Tips For Increasing Your Chances Of Breastfeeding Success

Most women are inundated with discussions about how breastfeeding is way better for your child than any other form of food when your child is an infant and how, if you don't breastfeed your child, you are a monster or a failure. This is extremely unfair to new mothers because the fact of the matter is that some kids are just really terrible at breastfeeding. They might not latch on correctly and they might not have the strength to suck the milk out. Here are some tips for increasing your chances for breastfeeding success. But if you are unable to breastfeed, please do not judge yourself too harshly.

1. Attempt to Nurse Immediately and Get Feedback

The first thing that you need to do is attempt to nurse as close to after giving birth as possible. This is because a few hours after the baby is born, he or she is going to be asleep and difficult to wake up. You want to try to nurse a few drops in order for the nurses to be able to see if your baby's latch is right and give you some pointers. A baby's stomach is very small at this point and a few drops will suffice.

2. Make Sure Your Baby's Feet are Touching Something While Nursing

The second thing that you want to do is make sure that your baby's feet are touching something while he or she is nursing. The reason for this is that having something under his or her feet as support can make your baby feel a lot more secure. This is incredibly important because when your baby feels secure, he or she is willing to put their all into being fed and increase the chances that the breastfeeding session is successful.

3. Offer a Bottle Within Eight Weeks

Finally, be sure that you start to offer a bottle within eight weeks. If you don't offer the bottle soon enough, you risk having the baby refuse the bottle, which can make your life much harder as a woman who has a life to lead and doesn't necessarily want to be shackled to her child all the time as food. Have another person offer the bottle first in order to make sure that you are not tempted to help the process along by breastfeeding.

For more information, talk to an infant nurse or a company that specializes in providing infant care.