Breastfeeding will be so much easier if you go in knowing just how to help your baby latch on. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not an instinct for the baby to just know how to latch.
And it’s certainly not as easy as just sticking your baby on the boob and letting them suckle. It takes a very specific technique and not knowing this technique can lead to serious consequences.
Not understanding how to latch could cause horrible sore nipples that feel like they’re on fire, frustration for both you and your baby, milk that comes in late, or a low supply right from the start.
***Want Breastfeeding Freebies?!You can get them with the coupon code ” Thislittlenest22 ” that was created with each company just for my readers. Yes! They’re really free so check it out!!
So it’s important to go in knowing what you’re doing. Also, you cannot rely on the hospital staff helping you out. Sometimes they can help but at other facilities, you might find they’d just rather stick a bottle in the baby’s mouth and not be bothered by your attempts at breastfeeding. Sad but true.
I’m going to give you some helpful information below but the best way to learn to breastfeed is to take a quick and cheap Breastfeeding course that uses video to demonstrate the exact technique you need.
There’s a video course called Milkology that’s only $19 and it will teach you everything you need to know in less than three hours. It’s a very popular course and many women have found great success with it. You can see it here. She also has a pumping course and you can find that here.
I also have a free breastfeeding Course you can sign up for below:
Ok, let’s go over how to get the perfect latch every time.
This Post may contain affiliate links at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This helps me keep my blog up and running and I only list products that I have and have used myself. You can have a look at my Disclosure here.
How To Get The Perfect Latch Right Away
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Begin By helping your baby get his ( or her ) mouth wide open. Then You’ll place your nipple in the baby’s mouth.
Here’s how:
move baby toward the breast, touch top lip against nipple
move mouth away just a bit then touch top lip against nipple again, move away again
repeat until your baby opens her mouth very wide in a receiving way
When he opens his mouth wide with the chin dropped and tongue down, he should latch on to the nipple.
Put his lower lip on the very bottom of your nipple an put it in his mouth.
Try to get as much of the lower portion of the areola (the area around the nipple) in the baby’s mouth.
The baby’s chin should indent the lower portion of your breast.
She should have a large portion of nipple and areola in her mouth from the bottom lip up.
***Taking a prenatal course is the single most proactive thing you can do to prepare your body and mind for what’s to come. There’s a great online course you can take in the comfort of your home that was created by a labor and delivery nurse named Hillary. It’s very popular and the first part of it is totally free. You can sign up for free right here.
I’m not going to sugar coat it, Even with a good latch you are going to get really sore in the very beginning, But it’s not as bad as some might have you believe.
For the first few weeks when the baby latches on it will burn pretty intensely, but the good news is that it fades after about 20 seconds and you won’t feel that pain again until the next feeding. If you don’t get that latch right from the beginning this pain will go on and on and that’s when most moms give up. Don’t be that mom.
Breast shells and nipple shields will also minimize the pain you feel great so you’ll be able to concentrate on helping your babe more.
This information should get you headed in the right direction. But again, there’s a lot to learn about breastfeeding and getting a deep latch so make sure you are fully educated going in to save yourself from pain and disappointment.
I hope this helps!
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This won’t be your typical ” Lose The Baby Weight ” Post. Nope. You should take it easy the first few months, but after that, I think you need to go all out. I’m going to tell you how to REALLY lose the baby weight ( and keep your milk supply ) because I know what I’m talking about here. If you are serious about getting back into shape then read on Mama! ( Make sure you read this whole list because the bottom tip is one of the most important )
Everyone’s heard someone say that it’s easier to lose baby weight while breastfeeding and sometimes that’s true. Or at least to an extent.
Breastfeeding does burn extra calories but often times not enough to make the weight come off { sorry 😢 }. It will burn 300-500 calories a day but the hormone that helps you produce milk, Prolactin, Will also make your body hold on to those last few pounds even if you get close to your goal weight.
***Here’s a very specialized program for postpartum mamas looking to lose weight, keep up their milk supply and heal their bodies. This is an affiliate link, I promote it because it’s the best Postpartum Program there is!
But most of the time mamas have to work at it and consider their food choices. This can be tricky because dieting too much can cut your milk supply significantly and that’s no good. Our babies come first and that’s the last thing we want to happen.
So what can you do if you have a lot of weight to lose but you plan to breastfeed for the first year?
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I’ve had three babies and gained a lot of weight each time. Here’s how I lost ALL the weight Quickly { but It took you time to gain and it takes time to lose }. Be sure to read through this article… There are lots of articles online like this but I give some unconventional tips that really work!
*This post contains affiliate links at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Read my disclosure here.
Wait A few Months
I know you’re in a rush to get back to your old self. We all are, but it’s best to wait a few months and let your milk get really established. You need this time to rest too. There’s really no rush, in the beginning, you can really push yourself later.
Take this time to heal and you’ll get better results with the things I’m about to share with you. Trust me.
Begin By Healing Your Diastasis Recti And Pelvic Floor First
This won’t technically help you lose the baby weight but it will help flatten out your tummy again like it was before you got pregnant. If you don’t heal your diastasis recti, it won’t matter how much weight you lose because you’ll always look three months pregnant. If you don’t know what diastasis recti is, check this post right here to learn more because it’s really important!
You need to heal your diastasis recti and pelvic floor first and foremost to get your body back and diastasis recti exercises are the perfect ones to start off with. They are gentle and healing.
The Postpartum Cure is a program for breastfeeding moms that helps heal the diastasis recti, lose the weight and pump up your milk supply. It’s my favorite postpartum program and I recommend it to any mama who is serious about getting their post-baby body back. If you follow the program, you will see excellent results.
After the first few months and once you’re cleared by your doc, you can start walking. Start your new exercise routine slow at first. You can get a good stroller and go to the park. You can walk and soak up some sunshine.
***Want A FREE Breastfeeding Hospital Planner? Go to this page and download yours now!
Now Do a More Intense Workout
Once you are past the 3-month point and you can lift and move around freely without any trouble, I highly suggest you get a Kettlebell! You can start off with one that’s about 15 pounds and then move up to 25 pounds about 6 months out when your body has fully recovered. Here’s a great option from Amazon.
Listen Up! Kettlebell workouts are amazing for your body. Here’s a post that will tell you just how amazing this type of workout is for your body. It’s really informative and I want you to read it, mama.
You can do 20 simple Kettlebell swings, in 5 or 6 sets and burn 10 times as much fat as a 45-minute cardio session. You can do this simple workout in maybe 10 or 15 minutes in your home while your baby naps. This is hands-down the best way to lose that weight and get really strong in the process. You only have to do this 10-minute workout 3 or 4 times a week and as long as you eat well and drink plenty of water and it won’t affect your supply ( Or shouldn’t, everyone is different ).
Here’s another awesome resource that will help educate you on how the Kettlebell can get you superhuman fit. It’s super informative and after you watch it you WILL want a kettlebell! You can find good ones here on Amazon.
Drink Protein Shakes
Drinking a good organic protein shake will give you a good nutritional boost and it’s definitely good for making milk. It will help fill you up and cut your cravings for other foods. I drank this every day and let me tell you, they are delicious and filling.
Eat Enough Calories
Not getting enough calories won’t do you any favors. Not only will you likely not lose weight but you’ll lose your milk supply too. Your body will just hold on to your fat stores to help feed your baby.
Here’s a great program from Katie Pickett at Joyful Messes. It’s called the Postpartum Cure. It gives you an excellent eating plan that will help you lose the weight while keeping a really strong milk supply. It also helps you heal diastasis recti as I mentioned earlier, which is really important to your overall health and recovery.
A Postpartum Fitness app will keep you stay on point and help remind you to exercise. It will also give you Taylor made fitness routines for your current condition. The Postpartum Cure Creator also has two Postpartum apps and you can get them when you start the Postpartum Cure Program. It’s all a really great deal!!
Eat The Right Foods
Oatmeal has been shown to boost milk and fill you up nicely. It’s full of protein, iron, and fiber and it doesn’t cause a huge spike in insulin. Spinach, Kale, carrots, and Walnuts are also yummy foods to add to boost your nutrition and pump up your breast milk. Basically, eating very clean, dense nutritional foods is key to creating a good flow.
Herbs and Things
You can also take the herb Fenugreekwhich works wonders at boosting your supply. It’s well known that this is the go-to herb for milk production.
When you are breastfeeding you’re gonna get thirsty. You’re expelling tons of fluids and you need that water to make you feel good, energized and to keep you from feeling super hungry.
Your body needs the fluids to make the milk in the first place and some mamas let themselves get really dehydrated. That’s no good. You’ll also feel much hungrier when you’re dehydrated and you’ll eat more then you need.
You see when you’re dehydrated you can feel really hungry but what your body really needs is water. So make sure you’re drinking plenty.
A lot of these ” Lose the Baby Weight ” posts will tell you to take it easy, and that’s fine the first few months. They’ll pat you on the back and say ” You just had a baby, you don’t have much time ” or things like ” it takes a year to fully recover from birth ” and all that.
But once you get past the 6-month mark, you can and should start pushing yourself hard. No excuses. Going hard on your workouts and health will make you feel super good about yourself and you’ll get back into shape quickly.
It’s true, you do have less time now but you don’t have to go to a gym. You can do the 10-minute kettlebell swings I mentioned earlier and that will get you into the best shape of your life. At the 6 month mark, you should get a heavier Kettlebell too. You’ll have worked your way up and you’ll be ready to give it your all.
I use a 25-pound kettlebell at this point. It’s really heavy but you use your body for momentum and with proper form, it’s easy to swing. So don’t be afraid of going a good bit heavier, that’s what will push you through your plateaus. Just make sure you review how to have proper form, that’s always important with any exercise.
So 10 minutes a DAY, that’s it, mama. You can do that, I know you can.
And once your six months out, going hard on your fitness shouldn’t really affect your milk. It should be very well established and unless you worked out hours a day and didn’t get enough food, it shouldn’t be a problem at all. Just monitor is and I’ll know you’ll be fine.
Don’t be afraid to be the strongest mama you can be. I wish you all the luck in the world! Enjoy your babe, and don’t worry about your body too much, you’ve got this 😉
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This Post may contain affiliate links at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This helps me keep my blog up and running and I only list products that I have and have used myself. Read the disclosure here.
Engorgement is one of the not so fun parts of breastfeeding. You are excited to nurse your babe then suddenly your milk comes in and your breasts are hard as rocks and throbbing. It can suck, no pun intended. This happened to me with all three of mine and it was pretty intense.
***Want FREE BABY STUFF? I have partnered with many companies to give you the best baby freebies online including Nursing Pillow, Pregnancy Pillows, Nursing Covers, Baby Leggings, Baby Clothes and so much more. You can find out how to get your freebies in this post right here.
It’s all part of the process though and it’s mostly unavoidable.
Within the first two to three days after you have given birth, you will find that your breasts feel swollen, tender, throbbing, lumpy, and overly full. Sometimes, the swelling will extend all the way to your armpit, and you may run a low fever as well.
Let’s talk about it.
The causes
Within 72 hours of giving birth, an abundance of milk will come in or become available to your baby. As this happens, more blood will flow to your breasts and some of the surrounding tissue will swell. The result is full, swollen, engorged breasts.
Not every postpartum mom experienced true engorgement. Some women’s breasts become only slightly full, while others find their breasts have become amazingly hard. Some women will hardly notice the pain, as they are involved in other things during the first few days.
Keep in mind, engorgement is a positive sign that you are producing milk to feed to your baby. Until you produce the right amount:
1. Wear a supportive nursing bra, even at night – making sure it isn’t too tight.
2. Breastfeed often, every 2 – 3 hours if you can. Try to get your baby to nurse as long as possible, at least at first. If your baby seems satisfied with just one breast, you can offer the other at the next feeding.
3. Avoid letting your baby latch on and suck when the areola is very firm. To reduce the possibility of nipple damage, you can use a pump until your areola softens up.
4. Avoid pumping milk except when you need to soften the areola or when your baby is unable to latch on. Excessive pumping can lead to the overproduction of milk and prolonged engorgement.
5. To help soothe the pain and relieve swelling, apply cold packs to your breasts for a short amount of time after you nurse. The Lansinoh TheraPearl 3-in-1 Breast Therapy Pack is the perfect ice pack for this and it’s made to help relieve Engorgement Pain.
6. Look ahead. You’ll get past this engorgement in no time and soon be able to enjoy your breastfeeding relationship with your
new baby. The whole ordeal can be pretty painful but it will be over soon and things will be going smoothly.
Engorgement will pass very quickly. You can expect it to diminish within 24 – 48 hours, as nursing your baby will only help the problem.
During this time, you can and should continue to nurse. Unrelieved engorgement can cause a drop in your production of milk, so it’s important to breastfeed right from the start. Keep an eye for signs of hunger and feed him when he
needs to be fed.
There’s not too much you can do about engorgement but the things I listed above will surely help. I hope it’s not too painful for you.
How did you relive your engorgement? Tell us in the comments below.
I would love it if you would share this post with your friends. It would mean so much! You can share with the Pinterest Images below or the buttons to the left. Thanks and Happy Breastfeeding!
This Post may contain affiliate links at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This helps me keep my blog up and running and I only list products that I have and have used myself. Read the disclosure here.
This is a quick resource guide on what you’ll need to breastfeed your newborn. Sort of a breastfeeding kit Post. It’s quick and easy and gets straight to the point.
Ok So Let’s Get Right To Our List:
The Things You’ll Need In your Breastfeeding Kit are—
The List above has definitely got you covered. It’s all you’ll need in your breastfeeding Mama Kit. The things listed above will help you tremendously with your breastfeeding, making success much more likely and most of them are dirt cheap on Amazon { as listed in the links }
Here’s a good list of Posts you Can Read If you Want More In-Depth Info:
Don’t forget to pick up your Pregnancy And Baby Freebies from this post. You’ll get $300+ full-size freebies for you and your little one. Really!
Here’s an amazing post that will teach you how to breastfeed quickly like a pro and if you want to watch someone breastfeed and teach you on video, this course right here is the best online and it was written by a Nurse and lactation consultant.
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I write a lot about How To Breastfeed a Newborn.
It’s one of my favorite subjects. I have been doing it for a very long time and I like to help others learn to do it too.
When you first have your baby you may expect it to be easier then it is and if you don’t have a great lactation consultant at your hospital it may seem impossible.
Want FREE BABY STUFF?I have partnered with many companies to give you the best baby freebies online including Nursing Pillow, Pregnancy Pillows, Nursing Covers, Baby Leggings, Baby Clothes and so much more. You can find out how to get your freebies in this post right here.
I think the very best way to Learn to breastfeed a newborn BEFORE you even get to the hospital is to take a quick and easy online course.
Yes, there’s an online course for this and it’s only $19! I wish there had been something like this when I had my first son, I would have jumped at the chance to take it.
It’s a baby breastfeeding video course that teaches you how to breastfeed in 90 minutes, Guaranteed {30-day money back guarantee }
The course is called MILKOLOGY and it’s by Stacey who is a Certified Lactation Educator through CAPPA, a mom of 3 and the founder of Milkology®. You can check out the online course right here. It will provide you with all the breastfeeding help you need.
The course has 13 videos and you get three other products with it. You get a Troubleshooting guide, A class notes guide and an ebook called the LITTLE BLACK BOOK OF BREASTFEEDING SECRETS.
Here are a few things you’ll learn if you take this awesome course:
Breastfeeding For Beginners
The biggest breastfeeding mistakes and how to correct them.
The best position to get a deep latch.
2 ways to make sure baby is well fed and getting enough milk.
A powerful strategy to make more milk whenever you need to.
Places you can go to for support and so much more.
This is hands down the best online resource to learn to breastfeed and you can sit down and do it in an hour and a half. It also has rave reviews online.
I highly recommend this baby breastfeeding video course if you’re are planning to breastfeed. It is more difficult than most understand and it can become a real stressor after birth when you’re already exhausted.
I hope this helps to ease your worry and nervousness about Learning to breastfeed your newborn.
Enjoy the experience because there’s nothing more special in this world!
If you liked this or think someone else should take this course I would love it if you would share this post. It would mean so much to me! You could share with the Pinterest image below or the buttons to the left Thanks so much!!
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*This post contains affiliate links at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Read my disclosure here.
Breastfeeding can hurt. We all know this or have heard this. It’s the one thing that can really scare mamas away or make them think they just can’t do it.
*Please note that this post is an extension of my longer post on Breastfeeding that you can read right here. I just wanted to write this short post to reiterate that you can breastfeed with minimal pain.
But it’s not so bad. In fact, the pain ends pretty quickly, only after those first few weeks.
Do You Want Free Baby Stuff? Check out this post right here to get over $300 worth of awesome stuff and it’s NOT a bunch of samples. It’s real stuff on your list that you need.
But there is a really simple way to avoid the pain altogether that EVERY breastfeeding mama should be aware of.
The way to avoid all that pain is { Drum Roll Please } Nipple Shields! These are really great and so are these.
Nipple shields will save you from a world of pain but only use them when you need them and in the first few weeks when the baby is trying to get that perfect latch.
***Want A FREE Breastfeeding Hospital Planner? Go to this page and download yours now!
You will thank me for this later. Good Luck Mama!
Want more information on breastfeeding? As I mentioned above, I wrote a post just the other day on how to breastfeed like a pro right from the beginning. You can read it here.
This post was short and sweet and right to the point.
If you know a mama who is about to breastfeed or you think your friends would benefit from this information please share it with them. You can share it with the Pinterest Image below or with the buttons to the left of the page. Thanks so much, you’re awesome!
Hey, I’m Toni and I’m the mama of 3 Little Birds. I love Writing about Pregnancy, Breastfeeding and the life of a Mum. Learn more about me here. Grab a Tea or Coffee and come on in..
How To Breastfeed Like A Pro The First Time
How To Breastfeed A Newborn | The Easiest way to Learn Is Right Here
Breastfeeding Guide | Quick And Simple Guide To What You’ll Need Plus Educational Resources
7 Lactation Recipes For The Breastfeeding Mum That Will Help Increase Your Milk Supply
The One Thing I Did That Helped Me Breastfeed During The first Few Weeks Without Pain
How To Keep Your Breasts From Becoming Engorged And Painful
7 Things You Can Do To Prevent Sagging Breasts After Breastfeeding
Lactation Recipes: Overnight Brownie Batter Chocolate Oats For Increasing Milk Supply
