How to breastfeed a baby isn’t always as easy as many thinks. You and your baby must learn and adjust to having a successful breastfeeding journey.
The good thing is that there are tried and tested steps culled from specialists and experienced moms that you can follow to help you walk through the journey easily.
In this post, I discussed 10 steps to successful breastfeeding for moms.
Before we start discussing these steps, let’s discuss answers to some pressing questions you may have asked about having a successful breastfeeding journey. Let’s start first with the meaning of breastfeeding.
What Is Breastfeeding?
What Is Breastfeeding? This is the first question to ask a mother who intends to breastfeed. Breastfeeding, or nursing, is how human breast milk is fed to a child.
Breast milk may be provided directly from the breast, expressed by hand, or pumped and fed to the infant. Breastfeeding has several benefits for the mother and child that any mother should not miss.
Breast milk is rich in nutrients and antibodies, which help protect your baby against infections, are cost-effective, promote bonding, help the mother lose weight, and have many other benefits.
How Do I Start Breastfeeding?
If you just became a mother, you may be wondering. How do I start breastfeeding? You must begin breastfeeding by preparing as soon as you become pregnant.
When you attend prenatal classes during pregnancy, you will learn the fundamentals of breastfeeding, which will help you understand how to begin breastfeeding as a new mother.
Also, discuss your intention to breastfeed with your physician. They could provide you with specific tools, tips, and advice on how to have a successful breastfeeding journey.
You should get breastfeeding accessories next. These could include coverings, a nursing cushion, nursing tops and bras, breast pumps, etc.
After delivery, you should request direct skin-to-skin contact and start breastfeeding your child as soon as possible.
Ensure that your infant latches on well from the first meal and feed your newborn breastmilk frequently. This is how you start breastfeeding before and after delivery.
What Steps Should I Take To Breastfeed My Baby?
Are you looking for ways how to breastfeed a baby; follow through with the steps below. They will guide you on the right steps to take to breastfeed your baby.
1. Wash Your Hands And Keep Drinking Water Nearby
The first step to successful breastfeeding is always wash your hands before you begin. Hygiene matters a lot especially with babies and what they come in contact with.
So ensure your hands are clean before you start feeding your baby. Keep drinking water available both for your hydration and your baby if you’re open to hydrating your baby with anything other than breastmilk.
2. Line Up The Baby’s Nose With Your Nipple
Get comfortable by sitting down with your back straight and your lap flat. Pop a couple of cushions behind you to support your back.
Use another pillow on your knees to help bring the baby closer to your breast if needed.
Find the proper breastfeeding position and lay the baby across your lap, supporting the head, shoulder, and body in a straight line.
Position the nose opposite your nipple and let the head tilt back, keeping it with one hand. Use the other to hold the child on the side.
3. Examine The Swallowing
The mouth should be wide open, covering the dark areola’s nipple and bottom portion. If it doesn’t, encourage them by gliding your nipple across their upper lip.
Make sure your infant has a good latch for breastfeeding. With a good latch, the chin will be resting on your breast as the baby leans the head back.
Your nipple should move toward the roof of the child’s mouth as he takes a big mouthful of breast. To prevent your breast from preventing your baby from breathing, you might need to support it.
You’ll hear your baby swallowing and watch their jaw moving as your milk starts to flow (also known as the let-down reflex). It’s typical to have some tingling in your breast as your flow increases.
4. Feed When Needed
Allow your infant to nurse whenever and as often as they wish to quench their thirst and satiate their appetite. Your breasts generate more milk as your baby drinks more.
Give your infant the other breast if they still want more milk. Your baby will release your breast when they’ve had enough or will go to sleep.
How Long Should Breastfeeding Last For A Newborn?
If you are a first-time mum, you might be curious about how long should a breastfeeding session last for a newborn.
Most nursing sessions during the newborn stage last 20 to 45 minutes on average. However, since newborns are frequently sleepy, the duration will vary for babies, so you’ll need to be patient and persistent.
Feed your baby on one side of the breast until he stops sucking and the hand is not fisted. He should look relaxed and sleepy.
When this happens, release the suction, burp the infant, and turn to the opposite side. Feed your kid until they quit taking milk from the second breast.
For the next feeding, switch the side you started. While most infants feed from both breasts during each feeding, some will be content with just one.
When scheduling your infant feeds, remember that the length of time you nurse your baby each time varies on several variables, including your baby’s age and breast milk supply.
How Do You Know When To Switch Breasts?
It is normal to ask, how do you know when to switch breasts? Knowing when to switch breasts is an art that requires time and careful observation of your infant.
If your baby’s drinking pattern slows or if they aren’t aggressively sucking and swallowing as before, you should keep an eye on him as this may be the time to switch breasts.
How Do I Know If My Breasts Are Empty?
As a first-time mom, you may ask, How Do I know If my breasts are empty? Your infant is the best pointer to know.
After consuming liquids from one side, the baby will look complete and maybe sleepy. One breast is typically enough for a newborn in the early stages of development.
You could handpress some milk from the other breast till it feels a little softer and more comfortable if the other breast is feeling full and unpleasant for you or if your baby isn’t able to drink anymore and is asleep.
It’s essential to pay attention to your baby’s cues. You can assume that baby has emptied that breast when they come off on their own accord.
Also, the breast will feel more “floppy” and soft and less complete, and if you try hand expressing, it will be challenging to get any milk out.
What Things Should You Avoid While Breastfeeding?
It is important to know those things that you should avoid while pregnant. Here are some things you should avoid during breastfeeding.
These may hamper your breastfeeding progress.
1. Fish and seafood may contain mercury: Children and infants are particularly vulnerable to mercury poisoning. Some herbal dietary supplements.
2. Alcohol: The Center for Disease Control advises breastfeeding mothers to wait at least two hours after one drink because the alcohol can be passed to the baby.
3. Caffeine: Consuming a lot of caffeine over time may accumulate in your baby’s system and result in irritation and difficulty falling asleep.
4. Using prescription-free medications: This puts your unborn child at risk because some drugs are not safe to take while nursing because they could have significant side effects.
How Long Does It Take For A Baby To Learn How To Breastfeed?
How long does it take for a baby to learn to breastfeed? This is a common question among new mothers, as the first few weeks of breastfeeding can be challenging.
The hardest part of learning and adjusting usually lasts for the first four to six weeks, after which it gets easier.
If you are experiencing difficulties in adjusting while breastfeeding; know that you are not alone in feeling this way. While constant feeding is customary and helps increase your milk supply, it can be tasking.
Be patient, take care of yourself, and know that when your milk production grows after the first month, things will become much more easier.
10 Important Steps To Successful Breastfeeding
Now that we have discussed the pressing questions regarding breastfeeding a baby let’s see the ten steps that would guide you on how to breastfeed a baby successfully.
Step 1: Learn About Breastfeeding
When you want to know how to breastfeed a baby, the first step to successful breastfeeding is to learn about breastfeeding. There are many things you need to learn about the process.
One of the first is to learn how to watch out for your baby’s earliest indications of hunger, which include:
1. Rooting reflex. You notice this in infants when they turn their heads and open their mouths in quest of food. Placing their hands to their mouths can quickly demonstrate their hunger.
2. Crying is a sign of delayed hunger. Before feeding, a wailing baby needs to be comforted. Visit thrivingmom.com to learn how to calm a crying baby.
You must also learn how to breastfeed in various positions, including the cradle hold, rugby, clutch, and many others. It would be best if you breastfed in a position that suits you and your baby.
You might need assistance if you had a C-section to get comfortable, but rest assured that you can still breastfeed your baby once you are at ease.
You should also learn how to attach your infant to the breast properly. Hold your infant tight with the tummy touching, noses resting on their nipples, chins resting on breasts, and bottoms snuggled in close to your body.
When nursing, support your breast with your hand while maintaining a solid hold on your baby’s neck and shoulders. Verify that your fingers are not touching the areola (dark area).
Until your baby’s mouth opens as wide as a yawn and moves its head back to take a huge mouthful of your breast, place their chins on your breast, nose to nipple.
Alternatively, gently press your nipple on your baby’s lips until their mouth is wide. The lips should be rolled outwards while your baby feeds.
Your infant will begin to suckle gently at first, then more vigorously with a rhythm of one to two suckers each swallow and brief rest intervals.
Burp the infant and offer your second breast when the baby stops sucking or leaves your breast. You must also learn to bring out breast milk by hand or pump.
Since you intend to express milk, you should also become familiar with breastfeeding storage recommendations, such as how long breast milk should be kept in the refrigerator.
You may also read our article on recommended breastfeeding storage practices here.
Step 2. Invest In Breastfeeding Essentials
Another very important step to successful breastfeeding is purchasing nursing necessities. These will go a long way toward making nursing a baby easier.
Your initial purchase should be a quality nursing bra. It will be much simpler to feed your baby if you have a proper breastfeeding bra, and it would support swollen breasts.
You can easily nurse in button-up shirts and blouses or wear a camisole under your shirt to hide your stomach.
Especially when you are breastfeeding your child in public, invest in one or two breastfeeding tops with specialized openings.
Additionally, you can conceal your infant while breastfeeding by draping a plush cashmere shawl over your shoulders. You should also purchase a nursing pillow.
To correctly posture your baby during nursing, you must support your arms. Cotton nursing pads to help contain leaks and unique nursing tops or gowns.
A breast pump to pump breast milk quickly, storage bags and containers to store breastmilk, nipple creams, ointments, lotions shells, etc. are additional necessary breastfeeding supplies to purchase.
Step 3. Establish Skin To Skin Contact As Soon As Possible
A vital step to successful breastfeeding is establishing skin-to-skin contact because the initial feeding sets the tone for the subsequent feedings.
It’s crucial to keep your infant skin-to-skin until after the first feeding. Request that your baby is placed on your stomach after delivery.
Beyond just feeding needs, skin-to-skin contact offers other benefits. It is a technique for mom and dad to develop a relationship with the newborn.
It helps the baby cry less, latch on better, feed longer, and keep warm and comfortable.
Skin-to-skin contact has other advantages, such as regulating the baby’s temperature and all their vital indicators, including their heart rate, respiration rate, blood sugar level, blood pressure, and blood sugar level.
Additionally, skin-to-skin contact with your infant will encourage your body to begin producing milk and activate its feeding reflexes.
As a result, your baby will seek your breast earlier, and your body will produce more milk. After delivery, skin-to-skin contact allows the infant to adjust to the outside environment.
Following a time to gather their faculties, they usually begin to move around, hunt for the breast, and attempt to eat. Sometimes it takes longer, and other times it takes less time.
If you have a cesarean delivery, you can hold your newborn until you can nurse on your chest or cheek-to-cheek, or your spouse can do it for you.
If at all feasible, begin the first feeding as soon as the baby is delivered because this is when they are alert and starving.
After that initial feeding, you can continue to nurse your child whenever they appear hungry or upon request.
Step 4: Set Up A Breastfeeding Corner
Establish your nursing station or breastfeeding corner in a calm area because noise and other distractions might prevent successful breastfeeding, so this is another vital step to successful breastfeeding.
Create a breastfeeding corner with a comfortable chair and all the supplies you’ll need within easy reach. This list of supplies will help you set up the coziest breastfeeding station ever!
1. A chair for sitting during breastfeeding.
2. A cozy, breastfeeding pillow
3. Burp towels; for spills or leaks, use nursing pads.
4. Baby wipes and extra diapers for messes
5. With a mobile device or breastfeeding journal, you can monitor your success
6. Hydrogen pads or Nipple Creams for sore nipples
7. A water bottle, as breastfeeding might make you quite thirsty
8. Your favorite Snacks that are healthy and non-perishable.
Step 5: Be Patient And Enjoy Each Breastfeeding Session
This is another essential step to successful breastfeeding. Both you and your baby are learning the skill of breastfeeding, and for some moms and babies, it is more complicated than others.
Breastfeeding and ensuring your kid is eating takes time and patience. Babies need to eat at least eight or more in the first several weeks daily.
While some infants enjoy frequent, brief feedings, others prefer fewer, longer feedings. Do not rush your infant; take your time because each baby is unique; understanding your child’s feeding habits is essential.
During the first four to six weeks, you should study your baby’s cues as your body develops its milk supply. Time, tolerance, and humor are beneficial as they help you cope and be more patient.
Stop trying to breastfeed if you are becoming angry or frustrated with yourself. Try again after a short while.
Ask someone to distract your infant if they are upset and keep them busy until you are ready to try again. For this meal, you could express and try breastfeeding for the subsequent feeding.
Step 6: Watch Out For Signs That Your Baby Is Feeding Well
A key step to successful breastfeeding is watching out for signs you’re baby is being fed properly.
By day 6, your baby should have six or more wet diapers in a day and poop frequently, which is a sign that they are eating well.
Weight increase is another indicator. Many newborns lose some weight in the first few days, but they usually get it back by the time they are two weeks old.
You should also watch out for some indicators that your child is feeding well. You can know when
1. After feedings, your baby will naturally leave the breast.
2. After feedings, their mouth appears moist.
3. After the majority of feeds, your baby seems happy and content.
Other indications that your baby is eating well include:
1. They seem healthy and aware when they’re awake; and
2. They begin to gain weight steadily after the first two weeks.
All these are signs that a baby is feeding well, and you should be used to these signs for a mom who is learning how to breastfeed a baby.
Step 7: Optimize Your Breastmilk Production
Having a consistent and ideal milk flow is a further requirement for successful breastfeeding and something you must know how to do when learning how to breastfeed a baby.
To do this, you might have to
1. Refrain from giving your infant formula bottles or pacifiers for the first six months, until breastfeeding is well-established.
2. Feed your baby on demand
3. Once breastfeeding is established, expressing some breast milk after feedings will help you increase your supply.
4. Offer both breasts with each feeding, switching which breast comes first.
5. Hold your infant skin-to-skin and keep them close to you. By doing this, you’ll be able to identify your baby’s feeding signals before they even start to scream.
You will produce more milk if your infant breastfeeds more frequently throughout the first few weeks. In the first few months, your child will develop swiftly.
There will be times during these development spurts when your kid will be starving and require more frequent feedings. Your breast milk will fluctuate during these times to satisfy your baby’s needs.
1. Ensure your infant is securely attached and sucking milk from the breast effectively to maximize milk flow and guarantee a healthy feeding.
2. Be prepared to feed your infant more regularly; do it at least eight times daily, on-demand, every 2-3 hours. Offering each breast twice, switch your kid between them.
3. Make sure your breasts are empty during each feeding or pumping session; you can do this by expressing this after breastfeeding.
4. Additionally, avoid going more than 5 hours without removing milk from the breast by yourself, your baby, a hand pump, or an electronic pump.
5. Compress your breasts while your infant is eating to promote milk flow, which will help stimulate more productive sucking.
6. Ensure you’re getting plenty of water, eating a balanced diet, not skipping meals, and getting as much rest as possible between feeds.
7. You can also try eating galactagogue foods like Fennel and Fenugreek, which are thought to encourage milk flow.
Prolactin production can be stimulated by the prescription drug domperidone, which can raise this hormone. Inquire with your doctor if this medication is appropriate for you.
Step 8: Feed On Demand
Breastfeeding on demand is essential when learning how to breastfeed a baby.
It is sometimes referred to as responsive feeding, feeding on cue, or “baby-led” feeding, reacting quickly to your infant’s hunger cues.
When the infant makes a feeding request, you start it and keep going until the baby is full. You don’t set time restrictions or adhere to a rigid timetable because breastfeeding is advantageous
1. It’s the optimum method for coordinating milk supply with a baby’s demands.
2. It ensures that infants, particularly newborns, receive enough milk.
3. It might even help with cognitive and emotional growth. Infants that fed on demand did better cognitively.
To have a successful nursing experience, you should switch to on-demand breastfeeding from timed feeding.
Step 9: Look After Yourself
This hack is as important as breastfeeding itself so it is a vital step to successful breastfeeding as a healthy mother can adequately take care of her baby.
You must take care of yourself in addition to taking care of your newborn’s needs. Rest, especially when your child is sleeping.
1. Accept or request assistance from your partner, family, and friends with cooking and housework.
2. Only invite guests over when you’re ready. This can be challenging since many people occasionally want to see you and the baby. But let them know if you don’t feel ready to have them around.
3. Additionally, it is crucial to eat nutritious meals. The appropriate balance of essential nutrients should be present in your meals.
It will assist you in recovering your body after pregnancy, provide your child with the proper nourishment, and help you deal with stress and combat diseases.
4. You will feel more thirsty during this period; therefore, drinking enough water and other liquids is crucial. To replenish lost fluids, sip water frequently. Drinking water can be made simpler by having a water bottle nearby.
5. Do something enjoyable each day. Stroll with your infant, and stay in touch with loved ones. This is crucial for maintaining your mental wellness.
At this point, many women experience difficulties because they are stressed. When you make time each day to do something you love, it will help you stay happy and upbeat.
6. Additionally, it’s crucial to keep an eye out for symptoms like sore nipples, enlarged or swollen breasts, etc., since they may impact how you breastfeed and how your baby responds to you.
When breastfeeding, I experienced uncomfortable nipple sores, but out of ignorance, I did nothing more than apply nipple creams.
I believed that was a typical breastfeeding experience that would pass with time. It did go, although breastfeeding was difficult at the time, and my nipples hurt a lot.
If you experience nipple pain, ensure your baby has a good latch, continue nursing, and ask your doctor, nurse, midwife, or lactation consultant for assistance.
After each feeding, applying a few drops of expressed breast milk to the sore nipple and letting it dry can be helpful.
It might assist because breast milk naturally softens skin and carries antibodies that fight illness.
If you have significant problems, your doctor may advise you to use certain lotions. Unless your doctor, nurse, or midwife advises against it.
If your breasts are uncomfortable and swollen, voice your concerns. Before breastfeeding, using warm compresses and giving your breast a little massage may improve the milk flow.
Your breasts will feel more at ease if you express some milk before feeding and breastfeed more frequently.
You can reduce breast swelling between feedings by applying cold compresses to your breast. These are vital tips on how to breastfeed a baby.
Step 10: Seek Help When Needed
This is probably the most important step to successful breastfeeding and there’s nothing wrong with being extra careful with your child’s nutrition.
If the nursing sessions aren’t going well, speak with your doctor, midwife, nurse, or, ideally, a lactation consultant. They will advise you on how to streamline the process.
Additionally, you should contact a doctor if the infant exhibits any of the following symptoms:
1. Yellowing of the eyes or skin
2. Needs to be awakened frequently to breastfeed
3. Has not gained back the birthweight in ten to fourteen days
4. Has abrupt changes in bowel habits
It’s a good idea to look into breastfeeding support groups or services in your neighborhood or online. You don’t want to miss the helpful suggestions and information they offer on nursing.
Additionally, they provide the necessary support during your breastfeeding journey and in the days following childbirth.
When you feel it’s too much to bear, ask for assistance from your partner, family, and friends. This is vital when learning how to breastfeed a baby.
Conclusion
These steps will surely guide any soon-to-be mom, pregnant mom, or first-time mom on how to go about breastfeeding.
This is not a strict article you must follow but it contains helpful tips from my experience as a mother.
Do well to seek advice from your doctor, midwife, and other moms to make the journey easier.
Save this post for later, momma!
