- Feed baby at least eight times in every 24hrs
- Feed baby at least once every night – night-time breastfeeds make more milk!
- Offer both breasts at each feed
- Watch your baby’s suckling pattern – you should see deep slow rhythmical sucks and swallowing, with short pauses, throughout the feed
- Keep baby stimulated and active at breast, by talking, eye contact, stroking her hair etc
- If you think your baby is not feeding effectively, ask for help from your midwife or health visiting team. In the meantime, keep breastfeeding and it may be helpful to express and give your baby the expressed milk as well.
Even if you do give your baby some formula, for whatever reason, don’t stop breastfeeding/expressing! Ask for help and keep going with mixed feeding while you are working on the problem. For information about how to tell whether feeding is going well by looking at your baby’s wet and dirty nappies!