Breast is best. The World Health Organization, Canadian Paediatric Association and scores of other experts agree breastfeeding is the healthiest choice for baby. Eighty-five percent of new moms try it. Yet only 17 per cent of us breastfeed exclusively for the six months that experts recommend. The numbers don’t add up. Here’s one reason: breastfeeding is hard work. Yet, it’s worth it. It’s best for baby (lower childhood obesity rates, better immune systems), as well as new moms (what other bonding experience will burn off 500 extra calories per day?).

Read on for nursing tips and surprising facts and remember, it gets easier every day you do it.

1. Formula and breastfeeding can mix -- even from Day One
The day after my baby was born, I was in my hospital room freaking out because my milk still hadn’t come in and I thought my baby was going to starve. I was trying to get her to latch on to take in some colostrum (that’s the nutrient-dense “pre-milk” your breasts secrete), but I was doubtful as to whether I even had any, and besides, she wasn’t latching on at all. None of the nurses even uttered the word “formula.” And my mother-in-law was insinuating that if I didn’t abandon nursing and reach for the formula, my baby was done for. I was thinking it was time to throw in the towel.

Then my new-mom friend Sonja phoned. “Just ask the nurses for formula,” she said. “You can give her that until your milk comes in -- just don’t use a bottle or she’ll never latch on.” Bingo. While none of the nurses offered formula to me, once I asked, I got it, a whole six-pack, in fact. I gently tipped tiny sips of formula from a paper cup into my newborn’s mouth. It was messy, she hardly ingested any, but it was enough to keep us going until my milk came in a half-day later. But to avoid feeding problems -- nursing from a bottle and breast use different mouth actions -- don’t use a bottle to feed formula to a newborn. (Though you can introduce a bottle for extracted breast milk, or formula, down the road, once nursing has been comfortably established).

Page 1 of 3