Successful Breastfeeding from hospital to home

The following are tips to make the transition from breastfeeding in the hospital to the home smooth and successful.

• Arrange for rooming –in of the baby in advance of delivery, if its available.
• Breastfeeding as soon after delivery as possible.
• Be calm and comfortable in order to assist in the letdown reflex. Sit or lie down with the baby’s head in the bend of your arm. Hold the breast between your fingers and touch the infant’s lower lip with the nipple to simulate the rooting reflex. Once the infant is latched on, the breast no longer needs to be held.
• Follow your pediatrician’s advice about the frequency and technique for feeding.
• Don’t hesitate to call your pediatrician for support.
• Nurse the baby both breast at each feeding.
• Don’t give supplementary feeding of water or formula unless ordered by your pediatrician. Breast milk is 80 percent water and in most cases is sufficient for your baby’s fluid needs.
• Learn how to express milk by use of breast pump before being discharged from the hospital.
• Burp the baby frequently, both in the middle and the end of a feeding to help release gas in stomach.