Breast-feeding your baby

Sitting or lying

You can sit or lie down to breast-feed.

How to breast-feed

Breast-feed your baby as follows:

• Put the baby’s belly against yours.
• Bring the baby with its nose to your nipple height.
• The baby opens its mouth and licks the nipple.
• The nipple and a large part of the areola are in the baby’s mouth.
• The baby’s lips are curled outwards. The baby sucks.

Signs that your baby is hungry

In the beginning, most babies feed about every 2 hours, then about every 4 hours. However, every baby is different. Feed the baby when it asks for it.

If your baby is hungry, it can give you 1 or more of the following signals:

• It moves its arms;
• It moves its mouth and tongue;
• It licks or sucks its hands;
• It is agitated;
• It cries. 

Healthy breast-milk

To produce healthy breast-milk for your baby:

• Do not smoke
• Do not drink alcohol;
• Do not take drugs;
• Do not take medicines without consulting a doctor.
• If you have HIV, you cannot breast-feed your baby.

 If you cannot breast-feed, there are other ways to bond with your baby.