Tips for breastfeeding your premature baby

 

 

Breastfeeding is vital for both full-term and premature babies. However, for premature babies, breastfeeding is the best way to provide them with the special care and attention they need for proper growth and development.

Breast milk is more easy for the baby to digest than formula, and it’s more compatible with your baby’s delicate stomach. Breast milk also boosts your baby’s immune-system and helps them fight infections, which is something premature babies are particularly vulnerable to.Your breast milk also contains antibodies as well as essential minerals and vitamins which help a preemie stay healthy and grow strong.

There may be times when you’re not able to meet your baby’s milk demands, but it’s important to not give up breastfeeding. Persevering will improve your milk production.Your premature baby will likely not latch on right after birth so may need to be fed with a tube, but even so, rather than giving them formula you should use breast milk as early as possible.

 

Start expressing breast milk right away:

Ideally start within 24hrs of giving birth. This will help you establish a healthy milk supply. At the start when you begin to express, you will produce a thick yellowish substance called colostrum, which is nutritiously dense and helps the baby’s growth.

 

Use breast pumps or massage your breasts:

Somehow you will need to start the breast milk flow and either massaging or using a pump works for this.  Once your milk is flowing you can start expressing milk using a breast pump. These can be either manual or electric, obviously the electric ones are less work. Manual pumps can be quite tiring at a time when you may not have loads of energy anyway. Using a pump regularly can help to improve your breast milk supply. Massaging your breasts stimulates it to produce more milk. Consult a lactation expert to learn how you can massage your breasts. We have links to some breast pumps on our products page.

 

Breastfeed as often as you can:

Make sure you feed your premature baby at least six to eight times per day. The gap between feeding should not be more than six hours.

 

Provide plenty of skin-to-skin contact:

This is called “Kangaroo care” and basically this is just about the baby spending time resting on your bare chest.  It improves baby’s circulation, keeps them warm and increases chances of natural breastfeeding, as well as strengthening the bond between you.

 

Express extra milk even while you’re breastfeeding:

It’s essential to keep expressing milk in between feeds to improve your breast milk supply. Expressing more often signals your brain to increase the milk production.

 

Be patient:

During their first few days, your premature baby will likely be fed through a tube but it is necessary to offer your breasts for the baby to learn how to suckle. Doing so will help your baby get used to the breastfeeding naturally. Even once the baby gets used to suckling, they might take just a little bit, since premature babies get tired so quickly. Stay with it and carry on feeding your baby naturally as often as they will take it. Your constant support and continuous breastfeeding can help your baby develop better.

 

Good luck, and please feel free to leave questions or comments below 🙂

 

Do the Effects of Pumping with the Booty-Beauty breast pump last?

One common question we often get ask about vacuum breast pumps like the Booty Beauty breast pump is “do the effects last?”.

It’s a valid question, and whilst most vacuum systems aren’t tremendously expensive you still don’t want to spend money on something which doesn’t work.

If you are not familiar with the Booty-Beauty breast pumps let me give you a quick run-down.

The Booty Beauty breast pump is a suction device which when used increases oxygen and blood flow to the breasts, which in turn stimulates new tissue growth. It’s known as “tension induced tissue growth” and is the same principle which applies when people stretch earlobes and other piercings, as well as the “tissue expanders” sometimes used by Doctors during breast augmentation and reconstructive surgery.

The Booty Beauty breast cup kit comprises two breast cups, some clear latex tubing and a sturdy hand pump. The cups are made out of polycarbonate with is extremely tough and won’t crack like some of the cheaper systems do.

To use the device you attach both cups to the pump with the supplied hoses and adapters. Then apply some of the supplied cream (or moisturiser will do) to your skin where the cups will make contact (this ensures a good seal).

Then place a cup over each breast and gently pump. You will get to a point where you can feel the suction and it’s best to proceed gently, especially at the start. Your breasts will get used to the expansion over time and you should find you can go bigger with practice. Patience is key though and take it slow, let your body adapt. Once you feel like you’re used to the current pressure you can give the pump another squeeze and increase it slightly.

The first time you pump with the Booty-beauty breast cups you will see some initial swelling of your breasts, but this will probably fade within a few hours.  That’s normal. I know waiting can be frustrating but this doesn’t happen overnight. You need to continue to use the system over a period of weeks to start seeing permanent results.

Ideally you should pump once a day for about 30 mins (or a minimum 5 days in the week) and over time you will start to notice that the swelling becomes permanent.

The pumping process can be a little inconvenient, but it’s best to do something like watch tv so you’re not trying to do things while you’ve got the cups attached. 30 mins pumping is only about the length of a short TV episode so it can be quite a nice “chillout” time if you can work it into your daily routine.

Before considering a breast pump you should know that naturally increasing your breast size with this method will take time, but it can be a fun and rewarding journey, and vs the cost, risk and downtime from surgical alternatives I think it’s still quite a reasonable proposition.

So as mentioned above after using the Booty-Beauty breast pump for a few sessions swelling is immediate but then goes back down, but if you are consistent with your pumping your results will become permanent because you are stimulating new tissue growth. You should begin to see lasting results after about six weeks, obviously the longer they use the product the better the results become.

Please note – your results may vary!

The reason being is this has a lot to do with skin texture some women have very soft skin that expands with ease, others do not, some women can get away with pumping once a day for 20 minutes while other have to pump twice a day for longer periods of time.

 

 

There are additional products for women who may struggle a bit more with results, for example airlock breast cups for women who require longer pumping sessions. When using the airlock, you pump up to your desired pressure and then you can detach the pump (whilst maintaining pressure) which makes the system more convenient to use over a longer period of time, and can make it easier to do other things while “pumping”.

 

So does it work?

Basically – yes. The caveat there is that like any tissue expansion therapy it does take time for new tissue to grow but once it has its there to stay.

The key thing is to proceed gently (don’t overpump) and stay with it – pump every day if you can. A quick search online and I’m sure you’ll find plenty of testimonials from women who have had success with this type of system. The thing they have in common is that they persisted with it!.

Using the Booty-Beauty breast system is a safe alternative to breast surgery and can offer long lasting benefits to any woman looking for a natural way to increase the size of her breasts.

You can buy the Booty-Beauty breast cups vacuum enhancement system HERE

Increase your breast size naturally using just petroleum jelly (vaseline) and toothpaste!

We’re all familiar with using vaseline for things like keeping our skin soft and easing chapped lips (especially in winter), and soothing irritated skin after shaving, but did you know you can use it to increase the size of your breasts too? Well apparently so…

Unlikely as it may sound, this does actually work, you have to stay with it and perform the routine daily for at least 30 days in order to see noticeable results though.

Here’s what you need to get going:

  • Vaseline
  • Toothpaste

Yes that’s all!

Here’s what you need to do.

  1. After having a bath or shower, apply some vaseline to each breast and  massage for about 5 minutes, including the nipple/areola.
  2. Rub a bit of toothpaste on your nipples
  3. Massage your breasts again with Vaseline for a further 5 minutes, but avoiding the nipple area this time.
  4. Now wear sports bra and you are done
  5. Repeat this routine daily

In an idea world you’d do this after bathing/showering and before you go to bed, obviously that may not be practical for everyone, so just adapt as needed.

The important thing is that you stick with this routine for at least a month, preferably longer.

There’s a common misconception that Vaseline clogs your pores, that’s not the case, so you can also happily apply it to your face, neck and arms for softer skin.

 

Did you know?  10 Other uses for Vaseline/petroleum Jelly:

– Voluptuous eyelashes! Apply some Vaseline to your eyelashes overnight and notice how they thicken.

– Use it to soften the dry skin on your elbows. It also works to soften your fingernail cuticles.

– Keep your lips soft! Apply a bit of vaseline for a slight gloss and to maintain that luscious, kissable pout.

– Make your perfume last longer! Apply some Vaseline so your perfume points (cleavage, behind your ear, neck, and on your wrist) before you apply your perfume and as if by magic your scent will last longer!

– Dip the end of a cotton-bud in some vaseline and use it to remove old makeup. This works especially well for removing the glue from false eyelashes

– Make eyebrow plucking less painful. Apply some vaseline to your eyebrows a few minutes before plucking. The moisturising effect should make plucking noticably less painful.

– Prevent hair dye from seeping onto your forehead: Softly dab all over your hairline and keep that box hair dye from dying your forehead the color of your new hairdo.

– Mix vaseline with some sea salt to make a DIY exfoliating body wash. Come out of the shower feeling smooth and sexy.

– Apply a bit of vaseline to your teeth for an effortless smile. It also helps prevent lipstick stains on your teeth.

– Rejuvenate your accessories! Smarten up that handbag or patent leather shoes by putting a little dab of vaseline on a cloth and polishing lightly.