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Ever feel like everyone around
you is giving well-meaning yet ill-informed advise about breastfeeding?
Do these words sound familiar to you?
"Do you have enough milk?"
"But you just fed him an hour ago, are you sure you've still
got milk?"
"He can't be full with your milk, why don't you give him
some formula?"
Take heart, you're not alone
(believe me, I've been there, just read about my
breastfeeding experience). Discouraging words such as these
can chisel away your confidence in your natural ability to nourish
your child with the ONE BEST FOOD - breastmilk. So don't just sit
there and take it quietly, arm yourself with the right information
(that's what I did). Make the informed choice to breastfeed (and
educate your friends and family about the goodness of breastfeeding!)
Here are some sticky situations
which I've personally encountered and what I've learned from them.
Not enough milk?
Supply
concerns are most often than not, unfounded. It is very
rare for a woman not to have enough milk to nurse her baby.
If you're wondering if you have
enough milk, here's how you can increase
your milk supply.
But I just fed him an hour ago, do I still have milk?
Follow your baby's feeding cues if he asks to be fed sooner even
if the last feeding ended not too long ago. How can I tell if my
baby is getting
enough milk?
My mother says that I probably inherited
her trait of not having sufficient breastmilk.
The fact that your mother failed at breastfeeding is more likely
due to other reasons such as supplementing
of formula (which I later found out was my mom's case when she
breastfed us) or introducing the baby to a pacifier,
which can jeopardize breastfeeding efforts. Giving bottles or pacifiers
in the early days not only disrupts
the delicate demand and supply balance, but can also lead to
nipple confusion.
My relatives tell me I'm spoiling my baby by letting him sleep
with me at night while I nurse him during his nightwakings.
Firstly, it's a fine line between spoiling
and attending appropriately to your child's needs. Your responsiveness
to your baby's needs is probably Attachment
Parenting at work. There are a lot of reasons why co-sleeping
works (it works for us!), thought it's not for everyone (but
of course, first you have to check for co-sleeping
safety).
Our baby is still not sleeping
through the night. Should I stop nighttime nursing?
Babies can receive up to one-third
of their nutrition during nightfeeds. This is particularly important
for the baby of working mothers to catch up on the less milk he
consumed during the day while mother was at work. Nighttime nursing
is also a great opportunity for working mothers to catch up on the
daytime nursings and cuddles they've missed during the day. But
if baby's nighttime nursing is depriving you of sleep to the degree
that you are resenting your nighttime parenting style, here are
some alternatives
for the all-night nurser.
My baby is such an attention magnet. I don't have any privacy
to nurse him in peace because visitors keep flocking into my room
to peek at the new arrival.
Solution 1: Have your husband politely tell them to wait until you're
done nursing, or that you and baby need the much needed rest;
Solution 2: Not the most diplomatic, but you can always lock the
door to shut unwanted visitors from inviting themselves in.
I get stares or strange looks from strangers when I'm breastfeeding
in public.
There's nothing wrong with exposing some skin while breastfeeding
in public, but in most social situations, people are more comfortable
and receptive if the mother had nursed more
discreetly. Good mannerism would tell you to observe the feelings
of other people, but of course, baby's needs should come first.
You can't please everyone, but if the unwanted attention is really
bothering you, be discreet if at all possible (a nursing shirt is
made with the sole purpose of being discreet).
Don't get yourself into a discussion you'd rather avoid. Here
are some suggestions on how to handle
criticism.
I have the flu and everyone tells me to stop
nursing my child to prevent passing on my germs to him.
Did you know that your breastmilk contains antibodies against that
flu you're having?
First and foremost, see a breastfeeding-friendly doctor for your
flu, and be sure to inform him/her that you are still breastfeeding,
so that he/she can prescribe the appropriate
medication for you.
Click here
for a drugs and breastmilk interaction chart. Click here
for AAP policy statement on transfer
of drugs and other chemicals into human milk.
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