This post is about breastfeeding....So If you aren't interested or didn't breastfeed please don't be offended.
I thought Id share some things Ive learned that may be helpful to others.
I love talking about breastfeeding! Its a passion of mine~
A little background...
I currently am working on becoming board certified by putting in clinical
hours. I do rounds on the maternity floors at the local hospitals. The
lactation consultants give me a list of moms to visit. I am in the fast track
because I'm already an RN. After 1000 hours I can sit for my boards and if I
pass will be an Internationally Board Certified Lactation Consultant. My title
now is Certified Lactation Counselor. I compare it to an LPN and RN. One is a
step up from the other but both have to work within their scope of practice.
Now for the good stuff~
1. Breast
milk provides immunity to babies for about 2 years after you stop
breastfeeding.
2. Along
those lines- the antibodies you produce in response to baby's need for them,
are transferred to baby within the next feed. Can you believe how fast that
is?? I was amazed!
3. Some
moms are diagnosed with insufficient glandular tissue, causing them to produce
less milk, but even those that produce less should try to continue to
breastfeed with supplementation- due to the benefits to mother and baby. Some
breast milk is better than none.~
4. Breast
milk decreases mom and baby’s risk of diabetes and breast cancer later in life.
5. Our
milk is cyclic, following after our mothering hormones. It has high protein
content and low volume in the evening, with low protein high volume at night.
Which may explain why breastfed babies have 'fussy time' in the evening~
6. Nighttime
feedings help babies gain weight. There is high fat content in night milk. So
even though we want sleep in the early weeks, night milk is important!
7. The
best time to pump is early morning for most women because there is still milk
left over from the high volume produced~
8. Breast
milk is the perfect food and needs no supplementation- no 'extra calories'. I
sometimes hear moms say that their doctors tell them to give formula to
'fortify' their breast milk. Breast milk needs no fortification! Alot of
doctors have not been trained in the Art of Breastfeeding:)
9. If baby
needs extra calories moms can supplement with their own pumped breast milk.
Given by feeding cup or syringe.
10.
Breast milk is 'living' and changes to meet baby's needs.
Newborn milk is high in protein where older baby milk has higher fat. For each
baby and mom it will be slightly different. Toddler milk has a huge amount of
antibodies comparable to newborn milk! Isn't that neat? Just as they are out in
the world, exploring, putting fingers in their mouth, etc... they need it don't
they?
11.In the
first 3 weeks or so, it is good idea to keep baby away from false nipples or
pacifiers. Alot of moms report that nursing was going well until some
well-meaning individual gave the baby a bottle or a pacifier in the nursery,
etc... Breastfeeding uses more facial muscles. Babies have to suck harder at
the breast. Bottles work by gravity, they are easy! So after introducing a
bottle some babies refuse breast. Bottles also promote a bad latch at breast.
Which does a baby have to open wider for? breast or bottle??
12.
If you have a 'spitty' baby it may be related to milk. It could
be reflux, but you could do your own clinical trial by eliminating milk from
your diet. See what happens for a week... Did it help or not?
13.
I don't want to bash formula, because I know some moms have to
give it for one reason or another... but I learned something recently that I
need to share~ Breast milk 'coats' the stomach and intestines. It gives our gut
a nice thick lining to protect baby from allergens and pathogens (germs). Most
of our immunity is controlled in the gut. Believe it or not! Formula actually
strips the lining of the intestines making a thin, easily permeable gut. Which
is why you hear that breastfed babies get sick less often. That in combination
with the antibody transfer protect baby.
14.
Keeping your baby skin to skin in the early days promotes good
breastfeeding! As you hold baby the mothering hormones, oxytocin and
prolaction, are released. Those hormones are responsible for making milk.
Bundling baby up keeps them asleep and away from you, thus decreasing milk
making hormone levels. Also as a baby is skin to skin they are smelling you-
the unique smell that only you have:) We secrete a substance on our areola thru
the Montgomery glands (tiny bumps on areola) that are similar to amniotic
fluid. Baby has been smelling that for a long time and it is comforting to
them. They hear your heartbeat again while on your chest, which also is
calming. Our breasts can thermoregulate (control, sense, and change temperature).
So baby wont get cold. A t-shirt and diaper with thin blanket covering both of
you is all you need! You will miss those first weeks of closeness as baby grows
and breastfeeding is more established. When breastfeeding takes a wrong turn or
gets difficult, go back to skin to skin with baby for as long as it takes to
get back on the right track!
15.
I will end this post with pumping~ If you miss a feed or are engorged, hand
expression can be your friend! I never
hand expressed myself, until this last baby.
I was engorged and getting a clogged duct, so I choose to hand express
instead of pump. It was much gentler on
my breast and worked well!! It took a
little practice to get a good rhythm down, but once I did I was able to work
the clog out, molding my fingers too the breast. We are not designed to respond to
plastic. It can difficult for some and
can actually do more harm than good in the first weeks. Pumping later for work is a separate
discussion…
