New Mom's Manual Over 800 Tips and Advice from Hundreds of Moms for Baby's First Year

Breast Is Best! Breast-feeding for Success Experts agree that breast milk is the best source of nutrition for baby, providing just the right amounts of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, as well as critical enzymes and antibodies that promote immunities to fight disease in your baby. In fact, your milk contains over a hundred ingredients not found in formula. And, aside from the important nutritional and health benefits of breast-feeding, there are many other physical and emotional benefits for baby and mom. At a time when you may be feeling a bit anxious (or completely overwhelmed!) about caring for this new little person in your life, breast-feeding provides a quiet, relaxing time for you both--once you've gotten the hang of it. Perhaps you've already made up your mind to nurse your baby. Now comes the tricky part: learning how to breast-feed. It's possible that you'll be one of the fortunate ones who find that breast-feeding presents no particular problem; you offer your breast, your baby latches on well and eagerly nurses. More likely, though, breast-feeding will require lots of practice and patience in order to get it right. One challenge many new moms face is a newborn who is too sleepy in the first few days to stay awake long enough to nurse sufficiently. If this is your situation, try changing her diaper, partially undressing her, wiping her body with a wet washcloth, or tickling her feet to stimulate her enough to want to eat. Another common obstacle for the breast-feeding mom is failing to position baby on the breast properly, creating an improper latch. When your baby is latched on correctly, her nose and chin will touch your breast, she'll have positioned her mouth over your nipple and most of the areola (the darker circle surrounding the nipple), and her sucking motion will be smooth and the suction on the breast firm. If you find that your baby's mouth covers only the nipple, or that her sucking creates "dimples" on her cheeks, she is not properly latched on. You'll need to experiment with different positions and holds to see what works best for baby. The same applies if you find that nursing is especially painful, that you're experiencing persistent breast tenderness, or your nipples are sore, cracked, or bleeding; these are all indications that baby is not latched on correctly. As you'll hear from other moms, if you're having problems with breast-feeding, don't give up before you've consulted with a lactation specialist. The specialist will give you a variety of solutions to your breast-feeding problems, including optional holds and positions that will help baby latch on correctly and relieve your pain. This chapter contains more than a hundred useful tips and words of encouragement from moms who've successfully breast-fed their babies. Nursing moms talk about the advantages of breast-feeding, what works and what doesn't, where to turn for help, solutions to the most common breast-feeding obstacles, diet tips for the nursing mom, breast-feeding after returning to work, weaning, traveling, and much more. Be sure to read the next chapter, too, which addresses bottle-feeding. It's important to be informed of all options available to you (sometimes breast-feeding just doesn't work out, even for the best-intentioned mom), and chances are, you'll give your baby a bottle sometime in the first year. Whatever choice you make, your baby will do fine. Why Breast-feed Benefits mom and baby. Breast-feeding is cheaper, easier, and more convenient than bottle-feeding, and the baby will get the nutrients and immunities that only colostrum and breast milk can provide at the most crucial time. It's always the perfect temperature and is easily digested by the baby, too. Wendy R., Tooele, UT Feeling close to you. For nine months, each of my babies lived inside my body--the physical closeness in the womb giving them a sense of security. AdjustingMenna, Mary Jeanne is the author of 'New Mom's Manual Over 800 Tips and Advice from Hundreds of Moms for Baby's First Year', published 2001 under ISBN 9780812990706 and ISBN 0812990706.