by Krishna Shanmukh

Created on: March 15, 2007   Last Updated: April 25, 2007

A mother, who delivered the baby through cesarean section and suffered a lot from nipple tenderness, would like to share her experiences on this topic.

The simple test to know whether you baby is getting enough breast milk is observing your new born baby. The observation must include:

1. Urine observation: Every new born baby must wet 7-8 times in a day. The urine must be pale in color with light smelling. The dark colored urine with unpleasant smelling is the sign of not getting enough milk.

2. Stool observation: Bowel moments should be in mustard colored. Atleast 3-5 bowel moments your baby should have in a day. if your baby's bowel moments are not satisfactory then this is sign of not getting enough milk.

3. Baby weight: You must watch your baby's weight regularly. Generally new born baby looses her weight during first week. Gradually she comes to her birth weight within 10 to 15 days. If your baby has n't gained her birth weight within two weeks, that means your baby is not getting enough milk.

4. Awareness of nursing techniques: See that your baby is getting enough milk by allowing her to latch on properly. That means see whether your baby is drinking milk properly on each breast. He must latch on each breast for 15 -20 minutes. When you feel that the breast has become light then shift you baby to another breast. If you have nipple tenderness then consult your doctor for better suggestion. If you find any pain or scratch at nipple , means your baby is not latching on properly and not getting enough milk.

5. Those who delivers the baby normally, generally will not face any problems while breast feeding. For cesarean section mothers it would be difficult breastfeed their babies. In that case better to use breast pumps that extract milk from your breast into a given bottle. Later that bottled milk can be given to your baby.
6. I am telling you this with my personal experience. As I delivered the baby through cesarean section , suffered a lot in breast feeding my baby. That too I suffered a lot from nipple tenderness. I found my baby sleeping while feeding her. I was really worried a lot. That time one of online doctors suggested me to use breast pump. I have used breast pump and got good results. I used to get more than 100ml of milk every time I use breast pump. It worked efficiently for my kid and also helped me to get a sound sleep. Because, getting not enough milk is almost a nightmare for every mother.

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