The Good Start Guide to Breastfeeding

Don't accept those gift packs that formula companies send or hand out at the hospital. Many nursing experts compare having formula in the house of a breastfeeding mother to having chocolate ice cream in the house of a person trying to diet. It's best not to let it through your door. The formula companies will do their best to convince you to "at least" add supplementary bottles of formula to your baby's daily feedings. To help sway you, high-savings coupons will arrive in your mail. I even received an entire case of ready-to-use formula when I was in my ninth month of pregnancy. Instead, give the formula to your local food bank and put the coupons with the formula that's for sale at your grocery store. You'll be encouraging your family to resist formula's so-called convenience. Experienced nursing mothers know that there is no convenience that compares to breastmilk. It's free, always ready and at the right temperature, and there are no bottles to wash or lug around. Furthermore, since our bodies work on a "supply and demand" system, there's no such thing as having to run to the store at midnight because you've "run out of food" for your baby.

Another way your breastfeeding partnership can get off to a great start is to avoid giving your newborn a pacifier. Part of the reason that babies like to nurse is that they enjoy sucking. The "non-nutritive" sucking that a pacifier provides has been shown to decrease the number of nursing sessions, which is exactly what you don't want to happen while your body is getting adjusted to making the right amount of milk for your child. "Nipple confusion" is another reason to forego a pacifier. Some babies get so used to having artificial nipples in their mouths that they don't know what to do when presented with real nipples at nursing time.