Talk or sing to your baby. Go ahead and listen to your favorite music and sing along as you breastfeed. Or talk about your day, read out loud from a book, or share your hopes and dreams for the future. (Your partner can do this, too.)
Limit caffeine when you're breastfeeding. Caffeine is a drug that's found in things like coffee, tea, soda, energy drinks, chocolate and some energy drinks and medicines. Too much caffeine in breast milk can make your baby fussy or have trouble sleeping.
2. Kissing your baby will change your breast milk. That irresistible urge to plant kisses all over your baby will also help to boost her immune system. When you kiss your baby, you are sampling the pathogens on her skin, which are then transferred to your lymphatic system where you will produce antibodies to any bugs.
If you're still craving something more entertaining to do, you might try learning something new during your breastfeeding sessions. You can easily learn things by reading books or articles. It's also a good time to practice vocabulary if you're learning a new language, or anything else you need to memorize.
Experiment with noise.
Some babies respond well to nursing to music while others love complete silence. You could try talking in quiet, soothing tones, “shush” your baby, or sing softly.
Since the breast is continually producing milk, your baby may be able to drink again on that side. Sometimes babies pull away from the breast and fuss because the milk is flowing too fast. If this is the case, you may find that your baby pulls away soon after starting to feed and just as the milk is letting down.
Generally, babies will unlatch when they've had enough. Giving your baby unrestricted access to your breast will help her get what she needs, and also maintain your milk supply.
Can I watch TV with my newborn in the room? Yes. There's generally no problem with watching TV while holding a sleeping baby or breastfeeding – in fact it can be a prime opportunity for some downtime.
Often these feelings evaporate after a few weeks or months as you find your new groove. However, if breastfeeding and mothering don't feel like any fun at all, and the anxiety and unhappiness persist, it might be time to talk to your doctor.
Your child may start to rely on the breast when they're bored or feel like it's the only way to get your attention. Nursing a toddler when you have another baby on the way is possible and safe, but the idea can be overwhelming.
Babytalk | A baby's bond with its mother may start with the sense of smell. One of my favorite things to do is show mothers how their baby can smell them from as far away as 1 to 2 feet.
Myth: Babies who have been breastfed are clingy.
Breastfeeding provides not only the best nutrition for infants, but is also important for their developing brain. Breastfed babies are held a lot and because of this, breastfeeding has been shown to enhance bonding with their mother.
Dr Prasad says to prevent serious health consequences, everyone, including moms, should avoid kissing infants early on.
"Something I recommend to moms is the 5-5-5 rule," Pawlowski says. "Try and use milk within five hours at room temperature, five days if in the refrigerator, and five months if in the freezer."
Chocolate contains theobromine. Because theobromine is a stimulant, it could, in theory, cause the breastfed infant to be wakeful and fussy. If indeed the chocolate does contain caffeine, there's a double whammy.
Breastfeeding, also known as nursing, is a natural and beautiful process that helps create intimacy and bonding between mom and baby. The connection and bonding felt during this nurturing embrace can provide beneficial psychological effects, like lowering stress and increasing feelings of calm.
An infant's intestinal tract responds to its mother's milk by sprouting receptors that detect the hormone, activating neurochemical signals that can travel all the way to the brain. These signals may influence a baby's stress response and the development of brain regions that regulate emotions such as fear and anxiety.
Not everyone has a positive experience with breastfeeding. If you feel negative emotions like anger or sadness when your milk lets down, you may have D-MER, or dysphoric milk ejection reflex. You're not alone, you did nothing to cause it and there's nothing “wrong” with you.
It can distract you from your baby and feeding
If a phone is present, eye contact might not always be there, but likely you are getting plenty of face time with your baby. Breastfeeding is also a skill, so early on, it might be challenging to multi-task while figuring out latch and paying attention to your baby's cues.
The Bottom Line
As long as your baby's essential needs are being met and you actively engage them in a loving way, how much or how little you hold them is entirely up to you. If you want to hold them, do. If you want to put them down, even if they cry, that's fine as well.
After realizing that, I'm sure you're still wondering, “Can you hold a newborn too much?” The direct answer is no, but it's still important to allow your baby to use their muscles on their own. You should give them time to raise their head and stretch out when needed.
A newborn should be put to the breast at least every 2 to 3 hours and nurse for 10 to 15 minutes on each side. But rather than worry about duration, it's important to know that the best way to ensure that the baby is getting enough breast milk is by feeding frequency, wet and dirty diapers, and weight gain.
Watch your baby! If your baby is awake and swallowing at the breast, there is no reason to switch sides. If your baby's swallowing has slowed, they have started to fall asleep, and/or they seem frustrated at the breast, it's time to switch sides.
Dr Jack Newman, a Canadian paediatrician and breastfeeding expert, believes that the most common cause of fussiness at the breast is when a baby is frustrated with slow milk flow resulting in hungry babies who fuss, cry, pull at the breast or keep coming off the breast.