Must-Read Tips for Your First Week with Baby（2）
Breastfeeding
It happens naturally, right? Um, hardly!
Survival Technique: Make plans to see a lactation expert ASAP post-delivery — before a problem arises — and ask her to come to your house to help you get the hang of nursing there. “Having an expert with you from the beginning to help you learn about latching, positioning, and milk supply — and to boost your confidence — can make the difference between a beautiful breastfeeding experience and giving up,” says Giuditta Tornetta, a doula, lactation educator, and author of Painless Childbirth.
Mom Tip: Kim Malin, of Los Angeles, mom of Logan, 4, and Emmett, 20 months, learned that the hard way. “With my first baby, pretty much everything wasn’t working — the latch, the sucking — and I was in agony all the time,” she says. “But I found a lactation consultant who came to my house and stayed with me as long as it took. She came back several times until I had the confidence to feel like, I can do this now.”
Round-the-Clock Feedings
“Expect to feed the baby every one to four hours — that’s counting from the start of each feeding,” says Laura Jana, MD, coauthor of Heading Home with Your Newborn.
Survival Technique: You’re going to be bound to a couch, rocker, or bed while your baby eats, so get as comfortable as possible.
Mom Tip: “That first week, I read Anna Karenina — all 700 pages of it!” says Nicole Hertvik, of Hoboken, New Jersey, mom of Mia, 19 months. “It gave me something to look forward to during all those middle-of-the-night feedings.” Another tactic: arm yourself with a magazine or the TV remote and keep water and snacks close by.
Getting Daddy Involved
It can be tricky to include Dad right off the bat, particularly if he doesn’t have time off from work or Mom is nursing.
Survival Technique: Ask Dad to dive right in. Another way to get Dad on board: Leave the room while he’s mastering a new task so he won’t feel judged, and he’ll be forced to figure it out for himself.
Mom Tip: “I encouraged my husband to spend as much time as possible with the baby from the get-go, whether it was bathing, burping, cuddling, or diaper changes,” Belville says. “Sometimes I had to bite my tongue if he didn’t do something exactly as I would’ve. But the last thing I wanted to do was discourage his efforts!”