Ten Tips for Breast Feeding a Newborn

1. Get a breast feeding pillow.  At six months old, we still use the boppy pillow about 50% of the time. During the newborn phase, while proper positioning was crucial, we used the boppy for every nursing session.
2. Invest in Netflix. Newborns nurse a lot. Not only do they nurse often, but they nurse for hours at a time. The $9 a month is money well spent when you spend hours on the couch breast feeding. I watched every season of Lost!
3. Buy cheap nursing bras. You might be tempting to go out and buy the more expensive, supportive, nursing bras, but wait! Right now your breasts are still figuring out what size they are. Wait until month three. Until then, cheap bras from Target or Walmart will work perfectly.
4. Make yourself a nursing station or breast feeding bag. I always breast fed on the couch, so we put a little table beside the couch with a dim lamp, water bottles, bags of trail mix, and little chocolates. I had everything I needed right there! If you are planning on nursing in different spots, a bag might work better for you.
5. Don't wake a sleeping baby. Unless you have premature or special needs baby and your doctor has told you otherwise, you do not need to wake your baby to feed him. Enjoy your free time mama, he will wake up when he is hungry!
6. Count to five. Whoever said breast feeding isn't painful is a liar. It hurts. Your nipples may crack and bleed. I read a tip while pregnant that helped so much. Latch baby, then count to five. Does it still hurt? Unlatch and try again. If it is comfortable, then you have a good latch!
7. Learn to breast feed while laying down. I wish I had learned this earlier. You can relax or even close your eyes. Trust me, you are going to need the rest.
8. Buy or make a breast feeding cover. I'm not one of those overly modest people and I can say that we haven't used a cover in a very long time, but in the beginning it was helpful. Trying to get a baby to latch correctly can be difficult and you are going to show a little more nipple then you would if you were to breast feed an older baby.
9. Get a ring sling. We have a Sleeping Baby Productions ring sling and it is amazing. Very reasonably priced and amazing while nursing for hours. How people walk around while breast feeding with out one is unknown to me!
10. Educate yourself. I have seen so many mothers give up breast feeding at the smallest problem. Educate yourself! Call a lactation consultant! Kellymom.com is a great resource that I have spent many night researching.

Have a happy and healthy breast feeding experience!