lori346 | All About Breastfeeding

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Episode 346

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Episode 346

Here are some of the highlights from Module 4 –

If you are able to, I would like for you to spend the first 24 hours skin to skin with your baby, as much as possible. Of course, you will need to eat and sleep and take care of personal hygiene, but outside of that, skin to skin is my best recommendation of how to spend your first 24 hours. I recognize that for one reason or another, skin to skin might not be possible. We will address that in another module. For right now, we will focus on you being able to provide skin to skin for your baby.

Skin to skin is one of the most basic and easiest ways to initiate breastfeeding. Keeping your baby skin to skin helps to make the transition from fetal life to newborn life easier. After birth, the mother’s body and breasts take over the function of the uterus and placenta in providing warmth, protection, nutrition, and support for optimal oxygenation, as well as close and continual proximity to the mother’s heart and voice. Being skin to skin with the mother is the newborn infant’s “natural habitat” — the one place where all his needs are met. Unencumbered they will be able to smell their way and work their way to the breast by using all their senses that they were born with. This will make their job of latching on easier by keeping them close to their food source. It is nice to have uninterrupted time at the breast so remember to ask for what you need. Whether it is heating pads or ice packs, warm blankets or pain medicine to feel more comfortable. Perhaps there are too many pictures and videos being taken or the room is too bright or too noisy. You will want to remember this first day being about happiness, love and joy. When you need something, ask for it.

Laid back nursing is a nice way to get started with the first latch. When keeping your baby skin to skin, this often happens naturally. Sometimes on its own or sometimes with a little help and guidance by you. If your baby is clearly hungry and you both are struggling, perhaps try sitting up and using the cross cradle or football hold. This is more of a controlled latch, with you bringing your baby onto the breast vs. them finding it all on their own. It is nice to be open minded about experimenting to see what works best for both of you. I have placed a handout in the resource section that details the different positions.

Shallow latches are fairly common in the early days, particularly when we are new at this and just don’t know the difference. Please know that it is not normal if it feels like your baby is clamping or biting down on your nipple or if your nipple is pinched when you baby comes off or it is hurting. Whether you are in the hospital at home or in a birthing center, please ask for lactation help. Even if it is not hurting, it probably will with this continued behavior. Plus, this shallow latch is usually responsible for poor milk flow and newborns losing more weight than is acceptable.

Combining all my verbal description of latch, my tips on latching, along with the videos in the resource section will give you a pretty good idea on how to help your baby achieve a good, deep latch. In the videos, You will see newborns initiating the first latch, examples of different holds and be able to see when a baby has a shallow latch vs. that nice deep latch you keep hearing me talk about. You will be able to tell the difference between nutritive sucking ( which is when the baby is actively sucking and transferring volumes of milk) vs. non-nutritive sucking( where the baby is at the breast and may be sucking, but since the latch is poor, there is more sucking then there is swallowing and they are not getting much milk and because of the no flow or low flow of milk, they tend to fall asleep).

These videos are really helpful as they depict accurate information. Anyone can search the internet for breastfeeding videos. Rather than have you searching all over the internet for latch videos, I have chosen these specific videos because they are accurate, and they will give you the “need to know” information without overwhelming you. I am confident these videos will help to increase your learning about what to expect the first day – from skin to skin, from latch, and also to learn what the newborn is going through the first day as he begins to take in the world him.

Latching a baby on, for many of us, is a learned skill and you will often hear me say that it takes time, patience, practice and commitment. I love having your partner be able to take this class as they will now know all this information you do. If your schedules conflict and your partner is in this class at a different time than you are, that is fine. This is one of the conveniences of this online class. If possible, make sure that you do schedule time together so you can talk over what you have learned.

The benefits of skin to skin are numerous for both you and the baby. As far as breastfeeding goes, by keeping your baby close to you, means that you will easily be alerted to your babies signs that they are getting hungry. Keeping them tucked in close to you helps you to avoid missing feedings, which is what happens many times when babies are being passed around and held too much by other people. Giving them easy and quick access to the breast means there will be less crying on their part. Since crying typically causes moms to get stressed out, anything you can do to reduce your babies need to cry is a win-win for both of you.

It might seem a bit odd to you, but most mothers say that when they are close proximity to their babies, they both actually sleep better. again a win-win for both of you.

It is typical for newborns to have 2-3 good breastfeeding in their first 24 hours, to have at least 1 wet diaper and 1 poopy diaper. The pee should be clear to light yellow and the poopy diaper will be filled with dark, black, sticky meconium. This is all normal. If your baby wants to feed more than 3 times, that is totally fine. I just wanted to highlight that if they only feed 3 times and you deem the feedings went well, 3 feedings in the first 24 hours is good enough as this is fairly normal. You will get conflicting information but remember what you have learned –

The latches should be comfortable and your baby should be spending a majority of the time in the nutritive sucking pattern while they are breastfeeding. Babies who are mostly sleeping at the breast are babies that are not getting good milk transfer. How could they, if most of the time they are at the breast they are sleeping.

Even though you have taken this class, it does not mean that you are expected to know and remember everything. You don’t go home with an IBCLC in your pocket, however, your partner will be surprised at just how helpful they will be to you because of all they have learned.

When you are home with your baby and without professional breastfeeding help, you are now empowered to evaluate the latch and together you can decide how breastfeeding is going.

This is the end of the review. Some of the most common questions I am asked is – how often should my baby be feeding? How long should they be feeding? What is the longest I should let them sleep? Here is why you will not hear me giving specific answers to these questions.

By zeroing in on what to focus on the first 24 hours, parents are learning to pay close attention to the cues their baby is showing them as far as eating and sleeping and put aside the intensity of feeling like they have to control this the first day. I find that by putting moms and babies close together, this is the beginning of helping to build their confidence and the rest that I have to teach them, begins to make good sense and allows them to be in a more relaxed state in which they can take in and learn the information better.

Sure there is a lot to learn. And like I said – there is a huge learning curve when it comes to breastfeeding. It takes time, patience, practice and commitment, but I find that when parents start off in a relaxed state, the chances of them being overwhelmed is greatly reduced.

I hope you have learned about what to focus on in the first 24 hours and that this brings you a sense of peace and relaxation as you look forward to breastfeeding your baby their first day of life.

I want to highlight once again that what I just read is not a complete lesson. It is just a small portion, a review of one of the lessons in the breastfeeding class.

I often receive positive feedback from parents that I have met for a prenatal consultation. After they have had their baby, They always are appreciative of having the information that I shared about the first 24 hours. Now having gone through this time period, they can see how easily it can happen – to lose track of what is important because you are so busy trying to do what 5 other people are telling you to do – and it is all 5 different opinions.

Your Online Breastfeeding Class

Learn how to breastfeed – Be comfortable. Be confident.

The learning continues well beyond the average breastfeeding basics class that is 60-90 minutes. In this class, we have over 15 hours of audio lessons, combined with many hours of videos to help support what you are learning. We cover breastfeeding and medication safety, what to do if your baby does not latch on, common breastfeeding challenges, tongue tie, premature babies, building a good supply, returning to work and pumping. Take a look at the list below and follow the link to the class page so you can see more specifics of what is covered. I want to ensure that we got you covered and that you have great support well beyond the newborn days.

Using your pregnancy time to prepare for breastfeeding
Tips on how to prepare your home for a newborn
Specific details about the first 24 hours after birth.
Exactly what to expect the first two weeks after birth
What can you do if your baby is not latching on
Common and not so common breastfeeding challenges
What you can expect over the next few months
Returning to work as a breastfeeding/pumping mom
Pumping and storing your milk
When to begin pumping and building your freezer stash
How to make a smooth transition to postpartum life
Lessons dedicated to partners and breastfeeding knowledge.
Breastfeeding and the 1 year old
Breastfeeding the toddler and beyond
Tandem nursing
Breastfeeding through a pregnancy
Medication and mother’s milk
Weaning

Once you register for the class, you have immediate access to:

Audio Lessons
Videos
Educational handouts
Helpful checklists
Our “members only” group
Weekly group LIVE Q&A sessions

Gain confidence in breastfeeding.

Expert advice from Lori J. Isenstadt, IBCLC who has over 25 years of experience in maternal health and lactation. I will help you navigate the ins and outs of breastfeeding.

Listen anywhere and anytime. Imagine not having to sit in a classroom or stare at a screen. You can learn all about breastfeeding while going for a walk, driving to work or running errands, traveling on a plane, train or bus. Because you can download the audios, learning is easy and convenient. Get ready to learn anytime whenever it’s convenient for you and your partner. You can be cooking dinner together and listening to the class. Perhaps relaxing together in the evening in your comfy clothes. You can learn together. Easy access to all class materials. Your class never expires. You’ll be able to listen and download the materials at your convenience.

You are not alone!

Once you are a student in the breastfeeding class, you have regular access to ongoing support for the whole time you are breastfeeding. You can have your questions answered by Lori J. Isenstadt, IBCLC, in our private group as well as our weekly live Q & A sessions. Just check out the Bonuses below to see how I provide you with ongoing support..

Exclusive Bonus #1

Immediate access to a private group for class students only. I will be answering your questions 5 days a week.

Exclusive Bonus #2

Invitation to join our weekly Q & A session with Lori and other students.

Exclusive Bonus #3

Need additional help? *25% discount off a private consult – for students only.
*If you are in the Phoenix metro area. use this link to schedule your Office or Home lactation consult.

*If you are out of the area, use this link to schedule a Skype call

Do you have a question about the class before you purchase? Send it to – aabreastfeeding@hotmail.com

Register for the Breastfeeding class
http://www.aabreastfeeding.com/audioclass

Additional ways to connect with me:
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@breastfeedingaz
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https://apple.co/2FJGwsV

Lori J. Isenstadt, IBCLC

Lori j Isenstadt, IBCLC Lori Jill Isenstadt, IBCLC is a huge breastfeeding supporter. She has spent much of her adult life working in the maternal health field. Once she became turned on to birth and became a childbirth educator, there was no stopping her love of working with families during their childbearing years. Lori became a Birth doula and a Postpartum doula and soon became a lactation consultant. She has been helping moms and babies with breastfeeding for over 25 years. Lori founded her private practice, All About Breastfeeding where she meets with moms one on one to help solve their breastfeeding challenges. She is an international speaker, book author and the host of the popular itunes podcast, All About Breastfeeding, the place where the girls hang out. You can reach Lori by email at: [email protected] or contact her via her website: allaboutbreastfeeding.biz/contact

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