Maternity Network

It’s natural to worry when it seems that something isn’t going quite right with your baby’s feeds. If they are having feeding problems such as reflux, are continually waking for night feeds, or have an allergy, believe us when we say you’re not alone, but it can make feeding stressful for both parent and baby.

Various factors could contribute to problems feeding your baby. Many breastfeeding mothers worry they’re not producing enough milk or that their baby is not satisfied. This is most cases this is rubbish! In our experience you can get real amazing life-changing support  from a breastfeeding councilor or lactation consultant. Here are some tips to get breastfeeding off to a good start:

• Try and have skin-to-skin after your baby is born and for the first two weeks (that's a few hours of your baby being naked/in a nappy on your bare chest). If it's not possible for you to do it have your partner have this special time to ensure their instincts are not lost.
• Try biological nurturing - lay back and have your laying on you, your baby should bob it's head and crawl around until they find your nipple and latch themselves on.
• Don't rush your baby, allow them to sleep on you for skin-to-skin time and have patience for baby to find your nipple. (my baby took 3/4 an hour to find my nipple when allowing her do it it on her own, once she found it she set up camp though!)
• Make sure in the early days that you protect you and your baby from too many visitors, have one a day if necessary and limit their time with you to an hour, two maximum. It helps to allow your baby to lie on your bare chest in just a nappy for skin-to-skin.
• Perhaps don't wash your chest in 'smellies' for the first 6 days to allow your baby to get to know the smell of you and your breast milk.
• Check your latch with a breastfeeding expert.
• If you express your milk, be aware of thrush
• Have your baby checked for tongue-tie (read mroe about this here)

Gaining weight: My baby was very light when she was born and lost just over 10% of her birth weight. 10% is normally what is expected before there are any concerns. Most babies out on their birth weight by 2 weeks. My baby was 3 weeks early and had regained her birth weight by a month - this is perfectly acceptable.
Don't let anyone put pressure on you or make you worry about your baby's weight, in my experience if both parents are of slight build and were light at birth themselves your baby is going to take as much breast milk as they need to thrive. I used some donated breast milk in the first three days of my baby's life. I was worried she wasn't getting enough colostrum from me so I syringe and cup fed my baby some breast milk that my friend donated as her baby was just 5 weeks older than mine. You can read about my battle to get breastfeeding right the articles section of the homepage.

You may worry that your baby is not eating enough to put on enough weight fast enough. As long as your baby is feeding 8-10 times in a 24 hour period (2-3 hourly) and is having 6-8 wet nappies and pooing regularly, it would be safe to say your baby is healthy.

Your baby might be very sleepy - here are some suggestions to wake your baby:

• Drop colostrum into their mouth or rub it on their lips - the sugar rush should be enough to rouse them
• Massage the palm of their hand gently
• have skin-to-skin (see explanation above) to stimulate your baby's senses

Your baby may have tongue-tie - read more about this here: tongue-tie Find a tongue tie specialist and have it cut. This was also the answer to my baby and I having thrush for 3 months.

Your baby may have jaundice - a yellowing of their complexion and could be seen as yellow instead of the whites of their eyes. In this case your baby is probably very sleepy. Use the tips as above for Sleepy babies.

Your baby may have reflux - projectile vomiting after every feed) Read more about this here: Reflux

Your baby may bob on and off the breast - various reasons - see 'Off to a good start' above and see a bf councilor/lactatino consultant.

You may have sore, cracked nipples - normally due to a poor latch - see a breastfeeding consultant.