
A good way to find out how much your baby needs at each feed is to treat him as if he were a toddler. If you were giving a toddler breakfast, you would want him to have enough sustenance to go three or four hours before needing his next meal. The same applies to a baby. If he regularly cries with hunger within an hour or so of a feed, he is almost certainly not taking enough milk during each feed to last him longer. Make sure you fill him to the brim at each feed - this will make him far more content than he will be if he spends all day snacking. Feeding on demand doesn't mean feeding your baby every time he cries. You'll need to learn what his different cries mean and
act appropriately.
7 If all else fails
If, for whatever reason, breastfeeding doesn't work for you (e.g. excruciatingly sore nipples, not enough milk etc), and none of the experts you have consulted have provided a solution, don't feel you're a failure. It's the experts who have failed, not you. After all, if a plumber failed to fix a problem, you wouldn't blame yourself would you? Give up and bottle feed!
8 And finally …
Just because breastfeeding is 'natural' it doesn't mean it isn't a skill that needs to be learnt. In the old days before bottle-feeding, not all babies were happily and healthily breastfed. Some died of malnutrition or were fed by wet nurses. I recently purchased a silver nipple shield at an auction that was 100 years old. So it just goes to show you that breastfeeding problems have always been around - they're not a recent
phenomenon.
Clare Byam-Cook is a trained nurse and midwife, and has worked for the
last 17 years teaching at private antenatal classes. She specialises in helping
mothers with breastfeeding problems, and is a favourite with celebs, including
Kate Winslet, Kate Beckingsale, Emma Freud and Trinny and Susannah. Clare has
written a book What to Expect When You're Breastfeeding and What If You Can't?:
How to Feed and Settle Your Baby and Have a Life of Your Own and has produced
a DVD called Breastfeeding without tears.
You can buy Clare's book at amazon.co.uk
Where to next?
- Find out more about how to breastfeed in our breastfeeding section
- Having trouble breastfeeding? Use our problem solver
- Frequently asked questions about breastfeeding - see our experts' answers
- Discuss breastfeeding with other mums on our Feeding discussion board
- Unable or don't want to breastfeed? Check out our section on bottlefeeding
- National Breastfeeding Week information and features page
- See the babyworld features library
