Establish breastfeeding after you’ve been away from your baby

While it’s uncommon for a mom and baby to be separated from each other after birth, it can happen. The good news is that you can still get breastfeeding off to a good start even when you’ve been away from your baby. Midwife, Pippa Hime gives her tips on how moms can establish breastfeeding when they’ve been separated from their baby for a couple of days:

Ensure lactogenesis takes place

If you are separated from your baby for any reason, you’ll need to ensure that lactogenesis (the process of developing the ability to secrete milk) takes place. This means that you’ll need to hand express colostrum every 2 to 3 hours for the first 2 to 3 days. The nursing staff at the hospital can show you how to do this. You can also start pumping with a manual or electric breast pump every 3 to 4 hours once the milk starts to transition from colostrum to breast milk.

Stimulate your milk flow

It’s important to stimulate your breast to make sure that your milk comes in nicely and that baby receives breast milk which can be taken home by your partner.

Try cup or syringe feeding

Your partner can try to cup or syringe feed your baby until you are able to breastfeed. Once you and your baby are reunited, you should try to spend as much skin-to-skin time with your baby to facilitate bonding and to help with your breast milk production.

Tips for dad when feeding baby

Experts recommend cup feeding instead of bottle feeding when mom is not able to breastfeed but would like to once she is able to do so. There’s a big risk that your baby will learn to prefer the bottle over the breast if you use a bottle to feed her. They say that cup feeding allows your baby to set the pace of the feed, which is similar to breastfeeding on demand.

How to do it:

• You can use any cup to feed your baby, just make sure that it’s clean, doesn’t have any cracks or a lip. You can even use the plastic lid of a bottle for this.
• Fill the cup one third to two thirds with the expressed breast milk. If the milk is cold, place the cup in a container of hot water until it reaches room temperature.
• Sit your baby upright, or nearly upright, on your lap, and hold her close to your baby while supporting her neck and back.
• Tuck baby’s arm that is closest to you between baby and your body, and tuck the other arm in between baby and your arm.
• You will use your strongest arm to feed your baby.