EXPRESSING MILK/ TOP FEEDS
After each feed or every other feed you could express just an ounce (30ml) from each side and put this in the freezer so as to build up a supply of milk in case you introduce the bottle later on, and/or would like to leave the baby with someone else while you nip out.
The milk keeps in the freezer for a few months. Date the packets or jars before freezing. If in the early days the baby does not appear to be feeding well, then pump out more, partly to build your stockpile, but mainly to keep your supply high for when baby does get the hang of it.
Avent’s Isis hand pump is excellent. I had three of these when my kids were younger as I only sterilized once a day (something my husband usually did for me actually). A steam sterilizer is worth having.
With Z, she had such a bad time at the breast that when I expressed and offered her the bottle, she glugged it and refused to go back to the breast! So I expressed using an industrial double sided pump for the first 10 weeks of Z’s life, and she fed mostly from the bottle. I pumped 8-10 times a day, and kept a cumulative total each day of what I had pumped and what Z had fed, to ensure that I was keeping up with her increasing appetite. I still tried her at the breast often.
Finally, at about 10 weeks, we cracked it, and I realized that she would come to me if I held her correctly and if she was well-rested. So, the best time (I think) is when a baby is still sleepy and not quite fully awake, keep the lights very low, and gently put baby to the breast – let the association be with cuddling, warmth, protection. Sustenance.
Never feel that it is too late for baby to learn how to breastfeed. After taking only bottles of breastmilk for the first 10 weeks, Z was quite happy feeding at the breast, in fact she even forgot how to take the bottle! (as my poor father will vouch for, when I went shopping with my Mum, leaving him with a bottle of expressed milk – she screamed blue murder and absolutely refused the bottle when she woke).
Top Feeds: For a short while when I was just exhausted feeding the insatiable appetite of my older one, I resorted to giving him a couple of ounces of formula as a top feed. A top feed can be either formula or breastmilk. Basically anything that comes from a bottle is called a top feed. You feed at the breast first for the best milk, and if you are tired or you want the baby to get to sleep, or you need to go, or whatever, then there is no harm done in giving a top feed.
It does become a problem though if you do this every single feed, or if you start to increase the quantity of top feed. The basic principle with breastfeeding is the more you take the more you make – or the more you remove, the more is replaced. So, allow your baby plenty of time at the breast. When the baby is having one of the many growth spurts the baby will spend ages at the breast every 20 minutes for those few days – this is normal – he or she is just getting your milk supply up to match up to the new sized baby. Once they have done this the routine will go back to normal - in fact the bigger baby will have a bigger tummy and will efficiently take more than before and last longer before needing another feed.
Don’t worry if you have been giving top feeds and want to cut back – the human body is an amazing thing. At ANY point you can demand it to increase the supply of milk, or to reduce it…just do it gradually. Cut back on the amount of top feed gradually and make baby take it from the breast. Pump to bring your supply up too – help baby out a little.
We saved the fixed quantity of 2-3 ounces of formula for the last thing at night after a breastfeed– I wanted a stretch of sleep, and so would give him the sugary formula (difficult to digest) so that he would not get hungry quite so soon…breastmilk is easy to digest which is why babies are ready for more very quickly! Basically if you are resorting to a top feed then let it remain the top feed and not become the main feed! Your breastmilk is designed for your baby – and is a daily vaccination. Breasts are also amazingly portable - no bottles, cans of formula, sterilizers, etc. No paraphernalia - just an ability to deftly whip out the goods on demand - ponchos, shawls, dupattas, etc are great if you would like to stay in public. Drink plenty of water.
How long can one go on breastfeeding?
I fed both my babies for 3 years each (told you my husband calls me a lactivist)…obviously as they grew older and older it became just night and morning feeds, but you can go on like that for years…don’t feel you have to quit at the so-called magic age of one – they are not grown up at one. Also, teeth do not get in the way at all – just tell them NO and they get the picture. Whether you need to go back to work or get pregnant again, or whatever, you do not need to give up breastfeeding. At age 3 years weaning is so easy – it is just a little chat. No trauma and no agony – will get to that anon.
No comments:
Post a Comment