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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FIRST FEW MOMENTS FOR YOU AND YOUR BABY

These moments are moments to experience and cannot be described. These are the God’s gifts to which you are privileged and meant only for you, your partner and your baby to experience.

Your first sight of the baby may not be as you have been imagining in these last few months because he is blue with the white vernix covering him, with specks of blood and a deformed head. In addition there might be slight swelling on the face and the limbs and body will be wet with amniotic fluid.

 You will still love him though….after all he is yours and you both have made him. Seen him, talked to him, and loved him all along.

FIRST HOUR

You must remember that your baby is in the most active phase of his life in the first half an hour. He will make eye to eye contact also if given a chance now which will not be possible for the next 2 months after this. So make the best of it.

 Take him as soon as you can after birth and cuddle him, talk to him and keep him on you. Let him smell you and feel you. Take him to your breast and it will produce a surge of hormones even if he starts to suckle a little. This will establish lactation immediately and also help in the expulsion of placenta and the contraction of the uterus.

At this time you and your partner can establish a bond because after an hour your little baby will take 1-2 months to start responding appropriately to you. Be sure to inform your doctor that you want to hold your baby immediately after birth and this is possible even if you are undergoing a cesarean section.

 Do not lose these moments with your baby.

It has been proved that if your baby is not exhausted and immediately after the birth, if you keep him on your abdomen, he will crawl till your breasts guided by the smell of the milk…amazing but true.

The suckling reflex is the strongest in the first one hour after birth. 

FEEDNG

Some babies do need some help with feeding after birth for the first few weeks. Hang on and do not despair. There might be problems with you like cracked nipples, inverted nipples etc or in the latching process by the baby. Your family and your doctor will help you with these problems.

What you need to know is that feeding and milking is a natural phenomena. Do not try to do this…it will happen. If you try too hard, it creates more problems.

 Just relax and let your instincts guide you. Leave the baby to find his way. It is his natural instincts too.

Do not worry about the amount of milk. What your baby needs, your body will produce.

Whether you want it or no…let it all go in a natural manner.

Also remember to give your baby exclusive breast feed for at least 4-6 months because it is the best milk

Visit our FAQ section or talk to a certified doctor through the doctor’s blog and get your doubts cleared.

Would you like to share your experience? Please click on this link and share your valuable experience with everyone.

Delayed Language Development

My child is not really speaking out as he /she should be and children her age are speaking more than her…can I start speech therapy?

Here are a few facts about speech development and delayed speech.

All children learn speech in the same order: first words, then phrases and, finally, sen¬tences. But this is all the similarity you may find amongst the toddlers learning to speak. It is certainly not fair to compare your child to others or even to his /her own sibling.
Some children may learn to speak late but may have a higher vocabulary than the child who started speaking at an earlier age.
Some may learn to link words faster than the other.
It will surprise you sometimes that your child who was a early walker, climber, jumper, ball-thrower – is not talking or your child who is slow in physical milestones is babbling away words or sentences.

Development of speech is genetic and also gets affected by environmental stimulation that a child gets.it is no surprise that a child learns the language to which he is exposed to very fast.

Lack of stimulation (or even excessive pressure to perform verbally) may also inhibit the development of language. So can a well-meaning family that anticipates a toddler’s every wish before it is spoken.so the child makes no efforts to learn words to communicate.
 Whatever the reason, however, once they get started, late talkers often quickly develop mature speech. Because they’re older when they begin, they may have better pronunciation, a better intuitive grasp of grammar and a larger vocabulary (which was quietly building up all along).

So remember that your child may talk anytime between 10 months to two years or even later, but it is advisable to consult your doctor after two years to rule out other problems that may cause a speech delay like hearing problems, tongue tie, autism etc.

Discuss any doubts with your child’s doctor to evaluate the advisability of a hearing test or a formal assessment of language skills by a certified speech and language pathologist

A quick home test to understand the problem will be to command a few simple things to your child like ‘close the door, get a glass of water etc’. Also if your child can communicate with you non verbally through actions, he is by and large not got any hearing or other problems. You may expect him to talk anytime.

How can I encourage my child to talk?

• Start reading to him at an early stage. Even a 1 year old can be read to.
•  Do not speak in baby language with your child. Converse with him like how you would do with an adult.
•  Try to complete sentences for him when he talks.when he says ‘water’ you may respond by ‘do you want a glass of water OR I’ll get you a glass of water’
•  Let him mix around with children of his age.

You may read more in our site ‘ourbabysworld.com’

What do we do when our children plead to us to ‘not do’ ?
What do we do when our children feel the need to teach us?
What do we do when our children start parenting us?
What do we do when we start becoming responsible for their damages?

LOOK AT THIS VUDEO, SIT BACK, THINK ABOUT THIS AND ACT!

Read more in our site ‘ourbabysworld.com’

This is a fragile relationship because it is always taken for granted and is always a power struggle between the two parties.
If you sit back and think, the problems and struggle is different at different ages..

In less than three year olds, the child is less powerful and parents assume an authoritative role. This may cause resentment in the child’s mind and he may have problems at a later age.
In a 3-8 year old age group, there are more struggles in the relationship because the child is also powerful at this age having a mind of his own resulting in the power struggle getting worse.
After 8 years of age, parents may get maximum ally frustrated because the power game is at the same level.

But there are three tools that may be used by the parents to make it a happier and a healthier relationship.
Parent child relationship is a thin rope on which your child is getting nurtured. Make it smooth and give your child a lifetime of memories to take with him.

These three tools can be used in every situation and every moment when you feel that the struggle is going to start, be it eating, clothing, going to school, demands for costly items or anything else which is a problem between you and your child.

The tools are

1. UNDERSTANDING YOUR CHILD

Easier said than done but in almost all the situations where you feel that you have to assume an authoritative role with your child, try to really understand why your child is behaving in that particular way.
The most practical way in which you can do so is by looking at the whole situating as a bystander. Try to think for instance; what you would do if your child was insisting on wearing a purple top with a green skirt and the struggle was going on.
But if you view this situation as a third person, you may find the whole situation rather amusing and not so horrifying as facing it directly as a parent!
Assuming your role as a third person would make you feel more relaxed and it would ease off the situation. You may give in… or she may give in or you may just laugh it off. The point is the cycle of power struggle would be broken.
So whenever you find yourself at the verge of losing your temper with your child for any reason, try to take the role of a bystander and not a parent. This would change the way you would react to the situation.
2. GIVE YOUR CHILD UNDIVIDED ATTENTION

This is a very important tool and it involves giving complete attention to your child at least for an hour in a day, with the mobiles switched off and no other commitments to be fulfilled at that time.
You will be amazed at what your child can come up with at these times and you may realize that it very refreshing and revealing to you too.
The best time to give is one hour during the night just before you put them off to sleep. This is the time when your child is most receptive and when he will openly tell you about his day. You may ask him that has bothered him in the day. At this time you may also ask him to give you some of his time and you can share your day with him too.
You will be amazed to see that children will understand your problem in whatever matter and some of them may also come up with a simple answer to your questions. You can share what has irritated you or also apologize about something that you shouldn’t have done… like being too harsh with him.
Giving this kind of time can work miracles in your relationship with your child.

3. UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

If you feel that you cannot understand why your child is behaving that way, or if you feel that he is not sharing the problems with you in the time that you give exclusively to him, you do not have to think too much for a solution. Forget everything and simply hug him and say ‘I love you’. You do not have to know why your child is behaving so aggressively or rudely. Just muster up yourself and go and give him a tight hug. Love him; love her for whatever they have done .even 60 year old yearns for love. Remember that even your child is craving for it. Mistakes are to be forgotten and forgiven.
They will learn faster from their mistakes in the security of your unconditional love.

Make it a point everyday to tell him  ‘I love you no matter what’

Nurture this relationship and you have earned a lifetime of happiness.

Read more in our site ‘ourbabysworld.com’