I decided to write about something near and dear to my heart this week... breastfeeding. As some of you may or may not know, I gave birth to the most perfect human being in May this year (I might be a little biased). While I was pregnant I made the choice to commit myself to breastfeeding. I say commit because dang, is it hard! There's so much you don't realize... latching, sore nipples, waiting for your milk to come in, worrying about supply issues... it can be pretty stressful. Having gone through almost four months of it now, I am by no means an expert... but I do feel like I can share some of my hard earned wisdom. I came up with 8 ways to make breastfeeding a little easier for yourself.
1. Drink a TON of water. I can't stress this enough. If you want a good milk supply this might be the key. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate... and when you think you can't hydrate anymore... hydrate some more. You should be drinking at the very minimum half of your current body weight in ounces. If you weight 140 that means you need a minimum of 70 ounces per day.
2. Eat. Hopefully this one shouldn't be too much of a problem for you. Breastfeeding makes me feel like a bottomless pit. I seriously feel like I could eat us out of house and home. But, sometimes life gets busy and you forget to eat or you start thinking about that baby weight you gained and you're tempted to diet. DON'T DO IT! Listen to your body and eat when you're hungry. Keep healthy choices at home and get rid of the junk. Your baby will thank you.
3. Don't be afraid to ask for help. This is huge. Like I said before, breastfeeding is a commitment. There will be plenty of times you want to quit. That doesn't make you a bad mom, it makes you normal. If you're not sure it's going right or your baby is having a really hard time with the latch find other moms to ask, look up local Le Leche League meetings and go to one, hire a lactation consultant... do whatever you need to do to get help before you throw in the towel.
4. Get yourself some good nipple cream. Real talk: getting your nipples sucked on almost 24 hours a day can freaking hurt. They might get chapped and bleed and crack and it will suck (no pun intended). Get lanolin cream for your nips.
5. Know the symptoms of a clogged duct. Trust me, you're gonna want to catch these suckers early on before they get too bad. If your breast is hot to the touch, feels bruised and nursing is painful... you might have the starts of a clogged duct. It also can come with a slight fever. If you catch it early on, hopefully it won't develop into mastitis. The best thing to do is exclusively nurse on that side and pump the other side until it's cleared up. You'll know when it's better, promise.
6. Give yourself time. Don't expect to have it figured out overnight. In fact, don't expect to have it figured out for the first three months. Yes, I know... that sounds like a long time. Don't get me wrong, it starts to get easier before that, but something really clicks around the third month. When you go out in public plan on keeping the trips short because in the beginning when you're learning how to feed wearing shirts is tough. I think I spent a good portion of those first months topless. Once they get head control and the latch down public feeding becomes way easier... and so does wearing a shirt.
7. Write everything down. Between little sleep and taking care of a tiny human my brain is mush. Don't rely on your memory to remember when your last feeding was, write it down. I have a fancy app on my phone that helps me keep track and some days it's a sanity saver. I know they say you'll learn your baby's hunger cry but... mommy confession: in the beginning all the cries sounded the freaking same to me.
8. Give yourself some grace. As a new mom you're going to have so many things you have to learn all at the same time. There's tons of trial and error involved... and lots of tears too. It's normal. You'll have break downs, you'll have a messy house, you'll lose track of when you showered or brushed your teeth last. It's 100% okay. I think as moms we don't always talk as openly as we should about the struggles. Being a mom is hard. If you have a bad day, it's okay. If you have to supplement with formula, it's okay. You're doing a good job, even if you feel like you're not. At the end of the day if your kid is still breathing, I'd call it a success.
Just in case you're wondering... the picture was taken by my incredibly talented friend Jasmyn Smith. You can view more of her work on her website: www.jasmynmarie.com
- Leslie
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