Baby refusing the breast?
Milk supply low?
Baby not getting enough?
Remember these 3 things:;
1. Feed the baby!
2. Protect your milk supply!
3. Make the breast a happy place!
Feed the baby.The amount a baby needs depends on his or her age and size. Babies between one to 6 months need around 24 ounces of breast milk per day. A 3 day old baby needs at least 4 oz per day, a 5 day old needs 8 oz, etc. A baby who is latching effectively may actually take more than these amounts from your breast. If your baby is under a week old and you believe he or she is not getting enough from direct breastfeeding, try offering small amounts of expressed breast milk by spoon, cup or finger-feeding with a syringe. If your baby is older and requires more than an ounce at a feeding, you may consider using paced bottle-feeding techniques for giving extra milk.
Protect your milk supply. Breast milk production is controlled by hormones in the beginning, but soon switches to local control. This means the more milk is removed from the breast, the more completely drained, the more it will produce in the next hour. When a baby is not effectively removing milk, this tells the breast that it is making too much. Using hand-expression and/or a rental-grade breast pump after feedings may be necessary to protect or build a supply until baby is able to empty the breast more easily. Research has shown that mothers who have effective breast drainage in the first three days (that is defined as 30 breastfeeds or hands-on pumping episodes in 72 hours) have twice as much milk at 10 days after delivery.
Make the breast a happy place. Keep baby skin to skin as much as possible. Baby should be between mom’s breasts, head facing to one side. Mom should be positioned comfortably, propped up with firm pillows with her back and arms supported. Breastfeeding is more than providing milk for your baby – it is setting up a relationship that starts out as meeting a physical need and transitions to meeting an emotional need between mother and child.
All breastfeeding techniques or assistive techniques should include these three concepts.