When my husband and I found out we were pregnant, I knew that I wanted to give breastfeeding my best try because of the amazing health benefits babies receive from breastmilk. Breastfeeding is a huge mental and physical commitment and it is important to intentionally educate yourself about the process in order to have the best chance in being successful along this beautiful journey with your little one. Thus far, I have breastfed my son for almost 11-months – we exclusively breastfed (EBF) for the first 6-months of his life and continued to breastfeed with the addition of solids after 6-months.
Throughout this breastfeeding journey, I’ve experienced low-milk supply, clogged ducts, painful nipples (mostly in the beginning of the journey), and lots of self-doubt when I thought my milk “wasn’t enough” for my baby. But after getting through those hurdles, I am so happy to say that we made it! You can have a successful breastfeeding journey, even with a lower milk supply. I am not a natural over-producer with a freezer overflowing with additional milk – so I definitely understand, Mama. Find peace in knowing that your body makes enough milk for your baby – anything extra is great but not necessary.
Here are a few tips that helped me breastfeed my son for almost 11-months – I pray that it is a blessing to you on your journey as well. Please share this post with an expectant-mom or new mom who is considering breastfeeding.
Tips for A Successful Breastfeeding Journey
- Get A Lactation Consultant and schedule a consultation before birth to educate yourself and prepare healthy expectations for your breastfeeding journey. Also, have your spouse attend with you, if possible. This would help prepare both of your minds for what breastfeeding entails so that everyone is on the same page.
- Select A Baby-Friendly Hospital that encourages skin to skin immediately after birth and breastfeeding support – which includes meeting with a lactation specialist during your hospital stay to ensure that baby is latching properly. Skin to skin contact immediately after birth helps you begin the bonding process with your baby and alerts your body to begin producing milk.
- Communicate How Important Breastfeeding Is To You to your support system – so at the first sign of struggle that they don’t suggest getting formula. The first 2-3 weeks it will be a bit challenging (physically and mentally) – baby will be feeding round-the-clock and you (or others) may feel as if he or she is never “full”. The reality is that your baby is cluster feeding – because they are growing and the frequent feeding alerts your body to produce more milk (which is a good thing). Disclaimer: Formula is not a bad thing if your baby needs it – however frequently substituting a feeding with formula (or a bottle of breastmilk) and not breastfeeding (or pumping) during that session would eventually impact your milk supply because it signals to your body that your baby does not need milk for that particular feeding.
- Get Plugged Into A Community – Join a Breastfeeding Moms Facebook Group and also ask for tips from successfully breastfeeding mothers that you may know personally. I received so many helpful tips from friends that also breastfed! Here are two Facebook groups that I found to be extremely helpful as well: Milky Mamas Breastfeeding Support Group and Breastfeeding Support Group For Black Moms.
- Your Diet is IMPORTANT. Drink lots of water. Look up “lactogens” – foods that help with the production of breastmilk and add them to your regular diet. Barley water, coconut water, and eating oatmeal helped tremendously with my milk production. Eat a balanced diet – you will naturally need more calories because breastfeeding requires additional caloric intake. Look up what foods can decrease your milk supply and avoid them as much as you can within reason. Alcohol decreases your supply and other foods like peppermint and parsley are known to impact supply as well.
- Latch Your Baby – Frequently latching your baby helps with milk production. The more milk you remove from your breasts the more you will produce. Feed your baby every 2-3 hrs. If you are latching and still have a low-supply or you are looking to build a freezer stash look into Power-pumping to replicate cluster feeding which would aid in increasing your supply.
- Nipple Cream! Do yourself a favor and get some nipple cream. Especially during those early weeks were a lifesaver for me. Don’t let your nipples become dry and cracked – this makes breastfeeding even more painful. Here is the nipple cream that I used: Lanolin Nipple Cream. A natural option of nipple cream is coconut oil. Fun Fact: Rubbing breast milk on your nipples and allowing it to air dry also helps heal cracked/irritated/sore nipples.
*Bonus Tip: Limit Stress. Stress negatively impacts your milk supply. When I returned back to working full-time, I was incredibly stressed and noticed a huge decrease in my milk supply. I had to take power-pumping and barely water into overdrive – I even purchased a container of formula because I wanted to make sure my baby was fed. Thankfully, my supply recovered. But it was definitely a wake-up call for me to do my best to limit the stress that I took on.
Overall, Mama, grace yourself. Be kind to yourself. A healthy mom and fed baby is most important whatever your journey may look like. Everyone’s experience as a new mother is unique in its own way – yet we can all still learn a thing or two from the next mama.
If any of these tips were helpful to you or you have a few tips of your own, please leave a comment below 🙂
