Archive for ‘Feeding’
While rooting and milk production are reflex activities, other aspects of nursing take time for you and your baby to master. His first efforts at feeding may seem clumsy and uncoordinated, as the tasks of latching onto a nipple, breathing, and swallowing (more or less simultaneously) are accomplished. After six weeks or so, the baby will be more of an expert, anticipating feeding and doing his part more efficiently. If your baby seems to have problems with either breast or bottle feeding, consider how the two of you interact. Babies have different feeding styles, from sleepy and slow to active and voracious. Try to tune your style to your infant's. At this early stage, don't worry about spoiling your baby with too-frequent feedings. Newborn babies cannot help expressing their physical needs, and the parents' job is to meet them as well and as quickly as possible taking care, of course, to wait a few minutes and give the baby a chance to calm himself if he has recently been fed. Thi...
Breast feeding is the best feeding method, although even a newborn can be well-nourished with formula feeding. If you wish to breast-feed, it's important to get a good start. (See "The basics of breast feeding" on page 14.) The sooner you begin, the better. The breast milk produced in the first few days after birth is a thin, watery substance called colostrums. It was once thought that this early milk didn't provide full nutrition. Now we know that the opposite is true: Nature designed this newborn food to have just the right balance of fluids and nutrients and to deliver protective immunity. Babies don't need a lot of nutrition in their first few days, but they do need water and, preferably, the antibodies from mother's immune system that only breast feeding can provide. After several days of nursing, regular breast milk usually comes in right on schedule, bringing the nutrients the baby needs to grow and develop. Whether you breast- or bottle-feed (or use a combination of both),...