Читать книгу The Smart Parents Guide to Breastfeeding - Jennifer Ritchie - Страница 10

Why are you so darn tired! Because your baby has a different sleep cycle than you do, and you are waking up and functioning when you would normally be in deep sleep. The amazing team at UC Davis has taken data, dating all the way back to the 1800s, and has shared this information with us. Remember, what you read below is not theory, or someone with a great idea on how to listen to your baby's cries, this is evidence-based fact.

How Often Should I Be Breastfeeding?

You will need to breastfeed your baby 8 or more times in 24 hours (in a perfect world that is every 3 hours each 24-hour period).

Do you have to wake your baby every 3 hours around the clock? The answer is yes, until your baby regains their birth weight.

Babies are happy to starve, and if they lose too much weight, they will not have the strength or endurance to tell you they are hungry.

After a baby regains their birth weight, try to feed every 2 1/2 hours in the daytime. Babies are born wanting to sleep all day and party all night, so the more calories you pack in them during the day, you may get a 4 hour stretch of sleep at night. Infants “cluster feed” or “load” calories by having several breastfeeding sessions within a short time. This is most likely to happen between the hours of noon to midnight, when you are making the least amount of milk.

Although you only need one breast to breastfeed, nipple stimulation is crucial in the first 2 weeks. From day 1 to day 3, feed the baby on one side for 15 minutes, and then switch to the other side. Once your milk “comes in” or increases in volume somewhere between day 3 and day 5, feed the baby on one side and when they self-detach, or they are no longer actively sucking when you stimulate them, remove them from the breast, burp them, then offer the other side. It’s a good idea to get used to always offering the other side, even if they don’t want it. Just think of it like dinner and dessert. You always offer desert, but if they don’t want it, it’s ok.

Milk production is a constant, ongoing process. Every time the nursing baby consumes milk, the mother’s body automatically makes more milk to replace it. The more often the baby feeds, the more milk the mother’s body produces. If the baby does not take the milk directly, it must be regularly removed by hand or with an efficient breast pump about as often as the baby usually feeds. This process is called expressing milk. If a baby does not breastfeed and the mother does not express milk, the mother’s breasts become overly full and uncomfortable. This can lead to an infection and potentially a drop in her milk supply.