Hints to Help You to a Good Breastfeeding Start

Breastfeeding has many benefits for your baby. Breast milk is rich in nutrients, has antibodies, which helps protect your baby against infections, and helps prevent your baby from having allergies.
Hints to help you to a good breastfeeding start:
1. Touch your baby's lips with your nipple until your baby opens his or her mouth very wide. Put your nipple all the way in your baby's mouth and pull your baby's body close to you. This lets your baby's jaw squeeze the milk ducts under your areola.
2. Support your baby's back and bottom with your arm and hand. Your baby will be lying sideways facing you. Your breast should be right in front of your baby's face.
3. Support your baby's body with your forearm. This may be a good position if you're recovering from a cesarean section or if your baby is very small.
4. Let-down reflex makes breastfeeding easier for your baby, occur if a feeding is overdue, if you hear your baby cry or even if you think about your baby.
5. If your baby isn't latched on the right way, you'll need to start over.
6. Don't limit the time you let your baby nurse. Let your baby nurse until he or she is satisfied.
7. If you use lanolin, wash it off before feeding your baby.
8. Call your doctor if you have a red, sore or painful area on your breast, if you have painful engorgement (overfull breasts), if you have a fever or if you feel achy.
9. Try to have your baby nurse from both breasts at each feeding.
10. If you think your baby needs more milk, increase the number of feedings a day.
11. Don't start giving your baby formula. If you give formula to your baby, he or she may not want as much breast milk.
12. If you think a food you're eating bothers your baby, quit eating it.
13. watch your baby for signs of life-threatening drug side effects if you take codeine for after-birth pain. Woodcock and Kweder spoke at a news conference announcing that the FDA has issued a public health advisory on life-threatening side effects in nursing babies of some women taking codeine. The woman was an ultra-rapid metabolizer of codeine. The infant received a fatal dose of morphine from her breast milk. The FDA does NOT advise women to stop breastfeeding if they need codeine but to watch their infants and themselves for signs of side effects. If you are a nursing mother taking codeine, you should call the doctor immediately if your newborn:
a. Sleeps more than usual
b. Has difficulty breastfeeding
c. Has difficulty breathing
d. Becomes limp
If the doctor cannot be reached, take the baby to an emergency room or call 911.
14. Preventing sore nipples:
a. Make sure your baby is sucking the right way. If the sucking hurts, your baby’s mouth may not be positioned correctly.
b. Let your nipples air dry between feedings. Let the milk dry on your nipples.
c. Offer your baby the less sore of your two nipple first.
d. Change nursing positions.

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