Tips for Breastfeeding

I've had a pretty successful breastfeeding journey so I'm here to share it! I breastfed since baby A was born (no formula added because I had a really good supply - since start of 2nd trimester I was leaking already lol) and now baby A is 5 days away from 14 months old and I'm still breastfeeding him 2 - 3 times a day and 0 - 2 times at night. Planning to continue till he is at least 2 years old since that's what WHO recommends. Other than that, I love how my body is naturally built to feed my baby and I think it's a really enjoyable experience. Oh yes, I latched 99% of the time during the first 6 months as I had to pump milk whenever I had to teach classes or handle full-day work events. Now that baby is on solids, I latch 100%. 

I'm not going to list down the benefits of breastfeeding because that was not the main reason I breastfed. I honestly did it just because I felt it was the most natural thing to do and I always believe following nature's design would be the easiest and fuss-free. But I know many women don't agree and kinda have a love-hate relationship with breastfeeding, but I think it's partially because they pump and waking up to pump and also washing pump parts plus spilling milk and having a fussy baby who doesn't finish their milk can be really frustrating. And it feels even worse when they've read that breast milk helps to boost baby's immune system and yet baby still keeps falling sick. I believe there are many reasons for this, like sending to infant-care at a young age which exposes baby to much more pathogens, and also pumping instead of latching also makes a difference since the act of latching also transfers the good bacteria on mummy's skin to baby, and also soothes baby - aka baby is less stressed in this big scary world which also lowers their immune. But I'm not here to judge, just here to share and hopefully help those who face obstacles when breastfeeding as I had a relatively smooth one.

Also one thing to note - I am vegan. Many people think vegans are malnourished, but I'm very particular about my diet and I am also supplementing vitamin B12. If you cook your meals at home or have the financial means to order vegan food (it's expensive and not exactly/always that tasty...), then you can definitely lead a healthy vegan diet that is sufficient to fuel your breastfeeding journey!

Diet - Great milk boosters

The following is what I ate/drank during and before the birth of my baby:

• Home-made soymilk
• Home-made cashew milk
• Home-made cashew + soymilk (I put both cashew and soybean into the machine)

I used Joyoung soymilk machine which I absolutely love. They're quite a renowned brand and I ended up recommending it to many of my family, friends and colleagues.

• Coconut (ordered from Opentaste)

I drank this mostly in my 3rd trimester and after confinement. During confinement I felt it was too cold so I think I only drank it once or twice during confinement.

• Rice

Yes, I ate 2 plates of rice for every meal for the first 6 months after giving birth. That was when baby A was solely on breast milk. After baby A transited to eating solids, my supply came down so my appetite also dropped.

Persevere through the first 2 weeks

Yes it is normal to feel pain, and it's also sort of a good thing because baby is sucking hard and well. Some people use nipple shields to ease the pain, but that's a huge no no! The nipple needs to be able to sense baby's suckling in order to send signals to the body to produce more milk.

Some tips to cope with the pain:

• Switch between boobs to give the other side a rest. It also helps to balance the amount each side produces. Some people latch one side and baby becomes full and they end up not latching the other side. You can unlatch halfway and change sides. Otherwise remember which side was latched and latch the other side during the next feed.
• Don't assume baby is always hungry. If you are producing milk (aka milk comes out when you pinch your nipple), and baby just latched an hour ago, baby is most likely crying due to other reasons. Try other options first - check diapers, burp, baby wear. Sometimes baby just wants to feel secure and close to you. Latching gives them security, but baby wearing is also another great way to make them feel secure. Yes you and baby will perspire cuz it's so hot hahaha. But treasure this time because once they know how to walk they don't really want you to carry them anymore. Plus they are still light at this stage so invest in a good cloth wrap and learn how to baby wear. The learning curve is steep at the start but it is an amazing feeling to baby wear. Some people get those konny wraps that are pre-tied. It's easy to use but doesn't grow with baby. If you can afford both, get both - konny when you're outside and cloth wrap at home.

Coping with engorgement

I've never gotten mastitis but I was engorged in the earlier months (within 3 months or so). It's actually a good sign especially during the first week since it means you are producing more and more milk! But leaving it alone can lead to mastitis (fever and even more pain and even pus formation in severe cases). Hence here are some tips to prevent mastitis from happening:

• Reduce supply boosting foods (see above)
• Drink enough water (some people don't drink water during confinement, but you can always make your confinement drinks more dilute)
• Use different latching positions/baby holds. Different positions allow baby to suckle from different glands. Baby is the best pump.
• If baby is not hungry and doesn't want to suckle, use a haakaa to manually suck out some milk, just enough to reduce the discomfort. Don't empty the boob with your electronic pump. Emptying the boob gives your body the signal that baby can drink so much, and over emptying the boob gives your body the signal that baby wants more. So you will end up with an oversupply and higher risk of engorgement. Don't worry of reducing your supply, in fact we want to reduce the supply by a bit in order to prevent engorgement and possible mastitis. Mastitis will reduce your supply greatly and we want to prevent that!

Hope the above tips come in handy for some of you! I will try to update if I recall anymore tips.