Disclaimer: This post is not intended to start a debate of whether or not breast is best. It is meant as an encouragement for those who choose the breastfeeding route or are considering breastfeeding. However you decide to feed your baby is your own personal decision.
Happy National Breastfeeding Month! That's right, August is National Breastfeeding month and was proclaimed so by the United States Breastfeeding Committee in 2011. In honor of this, I decided to dedicate a mini series for the month of August to help support and encourage breastfeeding moms and moms who are considering breastfeeding. Keep in mind, I am not an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), my tips are strictly from my personal experience along with my personal research.
If you are new here, I wrote about my breastfeeding journey with my daughter Sophia whom I breastfed for about 15 months in case you are interested in why I decided to breastfeed since I rarely witnessed it growing up and struggling to continue to breastfeed while pregnant with baby number two. Since I was determined to be successful at breastfeeding, I followed these simple steps that helped me be successful. I was fortunate to not encounter any major stumbling blocks like many nursing moms do such as a tongue-tie, nursing strike or anything else of the sort so if you are experiencing any problems with breastfeeding or just not sure about your milk supply, latch or anything else, I do highly suggest contacting an IBCLC (find a local one here).