Here’s a collection of breastfeeding tips from our mom community – tell us in the comments what are some of your tips and tricks for successful breastfeeding!
1. Don’t be too hard on yourself. My baby has reflux and dr recommended express pumping milk then mixing with a thickening powder to help keep the milk from spitting up. Started doing this when he was 2 wks old and he now prefers the bottle rather than latching on. I felt guilty and sad he didn’t want to latch on but baby not wanting to breastfeed is not a reflection of whether you are a “bad” or “incapable” mother. It is merely different ways of feeding and caring for your baby. You are still able to bond through bottle feeding, and with a lot of persistence and patience he now latches on half the time and bottle feeds the other half. Not latching on or breastfeeding does not mean your baby doesn’t love you or has not bonded with you. So just like there are different ways to make a baby (intercourse, IVF, surrogacy, adoption…etc) there are also ways of feeding a baby, us parents should all be supportive of each other. – Junia
2. Prepare for nipple chafing. One thing I wished one gotten in preparation was the breast shells/shields. They would have helped a lot to protect my nipples from chafing in the first few weeks. 😉 – Mei
3. Must understand the basic lactation principle: it’s like the sponge- you squeeze out more, leaving more space in the ducts then only can produce more. So try to empty breast as much as possible for each breastfeeding. – Mabel Wen
4. Taking overnight oats with chia seeds helped me – I add in fruits with nuts for mixed flavor. – Mabel Wen
5. Newborn babies need to eat every two to three hours (sometimes more frequently) and it can take up to an hour to feed them. Yup – you read that right! But just for good measure I’ll repeat it – it can take up to an hour to feed your new baby. So basically, right when you are finished feeding your little bambino and you put him or her down into their little bassinet, you can go to the bathroom, walk back to bed, pass out for a few minutes and before you know it, they are up again, or you need to wake them up again, to eat.
– Elena
6. Even if breastfeeding is going well, it probably doesn’t feel good. In fact, for me, by day 2, when people were asking, “How does that feel?” I started telling them the truth… awful. – Elena
7. Lanolin is a miracle because it’s one of the most useful things for new breast-feeding mothers (it’s right up there with nipple shields!). Lanolin is like a really thick vasoline. I got it upon the recommendation of my sister-in-law weeks before Ben was due (but I forgot to bring it to the hospital, so make a note to yourself – bring yours with you!) and I’m really glad I had it in stock in the house. – Elena
8. I have learned to give myself a break sometimes and just look on the brighter side – for the sake of analogy, it just makes sense that the best milk comes from happy free range cows, not stressed out factory cows! – Stella
9. After toughing it out the first 2 months, life is really much easier especially in the middle of the night and when going out – without the need of carrying milk bottles, formula and hot water flasks – I can just feed my baby anywhere. – Michelle
10. It takes a village. I’ve some amazing role models, like my sister who told me not to over think things and just go with the flow. My mummy friends who share my craziness, we are indeed a tribe. No one else understands! From my village, I’ve received so much sage advice that I’ve come to realise is so true… I think back to what I stressed about during my pregnancy – like childbirth itself – the birth is only one day, so don’t worry too much about it because there an unending number of things to worry about after that! – Stella
