Answers To Your Breastfeeding Questions
Answers To Your Breastfeeding Questions
Answers To Your Breastfeeding Questions
By Asheesh Mani
If you are a first time mother, it’s natural for you to have many baffling breastfeeding questions that might be confusing you. It’s very important for you to get the right answers to all your questions regarding breastfeeding as your and your baby’s welfare depends on your correct actions based on these answers. You should never hesitate to ask questions if you are in doubt so that you can ultimately take the right decisions. Given below are a few common breastfeeding questions with their answers.
Can I Produce Enough Milk For My Baby?
Most nursing mothers are able to produce sufficient milk for the nutritional needs of their babies. The most important aspect of breastfeeding is that the baby should latch on to your breast properly and it should be allowed to feed whenever and as long as it wants. This will stimulate your breasts to create the hormones that produce the milk. As such, you should be rest assured that as long as your baby is properly latched on to your breasts, there will be enough production of your milk and your baby will be well fed. You can make out whether your baby is getting enough feed by the number of times it is wetting the diaper.
Do Small Breasts Mean Less Milk?
Many breastfeeding questions revolve around the size of the breast in relation to their ability to produce sufficient amount of milk. Some mothers even go to the extent of querying whether women with small breasts can produce any milk at all. These are misplaced apprehensions as the size of the breast has no bearing at all on the amount of milk being produced. On the other hand, it has been observed that women with large breasts find it difficult to feed their babies as they cannot latch on properly.
Is It Normal For Breasts To Hurt While Feeding Your Baby?
If the baby is properly latched on to the nipple of your breast, you should only get a tugging feeling. You can avoid soreness of the nipples if the positioning of the baby is correct and in case you have tenderness, you can put breast milk on the nipples after feeding your baby and changing the positions during feeding which will also reduce the tenderness.
Should I Give Extra Water To My Baby?
One of the frequently asked breastfeeding questions is whether the babies need extra water apart from their feeds. Actually, mother’s milk provides all the water that a baby needs and there is no need to give any extra water as this can disturb the balance of the electrolytes and lead to serious problems. It’s essential that the mother drinks a lot of water, instead.
What Should Be The Frequency Of Feeding A Baby?
Breastfeeding should be done as per the desire of the baby but it is important that the baby should finish feeding on one breast before moving on to the other breast. The basic reason for this is that important nutrients are produced in larger quantities during the later stages of feeding than in the initial stages.
Is It Ok To Feed Baby formula?
Formula-based milks are nowhere near what breast milk provides a baby. Whereas breast milk gives all the nutrients that a baby needs along with hormones, living cells, antibodies and enzymes, formula milk besides being deficient in essential nutrients, lacks in the physical closeness and emotional attachment that mother’s milk provides.
What Type Of Food Should A Nursing Mother Take?
Basically, you should take a balanced diet with plenty of water. Alcohol and caffeinated beverages should be limited and not more than 3 to 4 cups of low-fat milk should be consumed.
You can consult a health-care professional if you have other breastfeeding questions. It is important for nursing mothers to know about neonatal care and the fact that breastfeeding their baby is the natural duty of a mother. Visit Pregnancy-Period.Com for more.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Asheesh_Mani
http://EzineArticles.com/?Answers-To-Your-Breastfeeding-Questions&id=577867
Back to Articles