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TOPIC-Helpful suggestions on nursing your child. Try to nurse him for 9 months, if at all possible.

NUTRITION-Breast-fed babies are less susceptible to SIDS. In addition, they have less allergies, respiratory diseases, hypoglycemia, obesity, and gastroenteritis. In addition, both mother and child are happier and bond together better. The infant has better health and adapts much better to later physical and emotional situations which develop.

A high-calcium diet is very important in maintaining a good milk supply. (See "Bones, Strengthening" for lots of information on obtaining enough calcium.) Be sure and get enough sunshine for vitamin D.

A high-protein diet is also very important. Take B complex, plus all the other vitamins and minerals, along with a sizeable amount of brewer's yeast at every meal. You tend to have to stuff yourself on yeast and calcium foods in order to have enough milk for your baby.

Keep yourself healthy, so you can continue eating an adequate diet. Avoid long fasts, cleansing diets, or strictly limited diets during lactation.

Keep your bowels open, and clean with high-fiber foods.

Drink lots of lemon juice.

Avoid sage tea, for it dries up the milk.

Avoid mental depression, violent exercise, beans, onions, and cabbage. They upset the baby.

Do not smoke while nursing! Avoid caffeine, liquor, junk food, fried food, and drugs.

Be happy, rest often, and pray that God will help you raise a child who is dedicated to Him.

To increase milk supply, helpful herbs include milkweed, caraway, goat's rue, and fenugreek.

To reduce milk supply (or the pain of breast engorgement), the herb, goldenrod, is helpful.

For sore nipples, use sunshine or the light of a light bulb close enough to feel warm but not burn.

From the beginning, give the baby a little water, gradually increasing the amount. Give tomato juice, starting with a half teaspoonful at about the age of one month. At 3 months, begin a little blended food. By 9 months, the baby should be eating a variety of carefully prepared natural foods.

When the baby is six months old, dilute 4 teaspoons of whole-wheat flakes in boiling water till entirely dissolved, put through a fine sieve, and add to the baby's bottle (if you are giving him a bottle by then). A little powdered oatmeal can also be added.

When the first teeth appear, begin feeding wholesome simple foods in puree form, such as greens, vegetables, fruit juices, and gruels.

Do not give the infant cane sugar in any form. This can lead to fever and various ailments. Use malt sugar. Do not give infants honey or orange juice.

Do not give the infant meat!

Feeding an infant meat, cane sugar, white-flour products, candies, or soft drinks causes him to lose his taste for simple, natural foods; and is responsible for rickets, scurvy, tonsil trouble, night terrors, anemia, and convulsions.

BREAST-FEEDING-There are certain principles which, if followed, will avoid sore, fissured, and possibly infected nipples.

Try to wash your hands before handling your breasts.

Position the baby properly. His entire body should face you. His buttocks should be in one hand, and his head in the bend of your elbow.

The other hand is under the breast, with all four fingers supporting it. But do not place your fingers on the areola (the darker area around the nipple).

(If-if-your hands are clean, you can rub the nipple lightly to firm it. Pinching it lightly flattens the nipple, to fit his mouth better.)

Do not try to toughen your nipples by vigorously rubbing them. This can damage them.

As you tickle the baby's lower lip with your nipple, his mouth will open wide. When it is open wide, pull his body in quickly. His mouth should fix on the areola, and the nipple should be deep in his throat. At least an inch of the areola should be in his mouth. In this way, there is no movement of the nipple as the infant sucks.

If you feel pain, do not delay, but immediately use your finger to break the suction and reposition him. Place a finger inside the corner of the infant's mouth to allow air to enter and break the vacuum.

La Leche says that 95% of the nipple soreness problems are caused by the way the baby sucks, and can be corrected.

Leave him on a breast as long as he is sucking effectively (swallowing every suck or two). If he begins pausing, burp him, wake him, switch sides, and let him nurse as long as he wants. Feeding time is usually 20-30 minutes.

(But, for the first few days, it may be necessary to limit feeding periods to 5 minutes on each breast, before rotating to the other. It is very important that you work with the baby properly, so that you avoid fissures developing on, or near, the nipple.)

Do not let him remain on the breast after he has finished actively feeding. (See "Mastitis" for reasons for many of these precautions.)

The next time you start, begin on the breast you ended with previously. Always have him nurse on both sides.

You will find that the baby will want to nurse often-frequently 8-12 times a day in the early weeks. God designed that these frequent feedings would bond the infant to his mother.

Break the suction of the infant's mouth on the breast by inserting a finger into the corner of his mouth, not just pulling the nipple out of his mouth.

After feeding, empty the breasts manually or with a breast pump until supply and demand reach an equilibrium.

Air-dry the breasts after each feeding, before covering them. (Exposing the breasts to the air for 20 minutes at a time, two or three times a day, is helpful.) A 40-watt bulb can be placed near them for 15 minutes at a time. Never use breast pads that might retain moisture (especially those with plastic in them). Do not wear bras with plastic liners. If needed, place a folded handkerchief there.

Nipple cleanliness is important, but never use soap on the nipples; it dries them out. The milk contains its own oil and also a self-cleaning antiseptic. Leave a little on at the end of each feeding, to lubricate and soften the nipple.

Baby saliva contains an enzyme which softens the skin. So, if possible, wash the nipples with clean water. (Water or alcohol applied to the nipple will toughen the skin and assist in preventing sore nipples.) Or, better yet, place some mother's milk on them.

If a nipple becomes sore, put a little milk on it. The nipples should be checked daily; and, if they are sore or cracked, treatment should begin promptly; do not wait. (See "Mastitis.")

Clothing worn next to the breast should always be soft and non-irritating. Cotton is generally best.

Avoid plugged ducts. Binding clothes, fatigue, or prolonged periods without nursing can cause them. If not dealt with promptly, infection can begin. A place on the breast will feel hard and painful to the touch. Get rid of it by massaging the breast, starting at the chest wall and working down with a circular motion. It is important that you let the baby nurse on that side frequently. The sucking clears out the duct better than anything else, generally within 24 hours.

Feed the baby before the breasts become too full; the infant has difficulty grasping the breast. Stasis of milk (when it is not flowing on out, but remaining in the breast too long) helps lead to mastitis.

If the baby is fed before he is hungry, he will not suck the nipple too vigorously. Never allow him to chew the nipple.

If the nipples become sore, place some cold grocery-store tea (containing tannic acid) on a folded tissue and lay it on the area for 20 minutes; then dry and expose it to air for 20 minutes. Rinse it before the next nursing. The tannic acid will promote healing.

Poultices of comfrey root or leaf may be used for sore nipples.

If a nipple is cracked, pierce a vitamin E capsule and apply the oil just after nursing. Do not use very much.

If the baby is not taking as much milk as you are producing, and you are getting too full, apply hot, wet, compresses to the breast. This will open up the ducts and increases the flow. Then nurse the baby more often and longer. Drink more fluids, so you can urinate every hour.

-Also see "Mastitis." That article will also explain prebirth preparation of the nipples.

This page was last modified on 2 December 2010, at 20:59.

URL: http://naturalencyclopedia.com/Breast-feeding

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