What is breastfeeding? *img Breastfeeding is the act of feeding your baby with your breast milk directly from your breast. Whether or n...
What is breastfeeding? *img
Breastfeeding is the act of feeding your baby with your breast milk directly from your breast. Whether or not to breastfeed is that woman's personal choice.
However, Gynecologists and obstetricians strongly recommend breast milk for baby . You should breastfeed your baby for about 6 months after birth. The frequency and duration of breastfeeding depends on the baby prefers it. Usually, the newborns require breastfeeding every 2-3 hours.
Signs when you should be breastfeeding your baby:*img
There are some signs baby gives to let mother know that it is hungry. The signs are:
- Tongue sticking out, licking its lips.
- Putting its own hand in its mouth
- Opening their mouth.
- Fussiness or crying
- Sucking on things around it.
These are the signs the baby shows which tells the mother that it is hungry and it is feeding time.
Benefits of breastfeeding :
To the baby:
Breast milk is like the ideal nutrition for the baby . It has a blend of vitamins, proteins and fats. The breast milk is easily digested by the baby than the normal infant formula. The infant formula is an alternative for breast milk, but you should not prefer it. The [breast milk also contains antibodies . These antibodies are a part of natural acquired immunity. So when the baby has breast milk , it acquires the antibodies from the mother.
When there is attack of bacteria or viruses on the delicate baby , the baby is prepared with antibodies. Hence the chances of baby falling sick by minor illnesses is very low if the baby has breast milk. It also protects the baby from developing allergies, ear infections, diarrhea and asthma at the early stages of its life.
Moreover , a well breastfed baby is more likely to have higher IQ in later childhood. In addition to the health benefits, the baby is able to bond with the baby naturally, due to skin to skin touching and eye contact.
To the mother:
Breastfeeding helps mother to loose pregnancy weight faster when it It burns extra calories . Breastfeeding releases oxytocin from the body. This oxytocin brings back the uterus to the pre-pregnancy size . It also lowers the risk of breast cancer ,osteoporosis and ovarian cancer. It helps you bond with the newborn baby.
Breastfeeding problems and issues :
Baby falls asleep while breastfeeding:
This is a very common people experienced by many mothers. The mother is always concerned about whether the baby is getting fed . When the baby falls asleep while breastfeeding, baby might be tired or just sleepy. In this case , just squeeze out the milk into the baby's mouth. This will make the baby respond immediately by swallowing and sucking again . Then when the sucking stops just let go and squeeze again.
It hurts when baby latches on:
You might notice sensitivity or tenderness but you should not feel pain. When the baby latches on , it means that there is no enough amount of milk she/he could drink on. This problem usually occurs in new mothers at the start . But then usually this problem resolves. When breastfeeding , you should make sure that the baby's mouth is wide open , and its head is in such a position that the chin is in the breast and nose is away from the breast.
This enables a good latch and less pain.
Breast pain after breastfeeding :
When you feel immense pain while breastfeeding , then you should consult a doctor, midwife or lactation expert immediately. Normally , you should not experience pain while breastfeeding. However, if you are experiencing pain there it could be symptoms of thrush or yeast infection. This infection may also have gotten to the baby . The baby can develop rashes on the his mouth or bum.
The home remedy for this is , use gentian violet on your nipples before breastfeeding. It will make sure this also enters in the baby's body. Use this for 4 days twice a day. Remember gentian violet will stain the clothing and don't be alarmed if the baby's lips appear to be violet. Your doctor would also give you prescription medicine.
Constantly nursing baby:
This is perfectly normal. You should understand that the baby has to double its weight in next 6 months . Moreover, its growth is very rapid, so the baby requires a lot of milk to feed on. Breasts have low storage capacity but they produce plenty of milk throughout the day. This makes the baby want to feed every 2-3 hours.
It should not be problem , if the baby is gaining weight, pooping properly and there are no other complaints related to digestion.
Baby gulps and chokes :
Sometimes in some women, breasts produce a lot of milk . So when the baby sucks on them, there is a rapid flow of milk into the baby's mouth. This makes the baby choke. You can compare this situation to drinking water from a firehose. There are various solutions that can prevent your baby from choking ,these are:
Try to switch breasts every 2-3 mins when you are breastfeeding .
For the first 4 hours use right breast and then for the next four hours use the left breast to feed the baby.
This tactic will help because, when you feed from the right breast , the left breast is full. Therefore in the next four hours, there is no requirement of making more milk by the left breast as it is already full. This will control the flow of milk into the baby's mouth.
Swollen breast:
This happens when milk production suddenly increases as pregnancy weight after the baby is born. Swelling and breast soreness can be worse if you had intravenous fluids during delivery. This makes your body swell and develops edema. So, your breast has edema along with milk .
This can be solved by tucking clean and fresh cabbage leaves on your breasts in the intervals during breastfeeding. This will relieve the swelling and soreness.
Baby not able to latch properly:
This is not normal as per doctors. The problem can be the anatomy of the baby's mouth. In such a case, you should consult with your care giver in such a case.
Tender area in the breast:
This can be plugged duct in the breast. You can solve this problem by letting the flow of milk gain in this tender area.
Position the baby in such a way that its chin points towards the tender area. Then as you breastfeed , just massage the tender site on your breast. You can also apply heat between the breastfeeding.
If this does not help , then you should consult your doctor or midwife and have an ultrasound treatment.
Painful red spot on the breast:
If you have plugged duct , damaged nipple , it could worsen and turn into mastitis. Treat it like a plugged duct and gently massage, nurse and apply heat at the spot. If there are no improvement in 24 hours or if you develop fever, consult doctor immediately.
Milk bleb or milk blister:
Milk bleb or milk blister is formed by layer of skin forming over a duct opening and trapping milk in it. It should be massaged to bleb out. It could also hurt ,but keep nursing.
Raynaud's phenomenon:
It is caused due to vasospasm . This occurs when the nipple is exposed from baby's mouth to cold air. There is abrupt flow of blood out of the nipple.
You can treat it by applying warm, damp wash cloth on the nipple or you can apply olive oil on the nipple.
Breasts don't feel full:
This is a concern of mothers who are breastfeeding baby for about 6-8 weeks. It is actually a good indication, because the breasts' have now adjusted to baby's appetite. Instead of filling up of milk in the breast , the milk starts flowing as soon as the mother starts nursing.
In this situation you should pay attention to the weight gain and contents of the poop of the baby.
Conclusion:
These are some major problems and solutions one experiences during breastfeeding. It should be noted that if any of the above discussed problems worsen then you should immediately consult your doctor.
Every mother has a different experience while nurturing. In any case you should not panic. Pay close attention to the health of your baby and your own and you are good to go.
Keywords:
A. Breast feeding
B. Breast pain after feeding
C. breast feeding problems
D. pregnancy weight
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