After 4
months you need to go into a darkened room to feed baby – he/she will be
distracted by light and noises. However,
baby will be quite efficient at this stage, so feeds will be relatively quick. Again, some people make the mistake of giving up at this age
thinking baby is not interested. Baby is
just more distractable, and mother’s milk is still far superior to cow’s milk
or goat’s milk.
Use
slow flow if using a bottle at all: If the hospital gives the baby a
formula feed because the baby has low glucose or some such, then make sure they
do it in Avent bottles using ‘0 months’ nipples - else your little one may tend
to reject your breast having got accustomed to something that is much
less work. I would suggest taking a sterilized set of bottles with
these nipples already attached with you to the hospital just in case.
- If the nurses are quicker than you and give the baby a feed in their easy-to-glug soft rubber nippled bottles, not to worry, just make sure you offer baby nothing but the breast the next time he/she is hungry. Do not cave in and reach for the bottle if baby protests – just pat baby, calm baby, and again offer the breast – express a bit into baby’s mouth so the baby understands that there is more where that came from. Pretend the breast is the only option, and it will work for you.
Stay
hydrated:
Drink lots of water – one full glass half an hour before breastfeeding (at
least). Blocked milk ducts (painful
swellings) are often due to lack of sufficient water – drink more. Massage blocked duct while feeding / pump out
that breast / warm water on it in the shower all help.
