Breast Feeding

It is a myth that bottle-feeds and breast-feeding is equally good. Mother’s milk is the best for proper growth of the child. There are certain nutrients in the mother’s milk that helps the baby fight illnesses while also promoting brain development. As compared to breast fed babies, the formula-fed babies are more prone to illnesses.


Ideally you should start breast feeding the child within 2 hours of its birth, but do not worry if for some reason you are not able to do so - many mothers feed their children after a few days because of some medical reasons and they turn out to be just fine. Apart from milk avoid giving the child any water or pacifier because the child is still learning to breast-feed and things like the bottle nipple and pacifiers can confuse the baby while nursing because milk doesn’t flow as fast as it does through bottles.

Do give the child enough time to breast-feed. Don’t limit the time. It could frustrate the baby. An average of about 10 to 45 minutes can be taken by the baby to completely satisfy itself.

So how should you hold your baby during breast feeding? The answer to this is that see to it that the gums of the baby are on top of the areola because there is a chance of nipples becoming sore if the baby just chews on the nipple instead of taking in the areola. You can hold the baby in a cuddling position and feed it or you can lie on your side placing your baby facing you. Usually when the baby has had enough milk it will let go of the nipple on its own, but the baby takes usually half an hour on each side.