Your baby is nearly here and as new mum, it’s important to take care of yourself during the postpartum period. Here are some tips to help you create a postpartum plan:

Rest and Recovery:

After giving birth, your body needs time to heal. Make sure to get plenty of rest, eat well, and stay hydrated. Ask for help from family and friends to take care of household chores or other responsibilities. Cooking meals, baking, household chores and cleaning will all help.

Emotional Support:

The postpartum period can be emotionally challenging. Surround yourself with a supportive network of friends and family. Reach out to a postpartum doula or mental health professional if you need extra support. Feeling overwhelmed, anxious and second guessing yourself are all common. Make sure you ask for help.

Breastfeeding Support:

If you plan to breastfeed, seek out support from a lactation consultant or breastfeeding support group to help you with any challenges. Breastfeeding is natural but it’s not easy. You need support and guidance to help enjoy and have a successful breastfeeding journey. If you choose to bottle feed, that’s ok too. You need to do what is best for you. The New Mum eBook will help you.

Exercise:

Once you’re cleared by your healthcare provider, start incorporating gentle exercise into your routine to help your body recover. Engaging with an exercise professional or physiotherapist is a good idea.

Baby Care:

Plan for baby care by stocking up on essentials such as diapers, wipes, newborn clothing, burp cloths, feeding equipment and sleep attire such as swaddles. Consider hiring a postpartum doula, a newborn care provider to help with baby care so you can get some rest. The Newborn Guide will help you with all newborn care in those early weeks.

Remember, every postpartum experience is unique.

Be flexible and adjust your plan as needed.

Congratulations again and take care of yourself!

Breastfeeding provides amazing nutrients for your baby. It helps boost your baby’s immune system and is great for bonding.

Knowing if you have enough to satisfy your baby can be tricky. Many mums would happily wish a way to know how much their baby is getting but unfortunately it’s a bit of a guessing game.
Weight gain, plenty of wet nappies and a good feeding and sleep pattern can suggest your baby is getting plenty of milk.
For us mums the feeling of fullness, leakage and knowing we can express a certain amount helps us feel more at ease about our milk supply

Sometimes though whatever we do or how we feel our supply may not be enough.
Often signs that are associated with low milk supply are unsettled babies, low weight gain, and babies with colic and mums intuition that something isn’t quite right.

There could be many reasons for low milk supply. The sooner you recognise your supply isn’t enough for your baby the easier and more success you will have to boost it.

Reasons could be –

Premature birth
Medical reasons for both mum and baby
Sleepy babies, especially those who may have jaundice, which can lead to not enough feeds, or short or interrupted feeds.
Poor positioning
Not emptying one side before offering the other side.
Pain interfering with your breastfeeding.
Complimentary feeding

So lets look at a few of these possibilities in more depth and how you can help your milk supply.

Positioning

Make sure your baby is feeding efficiently, is latched on correctly and positioned well at the breast.
Often I meet mums that haven’t had the best start in the first few hours or days of their babies birth. They have struggled from the beginning. Breastfeeding itself doesn’t come naturally. It is a learned skill with lots of positive guidance and personal support. It’s not uncommon for mums to be left to fend for themselves, sometimes for hours. The better your baby’s latch, the better they feed, the better the stimulation which will then help to increase your milk supply.

Wellbeing

Anxiety related to pain and lack of support, in my experience, are the number one culprits for low lactation.
With pressures of breastfeeding, judgement and very little guidance with lots of push to breastfeed can actually be counter-productive.
Your lactation and the ease of producing milk is very dependent on how you are feeling. A more relaxed mum with no pain while feeding and enjoying the experience will produce more milk than a mum who has had a rough start, sore nipples, engorgement, sleep deprivement and feeling like a failure.

Get help from a trusted person who makes you feel confident, lifts you up and helps you along your breastfeeding journey plus someone who is a very good listener.

Feeding

Yes, absolutely there is no doubt that when you feed often helps with production. Making sure you feed every 3 hours during the day and night is a good start especially in the first 2 weeks. Sometimes though this may lead to a very exhausted mum and an overtired baby. If this scenario continues for several weeks you may not have success increasing your supply at all because your wellbeing has been compromised. Keep up with the 3 hourly feeds during the day, however, make sure you get more rest during the night. as your baby gets older the night time feeds can be less frequent.
I personally feel a mum needs her sleep at night just as much as her baby and this is the reason why I personally wouldn’t wake a baby to feed in the night to increase your supply unless it is for medical reasons. If you are still struggling after 2 weeks with not much improvement then instead of increasing your babies feeds, there are other options you could try.

Pumping or Expressing

This can be a great way to increase your milk supply.
The best way to do this is to pump on one side while you are feeding your baby on the other. This helps both with time management and having the hormonal exchange needed to help the let down and milk flow. You may also find a good time is after you have finished feeding your baby and while they are having mat time or while your baby is sleeping. Pumping while watching your baby sleep, looking at baby photos or videos also helps to release oxytocin. Hand-held pumps tend to be better and more manageable plus a little more personable.
To help you get the most out of expressing, find times of the day you are not rushed.
Remember pumping isn’t the same as your baby feeding so sometimes it takes a little time.

Teas and Herbs

Both lactation teas and herbal potions are a great way to help increase your supply.
There are many brands on the market and it’s just a matter of what you like to drink or recommendations from other mums. You could even dunk a lactation cookie in your lactation tea.

Herbs such as Blessed Thistle, Fenugreek, Nettle, Raspberry, Goats Rue and Shatavari are also great additions to a good diet. All included in the lactation teas but you can also buy them individually or combined in capsules or tinctures. Looking for organically grown ingredients is best.

Essential oils

Some of the herbs can also be found as essential oils.
I have become more and more interested in the benefits of essential oils and how they work.
It’s important when using essential oils that you find good quality and are 100% pure.
Never apply essential oils straight to the skin. They should always be diluted with a carrier oil such as almond oil, fractioned coconut oil or olive oil.
Apply over the upper portion of the breast being careful not to go near the nipple area where your baby will be feeding from. Massage the area gently with either your hand or you could use a small comb to stimulate the ducts in a downward motion, this also helps blocked ducts.
Essential oils that are great for lactation are Clary Sage, Basil, Geranium and Fennel. Caution with Fennel – only use for up to 10 days. Generally you would only need to use these oils for around 2-5 days to see a result.

Tiger’s Milk or Smoothies

I still don’t know why it’s called Tiger’s Milk but it’s definitely the smoothie that I recommend for any breastfeeding mum.
Smoothies are a great source for a nutritional boost in one drink to add to your food intake.
The magic ingredient in Tiger’s Milk is brewer’s yeast.

Blend

Cup of milk (or you can use whatever you like such as almond milk, rice milk or coconut milk)
Protein powder (use one that is ok for breastfeeding)
Bananas
Berries
Tbsp of Brewer’s Yeast (more or less depending on your taste buds)
Optional is a Tbsp of peanut butter, flaxseed or other nutritional ingredients.

Sometimes your midwife or your GP will prescribe Domperidone. Discuss this with your health professional if you have exhausted all other options.

Remember
Happy Mum, Happy Baby

Dream feeds- here are some simple tips.

Dream feeding isn’t for every baby but it’s worth a try to see if your baby will sleep for longer stretches during the night.

It can work for both breastfed and bottle fed babies.

This hormone has a lot to do with how successful you will be with breastfeeding. 

It’s around in small doses when your are pregnant and slowly increases as your pregnancy progresses. 

Towards the end of pregnancy the prolactin levels are very high so this enables milk production. 

The sooner the baby starts sucking the sooner your milk will start to produce- hence why many believe the first hour post birth is crucial for both bonding and breastfeeding. 

The more baby sucks the more prolactin is produced therefore the more milk is produced. 

This occurs due to the brain receiving messages through the nervous system to release the prolactin. 

Its a very clever hormone because it also adjust your milk to what your babies needs are. 

But there is an important factor that is often overlooked. ?

The prolactin has to have a very positive environment to thrive. 

If a women is anxious about her ability to feed, feels judged, may be embarrassed to breastfeed, finds it painful to feed, then prolactin is inhibited and the milk production and secretion will be diminished. 

This is not a good scenario for successful breastfeeding for new mums. 

Feeling pressured to breastfeed, copious amount of advertising about breast is best, not supportive enough advice in the first 72 hours, feeling confused, overwhelmed will all have a big impact on this little hormone. 

Prolactin is best produced under the influence of happiness, confidence, no pain and relaxation. 

This is why it is vital that all mums seek supportive and individual advice to help them breastfeed successfully. 

Unfortunately majority of postnatal care professionals are blinded by what is important to the mum and baby and the push to breastfeed as a whole.

Reflux – A diagnoses that is so common among babies these days that I have started to look into how easily doctors are giving antacids to babies as young as 2-3 weeks old.

Absolutely babies do suffer from reflux however diagnoses should be done after all other possible symptoms have been eliminated.

Through many years working with babies around sleep and feeding.

As a new mum you’re often told that feeding frequently is best for your baby.

Demand feeding your baby is very important for weight gain, establishing good lactation and it’s also a great way to bond with your baby.

Feeding your baby on demand means feeding your baby whenever they cry, suck their fingers (sucking reflex) and show the rooting reflex.

However these signs are not just hunger signs.

Let’s look at these cues:

Rooting reflex:

This reflex is an interesting one. It’s an involuntary action. This reflex is present when the baby is close to the breast or their cheeks are being touched. They will naturally turn their head to that side. Babies less than 3 months of age all have this reflex present.

Seeing this reflex is involuntary it’s always present when cheeks are stimulated. Even when your baby is not hungry!

Sucking reflex:

This is also an involuntary action. Babies will generally suck anything if its introduced into their mouth and the roof of the baby’s mouth is stimulated. Babies are in what we call an oral stage. They often suck or feed not only when they are hungry but also when they are tired, in pain, distressed or for pleasure. Little babies (under 3 months) have a strong urge to suck other than feeding times to feel contented.

Hand and mouth reflex:

All babies have this reflex when they are born. It’s not until they get a little older when this is more prominent and coincides with their development. Babies under 3 months have this reflex, however it’s a little hit and miss. Once they are a little older they will put their hands in their mouth for comfort sucking and at times thumb sucking may start. Babies as young as 6 weeks can start sucking their thumbs voluntarily.

Crying:

Babies cry for several reasons.

• Hunger
• Pain
• Wind
• Too cold or too hot
• Overtired

So recognizing these signs and acting accordingly can be the key to having a settled baby.

With demand feeding some of these signs may not be hunger signs, and even though the baby is being offered milk and will feed for comfort, a condition called Lactose Overload may occur.

The majority of babies who are unsettled, don’t sleep, are frequent feeders and struggle with gas are often diagnosed with having colic.

They then are subscribed medication such as Gaviscon.

Predominately babies then get better only because the medication is masking the underlying issue.

However in 95% of cases in one clinic I researched, the colic is from Lactose Overload.

So what could be the underlying issue and how do we solve it?

Lactose

Lactose or milk sugar is present in all milk. Lactose is the primary source of energy. Foremilk is very high in lactose.

So what is Lactose overload?

This is when breastfed babies (and sometimes bottle fed) are feeding too frequently and consuming large amounts of foremilk, which is rich in lactose.

It often happens in babies who are unsettled, don’t sleep, are windy and burp a lot and appear to be in discomfort. They have frequent green bowel motions with nappy rash and spill after feeds.

Because these babies are unsettled and are showing signs of hunger (wants to suck, is unsettled, screams and draws up legs) they are fed to help settle them.

However this becomes a vicious cycle. Large volume, a low-fat feed goes through the baby very quickly and not all lactose is digested. Then the gas, pain in tummy etc. presents again.

So what’s the best way to manage lactose overload?

Changing to a breastfeeding routine is a good way. It’s important to make sure one side gets drained first before offering the other. It even means that after your baby has burped, changed and ready for the next phase of the feed, you can put baby back on the same side. This will make sure that your baby is getting enough hind milk to settle. Hind milk has less lactose present and fatter content which helps settle babies. The other way is to make sure your baby doesn’t feed more than 2-2.5 hrs. Babies over 2-3 weeks of age and are gaining weight are best to feed 3hrly during the day if Lactose Overload is a possibility. After a while you baby will become easier to settle and can return to feeding on both sides if need be when older. However to avoid the lactose overload, make sure that you generally empty the side you started the feed on before offering the other side.

Lactose intolerance is very rare but should not be ruled out if your baby does not improve over time with change of feeding regime.

If you’re a mum that has a baby that is showing these classic signs then get in contact and we can help you for a better outcome and more settled baby.