FEEDING

Breast milk is absolutely the best for your Baby. There is no substitute which can compare to Human Milk for human beings. Besides this it is always fresh, always the right temperature, always available, never infected and carries antibodies to protect the Baby against viral infection.

TIPS ABOUT FEEDING

Feed your Baby with minimum intervals of two hours. The interval can stretch upto four hours if the Baby does not demand feed. Feed the Baby between two and four hours whenever it demands feed.

Feed your Baby for 20 mins to 30 mins of which active feeding may only be five minutes.

Burp your Baby after feed everytime.

Place the Baby in his/her cot after Burping.

COMMON MYTHS

Mothers milk is not enough: Mothers milk is almost always enough and the only way to confirm is to monitor the weight gain to the Baby. The Baby should get used to a bottle, otherwise it will create problems later: Completely wrong. Bottle could be a source of infection and the Baby would get Gastroenteritis. Besides this, mothers milk will reduce unless the Baby empties the Breast everytime.

BREAST FEED

For the first 6 months milk is the best feed for the baby . Of all kinds of milk obviously breast feed is the best. There is no close second. Every effort should be made to keep the infant breast fed in the first 6 months . There are some points that one must know:-

Breast milk is the right composition.

It is always fresh when suckled from the breast.

It is always the right temperature.

It is always sterile.

It is always available.

It contains antibodies which protect the infant from infections.

It contains DHA which is important for brain growth of the infant.

It costs nothing.

Breast feeding protects the mother too by reducing the chance of breast cancer. The biggest stimulus for secretion of breast milk is emptying of the breast by the infant . Therefore it is important not to satisfy the baby’s hunger with a top feed because the baby will not make an effort to empty the breast and breast milk will dry up . Very often the mother gets self doubt about the quantity of milk she is producing. This further gets reinforced by well meaning relatives who encourage her to start a top feed . The breast milk then begins to dry up and her doubt becomes a self fulfilling prophecy . The only indicator of insufficient milk is improper weight gain of the baby. It is not excessive crying or rooting by the baby which is merely a reflex. Since no one wants to deal with a crying infant some know all suggests a top feed and soon multiple top feeds reinforcing the prophecy.

In todays life when many mothers are working it is not always possible to be with the baby for 6 months Breast milk can be pumped out and stored in a refrigerator in sterile feeding bottles and can be used up to 24 hours later. Therefore if the mother is unavailable throughout the day a sufficient number of expressed breast milk feeds should be left for the infant. The bottle containing the stored milk can be stood in a container of warm water until the milk reaches body temperature which can be tested by allowing a drop to fall on the back of the hand.

CARE OF BREAST TO EENSURE SUCCESSFUL BREAST FEEDING

This can start from the third trimester of pregnancy .Sometimes nipples are inverted and effort should be made to evert them using gentle suction. The obstetrician can help enumerate the techniques. The male partner’s help can be enlisted. After birth the infant should be encouraged to latch on properly. Sometimes the nipples become sore and may develop cuts . To prevent this the nipple should be dabbed with lanolin or creams such as Nipcare or Massey after feeding the baby These can be removed before the next feed with a boiled cotton soaked in plain boiled water .Care should be taken to not use soap or drying substances around the nipples to prevent cracks . Lastly if cracks do develop they are painful and the infant should be fed through a sterilized nipple shield.