Breastfeeding 101. What the doctors don't tell you, and most new Mama's don't know.

Words From Mama Brittany:


I have several pregnant friends right now. All of whom have told me they would like to breastfeed. I can't help but smile and think I had a bit to do with their decision, but I don't want to toot my own horn. What I want to do is tell you about breastfeeding. Things no one will tell you, and to prepare you for what may be the hardest thing you'll ever do in your life. Breastfeeding was the hardest thing I've ever done; but after about 4 months, it was the BEST thing ever. Breastfeeding is hands down one of the best decision's I've ever made.


A few weeks ago I was chatting with a dear friend of mine. We were talking about breastfeeding and the early days, and we both brought up a similar topic. We began talking about people's good will, we talked about new moms who wanted to try breastfeeding. The thing is this: When I hear a new Mom say something like "Oh yeah I'm going to try breastfeeding." I know right away the chances of her actually sticking to it are slim to none. Now some of you may disagree, and that's fine. But this is my blog and my friends that I'm giving advice to and I'm sorry but I'm going to tell you straight up, the way I wished someone would have told me.
The key to your breastfeeding relationship is: DETERMINATION. If you want to just try breastfeeding, well then great have fun with that, but if you actually want to breastfeed then your going to need to be 110% determined or I'm telling you it isn't going to work! It's going to be 3 O' clock in the morning, you won't have slept for weeks, the baby will be screaming and you'll go to that extra formula that you had just in case and you'll use it. (Side note: as tempting as formula was (yes even for me) I always remembered this: Two main ingredients in formulas are vegetable oil and high fructose corn syrup. That was enough to keep me breastfeeding)
Are you determined? Are you committed to doing the research, doing the work and figuring out all that you can so that you can be successful at breastfeeding. I don't want this post to overwhelm you or discourage you, if your determined to breastfeed your baby than without a doubt I believe you can overcome anything and do it!


I could not have written this post alone, I got the help of My milky Mama friends from all around the world and I asked them one simple question. "What do you wish you would have known or wish someone would have told you before you began breastfeeding?" Here I post their answers:

• Don't supplement at all in the first several weeks. Your body will naturally adjust to how much milk your baby needs.
• Keep your bra on! The first few days you'll leak like crazy and you'll need something to hold your breast pads on!
• Having Lactation consultants forcefully shoving your breast into your baby’s mouth is NOT going to help anything. Would you want someone shoving food in your mouth? If you have an LC that uses this approach, ask for a new LC or a new approach.
• Spend as much time skin-to-skin as possible.
• Feed them before they get hungry, and they won't come at you like a little piranha.
• Keeping formula "just in case" is probably the biggest Booby Traps out there.
• Just one little bottle of formula won't hurt (myth)
• Hanging out in bed and letting others help you and help around the house is about so much more than recovery from birth, it's also about bonding and establishing your breastfeeding relationship. Even if you feel "fine", take the help and sit in bed!
• Not everyone will support you in BFing or how long you want to BF. Do what feels right to you. You're the mom.
• I wish someone would have told me that it's perfectly normal to have a newborn attached to my breast all the time, and that they could want to eat every hour. I thought I had supply issues. Turns out I just had a normal newborn.
• I tell everyone I can that cluster feeding is normal. I am a mod on a forum in the breastfeeding support and I make sure everyone knows that just so they don't think they have supply issues. I learned that with my first because he was constantly on the breast.
• Whenever moms post about supply issues, I tell them to do a "nurse-in" and to do nothing but snuggle skin-to-skin with the baby and nurse (and obviously eat and drink fluids, too, but that's a given).
• Not every newborn is going to be at the breast for 45 minutes at a time, if you have the combination of a fast letdown and a good latch they may still transfer enough milk in five minutes to gain faster than average.
• The amount you can pump does not indicate how much milk baby is getting at the breast. I got so frustrated with both babies because I couldn't pump more than fractions of an ounce at a time. I struggled, thinking that must mean I wasn't producing enough milk. I eventually learned about hand expression, and really saw my milk "fly".
• Their bellies are little!! But then they get bigger and will eat fuller feedings and won't eat all the time.
• 5 ounces is a FULL MEAL for a full term newborn. Guess what they serve at the hospital? 2 ounces! No
• That successful breastfeeding starts before birth. Choices made during birth and interventions during the first few hours after birth can have lasting effects on breastfeeding.
• Circumcision effects breastfeeding. Also read this
• Doctors and pediatricians know very little about breastfeeding.
• Join a local Le Leche League, Breastfeeding USA or reach out to online support groups like Kellymom.com
• Know that formula is 4^th best, and thanks to human milk for human babies if you need it you can get donor milk.
• If given I.V’s in the hospital it can effect babies weight at birth, some nurses will say your baby needs formula because they have lost too much weight, but that’s crap.

Here are some things specifically on latch: (and on nipple pain)

• "Tummy to Tummy, Chest to Chest, Mouth and Chin must touch the breast" this helps moms remember how to line baby up for the boob!
• Sandwich (just like you'd eat a sandwich to line the breast up with babies mouth). Nose to nipple (let them reach for it. It nestles the chin into the breast & gives them more tissue to work with (re: tongue gums as the jaw is doing most of the work). Then roll the breast tissue onto the tongue. It takes a good 1.5" to 2" of breast tissue for baby to be able to combine suction with tongue massage to express the milk.
• It’s normal to have some pain as you get the latch established, it should go away in a week or so, get help if needed, the"myth" is that it doesn't hurt at all...that comes in time!
• If you have a momentary sting the second you latch the baby, that may be normal at first, but pain throughout the entire feed, something may be wrong, consult an LC.
• Sometimes babies just don't latch right away. Doesn't mean anything is wrong or that you can't breast feed, just means the two of you need to figure out what works.
• If the latch isn't right it should be evaluated and adjusted right away. It's not something to just wait and hope will fix itself. Sometimes it will, but sometimes it will only get worse. One shouldn't wait to see if it gets worse.
• I've heard moms say, well, it was uncomfortable, so i stopped...wait a minute? Did you have the latch evaluated? No, well then, the latch was probably wrong. Too many women think it's not supposed to hurt at ALL, and it can, as you figure it out...it shouldn't, but how many of us have had cracked nipples in the beginning as it gets sorted out?
• I got a perfect latch the first time 3 minutes after birth... but I didn't get it again for weeks afterwards. It takes a while! You and baby aren't born KNOWING what to do... so it's a learning curve.
• Let’s differentiate between pain because our nipples aren't used to having a vacuum on them 8-12 times/day...and pain because the baby is not latched correctly. The first is normal and will go away as soon as your body adjusts. The latter needs help to fix the problem. Then the pain will go away.
• The point is, don't give up if it hurts...it is normal, if not correct, to have some pain, especially if the latch is wrong....plus, some people have sensitive nipples, I don't care how my babes latch, it doesn't feel "good" until a week or so out.
• If it hurts, it's better to have a mother seek help and support rather than wait some random amount of time expecting it to get better. Saying that it will get better hurts the breastfeeding relationship too, because sometimes it doesn't get better and mothers give up from the pain and frustration or wait too long to seek help and have hurt their supply. If a mother has any question about how breastfeeding is going, they should seek help.

I would like to thank all of the wonderful Mama's who contributed to this post, and for contributing to my everyday life with your advice and wisdom. I could not be the Mama I am without you all. Truly <3

So do you still want to breast feed? You can do it! Yes it takes work in the beginning, and sometimes months to get things running smoothly, but once you get the hang of it, it is one of life's most precious gifts. I know that I could not parent aside from breastfeeding. I understand that that is a bold statement. Here is the thing, as a baby when Oliver cried, I gave him the boob=silence, as Oliver was learning how to crawl and would fall and cry, I gave Him the boob=silence. If Oliver has a nightmare, I give Him the boob=silence. If Oliver, well you get the picture. Even my husband will come running with him crying and say He needs boobie He just fell down outside, or He this or that and boom give Him the boobie and all is well in His world. Boobies are magic, Boobies are love.

So whats the next step for you? I'm a big fan of informed choice. I can sit here and tell you the sky has turned bright green, but unless you go outside and look for yourself you will never really know. I can tell you breastfeeding is super wonderful and awesome and if you just push through it will be the most amazing thing in the whole universe, but unless you my friend experience it for yourself, do the work yourself, search it out and fight for it yourself, well then you will never know.

I'm going to leave you with some links to check out, (spread your wings and fly Mama's! or more appropriately: Take your shirt off and breast feed :-)

(.Y.)=<3

Peaceful Parenting

Breastfeeding Place that saved my bum lots of times!

Breastfeeding in other cultures