Getting Breastfeeding Off to a Good Start

Preparing to breastfeed your baby

Learn about breastfeeding during your pregnancy. Sign up for the free Halton Online Prenatal Classes, and the virtual prenatal breastfeeding class.
Share your plan to breastfeed with your support team (e.g., your partner, family, friends and healthcare provider).
Get support quickly. Learn about available breastfeeding supports (external link) and sign up for peer support with the Halton Breastfeeding Connection.
Learn how to hand express your breastmilk to help increase your confidence.

This page is written with inclusivity in mind. Learn about the use of inclusive language in Halton’s breastfeeding information.

Skin-to-skin care

Skin-to-skin care is when your baby is laying on your bare chest, with no clothing or blankets between the two of you (your baby can be in a diaper).

How to practice safe skin-to-skin care

Sit in a laid-back position, alert and not sleepy. Then, place your baby with their:

shoulders and chest facing you
face visible and their nose and mouth are not covered
head turned to one side with a straight neck
head tilted up in a sniffing position
arms and legs should be flexed (in a frog position)

Note: If you feel like you may fall asleep, place your baby skin-to-skin with someone who is alert, or in a safe place.

A mother and her baby doing skin-to-skin at the hospital under a blanket.

Being skin-to-skin helps your baby transition to the outside world. As soon as your baby is born, bring them directly to your chest to be held skin-to-skin. Unless urgent care is needed, your baby should stay skin-to-skin for at least an hour or until they have had their first feed.

Practice skin-to-skin often in the first few weeks and months of your baby’s life to gain all the benefits listed below.

Being skin-to-skin helps the birthing parent:

Being skin-to-skin helps your baby:

Feed your baby early, often and effectively

Learning how to latch your baby to your breast is a new skill for you both. In the beginning, breastfeeding your baby will take longer, but gradually as your confidence and milk volumes grow, and your baby becomes more efficient, the time you spend feeding will decrease.

Your baby will tell you how often and how long they want to eat. In the first few weeks, new babies may need to be woken up to ensure they feed at least 8 times in 24 hours. As they get older and bigger they will become more alert and will wake on their own to feed.

Start breastfeeding right after birth

Feed your baby often

Look for signs that breastfeeding is going well

Other signs that feeding is going well:

Feeding often: it is important that your baby feeds at least 8 times in a 24-hour period.
Wet and dirty diapers: wet and dirty diapers are a great sign that your baby is getting enough milk. Babies over 5 days old must have at least 6 wet diapers per day and at least 3 yellow, seedy poops per day. After 4 weeks, a breastfed baby may continue to poop frequently, but some may only poop once every few days.
Weight gain: it is normal for a baby to lose weight after they are born. After day three most babies begin to gain weight and will be back to their birth weight around two weeks of age. The WHO growth charts are recommended for tracking the growth of a breastfed baby (external link).
Hydrated: other signs that your baby is hydrated include having periods of alertness, a strong cry and a moist, wet mouth.
Softer breasts following feeding: in the early weeks your breasts may feel softer after you feed your baby. However, over time your body will adjust and only make the milk your baby needs. After this, your breasts will not feel as full between feedings, this is normal and does not mean that you do not have enough milk.

Watch a video reviewing the signs that feeding is going well (YouTube video).

Get help from a certified lactation consultant (external link) or your health care provider right away if your baby does not have enough wet and dirty diapers or you are concerned they are not getting enough milk.

Hand expression

Hand expression is using your hands to remove breastmilk. In the early days, hand expression is more effective than a pump at removing breastmilk. Early hand expression can help increase your milk supply, soften your breasts to help your baby latch, and improve your confidence in your body’s ability to make breastmilk.

Learn more about the benefits of hand expression and how to hand express your breastmilk.

Latching

Getting a deep latch while breastfeeding helps your baby remove more milk from your breasts and prevents sore nipples.

When preparing to latch, it can be helpful to hold your baby skin-to-skin, feed your baby when they are showing early feeding cues, and ensure that you and your baby are as comfortable and relaxed as possible. Watch a video on how to latch your baby (YouTube video).

Tips for getting a deep latch that supports effective milk transfer:

Bring your baby to the breast, not your breast to the baby (leaning back slightly can help your baby have more control).
Stomach to stomach, your baby should be facing you, with their ear, shoulder and hip in a straight line.
Tuck the bottom, your baby should be tucked in close with nothing between you (e.g., blankets or baby's arm). This helps them feel secure and safe and stimulates their sucking reflex.
Support your baby’s neck with a hand behind their shoulders (do not press on the back of their head as they will push back against your hand).
Nipple to nose, as your baby’s nose approaches the nipple, allow your baby to explore, this will help trigger a wide-open mouth. Their neck should be slightly extended (tilted back in the sniffing position).
Deep latch, once your baby’s mouth opens wide, place their bottom lip and chin below your nipple and gently push the areola into the mouth. Your nipple should be the last part to go in their mouth and should be pointing to the roof of your baby’s mouth.
Nose free, your baby’s head should be tipped back with their chin pressed into the breast and their nose clear or only lightly touching the breasts to allow them to breathe.

Positioning

There are many different breastfeeding positions. If your baby has a deep latch, and you are both comfortable, you can hold your baby in almost any position. Watch a video with more information about positioning (YouTube video).

Laid-back breastfeeding

Babies are born with a natural instinct to latch and feed at the breast. Laid-back breastfeeding (also called biological breastfeeding and/or baby-led) allows babies to use their primitive reflexes to root, latch and suck at the breast, giving them more control to latch on themselves. Laid-back breastfeeding ensures the baby is well supported and free to move, while also allowing the breastfeeding parent to be in a relaxed position.

Laid-back breastfeeding can be helpful:

if your baby is having difficulty latching
to help your baby keep a deep latch during feeds
if you are experiencing sore nipples

How to do laid-back breastfeeding:

Position yourself in a laid-back (semi-reclined) position, use pillows for additional support if needed.
Place your baby skin-to-skin with their front facing you, and their head at the level of your breasts/chest.
Your baby will start rooting (looking for the nipple) by bobbing their head up and down.
Help to support your baby’s bottom and back while they are rooting. This allows your baby to tilt their head back a little, making it easier to latch.
Your baby will eventually find your nipple, though they may find it with their hands first (this is fine).
Your baby will open their mouth wide, pushing their chin into your breast, and latch on.
When your baby has latched on, you can adjust their position and provide support to keep them in place.
Keeping their bottom tucked in helps support a deep latch.

Frequently asked questions

How can I increase my breastmilk supply and/or reduce supplementing with formula?

If you have been regularly supplementing your baby with formula and your goal is to reduce or stop giving formula, you will want to ensure your body is making enough breastmilk to feed your baby. There are some things you can do to help support this:

Breastfeed based on baby’s hunger cues, at least 8 times in 24 hours. When breasts are very full, milk production stops. Regularly breastfeeding or expressing milk helps to increase breastmilk supply. Avoid going long stretches (longer than 3-4 hours) without feeding or expressing milk.
Remove milk from your breasts anytime you give your baby formula. This tells your body to make the extra milk needed to replace the supplemented feeding. This can be done with hand expression, pumping or a combination of both, and can help increase or maintain your breastmilk supply.
Breastfeed from both breasts before supplementing, if possible.
Offer expressed breastmilk, if available, before supplementing with formula (do not mix them together in the same bottle).
To protect breastfeeding and prevent overfeeding, if possible, feed your baby using a small clean cup or spoon. Feeding your baby using an artificial nipple (i.e., a bottle) requires a shallow latch, unlike the deep latch needed for breastfeeding.
If you are using a bottle to feed your baby expressed breastmilk or formula, practice paced bottle feeding (YouTube video) and give your baby small and frequent feedings that gradually increase, if needed, to avoid overfeeding. Also watch for signs that your baby is full (i.e., closing their mouth or letting go of the nipple, turning their head or pushing away, no longer sucking, falling asleep).
Place your baby skin-to-skin often while learning their hunger cues.

Do I need to feed from both sides at each feed?

During a feed, your baby will likely take more milk from the first breast offered. To ensure your baby feeds from both sides evenly, try to alternate which breast you start with at each feed.

Feed your baby from one breast until they finish feeding (they may come off or fall asleep). You can then offer the other breast. Some babies feed off both sides at each feed and some only feed off one breast at a feed. Sometimes your baby may go back and forth a few times in the same feeding.

Do I need to feed my baby at night?

In the early weeks, night feedings are important because:

your baby’s stomach is small, and they need to feed frequently
night feedings are important for establishing your milk supply
melatonin levels in breastmilk are higher in the evening and night, which supports infant sleep patterns
feeding your baby frequently prevents your breasts from becoming too full

Research shows that breastfeeding reduces the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Any breastfeeding in the first 2 to 4 months reduces your baby’s risk of SIDS by 40%, and continued breastfeeding for 6 months or longer reduces the risk even more.

As your baby grows, they will not need to feed as often. Every baby is unique and so are their sleep patterns. Understand typical and safe sleep for babies.

Do I need to eat anything special or avoid any foods while breastfeeding?

Generally, people do not need to limit or avoid specific foods while breastfeeding.

Caffeine can be passed to your baby in small amounts through breastmilk. Consuming low to moderate amounts (about 2 cups of coffee per day) usually does not affect the baby.
Some types of fish contain more mercury than others, which can impact a baby’s brain development. Be aware of these types of fish and limit your intake of them while breastfeeding.

Learn more at Healthy eating when pregnant and breastfeeding - Canada's Food Guide (external link).

Can I drink alcohol while breastfeeding?

When breastfeeding, no alcohol use is the safest option for your baby. Alcohol can be passed to your baby through your breastmilk.

Alcohol in your breastmilk can:

Change the taste of your breastmilk.
Put your baby at risk for weakness, drowsiness, decreased growth, low blood sugar and possible developmental delays.
Cause your baby to wake more often.
Decrease your milk let down so that your baby gets less milk.
Reduce your breastmilk supply.

Alcohol will clear from breastmilk at the same rate it clears from the bloodstream:

It takes about two hours for the alcohol from one standard drink to be eliminated from the breastmilk.
Only time will remove alcohol from breastmilk (expressing the milk will not remove the alcohol).
Feed your baby previously expressed breastmilk if alcohol may still be present in your breastmilk at the timing of the next feed.

Ensure you have someone who is not impaired to care for your baby if you plan to consume alcohol.

Will giving my baby a pacifier impact breastfeeding?

It can. Try to avoid the use of a pacifier until breastfeeding is well established, usually around 3-4 weeks.

When your baby uses a pacifier:

You may not notice their early hunger cues.
They may spend less time feeding at the breast, which can reduce your milk supply.
The mouth and jaw movements needed for breastfeeding are different than sucking on a bottle or pacifier, this can lead to a shallow latch and painful nipples.

For more information about pacifier use, visit the Canadian Paediatrics Website (external link).

When should my baby start solids?

When your baby is about six months old, they might be ready to start trying solid foods. At six months of age, babies have greater head and neck control and can communicate better. Be aware of their cues and ensure that they show most of the signs of readiness before you begin.

Breastmilk continues to be an important source of nutrition for older infants and children even when solid foods are introduced. It is recommended that children continue to receive breastmilk for up to two years or longer.

How do I continue breastfeeding if I need to return to work or school?

When you return to work or school, there are many ways that you can continue to breastfeed your baby:

hand express or pump your breastmilk at work
have someone bring your baby to you for feedings
breastfeed your baby when you are together and provide other food and drinks when you are apart

You have rights as a breastfeeding parent, including the right to breastfeed your child in a public area. No one is allowed to ask you to “cover up,” disturb you, or ask you to move to another area that is more “discreet.”

Your employer must accommodate your needs to breastfeed or express milk for your child, unless doing so would cause undue hardship to the employer. Read a brochure about the requirements under the Ontario Human Rights Code (external PDF).