Nurse the Baby

I decided I wanted to nurse Naja as soon as I knew I was expecting. Naturally, I thought nursing would be easy. I thought my child would latch on to my breast like it was second nature, and the milk would flow like a faucet...while some of my assumptions were accurate (ex. faucet flow), others weren't. Below are some speed bumps I ran into with nursing my baby.


  1. WTH - my child is slightly jaundice, won't wake up, and I'm having problems with her latching! When Naja was firstborn, the nurse tested her for jaundice, but found her to be negative for it. Naja was EXTREMELY sleepy during the first week. The child would not wake up! One week later her doctor informed me that she probably was slightly jaundice. One way to tell if a newborn is jaundice, is to observe the skin and check if it's slightly yellow. While the nurse did check her for it, I guess she missed the yellow on my baby's brown skin. Anyway, because she was jaundice, she was sleepy and didn't wake up often. Since she didn't wake up, she didn't eat much. Therefore, she lost a lot of weight in the hospital (more than normal). Finally, since she barely had any food in her system, she didn't have the energy to latch on (take my breast). Thus, I was waking a sleepy, but hungry baby every two hours,  feeding her my milk through a syringe with my finger, and pumping afterwards to make sure I had some milk for the next feeding AND to protect my milk supply. I was a VERY TIRED mommy the first week! Thankfully, Naja took a liking to my breast when she was 4 days old, and all of the above issues resolved themselves shortly after!
  2. So nursing hurts, and Lanolin will be your BFF. My nipples were very sore the first 2-3 weeks of nursing. The best analogy I can provide is one of musicians who play string instruments. When I started playing the guitar, my fingers would become very sore and start to callous because my fingertips weren't accustomed to the strain applied from the strings. However, after some time, my fingers toughened up, and I no longer had calluses. Well, the same ideology applies with nursing. I apply Lanolin after every feeding session, and it helps a lot!
  3. I'm a working mom, but I still want to give my baby my milk. As a working mom, choosing to nurse my child puts a couple more tasks on my list of things to do. For starters, I need a pump, and pumps are expensive. The good portable ones cost about $250. Thankfully, a family friend gave me her pump, so I simply purchased new accessories. Second, you're going to need some time out of the work day to pump. My lactation specialist suggested pumping when baby would normally eat - for me that's every three hours. I'll let you know how this goes when I return to work.


Those were my nursing speed bumps. I hope this helps gives inquiring minds a heads up. All in all, I can say that nursing is very rewarding. I feel like it has strengthened the bond between Naja and me, and I know it's best for her health.

8 comments:

  1. Naja doesn't appear to share your love for the camera. LOL!

    I hear similar stories from other nursing moms, so you are definitely on the right track. I'm glad you are able to make this work for both of you, so far.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi there...your stalker from Kenya again! Monique I too am a Mum to 1 and though my pregnancy was a breeze, followed by an easy by comparison birth and much to my surprise a super breezy nursing period (1 full year with 1st 6 months exclusively) I was never accepting, calm and positive with regards to the sleepless nights. It just goes to show you really are awesome with a sunny disposition which I find admirable. I guess that's why I continue to stalk your blog! Naja is very blessed to have you as her Mama! Keep doing what you do. BTW happy to see you loc-free. Lol

    ReplyDelete
  3. Did I tell you that you inspired me to start a blog? You did. Well, you and KendiEveryday. lol Check it out sometime! And congrats again on Naja. I'm excited to meet her. =)

    loveMercyMe.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Aww... I'm so happy for you... and a tad green, of course.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a beautiful little face! LOVE that last picture :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh the syringe, that gave me goose bumps. I had to do the same with Graham (who was also jaundiced) and I thought I was going to lose my mind. Years later, Spencer was hunting through a little used drawer and found the syringe with the tubing still attached. I literally got nauseous looking at it. The boys now play with it in the bathtub! Anyway, good for you for persevering!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you everyone!

    @Anonymous- a special thank you, thank you for your kind words.

    @Mercy- OMG I can't believe that I'm definitely going to follow you, I love your positive spirit!

    @Dana- I thought I was the only mom who ever used the syringe! It was quite awful, i was constantly worried about sticking the tube too far down her mouth...I'm glad it's over and done with. I threw it away as soon as Naja started latching, no keepsakes here!

    ReplyDelete