If you want to breastfeed, 95% of the time, you can do it. Don’t be shy about asking for help (since the beginning of time women have relied on getting support to learn to troubleshoot and gain confidence.) It’s like riding a bike—it can be a little weird in the beginning, but then once you get the hang of it, it feels like you’ve been doing it forever.

Why Moms Often Abandon Breastfeeding

But keeping it up for a year (the American Academy of Pediatrics’s recommendation) isn’t without challenges. Did you know that persistent crying and exhaustion are top reasons moms abandon nursing? Studies show that exhausted moms are much more likely to get depressed (which reduces breastfeeding rates by 50%) and to develop creeping doubts about the quality and adequacy of their milk.

How to Boost Breastfeeding Success

Getting more sleep is overlooked advice for nursing. As a passionate breastfeeding advocate, that’s one reason a personal mission of mine is to help new parents master the skills needed to calm their baby’s fussies and get more sleep. Over the past 12 years, my Happiest Baby team has trained thousands of educators in dozens of countries to teach new parents the soothing/sleep techniques called the 5 S’s. The simple steps of the 5 S’s are swaddling, the side/stomach position, shushing, swinging and sucking (described in the DVD/streaming video/book, The Happiest Baby on the Block). And now we've invented SNOO, a smart-tech bassinet (based on several principles of 5 S’s technique) to stretch sleep longer for babies and parents. These are all great ways to reduce infant crying, boost sleep and promote breastfeeding success.

About Dr. Harvey Karp

Dr. Harvey Karp, one of America’s most trusted pediatricians, is the founder of Happiest Baby and the inventor of the groundbreaking SNOO Smart Sleeper. After years of treating patients in Los Angeles, Dr. Karp vaulted to global prominence with the release of the bestselling Happiest Baby on the Block and Happiest Toddler on the Block. His celebrated books and videos have since become standard pediatric practice, translated into more than 20 languages and have helped millions of parents. Dr. Karp’s landmark methods, including the 5 S’s for soothing babies, guide parents to understand and nurture their children and relieve stressful issues, like new-parent exhaustion, infant crying, and toddler tantrums.

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Disclaimer: The information on our site is NOT medical advice for any specific person or condition. It is only meant as general information. If you have any medical questions and concerns about your child or yourself, please contact your health provider.