Breast feeding for a dummy please.

[Bellini28]

I'll be brief but would appreciate some advice and tips.
Despite not fancying the idea i am breastfeeding my newborn. It would seem I have enough milk for the whole neighbourhood plus my little one is very proficient on my nipples so would be a pity to not continue...

So what I need to know is: major do's and don'ts plus food and drink no no's. Really don't want little ones tummy to suffer because of my choices.

Thanks in advance. Thought I would get a crash course here rather than trawl net/books... :)

Major no nos- I don't think there are any really. I've heard some people avoid spicy food but I never did and dd was fine. I was a bit more careful with checking what medication I could take but other than that I didn't change my diet at all.

Food wise I can't think of any "no"s. Some women find their babies are sensitive to certain things they eat but there is no evidence that you should give up anything in particular unless you notice a problem.

Booze wise the odd drink is fine. Alcohol leaves your breastmilk at the same rate as your blood so you don't have to get rid of the boozy milk (pump and dump) - it'll just become less boozy over time. Generally if you are safe to drive it's ok to feed.

Caffeine isn't a problem for most babies, unless you are having loads. But again, some mothers choose to restrict it.

It's worth checking before you take any medication. The bfn website is good because often medicines say not suitable for breastfeeding when in reality they are ok. It's just that it is very expensive to licence products as "safe" for bfing so companies dont bother.

Congrats! If I were offering advice to a breastfeeding mum, I would say:

Buy a sling and let LO suckle as much as he/she likes
Forget once every 3 hours, feed on demand, day and night
Don't worry if feeds get shorter, your LO is getting more proficient
Get DH to bring you lots of tea and cake through the evening cluster feeding, especially during growth spurts
Co-sleep and feed lying down at night
Food-wise, just eat a normal diet and drink plenty of fluids. I mainline strong coffee in the morning and it doesn't seem to affect DS

DS is 12 months and is having boob less and less; I feel quite sad in some ways and quite relieved in others :)

Agree with pp re getting a sling and also forget the whole notion of every 3 hours. It is hard work sometimes but also so easy at other times - and in the scheme of things it is for a short time and benefits your baby so much.

Be prepared to eat a lot. I'm three weeks in and still utterly unfillable!

I haven't worried about food but haven't noticed any ill effects from anything, and we've had some really spicy curries.

Good luck and congratulations.

You can't have neurofen plus because it has codeine in it, which gives dangerous sedative properties to your milk, but other than that I've not avoided any food or drink.

I agree with co-sleeping, it's made night feeding easier and you can feed them before they get upset so neither if you properly wake up during night feeds.

The only way is on demand, it'll make it much easier for both of you.

I found too much caffeine aggravated my DD's reflux so I cut down to 1-2 cups a day.

Alcohol wise the advice is 2 units a week and ideally not for half a hour before you feed. However very little passes into breast milk. I've lost my taste for it since BF though.