NURSING MOTHERS

Continue prenatal vitamins for as long as you nurse your baby.  Wash your hands before nursing. Before your milk comes in, offer your baby each breast for only three to five minutes.  After your milk production begins, offer your baby the first breast for fifteen minutes and supplement with the other breast for five minutes.  After twenty minutes a baby is usually "playing" and not nursing.  Expose your nipples to air for dryness the first 7-10 days.  Apply breast cream to dry nipples.  If your nipples become so tender or cracked that you are unable to nurse use nipple shields or a breast pump for several days before resuming nursing without protection on that nipple.  Should your breasts become tender, hard, red or you develop a fever of 100.4 or greater, you may have developed mastitis.  If this occurs, you should continue nursing from that breast (or use a breast pump), take Tylenol and apply hot compresses to that breast between nursing sessions.  If after 24 hours you are no better, please call the office and speak with one of our nurses.