An Art of Parenting

Posts Tagged ‘milk’

In spite of all the difficulties mother faces, she should feed her child for as long as possible. Do not be in a hurry, to start top milk. It is the practice that most offices to grant 3 months maternity leave. A minimum of 40 days is always granted. This period allows the mother to breast feed her child. Even after resuming work the mother should feed her child whenever she is at home (early morning, late evening and at night. Instead of weaning the child from the breast, experimenting with spoon honeyed water or water boiled with sugar and capparis trifolia or even breast milk extracted should be given with a spoon. Following this, if the mother is going to be away at work for long periods of time, it becomes necessary to start on top milk (cow, buffalo or powdered milk). Even so, breast feeds should be continued every morning and every night.

It is not right to deny the child mother’s milk merely on the basis of imagined difficulties. The importance of mother’s milk lies not only in its nutritive goodness but also in its immunizing potential. It is well armed with white blood cells to keep away allergy and disease and consequently, dreaded diseases like diarrhea, fever, cold, polio. Even a few drops of breast milk are beneficial to the baby.

Almost all babies bring up some milk, but some babies who are otherwise gaining weight satisfactorily have an increased tendency to vomit. These babies are usually highly active, cheerful, interested in their surroundings and exhibit rapid movement of arms and legs. This type of vomiting is usually more troublesome during the first few weeks of life, but it may continue as a nuisance for some months. The timing and frequency of vomiting are irregular. Typically no sooner has an infant has been cleaned up, varying amounts of milk may be already over-anxious. This mother should be reassured. Sometimes milk sedation of the infant may help; chloral hydrate 60 to 200 mg before each feeding is often helpful.

In some babies milk shoots out when the baby belches and this type of projectile vomiting may lead a doctor to diagnosis of cognetial pyeloric stenosis. Mothers usually exaggerate the quantity brought up . The weight gain is normal. The cause of excessive flatulence in breast fed babies is prolong sucking, which may either be because of insufficient milk at times or the baby may just keep on sucking longer than required. Babies fed on bottles sometimes gulp very rapidly and this might also cause vomiting. A teat with a very small hole and leads to excessive air swallowing and later to vomiting. Some mothers do not tilt the bottles properly, and the teat, instead of containing milk, contains a lot of air and some milk.

Let us look at the immense advantages of breast feeding. It is the most suitable and natural milk for the baby; nature has meant it to be given to the baby. It is ever warm, readily available, and almost bacteria-free and can simply be transported along with the mother. There is no bother about boiling bottles, tests, bowls and spoons, not to mention the cost of all this involves. Breast feeding brings the baby and the mother together. The baby loves to be held, cuddled and talked to. This mothering is good for his growth and, it is believed, even for the development of personality and behavior.

Infections in be baby, particularly diarrhea, are far less in a breast fed baby. Colostrum secreted by the mother for the first few days after birth in rich in antibodies and gives invaluable protection against infections. The commonly held belief that colostrums is harmful and should be expressed and throw away is wrong. Mature milk which follows colostrum also has several protective substances which prevent the growth germs that cause diarrhea. It contains live cells and lysosomes which protect against infections. It also contains antiviral substances called interferon. The composition of proteins, sugar and fats, is also ideal for the baby’s digestion and growth. The protein is mainly lactalbumin rather than casein and is much easier to digest. Cow’s milk has three times as much protein and more a rapidly growing calf and not a human baby. There is no problem of with breast milk as there is with cow’s mild because the proteins in the later are foreign and may cause allergy in some children, particularly, where there is a family history of allergy.

Nursing or lactation is the period after childbirth, being a time of bonding between mother and baby, nursing serves certain biological and physiological needs of both of them. While the mother’s eating pattern need not necessarily changer, her nutritional requirements will increase – both in quantity and in some cases, in frequency.

A nursing mother needs good nutrition: The diet during the nursing stage is very important both for the mother and the infant. Good nutrition improves the quality and quantity of breast milk and should ensure that the nursing mother has her full nutritional intake, to avoid depleting natural body stores leading to deficiencies like osteoporosis, which can occur due to an insufficient intake of calcium. Certain aspects of the mother’s diet have a direct impact on the infant. For example, iodine intake in the mother’s diet ensures proper mental development in the infant and vitamin A is required to improve the infant’s immunity system, thereby protecting the baby against infections.

Guard against An Inadequate Diet: The inadequate diet of a nursing mother can cause a deterioration in her health and could also lead to malnourishment in the infant. The quantity of the breast milk produced will be reduced and will have fewer nutrients. The amount of protective nutrients such as anti-microbial proteins in the breast milk will also be reduced, thereby exposing the infant to infections. Due to insufficient intake of calories and nutrients, the baby’s growth and development will be affected.

Human milk is ideally suited to the development needs of the human baby. The needs of the offspring of different types of animals are similarly met by their own mother’s milk. The formula of human milk is different from that of animal milk. All our village mothers’ breast feed for their babies and do not even consider an alternative, but somehow one finds that the educated urban mother often complains that she does not have enough milk and even though she says she wants to breast feed her baby, she soon resorts to a bottle because she believes her milk is not enough.

Why is this so? Why is it that the simple village woman who is probably less well nourished than the urban mother, is able to successfully breast feed her baby while the other thinks she cannot? The first one knows no alternative; breast feeding comes naturally to her. She feeds the baby wherever she is, whether at home or visiting friends, alone or in company. Even though breast milk secretion is governed by hormones, the hormones in turn are governed by the mother’s emotion, desire and the joy of being able to feed the baby. Her own desire and motivation seem to be the key.

Unfortunately, the casual attitude of doctors and nurses to breast feeding does not encourage the mother to breast feed her baby or give her sufficient confidence in her ability to breast feed. The minute the mother poses a problem, the alternative of bottle feeding is suggested. As soon as the baby cries, it is assumed that the mother’s milk is not enough and the bottle is offered immediately.