Most babies are born knowing instinctively how to feed from its mother. If you place a newborn baby's mouth close to his mother's nipple, he will seek and search until he is able to latch on and start to suckle. However there are other babies who for some reason or other may find it slightly more difficult.

Women are not born knowing instinctively how to breast feed their baby, some may need lots of encouragement, whilst others may take to breast feeding like a duck does to water.

To ensure your baby is feeding properly, you need to make sure his mouth is opened wide enough to get the whole of your nipple in plus a portion of the coloured area surrounding the nipple. If he is unable to do this, he is not latched on properly and may cause your nipples to become sore to the point where they can become cracked and bleeding.

You should use your free hand to support your breast, this helps keep your nipple in the baby's mouth and keeps it from blocking the baby's nose.

Your baby can lie in a variety of positions whilst he is feeding, but it is often more comfortable for you both to hold him at your breast by positioning him on his side or his tummy towards you with his mouth in convenient reach of your nipple. Skin to skin contact is an excellent way of bonding with your baby, and some experts recommend feeding your baby to start with to remove both yours and your baby's clothing.

Sometimes the baby needs a little help to start suckling, if you express some of the milk into his mouth and give him his first taste, it will stimulate him to start suckling.

As a rule of thumb, babies who are breast fed usually need feeding between 8-12 times a day. At one time it was thought best to feed baby by the clock, but now it's recognised that feeding baby on demand is best.

You should always check when your baby is suckling that he is also actually taking milk into his mouth and swallowing it. Some baby's appear to be suckling, but when checked that is all they are doing. Obviously if they do this for extended periods of time, they will not receive the nutrients they need and will lose weight and become dehydrated.

Its often a good idea to monitor this and ensure your baby receives a specific time at each breast to ensure they are receiving enough milk.

Many new mothers worry they will not produce enough milk to feed their baby. All breast milk contains chemical called suppressor peptides. These chemicals automatically regulate how much breast milk is needed by the baby, and increases and decreases correspondingly. Even if you express your milk, it will be replaced by further milk and will continue to do so for as long as is needed.

Once your baby starts to be weaned and is breast fed less often, your built in milk supply will gradually start to diminish until eventually it stops.