Important points:
- There is NO milk in the first few days (sometimes, up to 5 days). Your body produces colostrum, which has antibodies to protect your baby during the early months when his immune system is still developing.
- As breastmilk is absorbed 100%, baby will get hungry more frequently compared to a formula-fed baby. Prepare to feed baby every 3 hours, 2 hours and yes, even 1 hour!
- Everything that you eat will also be absorbed by baby through the breastmilk. Avoid curry to prevent giving your newborn an upset tummy.
- For Chinese mums, the confinement diet can support breastfeeding IF you also include vegetables and and plenty of fluids (e.g. red date tea, soups).
Here’s my story…
1. In the delivery room. After the baby was cleaned up, he was given to me to suckle with a lactation nurse on hand to teach me how to latch him on. He latched on a few minutes and I took the time to look at him a bit…
Be warned: newborn babies look like little old men!
2. In our suite. As a breastfeeding Mum in a baby-friendly hospital, DON’T expect to relax, eat a leisurely lunch and read a magazine after delivering baby.
No matter how tired or hungry you are, the minute baby yells in the nursery, he WILL be brought to you for feeding 
Remember, breastfeeding is a natural process following baby’s natural instincts to hunger. This also means that baby will feed around the clock. In the first month, the baby’s feeding schedule was:
4 pm, 6 pm, 8 pm, 10 pm, 12 midnight, 2 am, 4 am, 6 am, 8 am, 10 am, 12 noon, 2 pm…
Relax, you WILL have time to rest, go to the toilet, freshen up, chat with friends and maybe do a bit of blogging.
TIP: Sleep when baby sleeps!
I hardly entertained guests at the hospital. If you’re a sociable person, you can either invite friends to visit you at your home OR continue breastfeeding when visitors come in. Thankfully, my first visitors were my dearest Korean friends.
Other visitors included my elder sister’s family and a few of Hubby’s friends. I DON’T breastfeed in public – I used the hospital gown to keep my boob out of view.
3. Latching on. This is THE start of a blissful breastfeeding experience, and you CAN do it too, with help. It wasn’t easy latching him on mainly because he wouldn’t stop yelling!!!
Seriously, when the nurse brings him, he’s happy, alert and cute. When he’s given to me, he makes that tongue-pushing motion to show that he can smell M-I-L-K. I tried the cradle position (go here for various positions), he clamped on but because the position was wrong, he couldn’t get milk.
Then…his mouth opened wide, his face turned red, his hands bunched into tight fists and he went WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
This Mum panics, sweats and tries again and again and again. With no success. And he keeps yelling.
The nurse takes the baby away, redoes his swaddle and calms him down. Then, she guides me to perfect the cradle hold, ensure that his mouth close over the ENTIRE NIPPLE and then…voila! he’s drinking liquid gold
TIPS:
- When you’re still new, keep infant in a swaddle so you can position him easily.
- Keep your back straight, with 2 big pillows for support. Have a pillow for baby to lie on as he feeds.
- Ask for help! The lactation nurses are there to help you get it right.
4. Relax and roll with the routine.
The baby feeds for about 10 minutes, dozes off and lets go of my nipple. Hubby places him back in the bassinet and we press the bell for the nurse to bring him back to the nursery. Sometimes, we just let him sleep in the room and the nurse will come in time to bring him back.
I sleep all I can and so does Hubby, who’s busy with taking calls from everyone, following up with the birth certificate, insurance sign-ups, getting the house ready etc.
After the labour, we were slightly in shock that we are now PARENTS. But his REGULAR visits to the room is a reality check…
Observing this, Hubby lectured me that when he returns to the office, I should be good and rest when he does i.e. NO TV, blogging or chit-chatting.
If not, I’ll be tired from taking care of him, not getting enough rest and end up getting all cranky etc. This is very sound advice
TIP: However cute your infant is, resist the urge to have him sleep in the room with you
We did that and it was a disaster because he cried continually and we had NO idea how to calm him down. Infants are used to an environment with repetitive noises i.e. the nursery with its regular routine.
Your 3 days at the hospital is for you to rest before you take on the 24-hour job of a Mum. Treasure this time at the hospital and ask the nurses or doctor ALL the questions you have.
Just before discharge, a nurse came by to give me tips on caring for the baby and breastfeeding.
Tip to prevent engorgement: When you go home, continue to suckle baby even though there’s no milk. You are giving him the golden drops of colostrum. (If he suckles, lets go or continues to latch on, seems contented and then goes to sleep, he is fed. Don’t listen to anyone saying otherwise if baby seems happy).
Your milk will come in on the 4th or 5th day (mine was the 5th) and many Mums experienced engorged breasts, which is VERY PAINFUL. Your breasts feel as hard as rocks that even a light handkerchief fluttering over it can hurt like hell.
After delivery, during your free time, massage each section of your breast with 5 fingers. Using firm movements, move in a clockwise direction all around each breast. I followed the nurse’s advice and yes, I NEVER experienced engorgement in the first month
NEXT – Breastfeeding in the first few months
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
While i may not say that i’m an expert with breastfeeding nor my wife are, i must reiterate that the support by the person closest to the mother, ie the husband is utmost important.
After 2 kids (the first was a total failure with BF, we only managed about a month, and we struggled) and going into the 6th week of our second baby and wifey is back to work, we have all intention to BF our daughter as much as we could.
THe initial frustration about the pain and positioning has long gone and now, it is almost automatically done with the eyes closed (as in a dark bedroom) when the baby wakes up in the middle of the night for feeding.
We’ve learnt that babies love routine and that is exactly what we gave both our first born(son) and second baby. 9pm is lights off.
with some patiences and loads of support, BF can be succesful. As it is now, wifey is extracting almost 15 oz fluid of milk to feed the ever hungry daughter.
If you are in confinement, go slow on ginger and wine, as ultimately, what the mother eat will be passed onto the baby, and having a cranky (or sedated) baby is not exactly the best thing!
Stupe – Welcome! I think you’re the only 2nd man who has visited my blog
I totally agree with you that Hubby is THE main man who made it work for us.
I am eternally grateful to him for a listening ear (esp to my grumbing, complaining, crying etc), a helping hand and most importantly, putting up with co-sleeping! Not many men can do that…
Do share your experiences with other new Dads – and they can be just as supportive to their wives
By the way, a good pump to get is avent manual pump…they work better than any other electrical pump we have! If you can afford it, the avent electrical-manual combo is the one to get…the system is intelligent enough to learn from your hand stroke the interval and pressure of the pumping action. other electrical pump merely pull and suck to extract the milk, which end of the day, causes nipple cracks and no joy to breast feeding.
I love reading your posts! I just recently got pregnant with my number one and am really eager to BF. Unfortunately, MIL and everyone else is not very well-versed. All the babies in the family are raised on formula milk. I was pretty discourage hearing their feedback when I told them that I am planning to BF, as they kept telling me that I still need to stock up on Formula Milk and be practical in my expectations, etc. It’s only after reading researches and articles in the internet like yours that I’m able to buck up and keep silently encouraging myself to go on with this decision.
Thank you!
hehehehe…. I will tell you this..
No matter what..when a brand new baby comes along, all hell breaks loose and one forgets all about breastfeeding. heheh…that happened to me, for No.2 and No.3…I must say, I’m quite an in-experienced mom……..
HAAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA!!!
Salute you for being a mother to 3 kids.
I’m having a handful with 2, you with 3 is more than just 2 handful!
KittyCat,
Much of the advice you offer is sound but not the advice about sending babies to the nursery. All experts in lactation advise rooming-in for good reason.
Nils Bergman MD is an expert in the stress to the baby caused by removing babies from their mothers.
Your early latching experiences probably would have gone much better if your baby had roomed-in with you full-time. By the time the nurse brought him to you fully awake he was so hungry he wasn’t patient with the latch.
If mothers room in and if the nursing staff is really breastfeeding savvy they will teach mothers to read the baby’s early hunger cues (fidgeting in light sleep etc) and offer the breast before the baby is fully alert or crying. Even though he might not have been crying when the nurse brought him into you he most certainly was crying before he was picked up by the nursery nurse and brought to you, which means his early hunger cues were ignored by the nursery staff.
Had you roomed in fulltime your milk might have come-in sooner than the fifth day. The fifth day does represent a delay. Many first time mothers have transitional milk well before the 3 or 4 day with milk maturing by the third or 4th day. Studies have proven that mothers who room-in nurse more in the early days and that this brings in more milk sooner…although I must add that other things like obstetrical drugs can cause a delay in the onset of copious milk production even if the mother rooms in and cue-feeds.
Not all hospitals are equipped with room-in (with infants) rooms; especially so in the hospitals in Asia. I have roomed in with both my infants and my milk did not come-in sooner than the fifth day (for my 2nd child). I believe the body works differently from one person to another. In my case from one child to another.
Jen – Good point. But unfortunately, not all hospital in Malaysia (certainly not those in the government) allows room in. Not everyone has the luxury of being able to do that (as much as the government are trying to promote breastfeeding).
I guess the body reacts differently to different baby/phase. My first son refused to latch on no matter what and we ended up cup feeding him. The stress of him not being able to latch on did stressed my wife and she ended up with more issues such as engorged breast and she fell ill. He was roomed in with my wife and was given to us within 30 minutes of the delivery.
But my second daughter, she was a natural, she latch on without even us trying to show or guide her how. The excitement most probably got my wife’s milk flowing much earlier (within the next 24hours) and she was leaking with every feed. So, we are blessed in that way.
Vien – you echoed my sentiment.
Very good points and comments about BF! I myself have breastfed my daughter for more than a year, and I’m happy that I did it. I’m adding my two cents’ worth here.
First time mommies who are very keen on BF
1. Persevere, persevere, perserve. It’s the only way to maintain your sanity, especially when people around you (a.k.a. your family members) are constantly sending negative vibes. My MIL never stopped offering her “advices” and “suggestions” about how underfed my baby looked, about how I should alternate breastmilk with formula milk, how I shouldn’t be stubborn etc. She never breastfed any of her 4 children, and even my own mother didn’t breastfeed me. In fact, none of my family members who are mothers breastfed! Their lack of knowledge about BF will prove to be a very, very challenging environment for you to succeed.
2. Find yourself a friend in another fellow mommy who has successfully breastfed her baby. This will be a big help in your journey, especially for point no.1 above. I’m quite sure KittyCat still remembered the times that I’ve bugged her about my many questions.
3. Choose a hospital that you’re comfortable with (and hopefully supports BF). The hospital that I stayed in, I find the staff nurse to be not very helpful and encouranging. On one occassion, the nurse brought my sleeping baby to me in the middle of the night, saying that it was feeding time. I was still very inexperienced and had trouble waking my baby up for a feed, and all she wanted to do was zzz. So I turned to the nurse and said my baby didn’t want to wake up. The nurse replied, “Habis, macam mana??” (what she meant was, “Then, what do you expect me to do??”) in an annoyed way, as though it was my fault or something.
A tip for pain relief IF there’s engorgement: stock some cabbages in the fridge, and apply on the breast for cooling effect. It really helps!
Ju-Lian – Thanks for your nice comments
I’m glad to hear that my blog is helpful to Mums out there! My Mum breastfed us for less than a month but my Chinese Ahma breastfed all my 12 uncles and aunties. Our Mums’ generation was caught up with the “formula milk” fad but slowly, breastfeeding is making a comeback. Keep up your good work – I admire you for going the long, hard road by yourself. Do keep in touch ok? Who knows, you just might find a BFG buddy here!
Mott – I respect you for having 3 kids too. No harm if you didn’t breastfeed No. 2 and 3…it’s all up to the individual, I always say. I’m quite nervous about being able to breastfeed No. 2 when it happens too.
Jen – I’m all for rooming-in which I did right after he came home with us. I had quite a long, tough delivery and the staff could see that I WAS exhausted but still keen on breastfeeding. Guess they just wanted to help when they can. I didn’t find my milk coming in late to be a problem because he was contented after each feed
Vien and Stupe brought up valid points about hospitals in Asia. In fact, many of them don’t even allow the fathers in to witness the birth! Hopefully, we’ll progress step by step.
Vien – Yours came in the 5th day too? I never worried about it coming in earlier since the baby books mentioned that it can be 3-5 days.
Stupe – Wow, your wife is one determined Mum! My hat’s off to her for hanging on despite all the difficulties she faced. Glad she got the chance to enjoy breastfeeding No. 2
Miloh – Thanks for sharing your experiences here
I love those days when we talked about breastfeeding! Hmm…that staff nurse sounds like the night nurse I got when I was waiting for the 10 cm dilation 
They’re everywhere, aren’t they? Good thing you didn’t let her get you down. Kambate! (Hehe, I learned this Japanese word recently)
thanks for your reasurrance post on bf during the first 3 days… I’m longing to read this to motivate myself… bravo!
Sharine – Sorry I missed this comment. Glad to read that you’re well on your way on a successful breastfeeding journey
hi i enjoyed your post, first time mum here and all determined to BF
Hi Reg! That’s the spirit
I’m re-reading my posts too to refresh my brains as it’s been almost 3 years…getting old LOL