Breastfeeding and Chestfeeding can feel very intimidating at first, but being aware of some facts can help ease any parent into nourishing baby. Let's take a look at some tips that will help boost your confidence and help you feel a little more at ease.
1) Baby is born with an amazing ability to naturally find the breast or chest and begin eating. Babies who are laid down on the stomach of the parent will often find their way to the nipple and begin suckling without any help! It is an amazing feeling when you get the chance to see this in action.
2) Chestfeeding for trans and nonbinary parents can sometimes be very challenging. Dysphoria can play a part at times and it is important to remember to take your Chestfeeding journey day by day. Be gentle with yourself! If you need to supplement with donor milk that is okay!
It is very hard to find a trans or nonbinary friendly lactation consultant still, so I found connecting with other nonbinary and trans parents helped me to feel more at ease. I find messaging folx can help as many in the community are willing to offer support.
Remember you're valid, loved, and amazing!
3) Breastfeeding for cisgender people can also be a challenge. Often it can feel like you're not supported if you grew up in an environment that was not breastfeeding friendly. It takes a while to get the hang of all this and that is okay! If you need to supplementing with donor milk is okay.
A lactation consultant will be much easier for you to find. I suggest finding one as they are a great resource!
4) The Haakaa and other such manual breast/chest pumps help a lot too! While baby is latched to one side have the Haakaa on the other side. You'll find supply will go up after a few weeks with this support as well. It also helped me to have some milk stored for baby when dysphoria would kick in.
5) Skin to skin contact is important! It helps signal to your body and baby that it is time to eat and milk usually flows easier this way.
6) When baby is latched on sometimes it can help to lightly grab the top of your chest/breast like a sandwich and massage downwards. This will bring more milk down to baby.
Prior to this method it was once thought that holding the chest/breast close to the nipple like a cigar would bring more milk to baby, but this was later found to inhibit milk flow. If you do have a large let down though this hold will help slow the milk flow and allow for baby not to choke. This all depends on the person's body though. Sometimes people have a large flow at the start of feeding and some do not. That is okay!
7) Breast/Chest size is not an indication of the amount of milk the body will make!
8) Never feel you have to only feed baby on one side and wait another hour or three to feed on the other. Baby can alternate which side they eat on during any feeding. It is a myth that you have to track which side you're feeding baby on!
9) Never feel like you have to time baby either! When they are hungry feed them whether that be 30 minutes later or 3 hours. Let them eat until they are done. This way your body will keep up with how much baby wants to eat. Cluster feeding is real and acceptable. Don't let baby wanting more soon get you down! You are making plenty of milk, trust me! It is baby's way of saying hey I'm ready for your body to make me more.
10) Lastly, don't be afraid to ask for help! If you need a small break don't be afraid to ask your partner or a friend to hold baby. It can help to take even just 10 minutes to yourself sometimes.
You're an amazing parent! You've got this!
By Anu Morgan