Top 11 tips from my lactation consultant

Hey Mamas here are some quick tips I learned from my lactation consultants. If you’re able to access one – even virtually, it can bring you and your partner some peace of mind.

I requested to speak to one during my stay in the hospital, and also hired one while I was pregnant to come to my home. She met us the day we came back from the hospital, she was invaluable. We had her come couple times a week for a few weeks after giving birth. As much as our family members might have some experience with children, these specialists have worked with hundreds of babies and Mamas, and are a wealth of knowledge. But even if you are unable to access to one, here are some top tips I took to heart:

1. Breastfeeding hold – Hold the side of the baby’s head instead of the back of his head. Due to the possibility of trauma to the back of the baby’s head during childbirth, our lactation consultant recommended to cup your hand over the ear area to control their head.
2. The milk lever – This was a favorite of ours, even my husband was able to help me with this cute little trick we learned. Your baby will often fall asleep at the breast before they are done eating, pull the milk lever to continue to fill ‘er up. A baby’s arm is typically curled up and in a fist, but when they are full, their arm will relax back and their palm will open. Pull the curled arm a bit to see if the are still hungry. It will wake the baby just enough to think you are pulling them away their food and they will immediately continue to nurse – or – their arm will be dead-weight, and you will know they are fully asleep and done eating.
3. Less neck strain diaper change – Roll your newborn to it’s side when dressing and diaper changing. Avoid picking up the baby’s bottom too high by it’s legs like a chicken, a newborn’s neck is still weak. Instead, try rolling them to the side when you can to until he builds more strength.
4. Cleaning baby bottles – Have a separate bowl to soak any baby bottles or pumping accessories after use. Don’t let the baby’s items come in contact with other adult food, it’s best to keep them separate.
5. Cutting nails – A baby’s nails can be quiet long when they are born, but resist cutting your newborn’s nails, try to file perpendicular to the finger rather than side to side like you would your own nails. Wait several weeks before using a nail trimmer of any kind, since it’s pretty much guaranteed that you’ll nick your little one’s finger. And how those little fingers bleed! #cryfaceemoji 😭 It may not appear this way, but the skin of your child’s finger has not separated from the nail significantly enough yet. At this point the nail and underlying skin are indistinguishable.
6. You don’t need baby mittens – Our lactation consultant and birthing instructor recommended against using baby mittens. When babies are born, their eyesight is highly myopic so they rely on their greatest senses of smell and touch. It is their only real way they can interact with the world. To deny them grabbing on to mama is like placing headphones over your ears. Their mouths and hands are also their only way to interact with the world. A hand to the mouth allows for self-soothing and also can indicate to you when they are hungry. Little scratches will happen (see #5), but nothing a little drop of breastmilk can’t heal it right up.
7. Who switched my baby? – The baby you got in the first couple weeks will not be the same baby 3-4 weeks later. You finally think I’ve got this and then, something changes. Our LC told us that often times parents ask her Who switched out my baby? This is just part of the process, but the more you know! Which leads me to…
8. Cry 😢 – Have you gotten in a good cry yet? Have you cried for what seems like absolutely no good reason? I felt like my LC knew exactly what I was going through at that moment – which also made me want to cry even more! With all my hormones shifting I couldn’t control my emotions and that’s OK! To cry it out is even recommended! Let it out Mama you’ve created a brand new life, you absolutely deserve that healing release.
9. Take a freakin’ nap! – Seriously you. need. to. nap. Sneak in any sleep that you can. Grab and eye mask and put on white noise or sleep meditation. I know this sounds absolutely impossible, but just do it – this step is critical Mama! Napping will allow you to physically heal and have the mental and emotional stamina for those multiple middle-of-the-night feedings. The first few days it may be difficult to sleep due to a pure adrenaline rush, but that will quickly wear off. Also, importantly, sleep will help your milk to come in. I find that my milk replenishes even with a short nap.
10. Limit visitors – Keep your sanity! For the first few weeks limit visits to 30 mins at a time. This may seem like a difficult conversation to have with close friends and family members, but lean on your partner to have these conversations for you. And if you do have any visitors, make sure to use them to your advantage, request the food you want (not what they will bring by default), ask them to do dishes or laundry – otherwise they are just not welcomed.
11. Take care of you! – (Refer to #8) If you have a partner to help, let them take care of you and you only worry about feeding the baby and your recovery. Don’t be bashful to ask for snacks, (mother’s milk) tea, and have them lead the charge is keeping guests away, or sending them on their way when times up. Remember…

If Mama is happy, baby is happy & family is happy!

You’ve got this Mama!

-Jess

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