First time Breastfeeding? 3-6 Weeks Postpartum.

Cluster feeding begins to happen at this time.  Hang in there.  Use the rescue remedy cream to help with sore nipples and airdry your nipples as much as possible.  Also letting breastmilk dry on nipples is very healing (breastmilk is also great for pink eye and baby eczema…in some countries they store extra breastmilk to keep senior citizens healthy…you are creating great stuff!).

You have passed a milestone. Hooray! Your body has figured out the fluid level, the general timing of when and how much the baby wants to nurse.

You should no longer feel the engorgement/swelling and often this freaks moms out thinking “Maybe I don’t have enough milk”. You have enough milk, it’s just your body has adjusted.

How to check you have “enough” milk: Baby is filling about 10 diapers a day and baby is gaining weight.

If you have not already joined a breastfeeding support group or postpartum class now is the time! Nothing like hanging out with people having a similar experience to know that you are not crazy and all of this very new stuff is normal, maybe weird and wonderful, but normal.

First Time Breastfeeding? Newly Postpartum.

You want to place the baby to the breast within the 1^st hour if at all possible. This is when they are most awake and have the energy to learn how to suck. (just think of any energy it takes to learn something new.)

It usually take 3-5 days for your milk to come in. You do have colostrum (the stuff that was leaking out above). This is very high in sugar and babies only need 4-6 drops every 2 hours in order to keep their sugar levels normal. So don’t panic or worry that it isn’t enough. If your baby won’t suck, then squeeze out these drops on your finger and place the finger in their mouth. (If you want you can place the tip of the finger on the roof of their mouth to encourage the suck)

Nurse and nurse and nurse as much as the baby wants. The baby is programming your body to produce milk depending on demand.

When your milk does come in:

Your breasts are adjusting to all this new fluid and working on learning how to do fluid control. This means you can leak a lot, your breasts can become engorged and the let down can be intense for baby. All is normal and will eventually take care of itself…in the meantime:

• If you leak a lot: There are plastic shields to place in nursing bras that collect the milk. There are also pads, but I have found many women who use these pads end up with yeast (candida/thrush). If you suspect thrush or have a history of candida leave the flap s down on your nursing bra as often as you can so they can airdry. 
• If your breasts are engorged: This is temporary. Do not pump lots out. If you need to squeeze a few drops out to get nipple accessible to the baby, you can hand express.
• If this is not enough and you are not allergic to sulfa drugs you can place a raw cabbage leaf (white or green stains less) between your bra and breast and the heat of your breasts will wilt the cabbage and release the chemicals to bring the “swelling” down.

 

Cluster feeding!!! Your babe will go through stages of increasing your milk supply by nursing closer together. This does not mean you do not have enough milk. It means they are about to have a growth spurt. All good. If you find your nipples sensitive then put the rescue remedy cream on right after nursing. It will melt in and nipples will be happy and so will you and baby. No need to wipe it off before feeding again (note on packaging is FDA required because the original preparation has a tad of alcohol in it).

Homeopathy 101 for Babies

So here’s the scoop, homeopathic in a nutshell:

Take one part of something (in our case chamomile flowers) and grind it and put in smidge of alcohol to suspend it (Make it liquid).  Take one drop of that and add 99 drops of water.  Shake vigorously (succus) 100 times.

Take one drop from that vial and add 99 drops of water.  Again shake vigorously.

To get a 6C potency you do that 6 times.

To get a 30C potency you do that 30 times.

To get a 200 C potency you do that 200 times.  ( a long process!!)

Once you get past avogrado’s number which is something like 5 times, there is no original chemistry there.  Just the energetic signature of the plant or animal or mineral that was first ground.  If you use a very sensitive lab test you can tell that the water is different from the beginning.

Drop one drop of that on milk sugar pellets or other pellets and put in vial and sell as homeopathic chamomila.

Hope that makes sense.

Most babies are either Chamomilla babies or Pulsatilla.  How do you know who you’ve got?

Chamomilla babies often get colic.  They feel better when bounced up and down and they also are never happy with whatever you are doing for more than 20 minutes.  They get soothed for the first 20 minutes and then they need something else.

Pulsatilla babies like to be held most of the time.  They can also later (can be 6 months, can be 30 years) show a real independent streak.  Like I can do this on my own…now I am falling apart, hold me.

The remedy can be found online or in health food stores.  If you baby is under 6 months you want to crush one 30 c pellet between 2 spoons and place the powder on the tongue so they suck on it.  The point is to suck on the homeopathic to let the energetics support the child’s energetics.