Ways to make breastfeeding easier

Making skin-to-skin contact in the first hours after the baby is born

Placing your newborn right on your chest, skin to skin, has a number of benefits for breastfeeding. Your baby retains their heat better and is calmer. This contact also triggers your baby’s reflex to take the breast during the first hour of life, as well as later on (see Right after birth: Mother and child get acquainted).

It‘s good to take advantage of your baby’s first few hours of life to start breastfeeding. After these first few hours have passed, they will enter a rest and recovery period during which their reflexes will “hibernate” for a few hours.

If your baby isn’t ready to start nursing, it’s a good idea to stimulate your breasts as soon as possible after giving birth to help start milk production (see How to express milk by hand). You ca express milk in a spoon and offer it to your baby, placing a few drops on their lips at a time.

Staying close to your baby and being attentive to hunger signs

It’s good to keep your baby near you day and night. Your newborn needs to be close and be reassured by your presence.

Being physically close allows you to get to know your baby and learn to detect the early signs of hunger (see Hunger signs). It’s an ideal time to give your baby the breast because they will probably be calmer.

Being close to your baby also allows you to quickly provide for their needs, which helps build a bond of trust.

Bringing your baby to the breast

Getting a good latch helps prevent breastfeeding pain and most nipple injuries. In the first few days of life, you and your baby will learn together how to establish a pain-free latch and good suction (see Bringing baby to your breast).

When your baby is sucking effectively, you can see them pause and swallow (see Ensuring your baby is sucking effectively and swallowing milk). The swallowing motion is harder to notice before your milk comes in, because your baby is only swallowing small amounts of colostrum.

You may be surprised by the sucking sensation at first. Some degree of sensitivity may be normal, but if nursing is painful, ask for help without delay.

Breastfeeding on demand or often enough to meet baby’s needs

The frequency and length of feedings vary from one baby to another. In the first few days of life, it’s normal for a newborn to nurse very often and to have feedings clustered together (see How often to nurse—and how long?). Frequent feedings stimulate milk production and reassure the baby during this important adaptation period. You can expect to nurse 8 times or more every 24 hours during this period, and afterwards as well.

Some babies frequently show hunger signs. Other babies don’t always give cues that they want to feed. If your baby isn’t showing signs of hunger or signs of wakefulness, you may need to wake them up to ensure they get enough milk.

Information and precautions regarding bottles and pacifiers

If you need to feed your baby using a method other than breastfeeding, you can bottle feed with expressed milk.

However, sucking at the breast isn’t the same as drinking from a bottle. Milk usually flows faster from a bottle than from the breast, and the baby’s mouth movements are different. As a result, using a bottle, especially for a prolonged period, can lead to problems with breastfeeding.

A trained breastfeeding support person can show you an alternative to bottle-feeding, if you wish.

If your baby uses a pacifier, it can be difficult to recognize hunger signs. Your baby may end up skipping a feeding, which can affect milk production. To maintain milk production at a level that meets your baby’s needs, check first to see if they are hungry or need to be changed or cuddled before giving them the pacifier.