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Your baby may be very sleepy the first few days. Your baby’s stomach is
small so your baby will need to feed often. You may feel increased thirst
while nursing, drowsiness during breastfeeding and mild uterine contractions
while breastfeeding the first few days.
Avoid feeding your baby from a bottle, either breastmilk or formula, for the
first 3 to 4 weeks or until you baby learns to feed well. Sucking from a bottle
is a different mouth action. Bottle sucking may interfere with the baby’s
nursing at the breast.
After the first 3 to 4 weeks, you can try to feed your baby breast milk
through a bottle if you would like. If your baby is not able to breastfeed, you
can pump your breast milk, feed your baby the breast milk through the bottle
or freeze the breast milk in a closed container for later use.
Your baby will give you signs of hunger called feeding cues. Your baby’s
feeding cues may include:
• Clenched fists
Try to begin feeding your baby before he or she becomes too upset.
Watch for signs that your baby is latched on to your nipple well and getting
milk. Signs may include:
• A fast, shallow motion in the cheeks as your baby first latches on that