Breast milk is the healthiest and most ideal nutrition a mother can provide for her newborn baby. Mother's milk has a unique composition and is a complete nutrition for the child's body.
Feeding the newborn
How long does it take for a child to eat
The entire feeding phase can be divided into two phases: active and passive. The active phase lasts for the first 5-15 minutes, during which time the baby will have time to suck out a large amount of food and drink all the front milk. How long should a newborn breastfeed? In order for the baby to receive more nutritious and fatty hind milk, he will need to empty the mammary gland to the end. This will take him about 20-40 minutes.
Note! Newborn babies have a very small stomach, its volume does not exceed 5 ml. Therefore, during the first week after childbirth, the baby will eat very often and in small portions.
How long does the baby breastfeed?
How long does a newborn eat? To satisfy his hunger, the baby can suck for up to 40 minutes. The older the child, the less time it will take for him to get enough of his mother's milk.
As they grow up, the baby perfectly learns the skills of fast food intake, and in order to feel full and stop feeling hungry, it will be enough for him to suck on one breast for 10-15 minutes. If the baby sucks for a very long time, then, most likely, he wants not so much to eat as to satisfy the need for sucking or make up for the lack of close contact with the mother. Prolonged sucking will not harm if the nursing mother follows all the rules for latching.
Perfect feeding process
Length of stay at the breast
How long should the baby be held at the breast? Everything here will depend on the temperament of the baby, the amount of milk and the environment. Very often, the baby will extend the feeding time in order to be with the mother for a longer time. In this case, he does not suck, but simply holds the nipple in his mouth, smacks his lips and plays. It is not necessary to remove the breast, as this can greatly upset the baby.
In the first months of life, the baby needs to satisfy the sucking reflex and feel the mother's warmth nearby. Feeding should take place without haste and fuss. The kid should eat in a relaxed atmosphere until full saturation. Often, newborn babies fall asleep during feedings, but they may continue to suckle at the breast.
Additional Information. How much should a newborn breastfeed? Feeding for 30-40 minutes will help strengthen the emotional connection, stimulate the immune functions in the child's body, and improve the process of milk production in the mother.
Baby and mom
Principles of Successful Breastfeeding
What mom needs to take into account and follow:
- Immediately after giving birth, the mother and child must be in a joint residence.
- The newborn should not be given any other food or drink prior to colostrum feeding.
- Many pediatricians and breastfeeding counselors recommend feeding the baby on demand. In this case, it is necessary to allow the baby to suck as much as he wants and when he wants.
- The baby must regulate the duration of feeding himself. If the baby is holding the nipple correctly, then you should not remove the breast from his mouth before he releases the nipple himself.
- Night feeding of the newborn will ensure stable lactation.
- The baby should not be drunk with water and introduced any products. If the baby is thirsty, it should be applied to the breast as often as possible.
- The newborn does not need to be offered a pacifier, pacifier, or bottle fed. If it is necessary to introduce supplementary feeding, it is better to drink it from a spoon, pipette or syringe without a needle.
- You cannot give the child a second breast before he sucks out the first, otherwise the baby will not receive additional milk rich in fats.
- It is not necessary to wash the teats before feeding, especially with soap. Frequent washing will remove the protective fat layer, and as a result, cracks may appear on the nipples. The breasts should be washed once a day while showering.
- Eliminate situations that provoke nervousness in a nursing mother, as this will lead to a decrease in lactation.
- Exclude additional expression of milk. A few weeks after giving birth, with properly organized breastfeeding, milk will be produced in the amount that the baby needs to be fully satisfied.
Newborn baby drinks mother's milk
The intervals between attachments
To make the newborn easier to adapt to the new conditions of receiving food and get used to the feeling of hunger, many pediatricians advise feeding on demand.
In the first two days, before the milk comes, the baby will suck without a pronounced rhythm, but it can demand food very often - every 20-40 minutes. It is not necessary to adhere to any specific periods of time. When the milk arrives, the baby will suck often, about every hour during the day and every two to three hours at night. If the baby rarely sucks and sleeps a lot, then the mother needs to offer the breast to the sleeping baby herself.
How often to alternate breasts
You need to feed the baby alternately with one and the other breast, using one breast in one feeding. If you neglect this rule, then the baby will not receive the full amount of nutritious milk later and it will not be good to gain weight. In addition, incomplete suction of milk from the milk ducts provokes the onset of lactostasis, which, in turn, causes pain, difficulty feeding and, worst of all, mastitis. All this threatens that the mother may not feed the child for the prescribed period - at least up to 6 months.
Important! It is not recommended to alternate both breasts during one feeding. Only if the infant has drunk all the milk from one breast and is still hungry can it be applied to the other.
It is possible to determine that a child needs a supplement by the following signs:
- After feeding, the baby is restless, capricious, cries all the time and looks for a breast with his mouth;
- It is very rare for an infant to urinate and defecate;
- The newborn practically does not gain weight.
Newborns who eat and receive a full portion of milk are calm, sleep well, develop rapidly and gain weight. With a shortage of milk, you can increase its volume with the help of medicines, traditional medicine, teas to increase lactation.
