Breastfeeding can be quite daunting at times, but I’m here to help you put your fears aside and become aware of the amazing effects it has on your child throughout their whole life!
The First Weeks of Breastfeeding
All you need is breast milk to feed your baby!
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- Breastfeeding should begin as soon as possible after birth (usually within the first hour)
- Use breastfeeding as the sole source of nutrition for your baby (for about 6 months) (Steven P. Shelov & Tanya Remer Altmann, 2009)
- Breast feed your baby at least 8 to 12 times each day (1 ½ to 3 hours)
- Breastfeed your baby whenever they seem hungry, not on a set schedule (Baydar, McCann, Williams, & Vesper, 1997)
- The length of time varies in the first few weeks of nursing, it could be a couple minutes or 45 minutes (Steven P. Shelov & Tanya Remer Altmann, 2009)
Benefits of Breastfeeding
There are many benefits of breastfeeding, I’ll cover only a few and add links were you are able to read valid websites that will help inform you more. In no particular order:
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- Breastfeeding compared to bottle/formula feeding helps improve a higher cognitive development in babies (especially in pre-termed babies) (Quiqley, Hockley, Carson, Kelly, Renfrew, & Sacker, 2012)
- There are far greater amount of nutrients that your child is getting from the breast milk in comparison to formula (Heslett, Hedberg, & Rumble, 2007)
- The following is a video and article ABC new did about breast feeding:
Don’t Give Up!
According to a study about childcare and breast feeding, there is a reduced likely hood that mothers will breastfeed their child when the child starts going to childcare (Pearce, Li, Abbas, Ferguson, Graham, & Law, 2012). Here are some simple tips for mothers who have children in childcare or working mothers:
- Invest in a breast pump, and start pumping the excess milk that your child doesn’t eat; send that breast milk with the child when they go to their care facility
- If possible, take breaks from work to come and feed your baby
- For working mothers, during your lunch break, have someone bring your baby to you
- Or if none of these work only have your child drink formula while they are in childcare and when you have your baby feed them breast milk
Additional Website References
I believe that it is exceptionally important to have more resources than one. Below are web-based sites to give you more information on the art of breastfeeding. Look through them, it’s always fun to see that not only are you making the right choice in breastfeeding your child but you are not alone and there are resources to help you in addition to this one.
- This is a website is published by pediatricians, and has a wide variety of information not only for breast feeding in helping raise your child http://www.healthychildren.org/English/Pages/default.aspx
- This is a fantastic resource. Breastfeeding Today Magazine: Follow this link and you'll be able to access all of their issues http://www.llli.org/breastfeedingtoday
- This link talks about why breastfeeding is a public health issue and not just a lifestyle choice
- Info about la leche league meetings here in Utah (La Leche League is a group that supports breastfeeding moms) http://www.lllusa.org/UT/Utah.html
- You'll find a lot of great links here on a few of La Leche League's Salt Lake City facebook page
Just remember, you are your child’s hero for breastfeeding!
Works Cited
Baydar, N., McCann, M., Williams, R., & Vesper, E. (1997). Final Report: WIC Infant Feeding Practices Study. Seattle: Centers for Public Health Research and Evaluation.
Heslett, C., Hedberg, S., & Rumble, H. (2007). Did you ever wonder what's in... Breast Milk and Formula. BC, Canada: Douglas College, New Westminster.
Pearce, A., Li, L., Abbas, J., Ferguson, B., Graham, H., & Law, C. (2012). Childcare use and inequalities in breastfeeding: findings from the UK Millennium Cohort Study. Archives of Disease In Childhood [Arch Dis Child] , 97, 39-42.
Quiqley, M., Hockley, C., Carson, C., Kelly, Y., Renfrew, M., & Sacker, A. (2012). Breastfeeding is associated with improved child cognitive development: a population-based cohort study. The Journal of Pediatrics , 160, 25-32.
Steven P. Shelov, M. M.-I.-C., & Tanya Remer Altmann, M. F. (2009). The Complete and Authoritative Guide, Caring For Your Baby and Young Child, Birth to Age 5. USA: Bantam Book.
Great post! Very informative!
ReplyDeleteI think breast feeding is very important and beneficial. I think that it was great that you not only wrote about this, but you also let people know that it can be difficult but they can stay with it.
ReplyDelete