I’ve mentioned this in previous posts but I am really enjoying my nursing time with George. I nurse on demand + always always always nurse him to sleep despite what a lot of “experts” say, I like it + so does the little dude!
As a first time and exclusively breastfeeding mama, I wanted to share my experience with a few tips, tricks, and products I have found that really help me with my nursing journey!
And it should be mentioned that I am not an expert and am solely speaking from my personal experiences.
I have had a wonderful and relatively easy journey thus far with breastfeeding and this post is in no way, shape, or form a post knocking down mamas who couldn’t breastfeed or chose not to or has had to formula feed their babies or what have you. You mamas gotta do what you mamas gotta do. And I support each and everyone of you for doing a damn good job. Because you really, truly are.
Ok. So.
When GBB was born, I stayed in the hospital for two nights which at the time, I was sooooooo ready to get out of there BUT in hindsight, I am so thankful that I was able to have that extra time for the nurses and lactation specialists to help + ensure George’s latch was good and breastfeeding wasn’t going to be a nightmare once we arrived home.
Those two days were a blur of emotions, information, and overwhelm for me. Not only do you get a baby but you also get a whole bunch of how-tos that you really need to grasp asap or else…meltdowns. Well, more meltdowns than the ones you’ll inevitably have, ha.
George was an eager breastfeeder from the very beginning but his latch wasn’t always impeccable. He would clamp down hard with a very shallow latch so my left nipple would be stinging with pain, it would bleed and get super chapped. Hubs and I actually named my left side “chappy” for obvious reasons. I remember the pain so vividly and the fear of George being hungry and needing to feed on the sore side. And a lot of this pain was right before my milk even came in! But I persisted. I cried. I latched and unlatched him. I cried. I was determined.
And then it got better. Of course it was still sore sometimes but the more we worked together, the easier it became and then it became blissful. PURE BLISS.
When I got pregnant, I made it my goal to be a champion breastfeeder. I read a ton of articles (kellymom.com, lalecheleague.org, themilkmeg.com were [and are] my favourite sites!) and I tried to mentally prepare myself for this new experience. And that’s exactly what it is, a new experience for you and for your baby. And I would certainly say I am a champion ;)
Here are my top nursing tips, tricks, and products. I hope you find them helpful!
- Support. And I’m not talking about nursing bras (although, those are very helpful/needed! I like these). I’m talking about partner support. I think it is incredibly important for you and your partner to be on the same page with nursing and your goals within breastfeeding your child. I would recommend having that conversation prior to baby’s arrival (because there is nothing worse than super highly emotional conversations about feeding your brand new baby while baby is a few days old and emotions are running rampant….). And like you all know, I am the biggest advocate for communication + my advice is to make sure that you are communicating to your partner about all the feelings you’re having while starting (and throughout) your breastfeeding journey. There were countless times that I felt overwhelmed, anxious, isolated, in pain, and exhausted. Please make a conscious effort to talk it all out with your support system, all the nitty gritty milky stuff. You’ll feel less alone, promise!
- Nipple Cream! I love love love Earth Mama Angel Baby nipple butter and that stuff is my jam; saved my nips many times (from the very beginning to the occasional bites from my 8 month old!). I love that this butter is lanolin-free + there is no need to wipe/clean your nipple off before feeding baby! Hello, that’s amazing because I don’t know about you but when I have a tired hungry brand new baby, I want to get milk to the little one asap. Oh, and another great trick is to use your own breastmilk! I learned this in the hospital! So, you’re chapped and it hurts and you’re thinking no way josé never again will I put a baby near this nipple….squirt some breastmilk onto your sore/chapped/bleeding/
throbbing nipple and IT’S INCREDIBLE. Breastmilk is naturally antibacterial + works wonders to help soothe the nipple/breast. It’s a miracle, honestly. - Baby’s Latch + Position. Oh my word this is the most important thing. Ensure that baby is latched and positioned correctly. There is some great information here. And definitely ensure you ask a lot of questions and get help in the hospital before you go home! Because cluster feeding is no joke…
- Lanisoh Soothie Gel Pads. Oh yes yes yes! I actually didn’t use these until George bite me really hard when he was around 4-5 months. I was so sore + bleeding and I washed my nipple and then placed one of these cool gel pads as a compress and it was heavenly. They’re really fantastic to have in your tool belt should you need some temporary cooling relief. It’s like a spa day; but for your nips, ha. Warm washcloths as a compress can help as well as cold compresses too-depends on what you prefer + what helps handle your ache and pain! I personally liked the cooling feeling when I had a sore stinging nipple but prefer warm compress when my breast was sore and my nipple was chapped…
- Air. This has two parts. A) Go for walks. Nothing bad every came from going for a walk. If anything, it will help chill you out (+ babies like this too!). If you’re a baby wearer like me (I loved my solly baby wrap [and can’t wait for a new little baby in the future so I can wrap them up!] and my ergo carrier!), you can breastfeed while carrying them! PS. Please be cautious and read the directions on your carriers! Be safe baby wearers :) B) let your ladies enjoy some air time! Your nipples will thank you. You want to ensure your breasts and nipples don’t get and stay damp; that’s breeding ground for yucky infections! Air them out! And because you’ll likely be using breast pads (I am obsessed with these), don’t forget to change them out a lot!
- Skin on Skin. I honestly think for the first five days of George’s life I lived in mesh undies, massive pads, and no top. I was super attractive, ha. I think the more skin on skin I had with George, the more chill we were + breastfeeding became much more relaxing for us. The stress level was low + we just cuddled. Now with that being said, he is my first baby so I didn’t have anyone else to take care of + surely spending five days topless with my next baby will be a challenge because, GBB. ANYWAY. I found this to be helpful + really relaxing and heartwarming. Oh I live for baby cuddles!! Give me all the babies! Can you tell I have baby fever?!
- Drink Water. A lot of water. Everyone and their mother will tell you this because it’s so dang true. Drink lots of water! It helps with healing your body from giving birth, helps with your milk production, and it’s just down right GOOD for you to stay hydrated. I actually didn’t drink enough water at first and it sucked! I luckily had my hubs at home with me for the first week so he forced me to drink lots (+ I’m thankful for him!!). Have a water bottle beside you at all times! Truthfully, I get PARCHED when I’m nursing. I love these water bottles!
- Eat Food! Lots of food! You’re going to be hungry + your body is working extra hard to nourish your little one. Have snacks beside all your nursing stations (my snacks were beside my bed because I literally LIVED there…air conditioning + Netflix! GBB was a July baby after all). Snacks that I loved were raw almonds, granola bars (I love love love LARA bars), and fruit (I was super into watermelon at the time…but I couldn’t necessarily leave that stocked beside my bed). Nowadays, I’ll usually just have my water with me but a few days ago, I totally had some dark chocolate beside me while I nursed/rocked George to sleep. No shame in my chocolate game. I’m really into this dark chocolate.
- Medela Breast Pump. I only used this a bit here and there in the first two months. I was always under the impression that I had to pump…honestly, it’s a lot of work + HUGE props to those mamas who pump! I started pumping so that we could get George used to a bottle and so daddy could feed him if I ever wasn’t around. GBB took a bottle like a champ (and still does) but I stopped pumping because I am with him all the time! The times I am away, I will pull out some frozen breastmilk from those two months of pumping but because I didn’t necessarily need to be away from him, I chose to stop pumping. With all that being said, this pump is the best and I highly recommend it and will probably use it for our future baby(ies).
- Patience. Yep, patience. Cut yourself some slack, be patient with yourself AND your baby, and be persistent. Breathe. Cry. Be patient. Keep latching, unlatching, latching, unlatching, and seek help from professionals if need be! Lactation consultants are so wonderful + there are La Leche Leagues all over and are always so willing to help you and your baby on this beautiful journey. You’re a fantastic mama and your baby loves you. Be patient. Yes, even when your baby is wailing.
Like I mentioned above, I am not a professional but I am very passionate about breastfeeding. I hope those tips and tricks were helpful + please please please (with a cherry on top!), let me know in the comments below if you have any nursing tips and tricks; I’d love to hear them! And please feel free to comment (or send me an email) with any questions, I’m happy to help!
Thanks for reading, friends! And happy breastfeeding!
XO
PS. Ten day old George Bear melts my heart!
