Many people harbor certain myths about breast feeding, making the mothers nervous and confused. This article is aimed at pointing out some of these myths and clearing them with facts.
It is somehow wrong to think that some mothers do not produce sufficient milk for their babies. The truth is that not only almost all the mothers have enough milk but most of them have surplus milk also. The reason for the wrong notion is because some babies seem to get less milk from their mothers. This problem arises mainly because the mother does not know how to latch the baby properly to her breast. Once this problem is overcome, the baby gets enough milk. A knowledgeable person can teach the mother how to latch the baby properly.
Moreover, mothers need not worry about whether they will have enough milk to feed their babies during the initial few days of child birth. The mothers usually have sufficient milk but some babies appear to get less milk even after many hours is only because the mother is untrained to latch the baby to her breast properly. If the mother is not careful, the baby might be deprived of her most healthy and nutritious first milk.
Also, breast feeding normally does not hurt too much. There may be a mild pain initially in some cases on the breast or nipples, but it does not last for long. In other cases, the mother may feel some irritations or soreness, but it too is a temporary phenomenon. However, if such discomfort persists for more than a week, then the mother should seek medical assistance. But such cases are very rare. Meanwhile, the mother can continue to breast feed the baby as usual because the discomfort will still continue even if the mother feeds the baby only for a short time.
Another fact to note is that the breast milk has enough vitamin D and water for the baby. Hence, a breast feeding baby normally does not require any extra water, even in the hot weather. Since enough vitamin D is stored in the baby during pregnancy it does not require any vitamin D from external sources.
However, there are some rare cases in which the mother had vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy. In such cases some extra vitamin is advisable. Otherwise, a baby can get what ever extra vitamin D it needs from brief and regular exposure to the sunshine. In case the baby is deprived of breast milk due to circumstances, pediatricians suggest a dose of 200IU of vitamin D when it is two months of age if the sunrays are harmful to it.
Posted on January 29th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: Baby, Breastfeeding, Toddler
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