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The first few weeks can be the most challenging, particularly for mothers who have not nursed children before. As you recovery from delivering your baby, you will need to take care that you and your baby get off to a good start in your breastfeeding relationship.
The key to doing that is to be sure your baby is latched on correctly. This will ensure that your baby is getting enough milk and keep you from getting sore nipples. Be sure your babies bottom lip in particular is turned down, like in a pouting face. Turned outward and not inward on your nipple. This will cause efficient action of draining the milk ducts of your breast milk.
Once you have achieved success with latch-on, monitoring your babies output comes next. Babies should wet 4-6 diapers each day to be sure they are getting enough milk. Now this will not be the case in the first three to four days after giving birth. At that time there is only colostrum in your breasts and it is very concentrated. A very little amount goes a very long way and babies will not wet that many diapers in the early days of their life.
Once your milk comes in, the diaper count should apply. Most new mothers feel their milk come in as a tingling sensation in the breasts or the fullness feeling along with the dripping of milk. Take care that it doesn't become engorgement because then your baby will have a much harder time latching on and obtaining the milk necessary to thrive.
Besides monitoring your babies diaper count, watching for general signs of health is important as well. Most newborns will sleep a lot, around 20 hours each day. But watching your baby's alertness during wakeful hours will tell you if he or she is thriving. A baby who is difficult to wake or not seeming interested in feeding could be cause for concern. Such a baby could have jaundice or be becoming dehydrated. Now this could happen even if your baby was being fed formula, so take heed that you have not caused any problem in your breastfed baby.
Just keep your eyes open. Stay tuned in with your gut feelings and not those of well-meaning family and friends who know little about nursing a baby. And call nursing support groups like La Leche League or a local lactation consultant for help in getting through any questionable times.
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