1. Start breastfeeding as early as possible. The first 30 minutes or maximum 1 hour after birth is the ideal time to start breastfeeding. Labor is stressful for your baby. Your baby has very high levels of stress hormones like cortisone and adrenalin and is very active. To start breastfeeding at this active time of the baby will be effective. If the mother had C-section, this may not be possible. But in fact, a member of the family may get the baby latched on the breast of the mother even if the mother arrives the room in sleeping condition. Even though it may not be the healthiest one, the first sucking action and first skin contact in the first hour is very important. Because when the baby is willing and yearning during these first moments, if we miss this opportunity, the level of cortisone and adrenalin in baby's blood will drop and your baby will get tired and fall asleep. So you will miss this very valuable time.
2. For the correct suckling position, your baby’s mouth must be wide open, lips must be turned outwards and the areola must almost fill the mouth of the baby. The areolar region at the bottom of the lips should be a little more and the top part should be lesser. Your baby’s chin should be in contact with your breast. The incorrect positioning is when your baby’s lips are tucked tightly inwards as if whistling and your baby just grasps the nipples and the major part of the areolar region is left outside, the area at the bottom and top, left outside your baby's mouth are equal and the chin of the baby does not touch the breast. In such an inaccurate position, since the milk accumulates in the alveoli area under the areolar region, if your baby does not put pressure on that area, this will cause milk not to flow to the baby's mouth. Your baby will get frustrated and start chewing the breast. This will promote cracking of the nipples. As you feel pain, you could begin to avoid breastfeeding your baby and the vicious cycle starts. In such a case, due to incorrect breastfeeding, milk secretion may end without fully starting.
3. The milk doesn’t decrease as you feed your baby; on the contrary, it increases. Full term newborn babies should be breastfed every time they cry. Sometimes nursing may last up to an hour and there may be some babies who do not want to stop breastfeeding. This is an indicator showing that the baby is taking advantage of natural physiology to increase milk production. This natural physiology works like this: Imagine a two-way road from breast to brain… When your baby suckles, sensory impulses pass from the nipple to the brain and pituitary gland of the mother is stimulated. This way prolactin and oxytocin is secreted. Afterwards the hormones released travel back to the mother’s nipple and gives 2 orders to the breast: Produce and eject milk. Prolactin increases milk production and oxytocin helps smooth muscles to contract (there are smooth muscles in tissues of the breast) and eject milk. That's why mothers should not tend to give food supplements to their baby getting the impression that milk production is decreased. As stomachs of babies are very small, any liquid that is fed to the baby shall cause the baby to feel full. Nursing time that needs to be every 3 hours might go up to 4-5 hours. As this interval shortens, this mechanism that is a requisite for milk production will be destroyed and vicious cycle will start and in 1-2 months, without noticing, production of milk will gradually slow down and eventually stop. In premature babies and babies less than 2500 gram at birth should be fed every 2 hours during the first month even if the baby does not cry. Because as glycogen storage of these babies in liver and muscles are not developed yet, these babies may not withstand starvation for a long time and experience hypoglycemia.
4. Trust your baby. Breast-feeding is a natural process. It does not require too much education. Keep in mind that natural reflexes are enough to stimulate breast-feeding. First one is the search reflex. When you touch the cheek, the side of the lips of the babies, they will immediately turn their heads towards that side. And the reason for this is the search reflex. The second is the sucking reflex. When something touches the palate of the baby (nipple of the mother), baby will automatically start sucking. Third is the swallow reflex. The biggest fear of mothers is "Will my baby choke?" Don’t worry; they won't because they have the swallow reflex. When a specific amount of liquid is accumulated in the pharynx, as a reflex, epiglottis flap will close (covering the windpipe of the baby) and baby will swallow the milk accumulated. Some very appetent babies may look as if they will start choking while sucking so fast. If this happens, what you should do is to separate your baby from the breast, massage his/her back a little and wait for some time. After your baby swallows the milk, you may start breast-feeding again. The risk of aspirating milk into the lung will be prevented thanks to this reflex however very rarely some exceptions may arise.
5. Our brain is the pharmacy of our body. Whatever we believe in, we live it! Our brain secretes chemicals accordingly and our body reacts to these chemicals. So you should believe that you produce enough milk for your baby. The more you believe, the more milk you will produce. Easy as it is! Have some faith in yourself and in your baby; and everything will flow beautifully.
Golden rules of breastfeeding
There are 5 golden rules for a healthy breastfeeding. 3 physiological, 2 psychological and let's hear these from Attending Physician Anıl Yeşildal.