Breastfeeding advice

In these first few days, the length of a feed is a question bound up with the potential problem of sore nipples. Sore or cracked nipples are horribly painful and, from our experience, are the commonest reasons for women to decide that breast-feeding is not for them. They occur as a result of the baby not being latched on properly, which leads to too much suckling (because the baby isn’t getting the colostrum or milk) too soon. Fair-skinned mothers are particularly vulnerable, as are those who burn easily in the sun; both these characteristics are signs of a delicate skin.

When the midwife or feeding sister has helped you put your baby on to the breast correctly, she is likely to suggest how long your baby should be allowed to feed. Some midwives will suggest you feed him for a short period of time – a few minutes – and some will tell you to keep him plugged on for as long as possible. Current trends are in favour of the latter approach. Much will depend on your baby, as quite a few seem to be totally uninterested and have to be coaxed to suckle at all. On the other hand, some babies have a very powerful suck immediately and, if left suckling too long, can readily produce sore nipples unless properly latched on. It is worth remembering that just because a baby is suckling at the breast, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he wants more milk. He may just like suckling.

Because there are all of these considerations – proper latching on, strength of suck and type of skin – no simple rule applies. The vast majority of mothers find that it helps to build up gradually the length of suckling time in the first few ‘colostrum’ days, lengthening to around ten to 20 minutes on each breast when your milk comes in (or up to 40 minutes on one breast). This gives nipples that aren’t used to being vigorously sucked every two hours, under normal circumstances, a little time to get used to the new activity and adapt accordingly. Unfamiliar use produces soreness. (If on the first day of spring you did a whole day’s vigorous digging in the garden, your hands would be very sore indeed.) Nipples are the same: too much too soon usually leads to soreness.