This post shares all about breastfeeding newborn tips that will help a new nursing mother survive breastfeeding in baby’s first month.
Now that you are home and two to three days have gone by, your milk should be in. Right now your baby should get approximately 1 to 2 ounces of milk every feed, which includes the fore milk + hind milk. Your milk supply will increase to meet your baby’s needs as time goes on. Remember that baby will frequently need a diaper change between 8 to 12 times in the day. Do not let the number of diaper changes scare you, just know that the breast milk leaves their system 1 1/2 hours later. This causes them to need diaper changes often!
A lot of mamas panic about feedings and ask questions such as, how long should baby eat? When can I change sides? Should my baby eat on both sides? Are 45 minutes too long to feed the baby? When have I fed my baby too long? Do I have to wake the baby up when they fall asleep?
Here are the answers to relieve the stress of your breastfeeding questions, and how long a breastfeeding session for a newborn should be.
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Breastfeeding Newborn Tips
How long should a breastfeeding session be for a newborn?
Your baby will eat 15-20 minutes maximum on one side. If the baby falls asleep before 15 minutes, it’s because they want to nap. You will need to wake the baby up (only because your baby needs to finish their full feeding). Waking them up is necessary so your body can produce the right amount of milk that the baby needs. The baby tells your body to continue to make milk.
A few ways you can wake the baby up if they fall asleep before at least 15 minutes is by tickling their back, tickling their feet, or a diaper change! Once baby has fed on ONE side, IT IS POSSIBLE THAT BABY MIGHT BE FULL. To tell if the baby is full, you will need to offer the other breast for at least five minutes and let them feed until they no longer swallow milk. Your baby might just pull away or close their mouth to refuse the feed. These are signs that your baby is full from one breast or is fully fed.
How often should I let my newborn breastfeed?
Here are examples of a “feeding” because it is A LOT TO UNDERSTAND! 7 things you should know about feeds before we dive in:
- A full feeding should not last longer than 20 minutes on one side.
- 30 minutes on one side is too long! You can switch sides after 20 minutes!!
- Always offer baby both sides each feeding.
- Offering both sides + diaper change = should not last longer than 30 minutes in TOTAL.
- Baby should wake up if they fall asleep before the 15 minute mark to ensure your milk comes in on both sides + they practice their latch!!
- Start the next feed on the opposite side that baby fed on for 5-10 minutes. You will begin on the side that baby fed on for a few minutes!
- Your body will make the perfect amount of milk for your baby.
Let’s check out different scenarios of breastfeeding sessions that will likely happen at different times in the baby’s first month!
How long should breastfeeding session last?
Scenario #1-
The baby starts on the RIGHT side for 20 minutes. Then, the baby has a diaper change. Next, the baby is offered to eat from the LEFT side. Baby eats for 5 minutes on the LEFT SIDE and then closes its mouth or falls asleep. The “feed” is a total time of 30 minutes including the diaper change.
Right side = 20 minutes
Diaper change = 5 minutes
Left side = 5 minutes
Total = 30 minutes
Next feed: Left side, because baby fed for only 5 minutes.
Scenario #2-
The baby starts on the LEFT side for 15 minutes. Then, the baby has a diaper change. Next, the baby is offered to eat from the RIGHT side. Baby eats for 5 minutes on the RIGHT SIDE and then closes its mouth or falls asleep. The “feed” is a total time of 25 minutes including the diaper change.
Left side = 15 minutes
Diaper change = 5 minutes
Right side = 5 minutes
Total = 25 minutes
Next feed: Right side, because baby fed for only 5 minutes.
Scenario #3-
Baby starts on the RIGHT side for 10 minutes and falls asleep. Then, you should tickle the baby’s back or give the baby a diaper change. Next, continue to feed baby on the RIGHT side for 5 minutes at least. This will equal 15 minutes on one side. *TIP: always offer the other to see if the baby will eat for another 5 minutes or let baby eat until the baby is no longer swallowing or refuses the feed. If the baby eats for 10 minutes on the other side, that is okay! Baby will fall asleep or close their mouth when they are done. TIP: if baby falls asleep before at least 15 minutes on one side, wake the baby up, then continue the feed until you have reached a minimum of 15 minutes.
Right side = 10 minutes
Wake baby up + diaper change = 5 minutes
Back on the Right side = 5 minutes
Left side = 10 minutes
Total = 30 minutes
Next feed: Left side, because baby fed for only 10 minutes.
…More Helpful Breastfeeding Newborn Tips…
As you can see, the feedings vary in time. The feed should not last more than 40 minutes, including the diaper change. Because your sanity and sleep are also important!! However, if the feed takes this long, it could be because the baby had a blowout or took longer to wake up! The first month is the hardest, but IT GETS SO MUCH BETTER!!
Your baby will eat every 2 to 3 hours (in the day). If you decide to let baby sleep 7-8 hours in the night, your baby will eat more in the day to make up for the feeding at night because breast milk quickly leaves their system. It is your personal choice, but from experience, you do not need to wake a sleeping baby to feed!
Want our newborn bundle to keep track of your newborn baby?
When you arrive at the hospital and when you get home, you will want to keep track of your baby’s feedings, diaper changes, and when you pump. There are two helpful ways to keep track of your newborn, you can do this with our newborn printable bundles + the baby tracker app.
When you get to the hospital and first come home, you may want to use our printables + you can save them in your baby book for memories. But, the baby tracker app is convenient once you go back to work and your busy with a six month old.
*TIP: The baby tracker app will track baby’s feedings, diaper changes, medicine that baby takes, and your pumping sessions! It totally saved my life once I went back to work. This is because I was exhausted, forgetful, and couldn’t remember the last side baby fed on or had a diaper change!!
ABOUT THE BABY TRACKER APP:
- Has separate categories that track the time of baby’s feedings, diaper changes, sleep, pumping, and medicine
- Shows you a breakdown for each day
- Feedings: gives different feeding options about whether you nursed, used formula, gave the baby a bottle, or supplemented
- Feedings: tracks the length of the feed on each side
- Diaper changes: 4 options of pee, poop, mixed, or other
- Sleep: tracks the length of time baby sleeps in case you are curious or only want to track baby’s sleep during the night
- Pump: can track how many ounces that are pumped on the Left side and Right side + the TOTAL ounces in the pumping session for when you store milk
- Pump: will show you the inventory each time you pump
- Other: will track baby’s growth, temp tire, medicine, vaccines + more so that you can keep track of every detail, and don’t forget to add to special moments to your baby book!
- you can quickly create a specific note in case you become worried about something and want to track how long it occurs!
If you have an iPhone here is the app:
If you have another phone, look for a baby tracker app that states in the description that it will track baby’s feedings, diaper changes, time of medicine, and pumping schedule!
What are the best breast pads to buy?
Now that your milk is in, you will want to use your breast pads! There are two options, the washable kind, or the disposable kind. I recommend buying a large pack of disposable breast pads when you have a newborn because you are adjusting to a new baby + breastfeeding. There is a lot on your plate, and you may not find enough time to do the laundry as much as you need to. Using washable breast pads will be one less thing to worry about until you feel adjusted!
Oral thrush is something you will want to be aware of from the beginning because it is painful to continue nursing. You will want to avoid passing oral thrush back and forth between you and the baby. To avoid thrush, make sure you change the pads whenever they are wet and soaked with milk.
Oral thrush is a white milky substance that looks clumpy in the baby’s mouth and can be passed onto the breast making it painful to breastfeed. Call the doctor or make an appointment for further guidance so that breastfeeding does not become too painful, and the thrush can clear up. If you are constantly soaked, the pads may need to be changed up to 4 times each day, which should decrease as time passes and the baby gets older.
Changing your pads often is not a bad thing, you just may have a lot of milk! Your baby is still getting to eat, so do not worry. I usually changed my pads twice a day, morning, and night. Changing your pads twice a day might be the case for you, just make sure the pads are changed whenever they are wet and soaked!
Is it bad to start pumping right away?
I am not a lactation specialist, but through experience, many lactation specialists will tell you different things! From my personal experience, you can pump as soon as the baby has a CONSISTENT + GOOD LATCH! A good latch can happen instantly or within 10 days. So whenever your baby has a good latch, even if it is 1 week later, start pumping!
This is key, because you may not want to transition your baby to a bottle when you are both working on the proper latch. However, a week or two weeks in, you can start storing milk for when you go back to work! This information is all from personal experience, so trust the process and know that you should pump sooner rather than later + when you feel comfortable.
After SO MUCH trial and error and 8 different pumping options, here is the conclusion I have found that is efficient for busy mamas!!
What kind of breast pump do I need?
You will want to have breast pumps that make your life easier! I purchased a hand pump, the Haakaa, and was given an electric pump. There are pros and cons to each pump that you can read more about in this post here.
Ways to make pumping efficient are:
- The Haakaa
- An electric pump
What I used:
- The Haakaa
- The medela freestyle (so that I could pump on one side)
Haakaa: is a silicon type of breast pump that uses suction to catch a let down + store milk for baby!
When the baby is eating in the beginning, I recommend feeding on one side and using the Haakaa on the other side. Use the Haakaa first thing in the morning! This is because you have a great milk supply in the morning!!! If you start using the Haakaa 1 time a day at 2 weeks, YOU ARE AHEAD OF THE GAME! If you start earlier ALL THE BETTER!
What is the purpose of a Haakaa?
Here are two options for how pumping will work + the best breastfeeding newborn tips.
Option 1: Electric Breast Pump
Use the electric pump to pump from the side you left off on. This is the side that baby ate for 5 to 10 minutes or less on, to get the extra milk. Pump after you finish the feed. There are wearable breast pumps that you may find more convenient that you can learn more about in this post.
Option 2: The Haakaa
The Haakaa is so easy to use and will help you store milk from the beginning! Here is how it works. You will want to use the Haakaa when you breastfeed on the opposite side that baby is feeding. If you are pumping one breast, hook it up to your other breast. The purpose of this is to help catch all the milk you can. When you breastfeed, you have a let down on both sides, so you might as well catch the milk that goes makes your pads full right?!
You can do this every time you pump or feed, if you want! NOTE: You have more than one let down, so you are not taking away from baby’s milk. If anything, you are catching wasted milk and storing sooner, to work on your stash. It is true, pumping acts as your baby and will tell your body to make more milk because it acts as if your body is eating from both sides at the same time.
If you use the Haakaa to catch milk from the other side while the baby feeds. You may catch 1/2 an ounce, but it will increase as time progresses. Store the little bit you get because every bit helps!
I always wished I had learned about the Haakaa sooner. Because, I would have used the Haakaa while the baby ate. The Haakaa will be great for when you pump at work or for date night and are away from the baby!
Now that you have all the breastfeeding newborn tips, I hope you feel more prepared in your journey to breastfeed your little one. Breastfeeding gets easier, but you want to make sure you have all of the correct information! Remember, now that you are home, you can make all of the best decisions for your little one. These are all breastfeeding newborn tips that I learned after almost two whole years of breastfeeding my first baby girl and sticking it out the whole way through!
[…] This post will answer more questions about how long you should breastfeed your baby and what to expect when you get home from the hospital. But, the Haakaa helps catch wasted milk because you always have a letdown from the other breast that the baby does not drink milk from. Rather than losing that milk, you can store it right away for when you go back to work or even a date night! […]