Breast Feeding Your Baby

Breast milk is the best food for your baby for the first six months of his life. Studies have proved beyond doubt that, babies who have been breast fed for the first six months of their lives, stay healthier throughout their lives. It is very important that, you feed the baby the first milk your breast produces, known as colostrum. This is rich in antibodies and other substances that protect the baby from infections and illness. If you have a family history of diabetes, asthma, eczema etc. formula milk and increase the risk of these diseases in the baby.

Breast-feeding prevents illnesses like chest infections, ear infections and diarrhea. Protection for some illness last long after you have stopped breast-feeding. Feeding the baby breast milk only, will provide the best protection against infections. Even a combination of breast milk and formula milk will decrease the risk of infection considerably. Even mothers benefit from breast-feeding their babies. The cases of breast cancer, ovarian cancer and osteoporosis, at a later stage in life are much less among women who have breast-fed their babies.

If you decide to combine breast-feeding with bottle-feeding then, bottle-feeding should be introduced only after the baby gets used to breast- feeding. This will ensure that you have sufficient supply of breast milk. If you are unsure about whether to breast-feed or bottle-feed, it is better to start breast-feeding. As if you start bottle-feeding it is difficult to change to breast-feeding. Bottle-feeding is more expensive than breast-feeding as well. Here are some ways to ensure a good milk supply:

• As soon as your baby feed, your body produces more milk to replace it. The more they feed the more milk your body produces. Your baby knows how much milk he needs. So let him feed as often as he wants to and your breast will produce milk according to his requirement.
• Eat well; this will help in the production of milk.
• If you supplement your baby's diet with some other fluid, then your milk remains in your breast. As a result the body will produce less milk the next time. In the initial days it is best to exclusively breast-feed your baby to ensure good supply of milk. Even if the infant has jaundice he will make a quick recovery with breast milk.
• For most women breast-feeding gets established by six weeks. After this it will be difficult to disturb the supply. Missing feeds may make you uneasy and you may have to express milk. Not feeding your baby for a long can cause an inflammation of the breast known as mastitis.
• If you decide to bottle-feed the baby for a specific number of feeds and breast-feed him for the rest, then your body will continue to produce milk, but at a lesser rate. This will help working mothers whose babies can be bottle-fed when they are away, and breast-fed when their mothers return home.

Another important feature of breast-feeding is establishing breast-feeding. This takes place when:

• You can feed in a comfortable and relaxed manner.
• When the attaches himself to you breast easily.
• The baby feeds with ease.
• You feel no discomfort when the baby feeds.
• You can breast-feed him without any fuss even when you go out.

It is best to breast-feed the baby for the first six months, without any other supplement.