Breastfeeding - Coping with the ups and downs

December 9, 2008

You aren’t likely to get into a pattern at all in the early days of breastfeeding, so don’t have high expectations. This time is, for many women, an emotional rollercoaster. When a feed goes well, it’s wonderful- you feel at one with your baby and on top of the world. And then you have a feed when you simply can’t get her to latch on, when you think it’s all gone completely to pot, and you’re terrified your child is going to waste away and never get another drop of milk out of you.

It’s completely understandable to feel like this - everyone does. After all, you’ve got the huge responsibility of keeping this little person going, so of course it matters that breastfeeding is working properly. Don’t forget, though, that a newborn baby comes with food reserves already on board, precisely to get her through these early days of learning to breastfeed.

Your baby’s tiny stomach is only about the length of your thumb, so she doesn’t have to consume gallons of milk to be full up.

Understanding the process

When your baby starts sucking, she will get the foremilk. This will quench her thirst and is light on calories. Her suck will trigger a hormonal response in your body that prompts the higher-calorie, or hindmilk, to flow - this is known as the let-down reflex. You may be aware of a feeling like a warm rush into your breasts at this point. New mothers sometimes worry about this reflex, or rather, a lack of it. They fear that if they don’t feel it they can’t be making enough milk for their baby(Why Baby Showers Are Important). This isn’t the case: some mothers will notice the reflex, others won’t.

Take each breastfeed as it comes

Try not to get too hung up on feeding if it’s not going perfectly; make an effort to just look at your child and touch her tiny fingers and toes. Look into those little eyes that are both wise and unknowing. Remember that milk is important, but love is crucial.

It’s easy to make the mistake in the first few days of your baby’s life of looking too far ahead. If breastfeeding is difficult, and you and your baby are finding it difficult to get positioning and latching on right, don’t despair and worry about whether you’ll still be breastfeeding next week or next month. It’s far more productive just to concentrate on this feed, rather than fretting about the next one and the one after that. Right now, it’s more important than it’s ever been to live in the present moment, concentrating on your new baby and her needs and enjoying her as she starts out on this new adventure - life.

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