Every mom who breastfeeds or has ever breastfed would know that a good latch is the key to comfortable breastfeeding for the mom, and it’s the only way that the baby is going to get milk out efficiently.

I’m not sure about you, but I had lots of problems latching Alicia in the first month. She gave me sore, cracked and blistered nipples from incorrect latching, biting and pulling at my nipples with her gums… Who would have known that that toothless innocent-looking angel could possibly cause that much pain?

Anyway, after being discharged from the hospital, I no longer had the help of nurses or lactation consultants during feeding time so I was all alone and every breastfeeding session was a latching war. It usually comprised of a screaming and crying baby followed by a crying mummy…

After a few days of latching wars at home, I gave up on latching and expressed exclusively for her. But I didn’t give up hope on latching her as I read that sometimes baby just takes awhile to learn to latch. So in the mean time, I read up on how to latch baby since I didn’t want to engage the services of a lactation consultant then. I held on to the belief that exclusive pumping for baby was still considered breastfeeding though the baby never fed from the breast.

In my search for help in that month, I stumbled upon two very good resources for breastfeeding during that time which I’d like to recommend.

I really like kellymom’s all-you-need-to-know-about-breastfeeding site.
Whenever I meet with breastfeeding questions, I’d consult that website first and only when I can’t find the answers I need there then I’d call the lactation consultant. That was where I also sought help from prior to deciding whether to breastfeed through pregnancy as well as whether or not to embark on tandem breastfeeding. It also covers what most moms would like to know, such as how to increase milk supply, can we drink coffee while breastfeeding, how much milk does baby need etc.

For learn-how-to-latch-baby videos, Jack Newman has a wonderful library of videos to show and teach new mommies to latch baby! If you think a picture speaks a thousand words, then well, his videos are a treasure to a desperate mommy with very painful nipples 😀

I hope you find these resources useful!

An aside: for those with cracked and painful nipples, I find Medela’s Purelan nipple cream effective in healing.

What I like about it is that it is safe for ingestion so there’s no need to remove the cream prior to breastfeeding.

For those who really find too much pain in nursing due to painful nipples, you can try using the nipple shields. These worked beautifully for my friend’s baby but with my little Alex, he just refused to latch on with the shield in place. He just wanted the real stuff.

Mummies with flat or inverted nipples or mummies with babies who are reluctant to latch may find this useful too.

Your little one may have just entered your life and now you want to know how to increase milk supply so that you can provide your precious with mama’s milk.

The best way to increase milk supply is to let baby latch on as baby’s suckle is the strongest pump on Earth. However, if baby cannot latch for whatever reason (like my darling in the first month), express frequently. I used to pump for every feed in the first month, so that means that I pumped milk every 2 hours or so for 30 minutes each time (5 minutes per side, alternate till 30 minutes is up). Yes, that means that I had to wake up to pump milk instead of sleeping through the night… which explains the lack of sleep then – hardly a two-hour stretch at a time! Besides expressing frequently, I also made sure I drank enough fluids and ate enough nutritious food at regular intervals to maintain milk supply (note: do not diet while breastfeeding!).

I never had any lack of breast milk but here are some ways to increase milk supply through my own reading as well as what nursing mommies have shared with me via forums and casual chats. Not every suggestion works for everybody as I have learnt from these mommies so I guess it’s just trial and error till you find the best method that works for you! 🙂

Fenugreek
Fenugreek is a herb and Malays and Indians commonly use it in their cooking.

There are a few ways to take fenugreek.

• The fenugreek seed itself. Go to those Indian spice shops to buy. Cook with water or your soup & drink.
• Fenugreek pills. Most convenient, some brands are more effective than others. Some find Nature’s Way more effective than GNC but I’d say you have to try it out yourself to find out if it applies to you as well.
• Fenugreek extract. This apparently is potent! (Not suitable for Muslim mummies though as it has alcohol extracts)
• Organic Mother’s Milk tea. It’s a blend of herbs for breastfeeding mothers to increas breast milk. Best part is it is organic & natural, no need to worry that you are taking anything harmful.

Papaya Fish Soup
Some mommies say that papaya fish soup works wonders for them while it has no effect on others. Whatever it is, you can try out this soup because even if it doesn’t increase your milk supply, at least it’s a nutritious soup!

Oatmeal
Some say that eating oatmeal helps to increase milk supply. I’d say eating a bowl of oatmeal, if nothing else, is healthy for mom. At best, it may be a simple way to increase milk supply. That said, I did eat quite a bit of oatmeal during my confinement month (not knowing that it may increase milk supply!)
If these methods do not work for you and frequent nursing doesn’t seem to help, seek help from your doctor or a lactation consultant.
Disclaimer: I’ve not tried any of the above methods to increase my milk supply. These methods are what I have gathered from other nursing mommies. Do feel free to try them and ask me any questions if there’s any and I’ll try to answer them if I can. But I cannot be held responsible for any mishaps from following the above methods.