6 temporary difficulties with breastfeeding. How to deal with them

Even well-established breastfeeding sometimes fails. The most common problems with hepatitis B and how to solve them.

Even if you do not have problems with breastfeeding, you always need to be prepared that they may arise unexpectedly, and if the problem nevertheless occurs, you will have to stop breastfeeding for a while, but do not immediately panic and despair. Take this calmly, and then the forced break in feeding will quickly end, and you will get a new and very useful experience.

Your baby is almost a month old, and life began to return to its usual rut. The young mother feels more and more confidence, she has already mastered all the rules and principles of HS, learned to take the correct posture when feeding, take care of the breast, and do massage for the prevention of lactostasis. She thinks she knows everything about breastfeeding. But here comes the problem ...

The child is not gaining weight

During a routine examination by a pediatrician, it suddenly turns out that the child has a very small weight gain. After such news, you can easily succumb to panic: still, because the weight of a child is one of the main indicators of his health and proper development. The pediatrician will say that the baby does not gorge on mother's milk and will offer to feed him with a mixture. But do not rush to storm the shops with baby food, but sit down and calmly think about the problem.

If the weight gain is small, but it is at least 200-300 grams, and the child's behavior has not changed and he behaves according to age, that is, he sleeps a lot, walks small up to 10 times a day and in a big way after each feeding, then his life and health are certainly not in danger. Let's figure out the situation together.

What to do? There are many reasons why babies gain weight poorly in the first month of life. The first thing to do is to check if the baby is correctly latching on to the breast, because this is the key to proper stimulation of the mammary glands and, accordingly, the production and release of a sufficient amount of milk. The fact that a child suckles for a long time does not mean at all that he is eating all this time. The baby may well use the nipple as a pacifier - this calms him down.

If, when feeding, the child smacks his lips and rarely swallows, then milk is really not enough. Mom needs to increase its amount, and it's not as difficult as it seems.

Doctor's comment:
“Children do not grow evenly, but in leaps and bounds. At 3, 6, 9 and 12 months, a child's height can increase by a couple of centimeters literally overnight. And, of course, such a “big toddler” will need more food, and it will take time for mom to switch to milk production in new, increased volumes. For some it takes several days, for others a week. A temporary lack of milk is not a reason to panic: frequent and prolonged breastfeeding (even if it is empty) stimulates an increase in lactation ”.

Colic

The well-coordinated work of the intestines and stomach also contributes to weight gain. But in children of the first months of life, the digestive system is not yet developed, which means there is a high risk of painful colic. The baby may start crying in the first minutes of feeding and throw up the breast when hungry. The process of digestion in a child starts with a meal, which means colic and sucking begin at about the same time.

What to do? To alleviate the suffering of the child, the mother must carefully study her diet and determine which foods can aggravate colic, and then eliminate them. You also need to learn how to massage the baby's tummy, engage in special gymnastics with him, put a gas tube, give him some dill water. You can see a doctor who will prescribe medicine for your child. Just do not self-medicate - all medications for the child should be prescribed by a doctor!

Empty chest

In the first months of lactation, the mother feels how milk in the breast decreases after feeding, and during the break, it increases. This sensation lasts all day: the chest is filled and emptied (heavy and light) after the baby has eaten. After 3-4 months, sensations change: the breast remains and seems empty throughout the day, and is filled only in the morning or after long intervals between feedings. But this does not mean that milk is not added the rest of the time. It is produced as before, or even more.

What to do? Pay attention to how the baby behaves during feeding - he calmly sucks at the breast and, having had enough, falls asleep. If the baby makes uniform swallowing movements, then everything is in order - he is receiving milk. Unusually empty breasts are the consequences of physiological processes in the body of a nursing woman: against the background of recovery after childbirth and normalization of hormonal levels, the mammary glands begin to work in a different, more rational mode. Milk is no longer stored in the breast for hours until the moment when the baby is hungry, but arrives exactly at the moment when the baby starts eating. The feeling of fullness in the mammary glands occurs only with long intervals between feedings. But there is no need to deliberately stretch the pauses between feedings - for the mother this is a direct path to lactostasis, and for the child - unnecessary experiences.

Baby sucks little

The kid applies to the chest and after 5-10 minutes throws it and turns away. And the intervals between feedings do not decrease, but, on the contrary, become larger.

What to do? Do not try to forcibly hold the baby to the breast - he will begin to actively resist. Do not force your child to eat, even if you are absolutely sure that he is not full. Excessive pressure on children about food, as well as sleep, will not lead to anything good. If the mother begins to constantly decide for the child when to eat, and when to sleep, then the baby may lose his own landmarks. In children after three months, curiosity is much stronger than the desire to eat, therefore, after eating a little, the child drops his chest and switches his attention to something more interesting: a loud sound or some movement that is happening nearby. You can try feeding your baby in the quietest and darkest corner of the house, where no one can interfere with you. But don't worry if he finds something interesting there too. The baby will get the required amount of milk in the evening or morning feeding.

Nipple plugs

If yesterday you gave your child a piece of apple or some other complementary food to try, then do not be alarmed to find on your nipple a tiny white dot that closes one of the ducts. This reaction to the introduction of new products is completely normal. But the blockage can cause the development of lactostasis, which is accompanied by a high fever, soreness and breast compaction.

What to do? Changes in the child's diet entail changes in the composition of saliva and microflora of the oral cavity, too. Complementary foods leave an acidic environment in the baby's mouth, which causes microorganisms to enter the mother's nipple, which curd milk. This leads to the formation of a plug. Even careful breast hygiene after breastfeeding does not always help. To deal with the problem, massage your breasts and strain your breasts through the open ducts to avoid mastitis and inflammation. Sometimes rubbing the nipples with a terry towel helps to cope with the cork.

Another way: disinfect a thin needle with hydrogen peroxide, take a magnifying glass and gently stick the needle about 1 millimeter into the center of the white dot. Fear not, it doesn't hurt, because the needle enters the duct, not the skin. Now do a few pumping movements, and if milk drops appear, continue pumping until your breasts feel soft.

The child wakes up often

If the child sleeps next to his mother, then he eats right during sleep, without shaking the silence of the night with hungry screams. But sometimes closer to the year the situation changes: the baby often begins to wake up, demanding breast, and then cannot fall asleep. It begins to seem to you that he does not gorge himself on milk alone, but evening feeding with porridge does not save the situation.

What to do? Frequent awakening and crying in the middle of the night are usually associated with the transition of the child's nervous system to the next level. The kid wakes up from the fact that he begins to feel the urge to urinate. Waking up, he habitually kisses his chest, eats and after a while wants to write again. There are several ways to get out of this situation. If the child is almost a year old, then you can curtail breastfeeding. If the baby is still far from one year old, then you can adjust the night feedings to the age norm and strictly adhere to the feeding schedule. If during the day the child eats every three hours and sleeps well between meals, then feed him at night in the same way.

You can try not to put a diaper on your baby at night and hold it a couple of times over a basin or absorbent diaper near the bed. This helps babies empty their bladders better and sleep better.