Congratulations on your little bundle of joy and welcome to the mom club! I’m sure that you have heard that breast feeding can be quite the challenge, but not to worry, in this blog post we share the best breastfeeding tips for new moms! It can definitely be stressful hearing everyone’s opinion on breastfeeding, but remember at the end of the day it is your choice on what you decide for yourself and your baby! Breastfeeding is a full-time job and really takes a toll on a mother, especially for first-time moms so be sure to give yourself grace!
After breastfeeding our two children, battling mastitis, and latching issues, this was still one of the most rewarding parts of post-partum that I miss so dearly looking back. The bond as well as all of the health benefits for mom and baby when you breastfeed is the ultimate reward. Learning how to feed your baby postpartum can be overwhelming but we hope with sharing our experience of successfully breastfeeding two children can help shed some light on it and help prepare you for what’s to come!
In this blog post, we will show you breast feeding tips for new moms that will help ease your experience. Whether you are still in your pregnancy trying to prepare, or you are freshly post-partum with a ton of questions, this post is for you! We share everything we have learned as well as our favorite products that helped us tremendously! Learn tips and tricks on how to up your supply, making sure baby has enough milk and more! Now let’s get ready to pump!
This blog post is all about breastfeeding tips for new moms.
*Please note that I am not a professional, these tips are based on my personal experience during breastfeeding. I am also an Amazon associate and earn a small commission when you buy through my link. Thank you for the support!
What Should You Not Do While Breastfeeding?
Here are some things that you should avoid while breastfeeding:
- Smoking
- Drinking
- Limiting your calorie intake
- Drugs
- Too much caffeine
Benefits of Breastfeeding:
If you are on the fence about whether to breast feed your baby, you may want to consider these benefits of breastfeeding:
- Moms milk changes as baby grows giving baby exactly what they need.
- Breastmilk can protect against illnesses and diseases.
- Mom can pass antibodies to protect baby through her milk.
- Saves money and is convenient.
- Breastfeeding has health benefits for mom’s health as well.
- May help mom with post-partum depression.
- May help mom lose weight.
- Decreases risks in food allergies.
- Reduces risks of SIDS.
- And so much more!
Breastfeeding Essentials
Whether you are trying to exclusively breastfeed or you want to pump as well, these are some essentials that all new moms should have in their breastfeeding journey.
Nipple Cream
Nipple cream is a must, it can help ease with pain and discomfort. It will also add moisture to help with cracked and dry nipples.
Breast Pump
Let’s quickly talk about pumping. Pumping is breastfeeding too! Pumping can give mom more flexibility with her schedule, increase milk supply, and allow baby to have milk stored in fridge or freezer for future use when mom is away. Most insurance companies cover a breast pump. We got ours free through aeroflowbreastpumps.com.
If your insurance does not cover your breast pump, we loved the spectra and think it is worth every penny!
Manual Breast Pump
If you do not want to pump and just want to exclusively breastfeed, it is also handy to have a handpump. You can get one for under $30. We have tried Lansinoh, Medela, and Haakaa. All of them were worth the money and were a big help to get extra milk stored away for future use.
The Haakaa was our top choice for catching let down from the opposite breast. I would get 3 oz while baby was feeding on the other side! If I did not have the Haakaa, all that milk would have been wasted soaking up my nursing pad.
Breastmilk Storage Bags
To store milk, you need breastmilk bags. We used Lansinoh and loved them! They did not break when we stored milk in our freezer. We have tried other brands to save a few bucks as well as a few other well-known brands, and their bags have broken on us when we warmed up the frozen milk.
Nursing Bras
Nursing bras make life so much easier as a new breastfeeding mom, as well as also nursing tanks and shirts! Whether you are pumping or feeding baby on the breast, nursing bras are worth every penny! Having at least two nursing bras will make your life easier. However, there are 5 packs for under $40! Put these on your baby registry and hopefully someone can purchase these to help with your breastfeeding journey!
Nursing Pads
Nursing pads are another breastfeeding essential! We tried both disposable pads that stick on your bra and reusable pads that you wash. I personally loved the feel of the reusable pads since they were softer on the sore nipples. They saved us money in the long run as well. You can get a 14 pack for $12.
Nursing Pillow
Last but not least, a nursing pillow! This is especially important for a new mom! When you are learning to feed baby, a nursing pillow will help you with your positioning, keep you comfortable, and help encourage a proper latch! We used boppy and had a great experience! You can also use boppy as baby grows to help with tummy time, sitting, and more! We have also heard AMAZING things about My breast friend nursing pillow!
Breastfeeding Cover
Nursing covers are optional! Some moms like privacy while feeding baby. Although you do not need to cover up while feeding your child, I found having a nursing cover handy while in public made me feel more comfortable. I love nursing covers that can be used for other things as well, such as cart covers and car seat covers.
Breastfeeding Tips for Newborn
Breastfeeding your baby is a learning experience for both you and your baby. It will be hard learning especially in the beginning. It took about 2 months and long nights for my child and I to both become pros.
The hospital will help you a lot especially for new moms. Be sure to let them know you are planning to breastfeed ahead of time so you can meet with the lactation consultant and have all of your questions answered. The lactation consultant will help you with positioning and making sure baby has the proper latch. Remember don’t give up! It will be tough, but your body will give exactly what baby needs through colostrum until your milk supply comes in a couple of days.
TIP: Don’t forget to stay hydrated with water and make sure you eat! You should eat an extra 300-500 calories a day to help with your supply!
How Do You Know Baby Is Getting Enough Milk?
Your pediatrician will keep track of your babies’ weight during appointments to make sure they are not losing too much weight. One of the hardest parts about breastfeeding is not knowing how much your baby is getting.
Signs that your baby is getting enough milk is weight gain and keeping track of how many wet and poop diapers. For example, a week-old newborn should have 6 or more wet diapers per day. You can tell their diaper is wet with the blue indicator strip! (I did not know this as a new mom)
Track your babies’ feedings and diaper changes in an app to help you keep track, your pediatrician will also ask you for this information at each visit. This was something else I did not know as a first-time mom. The app I used was Babytracker.
Baby Scale
Last but not least, as an anxious mom, I did not want to trust my body. Waiting for weigh ins at the pediatrician office and tracking the diapers was just not enough for me. I decided to buy an at home scale to help me. Using this scale, I weighed baby in a clean diaper before he nursed. After he finished, I weighed baby again and made sure he gained ounces. The scale was so sensitive, I was able to see that he drank 2 ounces!
Breastfeeding Tips to Increase Milk Supply
Pumping! Pumping milk is still breastfeeding! You can power pump to increase your supply following this chart above. Making sure you empty out your breast completely is important to let your body know that you need more milk! I liked to power pump at the end of the night when baby was asleep with a full belly. This allowed me to empty out my breasts without taking milk away from baby. By the time they woke up, my breasts already produced milk for the next feed. Power pumping can take up to a week to notice a change in your supply so don’t worry if you don’t notice changes right away. And again, remember to drink water and eat!
It can be difficult seeing moms on social media with their milk stashes in their freezer but remember this is not the goal for every mom! They are most likely an over producer, producing more milk than their baby needs. Your goal is to feed baby and if you get a few extra ounces to store away during your power pumps or while you are catching your letdown with a Haakaa, that is just enough! You are doing great!
Storing Your Breast Milk
If you do choose to exclusively pump for baby or just pump for when you are away, this is an easy chart for you to refer to when storing your breast milk! Freshly pumped milk can be fed to baby up to 4 hours before it is not good anymore. (left out in room temperature)
If you store away your breast milk in a bag or a bottle, label it with the date because your milk can stay in there for 4 days! After you warm up your milk from the fridge, your milk has a 2-hour timeframe for you to feed baby with before it is not good anymore.
If you choose to freeze your milk, you can store it for 6 months! This will be perfect for the oversupply moms who will return back to work in a few months and want to prepare. I even know some moms who pumped a lot in the beginning and were able to stop at 6 months, they accumulated enough milk until baby was a year old! If you have a deep freezer, breast milk can be stored in the back of your freezer for up to 12 months! Just like the refrigerator milk, after 2 hours of being warmed up, it is not good anymore.
TIP: If you are an over supplier and have more milk than your baby needs, look into donating your breast milk! You will just have to take a few tests and then you can help babies in need of breast milk!
What To Do with Expired Milk?
Don’t throw out your breast milk! Even if it is left over from a bottle or expired! The breast milk can be used for baths, lotions, and soaps! Breast milk is amazing for babies’ skin! If your baby has eczema, breastmilk helps with symptoms!
How To Help A New Mom With Breastfeeding?
Here are some ways that you can help a new mom with breastfeeding:
- Wash pump parts and bottles
- Support mom with a pillow
- Give her water and snacks often
- Give her breaks away from the baby
- Don’t give the baby formula or feed milk without telling mom
Remember, you are not alone in this journey! Talk to your lactation consultants, look up videos, and don’t stop trying! If this is something you really want to do, it will take a lot of patience, but it will be worth it!
This post was all about Breastfeeding tips for new moms.
Check out our similar posts: