Babywise & Beyond: My Top 5 Breastfeeding Tips!

Hey guys! I wanted to share with you 5 of the top breastfeeding tips I've learned along the way!

Like I said in the video, I will summarize them on here just in case you're in a public place and don't want a breastfeeding tips video playing in public, ha ha.And no need to worry- I am not breastfeeding or showing any skin in the video! {in fact, sadly, we are done breastfeeding already, more on that later!}

1. The "Ready Kit"- gather together your essentials before sitting down to bond and feed your baby. My Ready Kit including the boppy, a tall drink, my iPhone, the remote, & a magazine. This way, you minimize the reasons why you would have to get up in the middle of a feed. As I write this, I can literally picture myself, Chatham still attached on the boppy, running after Hudson who was about to throw something in the toilet. So, there may be reasons why you do have to get up, but try and minimize them with your Ready Kit.

2. The "Hamburger Hold"- this was THE best advice I have ever been given (or read) and it was in the hospital the day after Chatham was born. A nurse came in, saw me struggling, and told me to try the hamburger hold. You squish you breast down like a hamburger, forcing the nipple to protrude out, and then you take your nipple and rub it down your baby's nose {see why you wouldn't want to watch this video in public!}. This will cause her, through a reflex, to open her mouth wide and you can then put your nipple and as much of the areola around it into her mouth. It's easy to check if you've done it correctly- look down- if your babe is just tugging on your nipple, break the latch and start again. You want her to have a wider mouth while sucking on more of the areola/nipple.

3. How to tell when your baby is full- Because the twins were preemies, we had to be extremely diligent about how many ounces they ate, so when I began to breastfeed Chatham, I felt a little out of control not knowing how much she was getting. The advice I seemed to keep getting was check the wet and dirty diapers and if they fall asleep, they're usually full. So, the wet and dirty diaper amounts matched up with the guidelines but I felt like Chatham could fall asleep within 4 minutes of getting her latched on and feeding- there was no way she was full! So, I researched it, and learned with her help. I found that when she was hungry, her body was tighter- her fists, her legs, even her forehead. And as the feed went on and she got fuller, her body got softer. So look for soft, open hands, a relaxed forehead, open body posture.

4. Pumping- even if your plan is to exclusive breastfeed, invest in a pump (I bought Tommee Tippee and ended up switching to Medela). In the video, I mentioned why you would want to do this- for confidence & for a future social life!

5. Avoiding thrush! I had never heard of thrush until I got it! It's terrible and takes forever to go away. So, an easy way to avoid is is to not ~~overdose~~ use too much lanolin. If you do put it on, try to skip the bra until it dries. Otherwise just use it 1-2 times a day. The moistness from the lanolin mixed with the dark, warm area creates yeast growth!

So- check out the video and comment below with any questions you might have!