Every mother is concerned that her baby has plenty of milk to eat. Breastfeeding mothers who can’t see how many ounces their baby is taking from the breast are often worried about how much milk they are making. There are a few simple steps that new mothers can take to get their milk supply off to a good start.
The first step is to have your baby put skin-to-skin with you right after birth. Whether or not the baby actually “latches on”, the positive flow of maternal hormones will boost your milk supply. Most babies do latch on by themselves, if given enough skin to skin time with their mothers (up to about an hour). This makes later feedings easier for both baby and mother.
Milk making works best when this first introduction is followed by frequent feedings and lots of skin-to-skin time. Newborns are meant to feed often (eight to twelve times in 24 hours) and to be in close proximity to their mothers. This frequent feeding in the early postpartum days brings in a milk supply geared to the individual baby’s needs. Mothers soon learn to recognize their babies’ hunger cues and don’t have to depend on the clock to know when to feed their babies. When babies are not fed frequently in the beginning, it is harder to build the milk supply up later.
A concentrated period of mother and newborn “nesting” and spending time building the breastfeeding relationship, usually pays off in a good milk supply. By about two to three weeks, babies begin to go on “auto pilot” and even frequent breastfeeding becomes very easy. For those mothers who are not able to breastfeed right away, early and frequent use of a hospital grade electric breastpump is the best thing to bring in a full milk supply.
Next week, we’ll talk about how to know if your baby is getting enough.
