New Mom Tips to Breastfeeding

These tips are what I have learned the hard way and may only be applicable to me or may seem rather stupid by you. But, when your mind is still filled with pregnancy hormones, you are all by yourself figuring out what will work and not, with a ton of to-do lists and with little to no sleep, realizing these simple things is rather difficult. Actually, I am not clueless at all, I attended seminars on breastfeeding, bought a book on “What to expect when expecting” which have a bit of discussion about it, but, maybe I just didn’t researched well enough and didn’t find a supporting community to push me with this journey.

I failed to give my son that so called “liquid gold”, there I said it. It made me depressed and frustrated, I even avoided those mom posts on how much breastmilk they were producing because my supply was never enough. At the first month, we already have to do mix feeding because my son lost weight from birth. It’s heartbreaking!

I know how important breastmilk is for baby, even at elementary school I was very much aware of its benefits. When I became a mom, I really noticed how it healed my son from a fever after a vaccine. It was awesome and free, but producing it is not easy (especially for me). So, here is the list of things (yes, another list again. haha) I could have done but failed to do so or fell short of:

1.       To have invested in nursing blouses or button downs.

• When I was pregnant, I didn’t actually buy a lot of pregnancy clothes, I wore my existing loose clothes. For those I bought, I made sure that I can still wear them after childbirth, for practical reasons. What I have failed to consider was the requirement of breastfeeding, I bought breastfeeding bras but did not realize that these bras would be useless if I can’t access them. I didn’t have a lot of button downs on my closet so it was a struggle. If only I have known this shop before. Kaypeebaby offers affordable nursing wears, check them out!

2.       To invest on a good breastpump, on the very first day.

• A good friend of mine gave me a manual breastpump so I did not bother to buy myself some electronic. And, boy was it hard, I think this is when my bones started locking. Save your energy mamshies and buy an electronic. These have really good reviews and affordable, too.

3.       To have practiced on cup feeding instead of straight to bottle.

• After directly experiencing the effect of straight bottle feeding, I urge you to practice cup feeding first. My son has adjusted easily to silicon nipple that led him to not want the natural one which also decreased the little supply I had. If you’re looking for a place to buy but can’t get out of your home, try BabyMama, they are an online shops that sells breast pumps, manual pumps and other mom and baby stuffs.

4.       To have established my daily routine

• For the whole two months of my maternity, most of the days, it was just me and my son, I did not have a yaya back then and have limited resources, too. My husband is only at home during lunch and at night. I think establishing a routine early on would have helped me go through each day easier. By early on, I meant even before child birth and a routine for me and my baby.

5.       To drink malunggay and other drink/food supplements even prior to childbirth

• I was poorly guided, I know. These supplements are really effective, I really saw the effects of it. But it was too late when I started to take them. Anyway, these are my favorites, the booby bites and this chocolate drink.

6.       To have plan my meals

• Aside from the supplements, the other most important thing to keep your supply up is to hydrate. Aside from drinking lots of water, it is also encouraged that breastfeeding moms should eat soup-y meals.

7.       To made an extra effort to the breastfeeding consultation center

• The hospital I delivered my son has a lactation consultation center; unfortunately, I wasn’t able to visit them personally and would only consult through text which is definitely not enough. This is really my bad, I guess, experiencing PPD coupled with your frustrations on breastfeeding was definitely not good.

8.       To find a community of supportive moms who may be going through the same struggles as I did

• It is only after my supply stopped that I managed to find a community of moms who supports each other in this journey.

I have a very challenging scenario on those two months, we were only settling into our new house, when Little N arrived, too. I’m the one who’s taking care of the baby, keeping the house while also dealing with post-partum depression.  In God’s grace, I survived that tough period. It may not be as I hoped for which is to give exclusive breastmilk to my son, but I did the best I could.

For you new moms who are struggling and wanted to give up, I feel you, I want you to know that you are not alone. And, it’s okay to feel stupid and clueless, I guess it’s the norm for us parents, it will be a life of trial and error. Whatever decision you choose to help your child and your self get better is always a good one.

I have only given my son breastmilk up to five months, and it was very minimal in proportion to his milk intake; but until now, I am very proud and thankful to say that Niklaus never had an illness which requires him to be hospitalized, he got cough and colds now and then, but he recovers from it quickly.

Day 3

Week 3

Month 2

Here’s a photo of Niklaus from Day 3, Week 3 and at two months old. And, here he is now.

I hope this list will help in you in any way.

Love,