Breast-Feeding - Benefits to You and Your Baby

Breast Feeding

By nature's design, breast feeding is the best possible way of meeting your infant's nutritional needs. At the same time, it provides a warm, intimate relationship between you and your child, which is quite  important for his healthy psychological growth. Breast milk is the ideal food for infants. It contains all the nutrients a normal child needs to develop and thrive.

Benefits to your baby

Besides offering your infant a natural, complete diet, breast milk also provides a number of other important benefits. Its proper balance of proteins, carbohydrates, fats and minerals permits easier digestion with fewer intestinal problems such as diarrhea or constipation. Breast-def babies are less likely to become overweight. There is also less chance that your breast-fed infant will suffer from excessive water loss or other related disorders.

Breast-fed infants are less likely to experience allergic reactions or bacterial infections. In addition, breast milk provides the newborn with many natural immunities, because important antibodies are transmitted from mother to child through the milk.

Breast feeding also affords psychological benefits to the baby by allowing him to experience the close, physical warmth of his mother's body, to take pleasure in the sound of her voice and the sight of her face and, at the same time, to satisfy his sucking needs.

Benefits to you

As a breast feeding mother, you too will benefit by sharing a unique and satisfying relationship with your infant. The physical act of your baby's sucking will relieve the discomfort of your full breast. Breast feeding also helps you regain your figure more quickly, while permitting your uterus to return more rapidly to its normal non-pregnancy state. Furthermore, breast feeding is a convenient, economical means of feeding your child. A supply of milk, warmed to the right temperature, is available whenever your baby is hungry. Additionally, of course, breast feeding saves the time, effort and expense of formula preparation.

Some thoughts about breast feeding

Because breast feeding is unquestionably the best method if feeding your baby, you should talk with your doctor early during pregnancy so that you can develop a comfortable attitude toward it and prepare yourself physically for nursing. You may also want to discuss your decision with your husband, who can lend his full emotional support to your efforts.

 You must take proper care of your breasts and nipples both during and after pregnancy. During the final weeks of pregnancy you can begin to prepare your nipples for nursing by rubbing them once or twice a day with quick strokes using a towel or washcloth. Another helpful exercise involves rolling the nipple between your thumb and forefinger a few minutes each day. To prevent any unnecessary drying of the nipples, you should avoid soaping them while showering. Instead, allow clear water to run over them freely.

In order to breast feed successfully, you should eat correctly. A well balanced diet during your pregnancy, and especially while nursing, is important in order to supply an adequate amount of high quality milk. You will probably have to increase your daily food intake by 500 to 600 calories, paying particular attention to foods high in protein such as meat and eggs, as well as to green and yellow vegetables for vitamins and minerals. You should try to drink at least one pint of milk (approximately 1/2 liter) daily. Other liquids such as water and juices are also important for adequate milk production. 

Unless prescribed by your doctor, drugs of any kind should not be taken during your pregnancy, especially while breast feeding, since they can be transmitted to the baby through your milk. You must also avoid alcohol and cigarettes during this period.

Parenting Guide on Food for the First Year of your Baby

A DAILY FOOD PLAN. In the interest of meeting individual needs, babies' diets should not be rigidly standardized. However, the first year should see a gradual transition to the following broad pattern. This means working toward including in the diet,daily, suitable portions of foods selected from each of the following groups:

Milk group, including cheese and ice cream

Meat group, including beef, veal, pork, lamb, poultry, fish, eggs (dry beans, peas and nuts as occasional alternates for older children and adults).

Vegetable-Fruit group, including a dark green or deep yellow vegetable (for vitamin A value) and citrus fruit or other good vitamin C source, daily.

Bread-Cereal group, emphasizing the whole grain, enriched or restored varieties.

This daily food plan is a practical one to follow. It's so general, it can be used for persons of all ages, and in accordance with national, regional or social food patterns and individual likes and dislikes. It is a simple, flexible and enjoyable way of consuming an adequate diet without worrying about individual nutrients.

Milk. Traditionally, milk is the principal food of babies and plays a major role in the diets of young children. This food, provided by Nature of young mammals, furnishes a wide variety of important nutrients. Whole milk contains significant amounts of vitamin A, riboflavin and thiamine. It is the best practical source of calcium and a good source of phosphorous. The proteins in milk are present in liberal amounts and are of excellent quality, well utilized in the growth of infants and children. Milk contributes many trace minerals and several of the lesser known vitamins.

It would be difficult to argue against the "rightness" of human milk for human babies. Most mothers who wish to can breast feed but many factors can influence this personal choice. It is well to make a tentative choice between breast and formula feeding well before the baby is born. Either methods gets off to a better start with advance preparation. The final decision for or against breast feeding should rest with the mother and her doctor.

Today. most babies can be expected to thrive on formula feeding if that choice is made. The availability of "clean" milk and improved standards of food handling in homes have made it safe from a sanitary standpoint.

Your baby's doctor should prescribed and approximate schedule for artificial feeding. His directions will be based on your baby's own nutritional and digestive needs. He might prescribe a formula made by mixing definite proportions of evaporated or fresh milk, water and sugar. But he is more likely to specify one of the convenient "premodified" milk formulas on the market today, which for most babies only need diluting with an equal amount of boiled water. Many physicians today prefer the formulas with added iron for routine use.

Despite its nutritional excellence, plain cow's milk doesn't qualify as a "perfect food". Even in the generous quantities usually fed babies, it fails to supply sufficient vitamin D, vitamin C, thiamine and iron. That's why doctors recommend the introduction of "supplementary foods" before a baby's body stores of these nutrients are depleted.