Breastfeeding Tips I Wish Someone Told Me Before My First Baby

If you’re here looking for breastfeeding tips, then come sit with me for a minute — because this is one of those heart-to-heart, honest conversations mums used to have around the kitchen table, long before everyone got scattered across countries and life got busier than busy.

These days nurses are rushed, families live far apart, proper breastfeeding support costs a small fortune, and mums feel more alone than ever. We didn’t used to do motherhood like this 😔 . Women used to have their mums, aunties, neighbours, grans — a whole village guiding them through those wobbly early days.

But if you’re feeling lost, lonely, overwhelmed, under-slept, cracked, leaking, Googling every two minutes, or secretly wondering “Why is this so HARD?”… you’re not failing. You’re just a mum in 2025 doing her best without the old village.

And I’m right here with you — as someone who breastfed four babies (my youngest fed until nearly six!), each with their own drama, their own quirks, and their own late-night surprises.

So…

Let’s Talk About the Latch — The Real, Practical Way

A good latch is everything. Not perfect, not Instagram-lovely… just good enough so it doesn’t hurt. Here’s what saved me:

1. Get yourself comfortable first

Honestly, start here. You’re not a pretzel — don’t fold yourself around the baby. Sit back, relax your shoulders, and bring baby to you. A firm pillow under baby helps loads to raise her/him up to you.

2. Position matters

• Place baby’s nose level with your nipple

• Chin pressed into your breast

• Head slightly tipped back, like she’s sniffing the air

• Never chin-down; that pinches

• Nose clear to breathe

3. Aim for a deep mouthful 😂🍔

If she’s only on the tip, it will hurt you. Think “big bite of a burger,” not “nibbling a cracker.”

4. The football/rugby hold 🏉

This was my favourite for control — especially in the early weeks when baby is slippery, wriggly, hungry, and impatient (basically a mini gremlin). I used to tuck them under my arm like a little rugby ball, which kept them snug at my side and gave me a clear view of their latch. It felt practical and secure, and I loved that I didn’t have to worry about them pressing on my tummy. Looking back, it was just such a comfortable way to feed, especially when they were tiny and still figuring things out.

Nipple Cream — Before or After Feeding?

Oof… cracked nipples! They should hand out medals 🏅🥇for surviving those.

Put nipple cream after each feed, not before.
Before feeding makes it too slippery and can affect how baby grips. After feeding helps heal and protect your skin before the next latch.

A little breastmilk rubbed in also works wonders — it’s nature’s built-in healing potion.

Healing Cracked Nipples (The Part No One Warns You About)

Cracked nipples are… brutal. Truly. But they do heal.

What helped me:

• Air-drying after feeds

• Nipple cream after every feed

• A deep latch (even if it feels like you’re doing origami with baby’s face)

• Limiting pumping until things feel better

• Lots of patience — nipples toughen up, but it takes time

And yes – your flow can take a while to come in. Totally normal. Keep stimulating the breasts, even if baby just wants to comfort-feed.

Is Comfort Feeding Wrong? No. And Here’s Why.

Absolutely not wrong.
Not spoiling.
Not creating “bad habits.”

Comfort feeding:

• regulates baby’s breathing

• calms their nervous system

• boosts your milk supply naturally

• releases calming hormones for you

• helps bonding and attachment

Babies don’t know how to self-regulate yet — you are their regulation. Comfort feeding isn’t manipulation. It’s biology.

If baby is on you all day and all night, it doesn’t mean your milk is “too little” or you’re doing it wrong. It means baby is human.

When Your Actual Breasts Ache (Not Just the Nipples)

No one warns you about this part. Everyone goes on about cracked nipples — which are awful, don’t get me wrong — but the deep breast ache that hits when your milk comes in? That can knock you sideways. 😩

Your breasts can feel:

• hot

• tight

• swollen

• bruised

• achy right into the armpits

• and just plain painful

Honestly, it feels like someone strapped two overinflated hot-water bottles to your chest.

Here’s what helped me — and countless moms before and after me:

🌿 Cabbage Leaves (Yes, Really!)

This is one of those old-school tricks that sounds strange until you try it. And then you think, “Why did no one tell me this sooner?!”

What to do:

• Use green cabbage (the big smooth one).

• Peel off whole leaves.

• Rinse them.

• Pop them in the fridge so they’re nice and cool.

• Place the leaves directly inside your bra, curved side hugging your breast.

• Replace when they warm up.

Why it helps:
Cabbage leaves naturally draw out heat and swelling. The coolness eases the throbbing, and the shape of the leaves fits your breast perfectly — nature’s little ice packs.

Important note:
Use cabbage leaves only for comfort. If you overuse them constantly for hours and hours, they can sometimes slightly lower milk supply for some moms. So use them when you need relief — especially in the early “milk coming in” days — but just not 24/7.

✨ Warm Then Cool (My Personal Routine)

Something else I did:

• A warm compress before feeding — this helped the milk flow.

• A cool compress after feeding — this helped with pain and swelling.

And yes, I walked around many days looking like a salad bar, but goodness, it worked.

A Quick Note About Leaking (Because NO ONE Mentions the Flooding)

While feeding on one side, the other breast often leaks like someone left the tap open. Always stick a cloth or breast pad under the “off-duty breast” — inside your bra or just held in place. Otherwise your top, your bedding, the couch, and possibly your slippers will get drenched.

Happens to the best of us.

Boosting Milk Flow Without Breaking the Bank

Honestly, forget fancy supplements if money is tight. Nature already helps you out.

• Double your water

• Oats, nuts, seeds, greens

• Warm compress or shower before feeding

• Skin-to-skin: keep baby close

• Rest as much as humanly possible

Oh! And before I forget —

🍇“Jungle Juice” 🍇

This stuff practically kept me alive during those long breastfeeding nights. I used to mix it up in a jug which I kept in the fridge. Then I had a glass or bottle of it next to the bed or wherever I was feeding baby because, let’s be honest, breastfeeding drains you like nothing else. My memory is a bit fuzzy on the exact recipe I used back then (mom-brain is forever!), but it’s actually a proper thing that’s been passed down through generations of South African mums — a sort of breastfeeding elixir packed with fluid, minerals, rooibos, and a few clever extras. It tastes lovely, goes down easy at 2 a.m., and works like an absolute bomb 💥for keeping your energy and milk supply steady.

Here’s the full recipe which I found:

Jungle Juice Breastfeeding Elixir

It’s famous among South African moms and is believed to help boost milk supply. Some versions can be quite sugary, but this more balanced version keeps all the benefits without turning into a sugar bomb.

You’ll need:

• 1.5 litres of water (500ml cold + 1 litre to boil)

• 2–3 rooibos tea bags (naturally caffeine-free)

• 500ml pure fruit juice (apple, litchi, or berry — no added sugar)
  If you want to avoid natural sugars, you can swap the juice for coconut water, which is also a powerful galactagogue ((from Greek: γάλα [γαλακτ-], milk, + ἀγωγός, leading), also known as a lactation inducer or milk booster, is a substance that promotes lactation in humans and other animals. It may be synthetic, plant-derived, or endogenous. They may be used to induce lactation and to treat low milk supply.)

• 1 sachet Rehidrat (the no-sugar/no-glucose version)

• 30ml Blackthorn Berry Elixir

• 10–15 drops Rescue Remedy

How to make it:

1. Boil 1 litre of water and steep the rooibos tea bags in it. Let it cool completely, then remove the tea bags.

2. Add the 500ml chilled water and 500ml fruit juice or coconut water.

3. Stir in the Blackthorn Berry Elixir, Rehidrat, and Rescue Remedy.

4. Mix well.

5. Sip a glass every time you breastfeed.

Here’s the recipe card for you to download and print: Jungle Juice Breastfeeding Elixir (PDF)

Source: breastfeeding-problems.com/jungle-juice-breastfeeding

Why Each Ingredient Matters (and What It Actually Does)

Because nothing lands better than knowing why you’re drinking something at 2 a.m. with one eye open.

💧 1.5 litres water (boiled + chilled)
Breastfeeding dehydrates you fast — faster than you realise. The combo of boiled (for the tea) and cold water helps keep the drink refreshing while still giving you enough volume to properly rehydrate throughout the day and night.

🍂 Rooibos tea

Rooibos is naturally caffeine-free, gentle on your stomach, and soothing when you’re stressed or overtired. It’s also full of antioxidants, which is a fancy way of saying “helpful little things your body likes when it’s working hard.” It gives the drink flavour without stimulating your system.

🍎 500ml pure fruit juice or coconut water

• Fruit juice gives quick, natural energy — perfect for those early days when you’re exhausted and eating one-handed.

• Coconut water is lower in sugar and naturally rich in electrolytes, which means it hydrates you more efficiently and can gently support milk production for some mums.

💧 Rehidrat (no-sugar version)
This is the big hydration booster. It replaces lost salts and minerals, especially sodium and potassium, which your body burns through while breastfeeding. It stops that shaky, light-headed feeling some new mums get and keeps your energy steadier.

🌿 Blackthorn Berry Elixir
This is the traditional ingredient that gives Jungle Juice its “oomph.” It’s known for supporting vitality and gently helping with energy levels during recovery, especially when you’re exhausted and running on fumes. Many mums feel it helps keep their milk supply more stable.

😌 Rescue Remedy
Not essential, but very helpful. Those first weeks are emotional, overwhelming, and sometimes just downright tough. Rescue Remedy is often used for calming the nervous system, taking the edge off tension, and helping you settle. A calmer mum usually equals a calmer baby and sometimes even a better let-down.

Burping Your Baby — The Tricks That Actually Worked

Burping is special. There’s the simple burp… then there’s the dramatic, full-body, “did that come from a newborn?!” burp.

Burping is an art form. Here’s what worked for me through four babies:

1. Upright on your chest

Press their chin into your chest, gently, and slowly push their feet up so their bum tilts out. Magic.

2. Sitting on your knee

Sit baby on your knee and let your knee do the bouncing. Supports their weight and frees your hands.

3. Across your lap

Lay baby across your lap with their tummy in the gap between your thighs. Then gently rub their back in slow circular motions. Not hard. Not fast. Babies don’t need to be “whacked.”
Too much burping movement can actually overstimulate some babies.

4. Gentle up-and-down motion

Just a soft lift-and-lower rhythm, not jiggling them like a blender.

5. Clive’s famous carry

Clive would hold our babies face-down along his forearm — head in his hand, legs dangling either side of his arm — and walk around the house. Nine times out of ten: burp achieved.

What didn’t work for me? The classic over-the shoulder burp. They puked everywhere, and I needed three hands to keep them steady.

And if you want something practical to help during the fourth-trimester chaos, here’s a very relevant baby-related post of mine:
👉  Swaddling Your New-born 

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What You Should and Shouldn’t Eat or Drink While Breastfeeding (Said the Way a Mom Actually Needs to Hear It)

Let me tell you this upfront: you do NOT need a perfect diet to breastfeed. If that were true, half of us wouldn’t have made it past day three. So breathe. 

But… there are a few things that make life easier for both you and baby — and a few things that made my kids windy, restless, or completely impossible at night.

Here’s the quick, honest rundown:

✨ Drinks: What Helps and What Doesn’t

👍 Drink plenty of water
Your body is working overtime and you’ll be shocked how thirsty breastfeeding makes you. A big bottle next to your chair/bed is non-negotiable.

👍 Herbal teas like rooibos or chamomile
These are gentle, calming, and won’t make baby jumpy or wired.

👍 Jungle Juice
Perfect during the early weeks when you’re tired, emotional, and feeling like a dehydrated raisin.

👎 Caffeine (coffee, strong tea, energy drinks)
Here’s the hard truth: caffeine goes straight through to baby.
Even HALF a cup of coffee makes baby:
– windy
– restless
– unable to settle
– jittery
– and over-stimulated

And overstimulated babies don’t sleep… which means you don’t sleep… which means everyone cries.

A little caffeine later on is usually fine, but in the newborn days? I avoided it like the plague.

✨ Food: What Helps Milk Flow and What Helps Babies Stay Calm

Every baby is different — what upset Luke didn’t bother Gabby at all — but many mums find patterns. Here’s the mom-version without all the “studies show” nonsense:

👍 Oats
They’re filling, gentle, and known for helping milk supply. Win-win.

👍 Bananas, apples, pears, mango
Generally gentle on baby’s tummy and give you much-needed energy.

👍 Soup, stews, warm meals
Warm meals support milk flow far better than cold salads. I always felt my let-down was stronger after warm food.

👍 Healthy fats (avocado, nut butters, seeds if tolerated)
They help you stay full and support richer milk.

👎 Onions, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage (for many babies)
These were a guaranteed gas-fest for some of mine.
Luke especially — poor child — cried endlessly, and I later learned he had SPD, which made everything extra intense. If I ate anything that increased wind, it sent him completely over the edge.

👎 Spicy foods
Not forbidden, but they can make some babies fussy. Mine handled mild spice fine when they were older, but newborn days? Nope.

👎 Chocolate
I know, I know… but it contains caffeine and can cause wind.

👎 Very sugary foods
These can make babies wired and then crashed-out and miserable.

👎 Dairy (for some babies)
Not all — but if baby is extremely windy, rashy, or unsettled, it’s worth testing a dairy-free day or two to see what happens.

✨ A Quick Note on “Eating for Two”

You don’t need to eat a mountain of food to breastfeed.
You DO need:

• plenty of fluids

• regular meals

• snacks that aren’t just sugar

• warm, nourishing foods

• and enough calories to keep energy steady

If you’re starving while breastfeeding, you’ll feel emotional, empty, and shaky. Don’t let yourself get there.

Colic, Reflux, and That Heartbreaking Newborn Cry

Oh, the newborn cry…
I still remember Luke crying for hours. Nothing soothed him. I later discovered he had SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder), which made feeding and settling much harder for him. At the time, I thought I was doing everything wrong. I wasn’t — he just had different needs.

So if your baby cries more than other babies, it’s not automatically your fault.

Reflux signs include:

• Sour milk smell

• Milk coming out the nose

• Coughing when lying flat

• Struggling to breathe when settling

• Wanting frequent feeds but pulling off often

What helped for winds:

• NEVER lie baby flat on their back when settling
  Instead, gently prop them on their side with a small pillow or rolled towel behind their back (for supervised settling only).

• Upright for 20–30 minutes after feeding

• Smaller feeds, but more often

• Burping during the feed

• A gentle probiotic like Reuterina (this helped all of mine a LOT)

• A dab of gripe water on a dummy

• Repetitive lying down to sitting up movements slowly and gently

• Gentle motions moving their legs towards their chest while lying down or sitting up

What helped me emotionally:

Knowing I wasn’t alone.

Knowing my baby wasn’t “difficult,” he just needed comfort and patience.

Asking someone to take over for a little, while I had a breather.

Here’s a very reliable, very helpful breastfeeding info hub for you to check out:
👉  La Leche League International — 

A Note For Every Tired Mama Out There:

Like a cartoon octopus, moms are constantly multitasking (or trying to😉 ) — feeding the baby, answering texts, cooking dinner, folding laundry, calming a toddler, replying to emails, and somehow remembering everyone’s appointments. So here’s a nod to the countless roles we juggle at once. Despite the heroic effort, there’s rarely a moment to breathe. We’re always on, often running on fumes, and still showing up with love and grit — but relaxation? That’s a luxury.

Some days you’ll feel like all you’ve done is feed, leak, cry, burp, repeat, and wonder when your life became a 24/7 milk station.

You’re not lazy or weak.
You’re not dramatic.
You’re not failing.
You are not meant to walk this road alone.

You’re recovering from birth and keeping a tiny human alive with your body. That’s superhero-level.

Your baby doesn’t need gallons of milk – their tummies are teeny tiny. You’re doing beautifully, even if some days you feel like you’re achieving absolutely nothing except keeping baby alive.

Some days that is enough.

And if you co-sleep safely or let baby feed while you doze next to them (that’s what I did every night) – that is perfectly okay. Survival mode is still motherhood.

Eat something small, drink something warm, rest your shoulders, breathe out slowly, cry if you need to, laugh when you can, and remember: it gets easier. Truly it does. One day you’ll blink and your baby will be drinking from a cup and you’ll miss these snuggly newborn days.

If no one else says it to you:
You’re doing an incredible job, mum.