Most women don’t have a problem with producing enough milk to breast feed. The ideal way to make sure that your baby is getting enough milk is to be sure that he’s well positioned, attached to the breast, and feed him as often as he gets hungry.

Some mom’s that are breast feeding will stop before they want to, simply because they don’t think they have enough breast milk.

There are signs that might make you believe your baby isn’t getting enough milk. If your baby seems hungry or unsettled after feeding, or if he wants to feed often with short pauses between feedings, you may think he isn’t getting enough milk - which are often times not the case.

There are however, two reliable signs that let you know your baby isn’t getting enough milk. If your baby has poor or really slow weight gain, or is passing small amounts of concentrated urine, he’s not getting enough milk.

All babies will lose weight within the first few days after birth. Babies are born with supplies of fat and fluids, which will help them keep going for the first several days.

Once your baby regains birth weight, he should begin putting on around 200g for the first four months or so. To get back to their birth weight, it normally takes a few weeks.

If the weight gain for your baby seems to be slow, don’t hesitate to ask your doctor or nurse to observe you breast feeding. This way, they can make sure that your technique is right and if they think your baby is breast feeding often enough.

To help you with your breast feeding, here are some ways that you can increase your supply of milk:

1. Be sure that your baby is positioned correctly and attached to your breast.
2. Let your baby feed for as long and often as he wants.
3. If you feel that your baby isn’t breast feeding enough, offer him more breast feeds.
4. During each breast feed, make sure you feed from both breasts.
5. If your baby has been using a dummy, make sure you stop him.
6. Some babies may be sleepy and reluctant to feed, which may be the cause of problems with milk supply.

By following the above tips, you’ll do your part in making sure you have enough milk when it comes time
to breast feed. If you are uncertain or have other questions, be sure to ask your doctor, as he can answer any type of question you may have.

Once you’ve reached the third trimester, you’ll probably start stocking up on nursing bras, breast pads, and loose button down shirts for the coming months ahead. While getting ready to breast feed, you can also create your personal area, a custom designed breast feeding area for yourself.

Your nursing area should reflect your personality. If you like a loud, yet friendly surrounding, you should consider setting in a corner of the living room or family room. Keep an extra chair or two near you so family members or even friends can keep you company.

If you prefer peace and quiet, a cozy study or empty guest room would be ideal. You can close the door, dim the lights down, then take a few deep, calming breaths while you breast feed.

Your own chair

No matter if it’s a glider, overstuffed recliner, or desk chair with wheels, you should make sure your nursing chair is very comfortable. You’ll be sitting in the chair for hours each day, soyou’ll want it to be very comfortable. You should always look for one that offers back and shoulder support, along with arm rests.

Support underfoot

You can use a footstool, low coffee table or a stack of pillows to elevate your feet as you breast feed. If you raise your legs and feet to bring your baby to your breast, you’ll avoid possible backache.

Pillows and more pillows

Your neck, arms, feet, and back will need as much support as you can give, so don’t hesitate to surround your body with pillows. If you lay a pillow across your lap for your baby to lay on, he’ll be very comfortable and that much closer to your nipple. For extra comfort, you can even purchase a specially made nursing pillow that will encircle your waist.

Table for one

You should always keep a small table or stand within arm’s length of your breast feeding chair. What you use should be big enough to hold a coaster and glass of liquid. Some women prefer to drink through a straw, while others prefer to drink from the glass.

You’ll also want to keep healthy snacks on hand as well, such as fresh fruit, nuts, or crackers and peanut butter to help you replace the energy you use while you breast feed.

Distractions

If your baby is a slow eater or has a really big appetite, you may want to keep yourself busy while he feeds. You can fill the shelves of a nearby cupboard or bookcase with your favorite books or crossword puzzles to occupy yourself until your baby is full. You should also keep a phone nearby as well so that you can talk to family or friends to pass the time.

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Within the first two to three days after you have given birth, you may discover 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.

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.

Treating it
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. Breast feed often, every 2 - 3 hours if you can. Try to get the first side of your breasts as soft as possible. 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 over production 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. Crushed ice in a plastic bag will also work.
6. Look ahead. You’ll get past this engorgement in no time and soon be able to enjoy your breast feeding relationship with your new baby.

Engorgement will pass very quickly. You can expect it to diminish within 24 - 48 hours, as nursing your baby will only help the problem. If you aren’t breast feeding, it will normally get worse before it gets better. Once the engorgement has passed, your breasts will be softer and still full of milk.

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 breast feed right from the start. Keep an eye for signs of hunger and feed him when he needs to be fed.

When you hold your baby for the first time in the delivery room, you should put his lips to your breast. Although your mature milk hasn’t developed yet, your breasts are still producing a substance known as colostrum that helps to protect your baby from infections.

If your baby has trouble finding or staying on your nipple, you shouldn’t panic. Breast feeding is an art that will require a lot of patience and a lot of practice. No one expects you to be an expert when you first start, so you shouldn’t hesitate to ask for advice or have a nurse show you what you need to do.

Once you start, keep in mind that nursing shouldn’t be painful. When your baby latches on, pay attention to how your breasts feel. If the latching on hurts, break the suction then try again.

You should nurse quite frequently, as the more you nurse the more quickly your mature milk will come in and the more milk you’ll produce. Breast feeding for 10 - 15 minutes per breast 8 - 10 times every 24 hours is an ideal target. Crying is a sign of hunger, which means you should actually feed your baby before he starts crying.

During the first few days, you may have to wake your baby to begin breast feeding, and he may end up falling asleep during feeding. To ensure that your baby is eating often enough, you should wake him up if it has been four hours since the last time he has been fed.

Feedings can take 40 minutes or longer, therefore you’ll want a cozy spot. You don’t want to be sitting somewhere where you will be bothered, as it can make the process very hard.

The practice of baby-swaddling dates back centuries and is still common in many cultures. Swaddling involves wrapping a baby securely from shoulders to feet with a small blanket. American Indians and people from the Middle East use bands and more sophisticated swaddling techniques, but more traditional swaddling techniques are still practiced in such countries as Turkey, Afghanistan and Albania.

Not only can swaddling be a great way to calm and sooth a fussy infant, it’s also been shown to lower the risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). At the age of three months, when the risk for SIDS is greatest, traditional American swaddling techniques allow a baby to escape. It allows the baby to stay in a more stable position while sleeping, thereby lowering the SIDS risk. In addition, swaddling has been shown to help babies sleep longer and more restfully by preventing the sudden movements that can cause them to wake up, thereby improving mom and dad’s sleep quality and quantity also. Babies who are swaddled are said to feel secure, similar to how they felt while in utero. It can also assist in temperature regulation, keeping baby nice and toasty warm while sleeping.

A couple of additional perks to swaddling come during waking hours, too. A swaddled baby is easy to carry and hold an adorable, compact little package. It can also help baby focus on breast or bottle feeding by keeping little hands out of the way.

Swaddling usually works best from newborn to approximately four months, but if baby is used to being swaddled, and then it might be utilized even longer. Babies just being introduced to swaddling may require an adjustment period. Modified swaddling, such as leaving arms free while swaddling the rest of baby’s body, might be needed when first introducing the practice to your baby. The blanket should always feel snug but not tight. Take special care to ensure baby’s circulation is not compromised in any way or that baby is not uncomfortable. Ask a nurse, physician, midwife or other knowledgeable healthcare practitioner to demonstrate the correct technique for swaddling your baby.

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A fussy or crying baby can make for a fussy and often frustrated parent. There are many reasons a baby could be fussy or unable to sleep, including illness, colic, or something as simple as either too much noise or too little noise. Before altering your baby’s sleeping environment, take a moment to evaluate just why your baby has been fussy or upset at bedtime. Things like changes in the weather, a neighbor’s new puppy continually barking, a loud car stereo blaring, or a bright street light can all contribute to changing a baby’s otherwise familiar and comfortable sleeping environment. If after evaluating, you discover that there has been an environmental change that has occurred, but are out of your control, you might consider creating some ‘white noise’ in your baby’s environment to help drown out these unpleasant and loud sleep disruptors.

Noises that are repetitive and almost monotonous sounding are known as ‘white noise’ – noise that is occurring constantly, and, as a result, we’ve ‘tuned it out.’ There are many items in our house that create white noise that we might not even realize – our air conditioners, vacuum cleaners, clothes dryers, or fans all create white noise as they operate. Other things such as running water, an analog clock with a ticking second hand, or a fish aquarium also create white noise. These noises might actually help ‘drown out’ the disruptive external noises that are keeping your baby, and thereby you, from a good night’s sleep.

Another option might be to run a favorite lullaby on continuous play in your baby’s room. There are many options out there for newborns and toddlers alike in the music department of your favorite store. You could even put together a special mix just from mommy and daddy on your personal computer. Better yet, put together a recording of mommy and daddy’s soft, soothing and gentle voices, and baby will be back in dreamland before you know it – and so will you!

For many years, scientists have been playing out the ingredients that make breast milk the perfect food for babies. They’ve discovered to day over 200 close compounds to fight infection, help the immune system mature, aid in digestion, and support brain growth - nature made properties that science simply cannot copy.

The important long term benefits of breast feeding include reduced risk of asthma, allergies, obesity, and some forms of childhood cancer. The more that scientists continue to learn, the better breast milk looks.

In addition to making your baby healthier, breast feeding may also make him smarter. Many studies have proved that breast fed babies tend to be more smarter than babies who were fed with formula or other methods. Breast feeding does help with nutrients and the support of brain growth, which is something every mother should think about.

The benefits for the nursing mom are just as good as they are for the baby. The hormones that are released during breast feeding will curb blood loss post delivery and help to shrink the uterus back to it’s normal size.

Long term, the breast feeding mom will have a lower risk for premenopausal breast cancer, which is the kind that strikes before the age of 50. The benefits will begin to show with three to six months of breast feeding and increase the longer that breast feeding continues.

By now, you should realize that breast milk is one power packed liquid. It offers more for your baby than formula, or any other scientific creation for that matter. As you begin to plan for the future of your baby, make a commitment to breast feeding him for as long as you possibly can - as it will do both your bodies good.

If you’ve every been pregnant or if you are pregnant now, you’ve probably noticed a metamorphisis in your bra cups. The physical changes (tender, swollen breasts) may be one of the earliest clues that you have conceived. Many experts believe that the color change in the areola may also be helpful when it comes to breast feeding.

Perhaps what’s even more remarkable than visible changes is the extensive changes that are taking place inside of your breasts. The developing placenta stimulates the release of estrogen and progesterone, which will in turn stimulate the complex biological system that helps to make lactation possible.

Before you get pregnant, a combination of supportive tissue, milk glands, and fat make up the larger portions of your breasts. The fact is, your newly swollen breasts have been preparing for your pregnancy since you were in your mother’s womb!

When you were born, your main milk ducts had already formed. Your mammary glands stayed quiet until you reached puberty, when a flood of the female hormone estrogen caused them to grow and also to swell. During pregnancy, those glands will kick into high gear.

Before your baby arrives, glandular tissue has replaced a majority of the fat cells and accounts for your bigger than before breasts. Each breast may actually get as much as 1 1/2 pounds heavier than before!

Nestled among the fatty cells and glandular tissue is an intricate network of channels or canals known as the milk ducts. The pregnancy hormones will cause these ducts to increase in both number and size, with the ducts branching off into smaller canals near the chest wall known as ductules.

At the end of each duct is a cluster of smaller sacs known as alveoli. The cluster of alveoli is known as a lobule, while a cluster of lobule is known as a lobe. Each breast will contain around 15 - 20 lobes, with one milk duct for every lobe.

The milk is produced inside of the alveoli, which is surrounded by tiny muscles that squeeze the glands and help to push the milk out into the ductules. Those ductules will lead to a bigger duct that widens into a milk pool directly below the areola.

The milk pools will act as reservoirs that hold the milk until your baby sucks it through the tiny openings in your nipples.

Mother Nature is so smart that your milk duct system will become fully developed around the time of your second trimester, so you can properly breast feed your baby even if he or she arrives earlier than you are anticipating.

Once you’ve given birth, breast feeding is the most important thing you can do to protect your baby
and help to promote good health. Best of all, breast feeding is free.

Along with saving you money on HMR (Human Milk Replacement), breast feeding can also help you to
keep your medical bills down. Babies that are fed with formula get sicker more often and more seriously than babies that are breast fed They also have more ear infections, respiratory infections, and other problems.

This can be even more true if your family has had a history of allergies. When a baby is breast fed, the
antibodies pass on from the mother to the baby, helping to protect against illness and allergies. As
the baby’s system matures, his body will begin to make it’s own antibodies, and he’ll be more equipped to handle sensitivities of food.

Sucking on the breast will also help with the development or jaw alignment and the development of
the cheekbone. For this very reason, there is less of the need for costly orthodontic work when the
child gets older.

Unlike formula, breast milk is always ready, always available, convenient, and always the right temperature for feeding. Plus, it contains all of the vitamins and minerals your growing baby needs, saving you a lot of money.

Breast feeding also offers many benefits for the mom as well. The baby sucking at the breast will cause contractions right after birth, leading to less bleeding for the mom, and helping her uterus to it’s shape before pregnancy much faster.

Breast feeding will also burn calories, so a mom can lose weight much faster than if she fed her baby with a bottle. Breast feeding will also create a special bond with the mother and the baby - which is one thing formula simpy cannot do.

Breastmilk provides the best nutrition for babies!

Experts have voiced valid concerns regarding the use (and abuse) of pacifiers. Not only can pacifiers cause ‘nipple confusion’ in an infant, it is also associated with premature weaning. A newborn infant is driven to suck on anything placed in their mouths, including a finger or artificial nipple. In an ill, small, jaundiced or easygoing baby, this drive to suck may become a substitute for feedings, since the urge to suck is being satisfied. Some babies might be satisfied with the simple act of sucking, and if a weary mom or dad decides to try the pacifier in an attempt to get baby to sleep for a longer period of time or go further between feedings, it can result in such problems as poor weight gain, and in the nursing mom, mastitis, engorgement, a decrease in milk supply, or plugged lactation ducts. Pacifiers and artificial nipples are specially designed so they automatically stimulate the spot in the back of the baby’s mouth, between the hard palate and soft palate that stimulates the sucking reflex. This might create a ‘lazy baby’ who will have trouble drawing mom’s nipple into his mouth far enough back to that same sucking reflex is stimulated during feeding time. The pacifier’s shape can even cause changes in the arch of the soft bony roof of the mouth, molding it high and narrow around the shape of the pacifier.

It is very important to avoid two common, yet very harmful, practices when using pacifiers. First, do not tie the pacifier to a string so that it’s readily available within baby’s reach should the urge strike. This is especially dangerous once baby becomes mobile and learning to crawl and roll, and could pose a strangulation hazard. Secondly, do not dip the pacifier tip in honey or something equally sweet, as this could introduce cavities in baby’s teeth. Generally speaking, infants and toddlers do not receive regular dental checkups like older children and adults, so therefore if a cavity should develop as a result of such a practice, it could result in severe harm and pain in baby’s mouth and teeth.

And finally, be aware of the overuse or misuse of a pacifier. If your baby isn’t fussy or upset, a pacifier is obviously not needed. Be aware of how you are feeling as a parent when you are offering a pacifier to your baby. Is it really to pacify baby? Or is it more to pacify you?