Version June 2024
| Planning and self-care |
| Plan to nap and rest during the day whenever possible to make up for interrupted sleep at night. |
| Set up "feeding stations" with diaper-changing materials, water, and snacks, so that infant care can be bundled. |
| Prioritize activities that make you feel good, such as talking with family or friends, going outside, or taking an uninterrupted shower or bath. |
| Feeding techniques |
| Allow your baby to feed whenever they show signs of being hungry, rather than on a schedule. This is known as feeding "on cue" or responsive feeding. Babies will often feed several times over a short period, followed by a longer sleep period, and this is okay as long as they effectively feed at least 8 times in 24 hours. |
| At each feeding, encourage your baby to feed until they appear full and content, rather than feeding a smaller amount ("snacking"). Signs that the baby is full and content are relaxed arms or appearing "milk drunk." |
| If your baby is sleepy during a feeding, provide some stimulation, such as changing the diaper or burping or massaging them. This will encourage them to stay alert and feed enough to be full and content. Keeping your baby alert will also help them to fully drain at least 1 breast, which helps you keep up your milk supply. |
| During the feeding, use techniques to help your baby get more milk, such as gentle breast compression during feeds to stimulate milk let-down and hand expression after feedings. This will help your baby get a full feeding, so that they might sleep a bit longer before waking again to feed. |
| Support from partner and others |
| Ask your partner, family, and friends to help with household duties and baby care other than breastfeeding. Give them specific jobs so they know how to be helpful. |
| Consider home nursing or postpartum doula services. |
| Emotional support |
| As a mother, you have been "born" into a new role and it is normal to go through a period of adjustment. |
| Feelings of difficulty, exhaustion, and being overwhelmed are very common and normal especially in the first few days and weeks after the birth. Caring for a newborn baby is as exhausting as well as amazing and rewarding – and it will get easier. |
| If you are not feeling more and more like yourself after the first few weeks of being a new mother, discuss this with your health care provider. Many parents experience problems with mood and/or anxiety during the first few weeks and months after the birth, and it's important to reach out for support. |
| Additional resources |
Useful websites:
|
Join a breastfeeding or postpartum support group either online or in person:
|
آیا می خواهید مدیلیب را به صفحه اصلی خود اضافه کنید؟
