Breastfeeding your newborn in the hospital
Do yourself and your precious little one a favor and start off on the right foot with breastfeeding. If you’ve done any reading about it then you already know that it’s “a learned skill” and “if you’re doing it properly it shouldn’t hurt.” These statements (although vague and not helpful at correcting a problem) are VERY, VERY true. It takes time, practice and help. Yes, help! Its one thing to see a diagram in a book or online, but it’s much more effective to have someone with trained hands at your bedside. You have to be in the right position. The baby has to be in the right position. There are different holds to experiment with. If you don’t get things down right from the start you and the baby could develop poor posture and latching habits. Take it from me. I’m the queen of sore, cracked, bleeding nipples. I held that title for more than two months before we got it right and it didn’t happen on its own. I spent hours on the phone with a lactation consultant. It wasn’t until I actually went to see a consultant (twice) at a nearby hospital that I had any success.
I hope the following tips help. If anyone has any other suggestions, please share!
Find a lactation consultant in your area. LLLI has leaders that host monthly meetings. Attend some before and after your baby is born.
During your tour of the hospital ask about lactation support. What days and hours does she work? Is this person a nurse? If so, is she only available during her shift? (That happened to me. When I was settled in my room and asked if they had a lactation consultant I was told, yes, but she wasn’t working again until Saturday. It was Thursday when I was admitted.)
Even if the hospital doesn’t have a lactation consultant ask the nurses for help at EVERY feeding. They’ll know what to do. Once you leave the hospital you’ll be on your own so take advantage of their knowledge and support.
Ask the staff for lots of extra pillows. Hospital pillows stink. They’re flat and plastic-y. You and the baby need to be well supported on all sides when you nurse.
Nursing in bed can be difficult. If you’re hospital room has a chair, try that. Again, support yourself with lots of pillows and use a foot stool. You need to feel “locked in” and comfortable at all times to nurse properly.
For home, have some lanolin, ibuprofen, a soft nursing bra and the number of a professional to call if you run into any problems.
Breastfeeding is demanding when you’re caring for a newborn. You’re exhausted. Don’t add pain to that equation. Ask for help in advance to avoid problems.
TGIF and have a great weekend. See you next Friday.
Tags: Baby, bleeding nipples, breast, breastfeeding, cracked nipples, engorgement, hospital, ibuprofen, lactation, lactation consultant, lanolin, lansinoh, milk, newborn, newborn care, nurse, nursing, nursing bra, nursing pillows, sore nipples
September 11th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Great advice. I would just like to add that it’s a good idea to buy a special breastfeeding pillow before you even get to the hospital, it can really lesson some of the frustration. And another important thing to remember is that not all the nurses at the hospitals know much about breastfeeding, some of them actually only get about a half hours training on the subject…in my experience it is much safer making sure you get advice from somebody that has experience and qualifications in breastfeeding…talk to a lactation consultant.
September 14th, 2009 at 7:49 am
Hi there! Thanks for your comment. I actually had a breastfeeding pillow, but it didn’t work for us. Especially when my daughter was a tiny newborn. It was way too low and didn’t support my back. I found myself leaning all the way forward (which was very uncomfortable) and that’s when the horrible nipple pain set in. Altough, for someone else a breastfeeding pillow might work really well. And I think that’s important for moms to know — you have to try different things. But, there’s so much conflicting breastfeeding advice out there it’s hard to know where to start. Very frustrating! You’re right…a lactation consultant is probably your best bet. This person can assess both mom and baby and make recommendations based on individual needs. FYI - During your hospital stay a consultation is probably included in your care, but if you consult with one on your own they charge. I spent $150, but it was worth it and think of how much money I would have spent on infant formula by now.
September 14th, 2009 at 9:52 am
Every nurse has different ideas, and one may say that what the other one told you to do was wrong. We had a myriad of issues, but the plain truth is that your breasts which were not feeding machines before, are now feeding machines! Like any new machine it takes a while to work out the kinks. Nipples are different sizes and it can take a while for them to conform to baby’s mouth. LLL is very helpful at calming you down over the phone, but a visit or a meeting would be a lot more helpful, in the case of latch issues, etc. Their meeting times and places are posted online. Just be patient and remember that you will get it eventually, even if it hurts at first. Also don’t bother with a LC if you’re feeding ‘on demand’ –they will want to know EXACTLY when your baby will eat, and well, on demand means on demand, not at 4:10 pm when your baby may well have just fallen asleep, if you know what I mean. Try all other resources first. Just my opinion.
September 14th, 2009 at 9:53 am
The suggestion about LC is post-hospital, by the way.
September 16th, 2009 at 10:12 am
Hi Jill,
Feeding machine! HA ha! That’s funny and all too true. Your recommendation about the lactation consultant (LC) post-hospital is interesting though. I nursed on-demand and the LC that I worked with was very supportive. She did have me keep a log of when I nursed (for how long, on which side, & wet/dirty diapers), but I actually found that helpful in the beginning. I was sooo tired and couldn’t keep track on my own. As a first-time-mom, the structure that the LC provided was actually very helpful. The LC did not impose any timing demands either i.e. “OK…it’s been 2 hours from the last time you nursed. It’s time again, so wake the baby .” That was not my experience at all. Did that happen to you or someone you know?
September 19th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
In the hospital, we were trying (I was) to feed a lethargic, severely jaundiced baby. We would try for 2.5 hours, change her diaper, finally lay down to rest, and they would change shifts and come in to start us again. Finally it was suggested my baby was too lazy and to pump. We bought a pump and I did that for 3 months and finally through help of phone calls to LLL for encouragement, I was able to get her nursing completely. Talk about frustrating, baby is too lethargic to eat because she’s jaundiced, but can’t get unjaundiced without nursing. Calls to the LC ended up being ‘tell us WHAT TIME’ your baby will nurse and we will make the appointment then. Well, kind of depends on what time the baby wakes up and then eats and takes a nap. There was no way at 8 am I could say for sure that she’d be hungry at 2:25 or 4:10, you know? They wanted that much notice. My only issue at that time was latch on one side, and my husband helped me figure out that baby’s head was tilted just a little bit too much, and eventually my nipple shaped to her mouth okay. I finally figured out that baby would tell me when she was hungry, and although I still try and keep to a fairly normal interval between, sometimes it all gets thrown out the window. But I am MUCH happier nursing than pumping!
September 21st, 2009 at 9:55 am
Wow Jill! You pumped for 3 months!?! I give you a lot of credit. That must have been really hard. Good for you for sticking with it. I don’t know if I could have done that. I personally don’t enjoy pumping. I’d pump, store/freeze, clean equiptment, defrost/prep bottle, feed the baby and then it would be time to pump again. It never ended. I did it for a couple of days b/c my nipples were so sore and I thought it might help. It actually made matters worse. That’s when I went to see the LC. It turned out I was using the wrong sized shields. You should have seen my skin! The LC actually gasped and said, “what did you do to yourself?” In addition to the cracking and bleeding, I had what looked like hickies on my breasts. I could cry thinking about it. And believe me…I read and read and read. I watched on-line video clips. I went to LLL meetings before the baby was born. Having trained hands on me and the baby is what saved us. I should have reached out as sooner though. I needlessly tortured myself for over 2 months.
May 20th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
Thanks for the article, been researching numerous places for info.