HOW TO BREASTFEED YOUR BABY

Education and health of children

A fresh mom must tackle lots of unknown. Perhaps the most important thing is breastfeeding. She knows the baby is absolutely dependent on her and needs the breast milk above anything else, she wants to know everything about how to properly breastfeed, how often to do it and also what not to do.

So how is it? How much milk does a newborn need and what can the mom do to provide the best breast milk?

breastfeeding clothes baby

Breast milk production

The principle of breast milk production is very simple and natural. The more a woman feeds the baby, the more milk she produces. Mommy needs to perfectly adjust to the baby’s needs. Especially in the first weeks, when there is no schedule, it’s important not to pressure the baby and let him or her ask for the milk when hungry.

How often to feed your baby

Experts and experienced moms advise to feed the baby during the weeks, when the baby requests it. Every feed it’s important to watch the baby carefully and not to limit the feeding time. Let the baby feed as much as needed. Since the newborns need to feed relatively often – approximately every 2 or 3 hours because of their small stomachs it is crucial to keep up and be available for the baby.

After a short while, every mom will be able to determine if and when the baby is hungry and how long you need to feed your baby. Then the schedule will start to create itself for you and your baby.

Breastfeeding positions

It’s important for the mom to be in a comfortable position. At the same time, the baby needs to be touching her with the whole body. This way the right position is achieved as well as the right way for your baby to feed. A wrong position is often the underlying reason for incorrect feeding, which results in your baby being unhappy. If you cannot figure it out, it’s good to ask a lactation consultant for help, who can advise you with the right position for breast-feeding.

What to avoid during breastfeeding?

Besides unsuitable food, drinking alcoholic beverages and smoking, an often occurring problem, which complicates breastfeeding is that you do not start breastfeeding your baby soon enough. You need to start immediately after the baby is born and offer your baby to feed anytime the baby shows interest. As the milk is made in the woman’s body from the 16th week of pregnancy, there is nothing to wait for, especially in the first phase of breast feeding, the mom produces nutritious milk, including colostrum, which is crucial for the immunity of a newborn.

Be careful about a wrong latch, which can result in your baby being unhappy, hungry and your nipples hurting and being uncomfortable.

Breastfeeding schedule is also not the ideal way. A newborn should be fed as much and often as needed.

A big enemy of breastfeeding are pacifiers and feeding bottles. They can worsen the technique of breastfeeding and stopping breastfeeding faster by the baby.

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How to stop breastfeeding

A final question: When and how to find out that it is time to stop breastfeeding?

Of course this is highly individual, there isn’t a universal age of a child when it is time to stop but it is crucial this happens slowly and in a stress-free manner, both for the baby and mom.

Overall, mother’s milk is the only important drink and food your baby needs until 6 months old. From a physiological perspective, around the 6th month mother’s milk starts to be insufficient and other food comes into play..

Therefore, if there is not a specific reason not to, it is important for the health of your baby to be fed by breastfeeding at least the first 6 months. Although after the six months the mother’s milk is not as nutritious, it still contains lots of nutrients. Besides the nutrients it also creates a strong bond between the mom and the baby, which is why it’s important to stop overall breast feeding slowly.