Is night breastfeeding necessary?

Watch Video: Is night breastfeeding necessary? by Wendy Haldeman, RN, MN, IBCLC, ...
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Is night breastfeeding necessary?

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The question I frequently get asked is it okay if I pump extra milk during the day and then go to sleep at night and let somebody else take care of my baby, which is a very enticing idea. But it can cause some issues. Moms and babies need to be in tandem and if breasts don´t get emptied frequently, the milk supply can be threatened. So what happens to these moms is they will say go to bed at 10 o´clock at night and sleep until six in the morning and they wake up with extremely hard, full breasts, which are painful. If they do that night after night, the body gets the message that the breasts are making too much milk and it starts to cut back. And unfortunately for a lot of women, if you start reducing your milk supply, you cannot get it back. So as hard as it is to get up with that baby at night, for the sake of your milk supply it is really a good idea. So what if you use your helper, your baby nurse or your mom to at night bring you the baby and sort of sit with you while you just lie on your side and sleepily nurse your baby and then take your baby back and burp and change and settle your baby while you go back to sleep rather than you sleeping through the night. It would be a much better idea for your milk supply.

Watch Video: Is night breastfeeding necessary? by Wendy Haldeman, RN, MN, IBCLC, ...

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Wendy Haldeman, RN, MN, IBCLC

Lactation Specialist

Wendy Haldeman, MN, RN, IBCLC is a co-founder of the Pump Station and Nurtury. She received both her nursing and lactation education at UCLA, is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), and a certified Happiest Baby on the Block instructor. She lectures frequently on human lactation at medical and nursing schools and has been identified by publications, such as Fit Pregnancy, as an expert in her field. Wendy facilitates the New Mother Support groups, and teaches the prenatal Breastfeeding and Baby Care Classes at The Pump Station. She and her husband Tim are proud of their two grown daughters and their 15 month old granddaughter.

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