Skin to skin contact is important to the breastfeeding relationship,
especially in the first couple of days. This is the ‘sensitive
period’ when mom and baby are getting to know each other.
This may mean that you or your partner may have to tell well meaning
visitors that now is not a good time. Having help lined up in
the home for after the baby is here is one way to help insure
the time needed at the breast. If you have other children in the
home you can involve them during this time by letting them read
a story to you and the new baby or color a picture during this
time. You will never get this time again with your newborn. The
dishes, garden, lawn, laundry, and house hold chores will be there
tomorrow. Your baby will never be this small again.
This arrangement for sleeping works great for many moms with a
fussy baby or a mom who has had a c-section. Sleeping in a recliner
at night can let the baby nurse as long as he wants and you can
sleep comfortably as well. Putting the baby in the football position
works best. You will need to have plenty of pillows under the
baby to help support him and keep him at the breast. DO NOT sleep
with your baby if you are taking any kind of prescription or nonprescription
sleep medication.
Sometimes babies just want moms to hold them at the breast, sometimes
babies want to sleep at the breast. We here in America have this
thought processes that our baby’s should be on the same
time schedule as us. The first thing to remember about your baby
is that he has come from an environment where he has felt nothing
but your skin, heard nothing but your voice, heart beat, and breathing.
He has always been warm and has never had the need to work for
food. At the breast is where your baby feels safest, the breast
is what is most familiar to him. At the breast is where your baby
learns how to give and receive love.
Schedules can be good if you are dealing with a baby who has an
eating issue, but the best way to ensure your baby is getting
enough is to watch the signs your baby is giving you. Your baby
gives you plenty of signs that he needs or wants to be at the
breast. He may suck his fist or fingers, keep sticking his tongue
out and turning his head to the side, keep making eye contact
with you, or just get squirmy. By the time he is screaming we
have usually missed the signs. Breast milk is completely digested
within 90 minutes and your baby’s stomach is only about
the size of a small walnut. These two things alone make for a
baby who will need to nurse frequently. Nursing frequently does
not mean that you’re not making enough milk or that it is
not good milk. You could simply have a baby who needs you for
comforting and for nourishing. The breast does more than just
meet a physical need it meets an emotional need as well. I had
a midwife tell me that if you meet their needs at the breast now,
you won’t meet their needs at the county jail when they
are older.
Allow your self the time to be with your newborn. You are not
sitting on the couch doing nothing, your spending quality time
with your new baby. This time will never come again. Your baby
will never need you like he needs you at this very moment. Your
job has changed as a mother for a time and that’s OK! This
is a good time to teach your other children about putting others
first and that they too can be a big help in helping mommy do
a good job. Believe it or not your young daughters are watching
how you mother this new baby and often will quickly find a doll
to mimic what you are doing. Explain to your children how to properly
care for a new baby and remind them that they too received that
same love and devotion that the new baby is getting.
