HOW TO BREASTFEED; BECAUSE MOST HOSPITALS WON'T TELL YOU THE DETAILS

Hey there! Sorry for the long break but am back now 👌. So apparently in most hospitals in Kenya, nurses and doctors assume that breastfeeding comes as naturally to new mums as eating does, and it doesn't, and actually neither does eating, just ask me about Nik's misadventures at lunch......... so anyway most people leave hospital not having been trained on proper positioning for both mum and baby so read on, I have come to your rescue 😎

Positioning
Baby's body should be facing yours for the best placement, and an easy way to get this right is to place him with his stomach facing your stomach with him in a diagonal position, his head resting in the crook of your elbow. Make sure that your breast is not obstructing his nose, and if need be place a pillow or a bundle of cloths on your lap to rest the arm holding him on top of because after a few minutes the baby's weight seems to double, then triple...

Latching;The Mechanics Of It
Latching is baby's hold on your nipple, and the correct way to latch is to have the entire areola, or a very big percentage of it inside baby's mouth. Ideally his tongue should be very slightly visible on the lower side of his mouth while his lips should be totally open and pressed tightly around the nipple to create a kind of vacuum. This will help him to suckle more efficiently, taking in more milk and less air, while it helps your nipples not to crack and get sore. I don't know how different each baby is in this respect but I know that they are, because my first would latch on perfectly while my second does not quite get it right but she feeds well judging from the nappies she wets and her sleep patterns. So be the judge of whether they are feeding well and seek help from a qualified person who should show you practically how to do it.

How Well Is Good Enough?
You can tell if baby is suckling well enough in a few ways, and one of them is by counting the nappies that they wet which should be about 8-10 dirty nappies a day, give or take, though this is not my personal favourite. Another way is by observing the way they suckle; see above and listen to their swallowing pattern, which should be many short pulls at the start but long and deep pulls after a while to show the milk has started to be let down. You may also feel or see milk coming bout of the breast you are not suckling with, and this let down effect usually indicates that milk is flowing in both breasts. Another way to tell is by observing baby's sleeping because a hungry baby will sleep a lot less and will be fretful and inconsolable for the majority of time.

Cracked, Sore Nipples
This is a problem that sounds extremely uncomfortable, and I do wish anyone afflicted a quick recovery. So how to solve it? Get some lanolin and apply around the nipple after each time you nurse baby. The good thing about it is that is is safe to consume and so will not hurt baby when they take it while suckling. Also make sure that baby latches on to the nipple properly to reduce occurrence of cracks. I have heard about a nipple shield, but have personally never seen one so I do not have anything to say about this.

The Let-Down Reflex
As mentioned above, this is when milk starts to come out of the breast that is not being suckled and I believe it is a sign of enough milk supply. You might feel some sensation, maybe even a bit of pain as the milk is coming down so you will have the time to get some pads or something to avoid getting patches of milk on your clothes that is if you had not worn one already. Also, applying light pressure on the offending nipple for a while will make it stop leaking, at least in my experience.

Engorgement
This is when your body has gone into overdrive, or for some reason you have delayed feeding your baby or unfortunately baby is not feeding well so now you have very full and tender breasts to deal with- not fun at all trust me. There's only two ways out of this; nurse, or pump, both really painful at the beginning but bearable as you go along and the milk decreases. You can avoid this of course by feeding little one regularly and pumping as often as the need arises. Also, make sure to feed tot from one side till all the milk is gone then feed them from the other side the next feeding, similarly alternating sides when pumping. Avoid getting engorged as much as you can because regular engorgement might cause mastitis which is an infection of the milk ducts, ouch...

So this is pretty much it, just remember happy baby, happy mommy, and a full baby is often a happy one so go and feed your little tot to their fill, try and practice the tips I've outlined and if you have any questions then do let me know in the comments below, and make sure to subscribe! 💕