It can take a little while for the two of you to feel you have your act together but, once you do, it's convenient and easy.
If you're unable to feed your baby (you may be going back to work or having a night out with friends) but want your baby still to have breastmilk you could express it and have a bottle prepared. This is a technique you can learn to do by hand or with a pump.
It can be stored in the fridge for between three and eight days, depending on the temperature of the fridge, or in the freezer for up to three months, see Expressing and Storing.
Breastfeeding needs no equipment but you might want to think about buying some of the following:
Nursing bras - to make 'access' easier, and to improve comfort and support
Breastpads - to absorb leaks in the early days/weeks; folded up cotton hankies do the job just as well
If you're going to offer breastmilk from a bottle you may consider the following:
A breastpump for expressing, although hand expressing only needs an ordinary sterilised household bowl.
A bottle and teat to give expressed breastmilk Sterilising equipment.
At least six bottles and teats.
Technique
Early feeds are a learning process for you and your baby. You may need guidance from a midwife or breastfeeding counsellor, and an experienced eye to help you avoid becoming sore. Well-positioned and attached babies shouldn't damage your nipples. There's no single right way to hold your baby, as long as you remember:
Your baby shouldn't have to twist his body, turn or flex his head to come on to your breast Your baby needs to take your nipple far back into the top third of his mouth (otherwise his tongue will get in the way) His mouth needs to be wide open, with his tongue coming over the bottom gum and lip Pushing his head on to your breast can make him uncomfortable and resistant. Instead, bring him on when his mouth is at its widest point He has powerful instincts to get it 'right', and you can work with these
Follow what your baby wants to do. You'll get better and better at following his cues. He may want both breasts every time, and you can offer the second when it seems right - maybe when he wants to take a natural break.
Holding your baby so he can attach himself can be a comfortable and easy way to get things going. Lie back with your baby lengthwise down your body, just cuddling him gently. Newborn babies, with their powerful instincts and reflexes, can get themselves on to the breast with very little help.
It's also a good way to 'get back to basics' with a baby who's had a difficult birth, or who has been handled a lot.
You already have colostrum (the first milk that your breasts produce) and some time between days two and five after the birth, your milk changes and becomes more copious. This is because prolactin, the milk-making hormone, has worked on your breasts as soon as the placenta was delivered.
If you don't breastfeed, production slows down and then stops.
You continue producing milk only if it's removed from your breasts - that's how your body knows your baby wants it.
There's no need to time breastfeeds, or schedule them
There's no need to time breastfeeds, or schedule them. In fact, if you do, you may end up with problems.
Babies don't need to be on the breast for a minimum or maximum time, either. Babies have individual needs, and mothers have individual milk storage capacity and responses. So responding to your baby is the best way of ensuring breastfeeding works out.