Milk Storage Archives - Nutmeg Consulting

Preparing to breastfeed? 5 tips to avoid problems!

Angela Grant Buechner — Wed, 09 Sep 2020 18:05:07 +0000

How exactly does one prepare to breastfeed or chestfeed? Shouldn’t it just be natural?

Do you feel ready to breastfeed? Did you know there are things you can do BEFORE baby is born that will help you be more prepared?

First, what have you heard about breastfeeding / chestfeeding? Is it natural, healthy, convenient and free? Sure, Public health flyers will remind you all about that. But what about painful, exhausting, hard and stressful? You don’t see that on any posters, but that’s what many expectant parents hear from their friends!

Well, which is it? Is it a calm, enjoyable bonding experience or a gauntlet of pumps, cracked nipples and babies with excess weight loss?

Honest answer? It can be both.

It is very common to have at least a few struggles with breastfeeding, especially in the first week.

Whether it’s a painful latch, a sleepy baby, constant crying or someone telling you that baby isn’t getting enough milk. There are lots of challenges you might encounter, because most of us didn’t grow up in a village where everyone was topless and sat around a fire feeding their babies all day. If we had, more of us would find breastfeeding/chestfeeding natural, instinctive and easy. But for many, it’s not.

Feeding your newborn is something you need practice, information, support, and time to get good at. Also, there are some great tricks that can make a big difference if you know about them ahead of time, so you can know what to expect and what to try before any trouble starts!

Learning about breastfeeding BEFORE your baby is born, is actually very helpful, although there’s nothing like the real thing when it comes to actually practicing latch, and holding a real-live baby! Knowing what is normal (like REALLY frequent feeding so baby can tell your body how much milk to make) and what it’s supposed to feel like (it’t NOT supposed to hurt!) are really good to know ahead of time. Trying to Google “what is clusterfeeding” or “How to breastfeed a sleepy baby” after 30 hours labour is not as much fun as you might think!

Seriously, SO MANY issues that people have with breastfeeding stem from not knowing what to expect, how to prevent nipple pain, and what to do if baby is not latching, is too sleepy to feed well, or when baby is losing too much weight… learning all the ins and outs ahead of time can prevent may of these issues!

Here are some of my TOP TIPS to get you started….

1. Learn about Hand Expression

If there is ANY reason a baby is having trouble breastfeeding in the first few days after birth, hand express your colostrum every 2-3 hours for 10-15 minutes. You might only get a few drops but it signals your body that you’re still ‘IN’ for becoming a breastfeeder and that you would like to request a great milk supply even if baby isn’t feeding well right now.

We can figure a lot of things out later on about a deep latch, nipple comfort, sleepy baby and excess weight loss if your body is reminded to continue making milk.

2. Spoons are made for babies too!

If your baby isn’t able to get colostrum out of your breast the ‘usual’ way because he’s tongue-tied, sleepy, it hurts you or he just won’t latch, then use a spoon!

First, read #1 ….. Now hand express right into a spoon & give it to the baby! Spoons are easy to use, hold small amounts (which is usually all newborns need anyway….seriously!) and you can express your thick colostrum right into it so you don’t lose your 3 precious drops in the pump valve thingy!

3. Take off your shirt and hold your naked baby!

This one seems simple and obvious once you learn about how much ‘skin-to-skin holding’ can improve breastfeeding outcomes. Most parents however, think they’re supposed to immediately put their new baby in all the cute outfits and hats they’ve had washed and waiting for this moment. I don’t blame you, that outfit IS super cute, BUT if your baby is having trouble waking up, calming down, latching, or is cold, I promise that the science here is right. Your chest is the place to be. Put your feet up, get comfy and hold your baby.

4. Keep trying, and get help.
Ask for help, ask for more help, then if you still need help, find different help. (Yes, I do LIVE private virtual sessions ANYWHERE!)

5. We recommend that all our pregnant clients take this on-demand, online Breastfeeding Prep class :

“How to Breastfeed” from our Virtual Academy!

(use code NUTMEGMOM50 any time to get 50% off!!)

This Breastfeeding Prep course will teach you

* how to sit * how to hold * how to latch * how to know if baby is getting enough milk… and what to do if they aren’t * what to expect in the first few days * how to avoid nipple pain * how to get a great milk supply * what to do with a sleepy baby * what to do if baby won’t latch

…. and how to get breastfeeding off to a great start!!

Breastfeeding takes practice. Learning about what to expect in REAL life can make a big difference in your confidence. The sooner you find help the better, but even if things aren’t perfect right from the start, try these things and reach out! Your breastfeeding career really can continue almost always with the right information, if you are a bit stubborn, and just a little bit lucky.

Angela Grant Buechner, BA, BScN, RN, IBCLC is a Registered Nurse • Lactation Consultant • Birth Doula • Postpartum Doula • Newborn Care Specialist • Educator in Toronto offering LIVE virtual support sessions worldwide!

The post Preparing to breastfeed? 5 tips to avoid problems! appeared first on Nutmeg Consulting.

PUMPING BREASTMILK…here’s everything I can think of that you WANT and NEED to know if you ever WANT or NEED to pump!!

Angela Grant Buechner — Sun, 16 Oct 2016 21:45:21 +0000

As a Lactation Consultant, I’m always getting a million questions about everything to do with Pumping Breastmilk! Pumping is different than Breastfeeding and your body will not always be friends with the idea…..

PUMPING IN THE FIRST WEEK:

If you are pumping in the first few days after your baby is born, expect NOTHING!! For about 2-5 days, you have colostrum milk (which is produced in your breasts starting at 16 weeks of pregnancy, so trust me, it’s in there!)
Colsotrum is thick, and harder to actually collect with a pump, so try to hand express also. You might not get anything when you pump, but it’s good to stimulate your hormone if that’s what you need.

If you are pumping to increase your supply, then pump after feeds.
If you are pumping to soften your engorged/painful breasts, then pump just a bit, to soften your breasts.

PUMPING TIPS TO GET THE MOST MILK:

Try using warm cloths on your breasts, massage, and hand expression before pumping to get the milk going before you start pumping.
Pump for 10-15 minutes… to increase supply, pumping more often is more helpful than pumping for a longer session.

DON’T hurt yourself. Cranking the pump up really high will NOT necessarily give you more milk, because if you’re in pain, your stress hormone will work against you. Make sure it’s comfortable. Use your hands to massage or gently squeeze more milk out if you need to.

Cut some holes in an old sports bra to make a ‘hands free’ bra for pumping (or you can always spend a bit and buy some great hands-free pumping bras.)

PUMPING AFTER YOU’VE BEEN BREASTFEEDING FOR A WHILE:

Pumping is not an accurate measure of how much milk you have, so don’t freak about your milk supply if you start pumping and don’t get much! A baby that is breastfeeding well can get WAY more milk that a pump… everybody responds to pumps differently. I’ve breastfed 3 kids and my body ‘sucks’ at pumping….

If you are pumping to build a ‘freezer stash’ after you’ve been breastfeeding for at least a couple of weeks, it can be helpful to pump around the same time each day to teach your body to build in a bit of extra milk supply for the ‘pump baby’.

Don’t expect extra milk to just be waiting if you just randomly pump, your body has adapted to whatever baby has been needing and doesn’t have extra ounces just lying around!

If breastfeeding is going well (baby is gaining weight, pees & poos are good, breastfeeding isn’t painful) then it usually takes 2-3 weeks for you to reach your full milk supply.

The average feed for a breastfed baby is only 2-4 ounces once they are around 2 weeks old, to 6 MONTHS!! They don’t need more milk as they get older. Instead, their intestines mature, so they are able to absorb more of the milk… they also poo way less around the 2-3 month mark because of this!

You don’t need to pump in the night if baby starts sleeping longer, your body will adapt (and if your baby is sleeping all night, then that’s ok!)

MILK STORAGE AND PUMP CLEANING:

Ideally, you should wash your pump parts with hot, soapy water every time you pump, but you don’t have to sterilize every time! Boiling parts for 5 minutes (or using a steamer) every few days if you’re using it often is fine. YOU DON’T NEED TO WASH THE TUBES that come with your pump.
If you’re pumping for a healthy, term baby MANY times per day (it’s soooo hard!!) you can pour the milk into a storage container in the fridge, then just rinse your pump parts and keep them in the fridge until the next session. Wash thoroughly every 12-24 hours.

Don’t add warm milk to cold milk. If you pump a little bit everyday, you can put it in the fridge each day, and then you can mix the milk from those pumping sessions together, (make sure it’s all the same temp before you mix it) then you can freeze it.

Freeze milk flat in Breastmilk storage bags, so they are easy to stack.
Check out the Toronto Public Health Breastmilk Storage guidelines for fridge/freezer rules.

Watch the Stanford University Hand Expression video to learn how to Hand Express milk/colostrum. If you’re in Toronto or the GTA and would like more information about Lactation Consultant Home Visits or Breastfeeding Prep Consultations, then feel free to give me a call (416) 300-7064 http://www.nutmegconsulting.ca

The post PUMPING BREASTMILK…here’s everything I can think of that you WANT and NEED to know if you ever WANT or NEED to pump!! appeared first on Nutmeg Consulting.