Breastfeeding possibility
Everybody can breastfeed! Breast-feeding in the presence of a live and healthy infant, it is impossible only when there is no mother or she has both mammary glands removed. Biological mother can feed twins, and even triplets, without using additional feeding up to 5 months. Even twins and triplets can grow exclusively breastfed up to 4-5 months. A foster mother can breastfeed a baby, even if she had not had her own children before. The true lack of milk, which today is so scared of modern mothers, is found only in 3% of women. The remaining 97% can breastfeed, although they are often not aware of this. Quite often, women complain that they lose their milk from domestic problems, insecurity, stress or nervous tension. It turns out that there is no such reason. Studies have convincingly proved that if a woman WANTS TO FEED, she will do it anyway. So, in the “absence” of milk, women themselves are usually to blame for not breastfeeding their children or following illiterate recommendations. If a young mother is introduced to the basic rules and is taught breast-feeding techniques, she successfully breast-feeds the baby for as long as desired and successfully stops lactation during physiological periods.
This position is best suited for mothers and babies who have experience of breastfeeding. This may be harder for newbies, since the mother may not have good support for the child to pick up in the chest. The tip of the baby’s nose should face the nipple; The child should tilt its head back slightly. This will ease swallowing and breathing; Use your free hand to point the nipple to the baby’s mouth. This position is ideal for mothers with little experience, as it makes it easier to support the baby’s head in order to orient the mouth to the nipple.
For breastfeeding to be successful, you need:
· Woman’s desire to breastfeed;
· Training in the technique and practice of breastfeeding;
· The implementation of the basic rules of breastfeeding;
· Timely solution of breastfeeding problems with the help of lactation consultants;
· Support for family members and experienced mothers who have a positive experience of prolonged breastfeeding for more than 1 year.
Hold the child, pressing his head to the breast, which she offers; The hand supports the head, and the forearm supports the back; Using your free hand, shape the chest from the bottom and pick up the baby’s mouth. This position is good for breastfeeding nervous children, because holding the baby from the mother’s body makes her safer. It also works well to breastfeed more sleepy babies, positioning them almost seated.
The baby is supported on the left arm in case of breastfeeding in the left breast and vice versa; The mother’s hand supports the head and the forearm supports the back; The legs of the child lie between the back of the mother and the back of the chair; The body of the child is inclined about 90 ° to the body of the mother. For nursing mothers at night, this position is ideal.
Proper breastfeeding
If the child correctly captures and sucks the maternal breast, then it can suck indefinitely, without causing mom any trouble. Proper attachment to the breast protects the woman from cracks and nipple abrasions, lactostasis (blockage of the milk duct), mastitis, etc. Therefore, it is very important to learn how to properly attach the baby to the breast and follow this during the entire period of breastfeeding. As a rule, training for proper attachment occurs during the first month of life. However, the main period when the child needs reminders and prompts from the mother is the period from birth to 8 months. If the baby captured the breast incorrectly or changed the position during feeding, it is necessary to take away the breast and offer it to capture it again. Do not be afraid to correct the child and offer him to take the breast only correct position - he expects mother's hints and is ready to learn. These expectation and readiness are inherent in his nature, because without them he cannot survive.
The baby should lie near the mother, the belly with the belly; The mother’s nipple should be at the level of the baby’s nose; Support the back of the child with a towel or pillow; The baby will feel the nipple and bend down to grab it. Currently there are huge flows of breastfeeding, and this is certainly positive, as there is no better food for babies than breast milk.
However, there are situations when this concept becomes almost perverted, and breastfeeding has become an imposition and something almost obligatory. This is quite a true statement, since the idea that there is “weak” or “not very nourishing” breast milk is scientifically unjustified. Of course, there are situations when infants do not always get fat, but then it is almost always a matter of quantity, not quality. breast milk.
If the child has been trained to take the breast improperly, then he and the mother will be forced to relearn. With confident actions of the mother, retraining occurs within 4 to 10 days. Even if the baby sulks and cries, not wanting to take the breast correctly, this is not a reason to leave retraining. In the process of sucking in the correct position, the child receives the amount of endorphins necessary to compensate for the stress. These hormones of happiness and joy are produced by him in the process of sucking, and, in addition, he gets them from mother's milk. Thus, mother's milk and the very process of sucking in the right position are a means for the child to achieve psycho-emotional comfort. That is why the stress that he will survive, retraining, is incomparably less compared to the constant stress that he receives as a result of everyday improper sucking. Sucking in the wrong position leads to chronic stress and adversely affects the formation nervous system baby In addition, it can adversely affect the correctness of the formation of the maxillofacial apparatus and teeth.
If you are breastfeeding exclusively, and are not gaining weight as they should, you should try to find strategies to increase the amount of milk you drink. Everyone knows that there are many “race coaches” in Portugal, each of whom has his own opinion on a wide variety of topics. And breastfeeding is no exception to this rule.
The only objective way to find out if your child feeds is the development of their weight. All nursing mothers will hear recommendations about what they can or cannot eat. Some of the most common restrictions are citrus fruits, strawberries, clams, green beans or vegetables, and many others. However, the big problem is that there is no scientific support to support such claims, with the exception of alcoholic beverages and excess coffee. One of the great advantages of breast milk is the dynamic food, which over time changes its constitution and flavor, so it does not make sense to “castrate” this dynamic.
When properly applied:
· Feeding the child does not cause pain, pain can occur only at the time of the child's seizure of the breast;
· There are no nipple injuries, mastitis and other problems;
· The baby sucks enough milk;
· Duration of feeding does not matter.
When applied incorrectly:
It is for this reason that the recommendations are now clear: if you are breastfeeding, you can and should eat everything without restriction. Breastfeeding implies additional water costs on the mother's body, and this is usually easily noticeable with an increase in thirst. When you are breastfeeding, you will feel more thirsty than usual, but even if you do not feel you should drink plenty of fluids, increase milk production. This is a fundamental aspect of the interaction between mother and child, because it is always important to reinforce the idea that children do not cry only from hunger.
· When feeding the child there are painful sensations;
· Nipple damage, mastitis, lactostasis and other problems occur;
· There is a need to limit the time of feeding;
· The baby sucks little milk and does not eat enough.
Comfortable posture when feeding
It is very important that when feeding, the mother takes a comfortable position herself and gives a comfortable position to the child. Convenient posture when feeding provides a good outflow of milk from the breast and is the prevention of lactostasis.
Crying is a form of communication and does not always mean breastfeeding your baby. On the other hand, children do not always suck the same way, neither with the same greed, nor at the same time, and this must be respected. When you are breastfeeding, try to understand when he does not want this, understanding his satiety.
Failure to do so may make you uncomfortable and uncomfortable, which should be avoided. When breastfeeding should not be strict rules. This means that power does not have a fixed schedule or a predetermined duration. With growth, babies usually find a more or less regular rhythm, but this can only be achieved with time.
Required for showing and learning poses lying and sitting from under the arm. Feeding in the main pose sitting and sitting on foot more difficult to accomplish. Therefore, it is advisable to study these two poses after mastering for 3-7 days the correct application in the “under the arm” and “lying” poses.
Feeding on demand
Breastfeeding is a reciprocal process, therefore, in speaking of on-demand feeding, it implies demands not only from the child, but also from the mother.
Your baby should breastfeed whenever he is hungry, goes against his will and his needs. One of the advantages of breastfeeding is to encourage and strengthen the connection between mother and child, so a mobile phone, TV, tablet or other similar devices are not included in this scenario and cannot enter.
Therefore, it is extremely important to consider each moment of breastfeeding as a moment of mutual learning, without disturbing the elements. When you are breastfeeding your baby, be fully accessible to him without any distraction. Currently there are very few situations that suggest an obstacle to breastfeeding. Even with regard to the use of drugs by the mother, scientific studies have shown that they are practically safe, so breastfeeding can and should be supported in the vast majority of cases.
Feeding at the request of the child. Basically, the frequency of feeding is regulated by the child. Any anxiety, crying, or searching behavior when the baby turns its head and catches nearby objects with its mouth is an expression of the requirement to attach itself to the chest. The babe of the first months of life must be applied to the chest for any reason, giving him the opportunity to suck on his breast whenever he wants and how much he wants. This is necessary not only for the satiation of the child, but also for his psychoemotional comfort. For psychological comfort, the baby can be applied to the breast up to 4 times per hour. In total, the baby's first months of life during the day is 12-20 feedings.
If you are breastfeeding and need to take certain medications, be well informed before you decide to stop breastfeeding, because you probably do not need to do this. Breastfeeding should be a pleasure and something that should be liked at all times, so it is almost criminal to turn it into imposing. This is not always good, and it is also important to prepare mothers for this, much more than using a dogma that is often heard, which says: "It will be good, because Nature has designed us so."
Do not be afraid that with frequent stitching the baby will move. The gastrointestinal tract of the child is not adapted for feeding by the hour, but for continuous feeding! The intestines of the infant are adapted for the assimilation of breast milk in unlimited quantities. At the beginning of a child’s life, the activity of his own enzymes is low, but the constant supply of active substances of breast milk stimulates the activity of the child’s enzymes. In addition, breast milk contains enzymes that help your own absorption. Thus, breast milk is a unique food that helps itself to digest. That is why it is absorbed much better than any super-mixture.
Enjoy breastfeeding in all its aspects and calmly, and if something is not as expected, consult your doctor or nurse to find out how to fix the situation. Breastfeeding goes well most of the time, but when it doesn’t work, solutions need to be found. The former usually go through the content of exclusive breast milk, trying to figure out where the difficulties are to troubleshoot. However, this is not always possible because breastfeeding does not work or because the family does not show preparatory or emotional accessibility for it.
The rhythm of feeding. The demands of the infant are not chaotic, but are distributed throughout the day in a certain rhythm. In the baby of the first 2 months of life, the approximate interval between the requirements in the daytime is 1 - 1.5 hours. Basically, sucking accompanies the infant's sleep — the stages of falling asleep and awakening. If there are reasons for discomfort, the frequency of the child’s demands increases, and he begins to suck more often and longer. As soon as the discomfort is overcome, the baby returns to the previous frequency characteristic of his age. Very often and for a long time, children who have experienced childbirth and have an elevated anxiety status suck. As soon as stress is compensated, the frequency of nursing decreases to normal.
It is at this time that we must understand that there may be random alternatives and that sometimes we must use them. This is what the name says, an alternative, ready-to-eat from time to time when breastfeeding does not work. If your child does not develop well with weight, it means, in principle, that you do not eat as you need. Together with the health care professionals who follow you, you need to find exclusive breastfeeding strategies that will allow you to increase the milk supply to the baby.
Starting at 2 months, chest attachments become more rare. The interval between them increases to 1.5 - 2 hours, but feeding still surrounds the child’s dreams. Night rhythm of attachment does not change. By 4-6 months, breastfeeding becomes even rarer, but, nevertheless, their number does not fall below 12 feedings per day, and they are still associated with sleep. This is the optimal number of attachments of the baby to the breast to ensure normal lactation in mom ..
If you run out of them all, and you don’t have results, you may need to use other milk while maximally supporting breast milk. Where have you ever seen nipples currently conflicting? Among them, the rule has made our nipples a very controversial subject.
Who has not seen a mother offering her breast to a child in a food court or a bench in the corridors? Breasts are breasts, nipples are nipples, it doesn't matter if you use them to feed your children. At the mall, breastfeed or think! Imagine that just letting act as natural as breastfeeding happens in everyone's eyes? A baby feeding in the womb is a significant absurdity for the great managers of the chain of shopping centers. Unfortunately, this is not what they said: strength can, is well hidden in the locker room along with the smell and bacteria of all children.
Feeding at the request of the mother. During the breastfeeding period, the mother and the child are a symbiosis, which implies the satisfaction of the desires of both parties. The mother may also need to attach the baby to the breast approximately every 1.5 - 2 hours. This need, as well as the need of the child, must be realized, since it coincides with the rhythm of the child’s needs for breast attachment. Detect this need is usually possible when the baby sleeps more than 1.5 hours. The mother's chest is full and she wants to attach a baby to her. When this desire arises, there are no obstacles to offer a sleeping breast to the infant. Usually, the baby responds to the mother's request: she puts it to her breast and begins to irritate the baby’s lower sponge with a nipple, in response to this call, she begins to open her mouth and catch the nipple. Every mother should know that breast feeding and sleep baby - These are processes that do not interfere with each other and can be implemented in parallel. Moreover, babies prefer to sleep under the mother's breast, sucking it peacefully. Feeding at the request of the mother is especially important for weak children (sick, underweight, premature). Guided by her internal rhythm, the mother should offer the baby herself a breast at a frequency of once every 1-2 hours. She should be bothered if the child has not been attached to the breast for a long time. This is especially important for babies of the first 3 months of life.
After all, who does not eat in the bathroom here, the right people? It's harder to be a mammal. It is becoming increasingly difficult to be a child and be a child. It cannot do so much: it cannot even eat in peace, enjoy mom, enjoy milk, the smell of life that comes straight from mom's chest. One who appears in right timewhen children think they are literally starving.
Such a relationship contributes to the public health problem, getting the message that breastfeeding is not natural, breastfeeding can be embarrassing. To do this, it must be said that no one should see your child with his mouth on his chest. This deprives the child of receiving at the time when you want your food. There is no “waiting until mom is going to hide to feed you” when it comes to a child. Despite all the amazing similarities with other mammals, there is a dramatic difference that is the pain and grace of man: we are social creatures.
Feeding and hunger
In the views of the newborn baby, feeding is not related to the feeling of hunger. The feeling of hunger in the form in which adults experience it, is formed in a child only by 6 months of life. Newborn instead of hunger, experiencing discomfort, which relieves sucking. This is an intrauterine habit. Long before birth, driven by the need to train the sucking reflex, the fetus sucks its pens, umbilical cord loops and everything that swims past its mouth. Having come into the world, he continues to relieve discomfort by sucking. Nature and expected that after birth, the baby will experience discomfort for any reason and remove it by sucking the breast. When breast sucking, the baby receives an additional portion of endorphins - the hormones of happiness, joy and peace of mind. Therefore, only at the chest it can calm down, and at the same time it can be full. This is the only way to feed a creature that does not feel hungry. Thus, sucking on demand is sucking to achieve psychoemotional comfort and satiety.
Breastfeeding deprivation is to exclude mother and child from social interaction. This is why bottles make so much success, because they have no nipples. They do not offend anyone, they are not part of our body, they have no soul, they do not establish a connection and do not like. In all likelihood, to be socially accepted, love must be suppressed. Better cut right at the root: immediately make mother's love! Soon come out of breastfeeding, from birth!
Sorry, you are a social criminal. Boycotting breastfeeding contributes to the public health problem that we have been struggling with for so many years. The only thing that matters is that breastfeeding involves nipples, and they are contradictory.
Precisely because the child does not feel the feeling of hunger, he can oversleep feeding. In this case, it is life-saving feeding at the request of the mother, who feels the need to feed her baby and will not allow him to make too long pauses between breastfeeding. Feeding at the request of the mother is especially important up to 8-9 months of the infant's life, until he has a feeling of hunger and he does not learn how to independently regulate the need for feeding.
Lactation consultants will tell you that breastfeeding is 98% effective in preventing unwanted pregnancies, but you probably know someone who knows someone who got pregnant during lactation every 2 hours. day and night.
And all this, not to mention those who can not make a child, because their 2-year-old child is breastfeeding for several seconds every night. One thing is clear, the link between breastfeeding and fertility is complex. For this reason, if the mother breastfeeds exclusively, the birth rate can be expected to be delayed, because women in traditional societies can remain infertile for 3-4 years, because they breastfeed for a very long time. However, many Western women experience a return to the menstrual cycle 2 or 3 months after birth, despite exclusive breastfeeding.
Duration of feeding
When the child is saturated, he feels comfort, stops sucking and releases the breast himself. There is no need to interrupt feeding after a certain period of time and take away the breast from the child. Different children remain at the breast for a different time duration. Most of them are saturated in 20-40 minutes, and some babies can suck 1 hour or more.
The duration of sucking is related to the fact that milk is distributed in the breast in such a way that, at the beginning of feeding, the child receives early milk rich in water, minerals and carbohydrates, i.e. drinkingand only after 3-7 minutes of sucking does it reach late milk, which is rich in fats and proteins, and begins actually eat. When the baby reaches late fat milk, he begins to fall asleep, because fat milk causes drowsiness and enters the stage of sluggish sucking. It is at this moment that the mother may decide that the baby has had enough and fell asleep and takes it away from the breast. Therefore, often mothers, not knowing about this feature, only water their children and do not allow them to eat, taking away from the breast too soon. Especially valuable moments when the child sleeps at the breast and slowly sucks it - at this time he is fully saturated. The mother should be concerned if the baby under 2 months sucks only 5-10 minutes and does not want to sleep under the breast.
Duration of feeding significantly depends on the age of the child. Than less childthe more often and more acutely he feels discomfort, and the longer and more often he is at the chest. As he grows up, the baby begins to experience discomfort less and less acutely. In addition, it becomes strong and dexterous enough to quickly cope with a fairly large amount of milk. Therefore, from 2-3 months in children, short-term attachments to the chest appear, which are needed to achieve psychoemotional comfort, and prolonged suckings for saturation remain, which are grouped around dreams.
Feeding from both breasts
You should not shift the child to the second breast before he sucks the first one. Since the milk in the maternal breast is heterogeneous and is divided into the earlier milk that the baby receives at the beginning of feeding, and later the milk that the baby receives at the end of feeding, it is not necessary to rush to offer the child a second breast. If the mother hurries to give the baby a second breast, then he will not receive the late milk rich in fats. As a result, he may have problems with digestion: lactase deficiency, frothy stools, etc. When feeding on demand, you should ensure that each mammary gland was offered to the child for 1-2 hours and only then changed to another. Applying to one breast for 1-2 hours will allow the baby to receive milk later and provide full work intestine.
How to adjust breastfeeding?
In this article I will look at 4 main regulations organizing a long happy breastfeeding baby These rules relate to your life after discharge from the hospital.
In the maternity hospital
I believe that in the maternity hospital for you all the conditions were created that determine successful breastfeeding: firstly, the child was attached to your breast in the first minutes after birth, secondly, you were taught how to properly apply the child to the breast and see if the baby captures the nipple, and thirdly, you were in the chamber of the joint stay of the mother and child. If all these conditions have been met, then you have a great chance to establish a full breastfeeding! And I will try to help with this.
4 main rules
So you are at home. There is no doubt that you and your loved ones have a psychological attitude to breastfeed (after all, you read the article “while the baby is in the tummy”), now we will begin practical actions. To begin, remember the four main regulationssuccessful breastfeedingwhich must be observed strictly in any situation:
1. Offer the child a breast at the first squeak.
2. Feed at least 16-20 times a day, not maintaining certain intervals, not counting the times of feedings, but simply focusing on the first rule.
3. Be sure to feed at night.
4. Do not give ANY products, liquids or breast substitutes in the first 5-6 months of a child's life.
Let us consider in more detail the essence of these simple rules.
Feed on demand
What does it mean to “offer the baby a breast at the first peep”? This is the basic principle of breastfeeding on demand. As soon as a baby requires a breast, your task is simply to give it to the baby. No need to look at the clock and say: "Well, we just ate, let's wait half an hour!". Bring the process to automatism: the child squeaks (does not scream!) - first give the breast, and then, if you still squeak, start to take some entertaining actions. To bring the child to heart-rending screams in any case is not necessary! Your child is calm, active and smiling! You are just the perfect mother!
It seems to you that, following this rule, you will turn into a “cash cow” tied to a child? But it is not. You yourself will not notice how the child during the first month will work out the feeding regime he needs and, consequently, the daily regimen. You will adapt to this regime very easily and will be able to adjust your affairs to it. (On the mode of the day - a separate article). The most important thing is to be sensitive at first, to convince the child that his beloved mother (namely, her breasts) is at his complete disposal, which means that in this new world it is safe and good. Mommies, do not be afraid to spoil your children. Believe me, your educational measures applied to two-week babies are completely ineffective and even harmful to babies! How often do I hear: “What went wrong again, you will not get anything until you shut up!” - and this is an appeal to a helpless baby who does not understand your threats! Decide for yourself once and for all: raise a child only when you and he are able to perceive information! That is, both of you are in adequate condition, calm and friendly! This rule will also come in handy in the future. For now - let's leave the pedagogical measures. Let's do breastfeeding. We give the child a breast on demand.And the point.
Feed often
How many times will it require? I dont know. And he himself does not know, and no one knows. Today 8 times, tomorrow 30 times. But gradually a certain number of feedings will be developed (it will be possible to say in 2-3 months how many times a baby has a breast during the day). On an average day, children feed 8-10 times. Before and after each sleep, before and after each walk (and a walk up to 8-9 months, as a rule, is equal to sleep). By the time of introduction of complementary foods you will already be guided when you have breakfast at the VAZ, when dinner ... The second rule of breastfeeding says: feed the child often, observing the first rule! And gradually, he himself will be released on the optimal number of meals.
It is appropriate to briefly discuss the question: what to do if the child requires the breast in the wrong place? On the street, on a visit, in the clinic, or in the church during the baptism? The answer can be only one. In this case, you must give the child a breast, and that's all. Go to the far corner of the clinic, cover your diaper. Retire to a private room at a party. The church will have to suffer the cry of the child - no wonder they say, the path to God is through tears. At the end of the procedure, give him plenty to eat. Well, about the street a separate conversation. If it's warm - I think there will be no problems, give a chest right on the street. If it is cold - most likely, the child will sleep! And suddenly wake up - read the article "this terrible nipple"). In general, the attitude of society to nursing mothers, exposing breasts in public places, speaks about the level of development of this society itself. In Europe and America, I saw mothers who were quietly breastfeeding in parks and train stations, who were not trying to hide themselves somehow. And no one paid attention to them, did not poke a finger. It's just that there the infant feeding culture is more developed, and this process is perceived as something natural. With us (I know by myself) you can hardly decide to feed the baby in a prominent place. Immediately there is some condemning old woman ("and not ashamed?") Or a grinning teenage overgrown. Therefore, we are looking for a secluded corner, we always have with ourselves a diaper to hide behind - and we feed!
We feed at night necessarily
We proceed to the most difficult (at first glance) and ambiguous reaction to the rule - obligatory night feedings. If you have a rejection of this requirement, you do not want to feed at night, and want to sleep at night - well, here I can not help you. You can refuse night feedings. Soon you will (surely) give up the daytime. And after that about “sleeping” at night, you can forget for the next 2-3 years! I do not scare anyone, just relying on my experience, I urge you to really look at things. The only way to sleep peacefully at night, having baby- This is, paradoxically, night feedings!
The maximum amount of hormone responsible for the production of breast milk is produced at night - from three to five in the morning. If you don’t feed at this time, prolactin will not be produced enough, you will not have enough milk during the day, even less for the next night and so on until the milk production is completely stopped (this scheme works only with babies for up to 6-9 months, then comes mature lactation, and milk will be produced independently from night feedings).
How to feed at night and get enough sleep? The only way out is this. Grandmothers in horror recall horror stories from their youth, health workers critically shake their heads ... In fact, there is nothing terrible here. Sleeping with a baby is right and natural when breastfeeding. And you need to sleep right next to, and not so that you are on your bed, and the child is in your crib. With this arrangement, you will, willy-nilly, have to rise to feed, which means that you will constantly wake up and not get enough sleep. If a child sleeps next to you, then during the first nights you will learn to recognize the first signs of his anxiety, immediately, without waking up completely, but as if in a half asleep, you will give a breast, and at the same time fall asleep again. It will all be on the machine! And everyone will be happy. In this case, in your own big family bed, both husband and older children can sleep. Take care in advance of convenience for all!
We give nothing except breast milk
And the last tough requirement, which is necessary for proper organization of breastfeeding. Nothing but the breast, the child does not need to give. Water - only after 5-6 months. Juices - as late as possible, after 10 months, closer to the year. All foods according to the schemes - not earlier than 6 months. Nipples - taboo (except). Accordingly, there are no bottles at all. At the time of emergency and forced absences of the mother, you can give expressed milk from a spoon or syringe (without a needle). And that's it! Do not listen to anyone when they say that the baby is hot and he wants some water. All the water he gets from the milk! No more! The only exception may be drugs. I hope you manage to avoid drugs at such a young age. But if they are still appointed, then water is indispensable. But these little sips will not grow into a habit and will not replace her mother's breast!
So, we have reviewed the main rules, observing that you will provide long breastfeeding for your baby. On this path there will be many obstacles and difficulties. Overcome them confidently, do not forget about the importance of the work that you are doing, and always remember your main mission on Earth - to be a Mother.
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