Breastfeeding for new Moms and Moms to be!!

Breast milk provides complete nutrition for baby and protects baby from various infections, diseases. Babies who do not breastfeed have more chances to get ear infections and diarrhoea than babies feeding on mother’s milk. Breastfed babies require lesser trips to the Doctors for common childhood illnesses, have lesser allergies, and overall a lower risk of obesity and diabetes, and observed to have higher IQ’s than non-breastfed babies.

Benefits of the breastfeeding are not only for the babies but also for the mothers who breastfeed. Probability of suffering from ovarian and breast cancer and osteoporosis in breastfeeding mothers decreases drastically compared to formula-feeding mothers. Breastfeeding helps with postpartum weight loss, delays fertility, increases a mother’s self-confidence and nourishes the strongest bond of universe.

Breastfeeding is costless, convenient because the milk is always ready and at the right temperature. Breast milk contains all the vitamins and minerals your baby needs and is easy to digest. For all of these reasons, the Indian Medical Association recommends that babies be fed only mother’s milk for the first six months of life.

Preparing for Breastfeeding

Before the delivery, create a “feeding station”— an area with a comfortable bed or chair, a soft, sizeable breastfeeding pillow, and a side table with optimum space for your favourite snacks, water, nursing pads, burp cloths, phone, and a good book, after all you are going to spend considerable time there!

During first few weeks from birth, baby needs to breastfeed frequently to institute milk supply. Baby’s milk requirement in initial days is very small, but too frequent. Most babies require at least eight times in a 24-hour period. Recent studies shows that babies take 11 breast feedings per day, if you count feedings on each breast separately. The frequency may vary from 7 to 19 times daily when each breast is counted as a feeding.

Tip for effective breastfeeding is the way to position and latch baby onto the breast conveniently levelling the position of the two using a breastfeeding pillow without straining arms. In another position, you can hold the baby “tummy to tummy” leaving no space between your body and the baby. The baby needs to be facing the breast. Please ensure that you are not pressing the back of the baby’s head.

For making a right position of latch-on, baby needs to take both the nipple and some of the areola (the dark area around the nipple) into his mouth by opening it wide open with corners of the baby’s mouth should be at a wide angle and both his upper and lower lips should be outside his mouth.

You may support your breast with hand during the initial days of feeding. Make sure that your fingers are way back behind the areola and make sure not to press inward on your breast. This position will help your baby to get the most milk and you will be less likely to have sore nipples.

Indications of a poor latch position:

• Nipples get sore during the whole feeding, may get cracked or bleed
• Creased or slanted nipples when the baby comes off the breast
• Clicking or smacking sounds at the time of baby sucking
• Baby comes off the breast frequently after only a few sucks
• Baby has to apply lot of pressure and its cheeks are dimpling in with each suck
• Even after feeding baby is hungry and crying
• Low urination with only 6-8 wet diapers in a day 

My baby is getting enough milk?

The greatest concern among most new breastfeeding mothers is that whether they have enough milk? During initial days many infants seem to breastfeed frequently and can be fussy with timings and indicating hunger. Lots of mothers feel that their baby is not getting enough milk while this is a normal in initial breastfeeding days.

Mother’s milk production increases as the baby grows and it starts demanding more. Meanwhile out of self-doubt, mothers worrying about their milk supply, sometimes shift to bottles or formula which is not correct and good for baby and mother’s health. This outside supply or feeding causes problems in two ways. It fills up baby in one go, decreasing breastfeeding requirement. When you breastfeed less often, you will not make as much milk.

Bottle-feeding also causes problems with sucking at the breast. The bottle nipple is shaped much differently from your nipple and milk flows faster from the bottle. Babies may become confused when bottles or pacifiers are offered in the early weeks when they are just learning how to breastfeed. Even though you cannot see the amount of breast milk that goes into your baby, there are other ways to know if they are getting enough.

Your baby is getting enough if he:

• Breastfeeds at least eight times in a 24-hour period.
• Breastfeeds for 10 minutes or more in a rhythmic suck/swallow/pause/suck pattern.
• Is satisfied and not displaying feeding cues (rooting, sucking on fingers) after a feed.
• Has one wet diaper on the first day of life, three on days 2-3 with more wet diapers on days 4-5. By day 6 your baby should have at least 6-8 wet diapers a day.
• Is stooling soft, yellow, seedy stools by day 5. If your baby is not passing any stools, call your pediatrician.
• Is gaining weight. Your baby should be weighed during the first week of life. Breastfed babies should stop losing weight around day 4-5 when your milk comes in. They usually return to birth weight by 2 weeks of age. Normal weight gain after the second week is about 1 oz. per day.

Once your milk comes in, your breasts will feel softer after a feeding. This tells you that you baby is getting enough milk. Offering your baby a supplemental feeding after nursing to “see if they are still hungry” is not a reliable way to tell if they had enough. Many babies will still take a bottle even if they have had enough from the breast.

Frequency for feeding baby?

• New born Baby’s stomach is tiny like a small marble and breast milk is easily digested and empties the stomach in 1-2 hours. It means baby feeding is frequent and you may feel its feeding all the time, which is absolutely right.
• Feed your baby as and when it’s showing signs of hunger, even if the baby breastfeed an hour ago.