Magic Years Nursery

Breastfeeding is the most natural way to feed your baby and also the best thing you can do for him. Baby will build up important immunities from feeding from your breast.

Another plus is that it is so much more convenient. Better to just take baby out of his cot in the middle of the night and be able to feed him immediately. Formula feeding means you have to heat up a bottle, be sure its the right temperature, (mother nature automatically ensures that breast milk is the perfect blood temperature!) whilst you are doing this he could well be screaming the house down. This will not make for a relaxing middle of the night experience.

Breastfeeding is for the most part, trouble free, but you should be aware of some common issues that could arise.

Thrush – not harmful and very common. Its an infection that is transmitted to the breast via the babies mouth. The cause is an overgrowth of yeast – although this is a normal part of the digestive systmem, too much will cause the Thrush infection.

Symptoms of thrush are, breast or nipple pain. Also nipples can be very sensitive, itchy or even become cracked. As it develops in the baby’s mouth, it is passed back and forth so you need to seek advice as soon as you see the symptoms.

Mastitis – Bacteria is present in the milk ducts, causing the breast to become hard, red and inflamed. Antibiotics will cure mastitis and your GP will ensure they prescribe an antibiotic that will not affect the baby so you can still breastfeed.

Fast Milk Flow – Some women will find that the milk flows really fast when they first start to feed their baby. The result of this is that the baby can seem to be choking on the milk and that of course is quite scary. Try siphoning off a small amount of milk from each breast before you start to feed, and also keep the baby a bit more upright for the first minute or so of feeding.

Baby Does Not Seem To Like the Milk – Acidic or spicy foods can really change the taste of your milk and give baby quite a shock. Although the milk taste will vary slightly as does your diet, you really need to steer clear or highly spiced foods like curry or chilli. Also drink water and plain drinks rather than orange or lemon juice.

Is Baby Taking Enough? – Bottle feeding Mums know exactly how much milk their baby is taking. But how much is the right amount? If your baby feeds well at the breast and is growing and healthy, then do not stress. Babies let you know when they are hungry and will take exactly what they need.

Want to see some more new baby ideas? then visit Olivia Weston’s site for plenty more information on how to deal with a new baby.

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