Most natural way of Baby Feeding

Okay, so you've made the decision to breastfeed as a way of Baby Feeding.  Excellent decision!  Now let's talk through some things I learned through my own three teaching babies .

Obviously, in your research to make a decision you learned that baby feeding with breast milk has many advantages.  This is so both your baby and you, the mother.  Breast milk has things in it that just cannot be found or replicated in cow’ milk or other substitutes.   Plus, there are fewer complications associated with breast milk than substitutes.

Baby feeding with breast milk tips

The ideal length of time to breastfeed has been hailed as best for the first six months and even up to two years.  One clear advantage breast milk has over substitute formulas is that it allows the parents to save money.  Formula is expensive!  Another advantage is that your baby will probably better adapt to breast milk.   Further, their poops are not as smelly and they usually do not have difficulty defecating when breastfed.  Some say that breastfeeding has been "approved" to be one of the family planning methods that a family can observe.  BE CAREFUL with this one.  I don't recommend this baby feeding as a contraceptive to prevent further pregnancies!

Despite the heightened awareness in our culture today about breastfeeding, many mothers still report problems associated with lactation.  Typically, these challenges are most often associated with improper breast feeding techniques.  To lower the incidence of breast related problems due to lactation mothers will be best served when they observe the proper techniques of breast feeding.  Ultimately, both the mother and baby will benefit from the proper observance of these techniques.  And because so many of our mothers did NOT breastfeed, we girls often need a little education.  So, don't be afraid to ask and learn BEFORE you're actually breastfeeding.

Starting at the very beginning, it's really important that you prepare your breast for milk-production.   There are various nipple exercises to perform in order to prepare your nipple to deliver the breast milk to your baby.  One of these exercises would involve routinely pinching and firmly massaging the nipple.

One of the things that a lot of mothers fail to realize is how to keep the nipple clean before the baby latches on to it for feeding.  When you plan to breast feed, you should avoid using soap on your nipple.  If you cannot avoid this, then simply wipe your nipple off using a soft cloth soaked in clean water.  This is to make sure your nipple area is clean before your baby feeds from that area.

Despite training, one of the most challenging things for me when baby feeding was getting the hang of allowing my baby to properly latch on to my nipple.  You will know when your baby is latched on properly when their mouth covers the entire areola and not just the nipple.  It is essential that your baby latch on properly so that they can properly stimulate the “let-down reflex” of your breasts.  When they do that your milk will go down the ducts and out your nipple or in other words begin to flow.

To aid your baby in latching on properly make use of their rooting reflex.  Simply caress your baby’'s cheek near their mouth using your nipple or finger and their head will automatically turn towards the stimulation.  Their mouth will open and be ready for receiving your nipple.  Once you a’re done you can aid your baby to stop latching on by inserting a clean pinky finger into the side of their mouth and propping it slightly open. Your baby will stop sucking and you can remove your nipple.  That beats simply pulling or tugging them off.

To prevent sore nipples and breast engorgement (or the lopsided effect) you really do need to monitor the amount of time your baby sucks with each nipple.  It is usually advisable to spend 10-15 minutes on each breast to make sure that the breasts are completely emptied of milk.  This will prevent breast engorgement.  The next time your baby feeds on your breast let them feed from the last breast he or she fed on.  This will completely empty the milk on that breast before you move on to the other breast.

RELAX! Actually, this is probably the best advice I can offer the newly breastfeeding mother.  Initially until you get the hang of it, get in a quiet place, put on some relaxing music that you enjoy, let go of all the challenges for the moment, get comfortable, and let down.  When you do baby feeding with you breast, it communicates non-verbally from you through to your baby.  And both of you can enjoy this experience.  Yes!  I said ENJOY!!!

Now, for those who are pumping and occasionally using a bottle...or even for those using formula...click on Wikipedia for a good educational article on Baby Feeding with a baby bottle.

Breastfeeding Tips: The best way of Baby Feeding

How to bottle feed a baby correctly