For many mothers, the prospect of nursing a newborn baby is just another fact of life after giving birth. Since you’re body is designed to perform this task, it should be easy to do, right? Not necessarily. Even though breastfeeding is a natural process and maternal instincts can account for a lot, it can require some learning to perform correctly. After all, both you and baby are new at things and it might require some trial and error before she learns to latch on right and you learn to hold her right.
Even so, there are some things you need to be aware of when nursing your little one to ensure she’s getting enough nutrition. Thankfully, most of these things are as simple as checking a diaper and feeding frequently.
Bringing Baby Home
In the first week of your baby’s life, he should be nursing very often. Babies typically nurse at least 12 times a day within a 24-hour period. As soon as he looks a bit fussy, offer him milk. That is, as soon as he starts wiggling around and sticking his hands in his mouth, make it a priority to feed him. Offer him your breast and allow him to nurse as long as he wants. Once he stops sucking, offer your other breast.
It’s a bad idea to wait until your baby is crying to nurse him, as he’ll be fussy and uncomfortable. Also, don’t be afraid to wake your baby if he hasn’t nursed for two hours during the day. Sometimes, babies are very sleepy just after birth and need some encouragement waking up to eat. Don’t feel bad about this. Just wake your baby up as gently as possible and offer him your breast right away. He should settle and begin nursing immediately.
The more you nurse in this first week, the more milk your body will produce. You can think of this first week as what your body uses to gauge how much milk is required. Nurse too little and you might not produce enough milk to properly nourish baby. As an added bonus, frequent nursing can reduce engorgement, which could cause you pain if left unattended.
Though the initial milk baby gets after birth, also known as colostrum, is highly nutritious, babies tend to lose some weight over these first couple of days. After around day two or three, your mature milk should start to come in. This is why frequent feedings are so important as you’ll be producing a ton of milk. Apply cold compresses or cabbage leaf to the breasts in between feedings to reduce pain. You may find you need to express some milk before nursing if the breast is too engorged, as it can make the nipple too hard for baby to latch onto.
Once your mature milk comes in, your baby should gain about six ounces a week. Be sure to bring baby into the doctor’s office for a weight check at the beginning of his second week. Before the weight check, you can also use diapers as a means of checking whether or not baby is getting enough milk. Though one wet diaper and one dirty diaper is normal on his first day, you should see a steady increase in wet and dirty diapers up to day five or six. At around day four, stools should appear yellow and be relatively small and loose. A wet diaper is about the equivalent of three tablespoons of water. You should need to change it about five times a day.
After the Second Week
During the second week of your baby’s life, she will be nursing anywhere from eight to more than twelve times a day. It’s always better to nurse more than you need to than less. At this stage in her life, she can’t get enough nutrition. As soon as she starts fussing about, offer her your breast and don’t pull her away until she stops sucking. Only then should you switch to the other breast. You may need to wake her up on occasion for a feeding. After you’ve had her weight taken a few times and she’s gaining steadily, you don’t have to wake her anymore and only feed her when she displays the telltale fussy signs that she’s hungry.
Baby is likely to want to nurse often and for increasingly longer periods of time. However, don’t expect her to stick to a regular schedule. Erratic nursing is completely normal. She’s also likely to want to nurse more in the evenings.
After the second week of nursing and carrying on through the sixth week, your baby should be gaining about six ounces a week on a steady clip. In between weight checks, you can keep track of her milk consumption by monitoring her diapers. At this stage, she should be making about six wet diapers a day and four dirty diapers. After six weeks, stools will become less frequent as will urination. However, as baby grows, her bladder grows, causing heavier diapers.
By keeping track of baby’s weight and the number of diapers you go through, you can rest assured that she’s getting enough nutrition. Should you find that you don’t produce enough milk, talk it over with a lactation consultant or your doctor. You may need to supplement with formula or try to increase your milk supply.
In any case, nursing a newborn is an eventful experience. It can be extremely rewarding, as your baby will get a quality of nutrition that simply isn’t available in standard formulas and improve his immune system. It also gives you the opportunity to connect with your child, offer skin-to-skin contact, and provide him with a sense of comfort. Finally, nursing can help you stay in good health and lose weight after giving birth.
New mothers might be nervous at the prospect of being the sole provider of baby’s nutrition, but you don’t have to be. With a little guidance and a little practice, your newborn should latch on in no time.