I am a working woman. Give me tips on breast feeding
Most of the working mothers are confused as to whether they should initiate breastfeeding, when should they give top milk, how will they manage after joining work and lots more.
Remember that you MUST breast feed your baby for as long as you can, be it 1-2 months or 18-20 months. It is very much possible to continue feeding your child even after you join the work.
MILK SUPPLY CAN BE MAINTAINED BY GIVING FREQUENT FEEDS TO YOUR BABY WHEN YOU ARE HOME, CONTINUING NIGHT FEEDS AS LONG AS POSSIBLE AND EXPRESSING YOUR MILK FREQUENTLY TO BE FED TO YOUR Baby in your absence.
When can I initiate top milk on my baby?
I. Wait until the baby is about 3 to 4 weeks old to begin introducing the bottle. By this time the baby should be used to nursing, on somewhat of a schedule and your milk flow should be well established.
2. Begin by giving a bottle of breast milk three times a week. Many babies won’t take the bottles from their mothers-they know the difference-so the father or older brother or sister or sitter may need to take over.
3. Warm milk works best. Breast-fed babies aren’t used to cold temperatures yet. Some babies will have no difficulty accepting a bottle, but with others it’s a real struggle and requires patience.
4. For the baby who is reluctant to take the bottle, the mother should try leaving the room, since some babies will refuse the bottle if they can even hear the mother talking. You can also try holding the baby in a “non-nursing” position for example; she can be lying in your lap with her feet toward you and her head toward your knees while you offer her the bottle. Sometimes, babies who really seem to like a sweet taste will at first accept apple juice, diluted half and half with water, from the bottle better than milk.
5. Before the mother returns to work, the baby should be taking at least one bottle a day well. It’s impor¬tant to express your milk during the bottle feedings to keep your supply up.
6. Try to nurse right before and right after work, and to express your milk at least once if you’re working longer than 6 hours,
One easy way to express and store milk is to nurse the baby on one breast and use the breast pump on the other. This really helps because the “let-down” reflex from nursing seems to allow the milk to pump easier.
For how long can I store the expressed milk?
Breast milk can be stored for almost 8 hours in room temperature, 24 hours in refrigerator at 4-8 degree centigrade, or few weeks in the freezer.
The easy way out is to express your milk after the last feed of your baby at night or
Getting started at Breast-feeding
After you have been nursing for a few weeks, you may notice a distinct sensation of the milk being “let down” or “coming in” at nursing time. It may start leaking from the breasts when you hear the baby beginning to cry in the next room. This shows how much feelings have to do. You’ll probably notice that the state of your feelings has a lot to do with how easily the milk comes. Worries and tenseness can hold the milk back. So try to get troubles off your mind before beginning.
Take some deep breaths and relax your shoulders. If possible, lie down for 15 minutes before you expect the baby to wake, and do what is most relaxing, whether it’s shutting your eyes, or reading, or watching TV.
What do I do if my baby cannot latch on?
It’s common for the breasts to become engorged when the milk first comes in. This may pull the nipple flat and in combination with a firm breast may make it difficult for a newborn to “latch on.” The baby may get extremely angry and frustrated. Hot compresses and expressing some milk for a few minutes before nursing will pull the nipple out enough to help the baby get the areola into her mouth.
There are two things to avoid when putting babies to the breast.
The first is holding the head, in trying to direct it toward the breast. Babies hate to have their heads held; they fight to get free. The other is to squeeze them across the cheeks to get the mouth open. Babies have an instinct to turn toward anything that touches their cheeks. This is to help them find the nipple. When you squeeze them on both cheeks at the same time, you baffle and annoy them.
Why do my breasts get sore?
If soreness starts to develop, the first things to check are the way the baby is latching on to the breast and the nursing position. The frequency of nursing should be increased to promote the emptying of the breasts and to prevent the baby from becoming too hungry.
Changing nursing positions so that the pressure of the baby’s gums is distributed in different areas of the areola is also helpful.
Should I feed from both the breasts?
If a mother produces ample amounts of milk, her baby may be quite satisfied with one breast at each feeding. Each breast receives the stimulation of very complete nursing, even though this occurs only once in about 4 to 8 hours. In many cases, however, the amount in one breast does not satisfy the baby, and both breasts are given at each feeding, the left breast being offered first at one feeding, the right breast first at the next.
A baby has to be taken to the other breast only when one gets over. This is because the initial part of the milk is watery and quenches only the thirst of the baby while the latter part is fatty which fulfils his hunger if given only the initial part of the milk, your baby might demand feeds again in an hour as he was not completely satiated in the previous feeds.
How can I say that my milk is enough?
A reliable guide is the combination of weight gain and satisfaction and urine output. It’s good to remember that throughout the largest part of the world, in which there are no scales and no doctors, the mother simply assumes that her baby is receiving plenty if the child acts contented and looks well, and that this system works well in at least nine out of ten cases.
- A baby who cries hard every afternoon or evening but is gaining weight at the average rate is probably getting plenty to eat but having colic.
- A baby who gains slowly but is quite contented is, in most cases, a baby who is meant to be a slow gainer.
- However, there are a few babies who don’t protest even when they are not gaining at all. It’s the baby who is gaining very slowly and acting hungry most of the time is the one probably not getting enough.
He’ll have fewer than six wet diapers a day, his urine will look dark or smell strong, and he’ll have infrequent bowel movements.
Manual Expression and Breast Pumps
Manual expression or breast pumps are used to obtain milk for the baby who cannot or will not nurse at the breast, although the mother has plenty of milk. A small, premature baby may be too weak to nurse, or to be taken out of the incubator, but can be fed breast milk from a medicine dropper or by a stomach tube, When an ill mother is away in a hospital, or when it is considered unwise, in the home, to expose the baby to her directly, her milk can be collected and given to the baby from a bottle (or discarded) until she can nurse again
When it is desired to obtain plenty of milk or to keep the breasts functioning, they are expressed or pumped at regular intervals.
If you are a working mother or you’re delivering it once a day to the hospital for premature baby milk should be kept refrigerated
How can I manually express my milk out?
First, of course, you wash your hands with soap. Then you massage the breast to bring the breast milk to the sinuses. In the more common method of manual expression, the sinuses are then repeat¬edly rolled and squeezed between thumb and finger. To apply the pressure where the sinuses lie, deep behind the areola, it is necessary to place the tips of thumb and finger on opposite sides of the areola (just at the edge where the dark skin meets the normally colored skin). Then press thumb and finger in deeply until they meet the ribs. In this position, squeeze them rhythmically together. The right hand is usually used to express the left breast, and in this instance the left hand holds the cup that catches the milk.
The main thing is to press in deeply enough and at the edge of the areola. The nipple itself is not squeezed or fingered. You may be able to get more milk with each squeeze if you not only press thumb and finger toward each other but pull slightly outward with them (toward the nipple) at the same time, to complete the milking motion.
The thumb-and-cup method
First, wash your hands with soap and water. Tuck the lower edge of the cup deep into the left breast, at the lower edge of the areola, and tip the cup up partway, holding it with the left hand. Place the thumb of the right hand on the upper edge of the areola. Now the areola is being pressed between the right thumb and the rim of the cup. Press the right thumb firmly inward (toward the rim) and then downward (toward the nipple). This squeezes the milk from the sacs into the tubes running through the nipple. When you press toward the nipple, don’t slide your thumb across areola; the skin moves with the thumb. It is not necessary to squeeze or even touch the nipple.
Breast pumps
Many mothers who have to express their milk regularly-especially working mothers who may be doing it for many weeks or months-prefer to use breast pomp. There are dozens of different pumps on the market with a wide range of prices. It’s best to talk to your baby’s or a lactation consultant before your baby is born, to decide which will be best for you.
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