Hi Allison - You may be a newbie and yet you did such a great job listing
the important things you share with teens that I copied and saved your
message in my file on Teens and BF.and I am an oldie of 35 years in this
field. Thanks! Keep up the good work.
Warm regards - Lee
Lee Galasso, MS, LLLL, IBCLC, RLC
Westchester County in NYS, USA
"Children Are Born with the Need to Breastfeed"
I am a BF Peer Counselor with WIC and an IBCLC. I talk with lots of young
moms. I try to be very casual. I stress that they are the boss and they get
to decide how they are going to do things. I get good reactions from this. I
frequently hear that I am the only person that has told them this.
I acknowledge that bf can be "weird." I hear that word alot in regards to
bf. I explain that it may feel weird and of course it does, how many times
have you had a baby sucking at your breast? I discuss the difference between
weird and pain. When you first start nursing, it may feel weird but weird
isn't pain. I also tell them that hormones take over and the "weird" part
stops being a concern.
Moms who don't want to even think about bf respond positively to skin to
skin and a baby being able to latch by itself with very little help. When I
talk about inborn reflexes and skills I get "cool!" as a response. I hand
out the "Breastfeeding: You can do it!" DVD by Pamela Wiggins and ask them
to watch the self attachment video. I've gotten good feedback on that.
I stress volume of colostrum, how much baby may get at a first feeding & in
the first 24 hours. Show them a bottle and how different that volume is.
Maybe use measuring spoons vs a bottle to show the difference. At a Grow and
Glow WIC training, Cathy Carothers talked about pouring out most of the
"small" 2oz bottle of formula in front of parents to show just how little
baby needs. That is quite powerful.
Even after learning these things, I have moms call and tell me they don't
have any milk. I remind them of the tiny amounts babies are supposed to eat
as they learn to breastfeed.
I really like to talk about how they will get more sleep and how responding
quickly to baby at night will get baby back to sleep sooner. It will get
easier over time, you don't have to get up and fix bottles and baby is less
likely to be awake with ear infections & other ailments. Bringing up the
fact that there is less constipation gets their attention. Many know moms
that formula fed and had to deal with constipation and switching formulas to
deal with it.
I've found that alot of young mothers want to pump and offer bottles.
I discuss how it complicates things. You need to pump in addition to caring
for baby, preparing bottles, cleaning pump parts, etc. It is much easier to
sit and nurse the baby in front of the TV, while texting, dozing, etc. If
they are insistent in wanting to pump, I ask them to consider bf in the
hospital and the 1st week or so until their supply increases. Some moms will
continue to directly bf and others go on to pump.
I also discuss 2nd night so they know what to expect when they go home from
the hospital.
As I write this, I realize how much I cover. Generally, I like to have
45 min to an hour to go over things. I pay attention to the moms so I can
see when they stop listening or shut down.
In a nutshell, I cover
Skin to skin
Volume of colostrum
Frequency of feedings
2nd night
Growth Spurts
I have to say, it is a bit intimidating to post this on a list with so many
experienced people! I've been doing this for 1.5 years so I'm a newbie!
Allison Laverty Montag IBCLC, RLC
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