What Are Breastfeeding Precautions?

What to Do And What to Avoid While Breastfeeding?

Many things may feel strange if it is your first breastfeeding experience. One thing you must not forget that breastfeeding is quite essential for your newborn child. You should not deny the best way of showing your love for the child. This post will answer all your questions about breastfeeding. So, continue reading to learn some important facts about breastfeeding.

What Precautions You Should Take While Breastfeeding?

1. Breast maintenance

You must take care of your breasts during pregnancy if you chose to breastfeed. Massage your breasts and clean the nipples properly while taking bath. Do not wear tight bras and avoid tight shirts too.

2. Feed the baby as soon as possible after delivery

Most mothers can feed the newborn child 30 minutes after delivery. Gather yourself and feed the child as soon as possible. It will help your child in developing breastfeeding habits. He won’t be hungry for hours after birth.

3. Do not discard colostrum

Colostrum is quite essential for your child. Mammary glands produce colostrums before milk. It is quite nutritious and provides the child with top-level antibodies to fight bacteria. Therefore, you should never discard colostrums. It is vital to improving your child’s health and proper growth!

4. Don’t let the baby fall asleep while feeding him

You should not let your baby sleep while he is breastfeeding. It can cause vomiting, choking, and suffocation. Keep him awake until his tummy is full and then let him fall asleep.

5. Stay calm while breastfeeding

Keep your mind free of thoughts. Focus on your child and his health. Stress and tension can affect the secretion of milk! Therefore, you should be in a good mood while breastfeeding.

What Are the Right Breastfeeding Techniques?

Breastfeeding can be a painful experience for a new mother. Most mothers experience pain due to incorrect posture! It will hurt if the child is only holding the nipple. The baby will suck forcefully and it might some pain. Follow the below-given tips to improve breastfeeding posture and avoid that pain.

• Hold the baby in your arms and keep his face close to your breast.

• The Baby’s upper and lower lips should touch the breast and his tongue should cushion the nipple.

• The Baby’s mouth should open enough to cover the areola completely.

• Baby’s lower lip should always be outwards so that his tongue can cushion the nipple to reduce the pain.

Note:

• Listen to the sound when the baby is sucking milk. You can hear the swallowing sound if the child is consuming milk properly.

• The posture is perfect if the child is consuming milk slowly and patiently.

• The baby cannot take the entire areola in his mouth if it’s large. That doesn’t mean the breastfeeding posture is wrong!

What Should You Avoid If You Are A Breastfeeding Mother?

You should avoid the following things:

1. Foods to avoid

A breastfeeding mother should not consume spicy food. Strong tea, coffee, and food flavors are also prohibited for a breastfeeding mom. These foods can affect milk quality. Consequently, the child can experience health issues due. Therefore, you must avoid certain foods if your child completely relies on you for his meal.

2. Avoid excess use of supplements!

You should add some supplements to your daily diet. These supplements will improve your health. You can produce more than enough milk to feed your child. Avoid excess use of supplements. It can affect your child’s health. Follow a healthy diet plan to maintain good health, avoid diseases, and produce sufficient milk for the child.  

3. Consume foods that make milk more nutritious

Your newborn child will get his food from you. Consume foods that make breast milk more nutritious. Your child will be fit, healthy, and grow faster if he gets a rich supply of nutrients. Add foods, like fish, milk, eggs, walnuts, sesame, pine nuts, peanuts, spinach, carrots, and other healthy foods to your daily diet. These foods will improve the milk quality and you can better nourish your baby.

Can You Feed Water to A Breastfeeding Child?

Breastfeeding is enough to hydrate a child. Health experts prohibit parents from feeding water to babies before 6 months of age. There are some facts you should know about feeding water to a baby.

Water can be harmful to a newborn child!

Breast milk contains about 80% water. Newborn babies get the necessary supply of water from the mother’s milk. You can affect your child’s health by feeding water. It will affect your child’s diet. Newborns consume less amount of milk when they consume water. It affects their diet and put extra stress on their kidneys.

When you can feed water to a breastfeeding child?

You can feed a small quantity of water if in a period of dehydration. Consult with the doctor before adding water to his diet. The doctor may allow the baby to consume water if he is suffering from diarrhea, fever, or dehydration.

Feed pure water if necessary!

You should not add anything to the water. Breast milk provides all the required nutrients to keep the baby healthy. Therefore, pure water is ideal for a breastfeeding baby. Feed it only when the doctor allows it!

How Many Times You Should Breastfeed IN A Day?

When you should breastfeed the child? How many times you should feed the baby? Continue reading to reveal the answer!

You can’t plan a breastfeeding schedule!

Newborn babies have no schedule. They eat, sleep, play, and cry whenever they want! That’s the routine of babies until they get 5-6 months old. It won’t be possible to plan a schedule to feed the baby. You have to be there when the child is hungry.

The baby will show signs of hunger. A newborn baby gets hungry every 2-3 hours. The breastfeeding interval increases as the baby get older. Every child has a different need. You will learn about your baby’s needs as he gets older!

Feed on demand

You cannot force the baby to consume milk. You can’t lure a newborn child if he is not hungry. The breastfeeding interval changes every 1-2 months. One thing is sure that your child will need milk within 2-3 hours interval if he is 1-2 months old. The baby will consume milk only 5-6 times once he is 5-6 months old.

Breastfeeding frequency reduces as the child grows. It further reduces when you add a complimentary meal to the child’s diet. Babies breastfeed until they are 3 years old. Your child might stop consuming milk after 2 years if he enjoys external food more!

What Are Correct Breastfeeding Steps?

Follow the below-given steps to breastfeed your newborn child correctly:

• Hold the baby in your dominant arm and then open his lips to open his mouth.

• Get the baby closer to your breast after opening his mouth.

• Squeeze some milk and then put the nipple in your baby’s mouth. Ensure baby’s upper and lower lips cover areola.

• Baby’s nose should not touch the breast and his cheeks should always be away from your breast.

• Gently pull the baby away if he sucks milk too fast. Let him rest for a while and then feed him again.

• Keep the baby calm and sit calmly when feeding the child. Avoid unnecessary distractions to comfort your baby.

Can You Breastfeed Your Child If You Are A Hepatitis B Patient?

Mothers suffering from hepatitis B worry that they can’t breastfeed the newborn child. They believe it will also infect the child. It is not true because breastfeeding does not cause the infection of hepatitis B.  

Yes, Hepatitis B patient can breastfeed the infant

You can breastfeed your child if you are suffering from hepatitis B. The mother must get vaccinated within the first 12 hours of delivery. Another dose of vaccine should be provided 2 months after the delivery. The third and final dose should be provided after 6 months.

The doctor will test the baby when he is 9-12 months old. The vaccination is effective if the baby tests negative. The baby can be infected only if he is exposed to the mother’s blood at the time of birth. Breastfeeding does not pose the risk of Hepatitis B infection.

Do not breastfeed if nipples are bleeding

Hepatitis B can spread to the child through the blood. Therefore, it will be quite risky to breastfeed the child if your nipples are bleeding. Consult with the doctor before you feed the child. You may need to feed formula milk to the baby in such conditions!

Conclusion

A novice mother may not know many important things about breastfeeding. This post covered everything you must learn before feeding milk to the child. Newborn babies may take some time to learn how to consume milk. Be patient and be available whenever your child needs you.

Breastfeeding is necessary for a child. It does not affect the mother’s health and physique. Follow the right breastfeeding technique to ensure your baby gets sufficient milk. It will also prevent pain and you will feel quite comfortable.

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