BFing, the first few days... Quesions

I was a BFing failure for DD and wound up EPing for 7 months. From what I'm reading now about the first few days after birth I think I did things very wrong.

From the moment baby is born, how often do you feed them?

For how long?

Do you switch sides?

I was following the rules from week 2 -> on but no one gave me any guidance on those first few precious days.

BFing, the first few days... Quesions

I had a similar experience with DD1, with DD2 I fed every two hours or whenever she awoke I would offer her the breast, and let her nurse at least 20 minutes per side. Sometimes I switched if she still was interested but most times she was out cold by the 20 minute mark, so I would nurse her the opposite breast the next feeding. If you are delivering vaginally, nurse immediately after she is born and she should latch. If you are having a section, nurse as soon as they let you be with her.

Re: BFing, the first few days... Quesions

The main thing is the latch. Look up cross cradle hold. Put the baby to the breast as soon as possible. Right after they handed me my kids I would unsnap the gown put my hand behind the baby's head with my fingers at his/her ears. Line his or head nose up with the nipple and bring the baby to the breast not the breast to the baby. 2 out of three kids just took over and nursed. For the first few weeks I would nurse the baby every 2 hours to establish supply. I let the baby nurse as long as they wanted. If they fell asleep I would tickle under their chin. If that didn't work I would change them and then switch to the other side. You can do both or one side each feeding the baby will decide that for you. if you do both then lead off the next feeding with the last breast used. I use a hair tie around the wrist to remember in the early days lol
That said my first ds was HELL nursing all 14 months but I didn't know any better. Dd and ds2 were/are a breeze. It was so much different and easy with my younger 2. good luck

Re: BFing, the first few days... Quesions

I felt like it's all I did in the beginning especially with DD1 (who was born 2lbs less than DD2). She ate & ate & ate, & when she wanted nothing else....ate again.

She used to feed from both sides. Whereas DD2 would go longer on just 1 side.

Both fed & latched better with the football hold.

I didn't use a pacifier at all.

I went 13monthd with both.

BFing, the first few days... Quesions

DD wouldn't latch in the delivery room. After that she latched well but barely nursed before falling asleep. You want to feed 8-12 times a day in the beginning, so aiming for every two hours is good although sometimes it will be more and sometimes less. Any time spent nursing counts, DD never went more than a few minutes in the beginning without passing out (and we tried every trick in the book to wake her). Always let them finish the first side going as long as they want, then offer the second and they may or may not take it. Other times, DD would finish the second side and we'd go back to the first. In the evenings she's just go back and forth over and over before finally passing out for a few hours. I also did mostly skin to skin nursing the first few days and have always used the laid back position.

BFing, the first few days... Quesions

They let me bf right away after my cs in the recovery rm. I had no idea what I was doing but luckily the nurses were very helpful. The whole first day I was so out of it that I honestly have no idea how often I fed her. I think it was just whenever a nurse told me to. The first week or so I remember she would fall asleep pretty quickly after startIng to feed and she ended up losing a lot of weight. So her ped told me to try to keep her awake by getting her undressed so she wouldn't be too cozy and to keep a damp washcloth at hand to dab her face to wake her up and keep her sucking. I always offered both sides, and just started on the opposite side at each feeding. So if I started a feeding on the left side and then switched to the right, I'd start the next feeding on the right side. Good luck!

Re: BFing, the first few days... Quesions

10 mins each side every two hours is what I did

Re: BFing, the first few days... Quesions

The first month I basically nursed all day every 1-3 hours from when he started nursing and he would nurse 45 minutes or so total per session (often that meant back to back nursing) I never really knew when he "was done" so I would just switch him after like 20-30 minutes if he wasn't asleep and offer the other side. I could never really tell when he was done as he never would unlatch (just stopped swallowing) so I can't really offer advice there. I always wished there was like a timer or something that popped up and said he was done hehe. Good luck the beginning can be a bit challenging so get all the support you can :)

Re: BFing, the first few days... Quesions

BFing, the first few days... Quesions