✓ Prepare the breasts for breastfeeding

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Prepare the breasts for breastfeeding

Most women waiting already has an idea of what will be after the birth: prepares to manage crying, nights, feedings and perhaps has already decided whether to breastfeed or bottle. But if certain things are only conceivable and not entirely predictable (it is impossible to be certain with a child that you don't know yet!) others are easier to organize, for example prepare the breast for breastfeeding. Should it be done or not? How do you do? Let's see it together.

Choose whether to breastfeed or not

Le pressure on expectant mothers in favor breastfeeding today there are many, and with good reason: breast milk is the best food for neonate, WHO indicates two years as the optimal period for breastfeeding a child. But there is a but: you shouldn't pressure one woman for such a personal choice. Choose whether to breastfeed or not in fact it depends on many factors that are individual and about which nobody should have anything to say. So, future mothers, make an informed choice based on your rhythms and your lifestyle. If you have decided to breastfeed, or at least try, but you want to be ready when you meet your child. So here are some tips.

Also Read: 20 Reasons To Choose Breastfeeding

How to prepare to breastfeed

Even before knowing how and if prepare the breast for breastfeeding, it is important to have full knowledge of what will be. If it is true that every child is unique and also the rhythm of feedings, the intensity, the disturbances and the awakenings will be, you can begin to inform yourself to arrive ready at the time of delivery and therefore of the first feeding, which usually takes place as soon as the baby has come out of the womb (or immediately after the first checks). So read some books that explain to you how breastfeeding works, how to produces milk, what to do in case the baby does not latch on properly (there are texts with images to accompany the new mother even in case of nipple or frenulum defects of the baby) and how to avoid disorders such as fissures and mastitis.

Prepare the breasts for breastfeeding

If you about to give birth you have surely heard someone advise you to prepare the breast for breastfeeding: but should it really be done? It is a common custom "mistreating" the breasts, in particular i nipples, to prepare them for sucking. Among the most used techniques are the pinching (especially for women with flat or inverted nipples) or strofinamenti with sponges and horsehair gloves, perhaps in the shower. There are those who recommend apply creams and oils to hydrate them and make them elastic, those who instead use the lemon or other aggressive substances. The hope is, in any case, not to have problems with pain or worse fissures when the baby latches on.

In reality there is no scientific proof that these methods work, indeed: the breast prepares itself during pregnancy (you may have noticed, for example, darker nipples and areolas), thanks to Montgomery glands which secrete fatty substances that protect and moisturize the skin. Attack the breast, perhaps with soaps and other aggressive products, it could even be counterproductive.

Read also: The best nipple shields for breastfeeding

However, if you suffer from flat or inverted nipples, consult one breastfeeding specialist so that I can give you the best tips to get there prepared for breastfeeding.

The main problem is in fact linked to the attachment of the child, even in the case of a "regular" conformation of the breast, because one incorrect sucking often leads to pain e fissures, even series. Most of the time, therefore, it is not necessary to prepare, but to correct the way in which the newborn sucks from the breast, finding the right position for mom and baby. Other times, it just takes time because the skin gets used to the sucking, and in that case silicone nipple shields for breastfeeding or silver nipple shields may be useful to heal the skin between feedings.

Prepare the breasts for breastfeeding it is not necessary, but if you think it will be useful you can follow the advice "of the grandmother". Once born the childHowever, stop doing it: smells and rubbing could compromise the success of breastfeeding, rather than favor it.

SOURCES

Breastfeeding

Breast milk, instructions for use.

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