What to do if the child does not have enough milk. How to find out if a newborn baby has enough breast milk or not: is the baby full? How to know if a newborn is getting enough breast milk

Everything is currently more pediatric doctors it is advised to give the baby a breast at his first request, at any time of the day, as soon as the baby is hungry. After all, positive emotions not only benefit the baby's psyche, but also stimulate the production of milk. But many mothers complain that there is not enough milk in the breast and the baby does not eat enough. This issue is especially relevant when the baby is already more than three months old.

In order to answer the question of what to do if child does not gorge on breast milk, you need to know the mechanism of its formation in the body of a nursing woman.
education breast milk contributes to the action of two important hormones: prolactin and oxytocin.

Hormones- prolactins, cause the cells of the mammary glands in women to synthesize milk. Prolactins begin to be produced after a few minutes of active sucking and act on the mammary glands only after 3-4 hours from the start of feeding. In other words, the amount of milk in the breast of a nursing mother is directly dependent on the quantity and quality of feeding. Therefore, in the first days of a child's life, the number of feedings per day can be about 11-12, and sometimes more. A young mother should not be afraid of this, because her breasts will be well emptied, and this contributes to the production of prolactin hormones and new portions of milk. As the baby grows, he will “pick up” a regimen for himself and the number of feedings will become less. Having eaten, the baby will let go of the breast itself, it is not necessary to forcibly tear it off. The child must be fed and at night as much as he needs!

Hormones - oxytocin, cause the muscles located around the lobules of the mammary glands to contract. Due to the contraction of these muscles, the produced breast milk enters the milk ducts. Otherwise, the quality of the flow and movement of milk in the breast depends on the amount of oxytocin production. This means that the more oxytocins, the more milk is released. The production of oxytocins is directly dependent on the mood of the nursing mother and the quality of the baby's suckling. Often, these hormones begin to be produced in women already at the thought of a hungry child, and even from the smell and sight of the baby. Some mothers complain that they have too much milk and it constantly flows even between feedings. Some mothers from non-nursing breasts may also produce milk. These phenomena are associated with the action of oxytocin, it begins to act immediately, as the mother tunes in to feeding and is produced equally in both glands. If the mother is in a bad mood, she is very tired or constantly does not get enough sleep, then oxytocin will not start its work, which means that the baby will not eat up.
And so, we learned that the quantity and quality milk production depends on hormones.

So if you feel like your child does not gorge on breast milk, it is necessary to help increase hormones, and for this, follow the following rules for proper feeding:

First rule: Don't forget to massage your breasts before feeding.

Second rule: apply the baby to the chest, on demand, as often as possible. It is important to increase milk night feeding.

Third rule: hold the baby at the breast as long as possible.

Fourth rule: do not be afraid that your child may "overeat". Feed your baby as much as he wants. Don't take him off the breast until he stops suckling. It happens that the child does not gorge on one breast, give him the second. Start the next feeding from the breast from which the previous one was stopped.

Fifth Rule: To increase lactation, drink more fluids. It is better to drink teas and natural juices, you can not drink a lot of sweet drinks and milk.

sixth rule: put the baby to the breast so that neither mother nor baby experience tension or inconvenience, otherwise it will be very difficult for the baby to suckle for a long time.
Rest while breastfeeding. You can talk to your baby gently.

Seventh Rule: follow the daily routine and balance proper nutrition. A nursing mother should have enough rest and her food should be high-calorie and varied.

Eighth rule: If your doctor has advised you to express milk to stimulate milk production, do it skillfully. Although pumping stimulates milk production, it can cause poor milk quality if pumped incorrectly.

In the event that you already comply with all the rules, and your Baby, as before, he does not eat up, you should seek the advice of a pediatrician. You can also drink herbal teas that increase lactation. Sometimes hormonal drugs are prescribed to increase milk. But drinking herbal teas and taking hormonal preparations for a nursing mother should be very careful, since with prolonged use they can be addictive, and in some cases allergic.

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Breastfeeding is an exciting stage in the life of every mother. Often, women have to worry about whether only milk is enough for the baby, whether there is a reason to introduce additional mixtures. After all, the poor health of the crumbs, disturbing sleep and crying can be associated with this. How to understand that the baby does not have enough milk during breastfeeding, and how can the situation be corrected?

Read in this article

Reasons for the deficiency

Lack of milk is a problem for many women during lactation. Indeed, such conditions occur more often than one might think. The fact is that there are certain “critical periods” when milk production is somewhat reduced, and the needs of the baby are growing at a rapid pace. So, you can often observe a discrepancy between need and quantity in the following situations:

In the first month of a child's life. This is due to the fact that every day the amount of food needed for crumbs doubles in volume. But not every woman, especially a primipara, can quickly begin to produce such an amount. Therefore, attributing the baby's anxiety to adaptation, mothers do not suspect that he simply does not have enough food. At the same time, the baby can gain weight normally, and even above average, he just has a good appetite.
During critical days, women also note a slight decrease in milk production. However, menstruation does not begin immediately, but after two or three or more months, often at this time the baby is already on complementary foods, so the question is not so relevant.

But imperceptibly for herself, a woman can build her life and regime in such a way that the child will experience a constant feeling of hunger, become irritable, restless, and after that, the mother will also be anxious. In these cases, it is important to reliably know about insufficient lactation, and to determine whether the child has enough breast milk, you can accurately by the number of urination and weight gain.

Most often, violations occur in the following situations:

Use of the Soviet stereotype of feeding according to a strictly fixed schedule. As a result, you can get to those moments when the child is full and does not want to eat, which will lead to insufficient stimulation of the mammary glands and a decrease in the intensity of lactation. Modern recommendations - putting the baby to the chest every time you wake up, as often as possible.
Restriction of the stay of the crumbs near the mother's breast. This occurs if a woman has very painful nipples due to them, or if she must constantly be distracted by something, etc.
An uncomfortable position during feeding leads to the fact that the newly-made mother quickly gets tired and stops the whole process. Therefore, the place should be organized based on the position of comfort for both mother and baby.
In the event that a young mother “on the advice of grandmothers” begins to give the baby some water. It doesn't matter to a small organism, but saturation comes in terms of volume.
If the mother teaches the baby to pacifiers. Constantly sucking it, the child satisfies his need and then does not stimulate the nipples so intensively. And all this affects the production of milk.
Incorrect attachments, in addition to cracks, lead to the fact that the child does not completely empty the breast, and next time there will be less milk. Everything works on the principle of feedback and needs.
Reception medicines, after childbirth.
Long-term separation of mother and baby due to objective reasons.

In addition to the regime, the device of life and the well-being of a woman, lactation is influenced by moments that do not depend on the mother herself. These are various diseases of both the mammary glands and the organs of endocrine secretion, the pituitary and hypothalamus, and some other conditions.

Most often you have to deal with the following pathologies:

body, including, as well as;
insufficient production of pituitary hormones;
violation of the relationship between the centers of the brain.

Watch the video on how to determine if the baby is getting enough milk:

Is there really not enough milk?

Sometimes it is not so easy to understand that the baby is not getting enough milk, as it can be reliably determined.

The following two are reliable ways to identify a lack of food intake for crumbs:

The most popular and more visual way is to weigh your baby regularly. But you should not do this every day or even before and after the next feeding, once a week is enough. The first year the baby should add monthly from 500 to 2000 g, this is at least 120 g in 7 to 10 days. And if the baby loses weight at all, it is definitely necessary to look for a problem, but already together with the pediatrician.
The amount of urine excreted. But everything modern moms use diapers, while it is extremely difficult to track this. If in doubt, you should switch to regular diapers for a day. It doesn't matter when the countdown starts, as long as it lasts at least 24 hours. Change the diaper every time you get wet.

It is impossible to supplement the baby during the observation period, and medications can also affect the result. Having counted all the diapers per day, there should be at least 10 - this is the border between the norm and pathology. If the amount falls short, the child does not have enough incoming fluid, and hence milk.

Symptoms such as crying, restless behavior, poor daytime and nighttime sleep, frequent feedings, and many other signs may indicate that a woman does not have enough milk. But in the same way they can be observed at an absolute norm.

Ways to improve lactation

No less important is the question of what to do if there is not enough breast milk, and the woman is determined to breastfeed only. There is a small list of drugs, as well as a huge number folk ways. Quite often, much of what is proposed still helps a woman. It is possible that the role is played simply by psychological reassurance.

It is important to properly organize your life so that mom and baby are comfortable. To do this, you can use the following tips:

Places for feeding should be provided with maximum convenience. It is always worth taking a pillow, if necessary - a blanket. Both mother and baby should enjoy the process. And this, in turn, will contribute to the expansion of the ducts and a good separation of milk.
A small nightlight should be organized in the room for night rest. It will help mom quickly navigate in the dark, without contributing to the further awakening of the crumbs. You should also place improvised means near you - diapers, diapers, napkins, etc.
It is useful in times of crisis to organize the "nest" principle for several days. At the same time, mother and baby should be completely distracted from household chores, and spend all the time together, without even going outside. The child will be constantly with a woman, will often suck even an empty breast and this will stimulate the arrival of milk.
It is useful to learn to relax and perceive calmly all external circumstances.
If possible, give the child a pacifier less, and also drink from a jar. If you have to supplement, it is better with a spoon or with a special nipple that imitates the nipple of a woman's breast.

Medical methods

The choice of drugs in such situations is small. The main ones include the following:

Based on apiproducts, most often it is .
Tea for lactation "" and all the products of this series. Contain fennel and other health benefits breastfeeding herbs.
Tablets "", which includes royal jelly, extracts of nettle, carrot, ginger, dill, oregano, vitamin C and iodine. It has a tonic effect and stimulates the production of milk.
Other dietary supplements and homeopathic remedies.

If a woman managed to understand that the baby still has enough breast milk, all these medicines can be used for prevention.

Folk ways

Traditional medicine is also replete with ways and recipes that should increase lactation, especially with regular use.

Caraway

The plant occupies a leading position in the number of recipes. You can brew it, insist, make kvass, etc.

Recipe 1. The easiest way to use it is instead of tea. To do this, brew a tablespoon of cumin in 200 ml of boiling water, let it brew for 5-10 minutes. Drink with honey or milk to taste.
Recipe 2. You can also make an infusion in a thermos. To do this, for 200 ml of boiling water, you need to take 2 tablespoons of cumin, pour and let it brew for 10 - 12 hours. Then take 20-30 ml 2-3 times a day.

Nettle

Grass, in addition to lactogenic properties, contains a large number of vitamins, active substances, which are also useful after childbirth. It can also be started long before you know if your baby is getting enough breast milk.

Recipe. You should take 1 tablespoon of dry or even fresh leaves, pour 200 ml hot water let it brew for 20-30 minutes. The solution is taken half a cup several times a day.

Fennel

It is believed that fennel can increase the production of prolactin, as a result of which and. This is one of the most popular means for stimulating lactation.

Recipe 1. You can simply brew a tablespoon in a glass of boiling water and drink regularly.
Recipe 2. 2 tablespoons should be poured into 200 ml of hot milk. For taste, you can add honey or a pinch of salt, nutmeg.

Dill

You can add seeds each time to tea, which gives a special pleasant taste. It is also recommended to prepare solutions.

Recipe. It is necessary to pour 2 tablespoons of seeds into 200 ml of boiling water, let it brew for several hours. Take 100 ml up to 6 times a day.

Breastfeeding is a healthy and enjoyable time for both mom and baby. The child receives with milk a lot of protective factors that are useful for him. And the mother, continuing lactation for more than 3-6 months, carries out the prevention of many gynecological diseases.

If a woman understands that the newborn does not have enough milk, and she could not cope on her own, you can resort to the services of consultants. But it is also effective to get together, arrange a “nest”, resort to a couple of ways to increase lactation - and in most cases everything will work out.

You can see that there is not enough breast milk by several signs: the baby cries a lot, hardly sleeps, and sucks at the breast for a long time. To check if the child is full, use the scales. Children can be rented at the clinic. A naked baby is weighed before feeding and immediately after. In a situation where he eats too little milk, urination is rare and concentrated, urine becomes bright yellow color. With prolonged difficulties with lactation in a nursing mother, her baby gains little weight within a month. The pediatrician will definitely pay attention to an insufficient increase at the next preventive appointment.

There is another sign that a nursing mother does not have enough breast milk. She does not feel the tides, her breasts are constantly empty and do not have time to fill up between feedings. When there is a lot of milk, it is dense, heavy, with slight pressure on the area around the nipple, a jet immediately splashes. If a woman does not observe all this, then she probably does not have enough breast milk.

What to do to increase lactation

Plentiful hot drink is obligatory for any nursing mother. The best drink to increase lactation is hot tea with milk. Whole milk is not recommended due to high risk allergies and colic in an infant. It is advisable to drink a mug of hot drink some time before feeding, so that the milk has time to flow into the chest. Approximately 30 minutes is enough for this.

If there is not enough breast milk, it is necessary to apply the baby for feeding especially often. It is in this case that you should not observe a 3-4 hour break at all. Some nursing mothers say that the baby literally “hung” on the chest for hours when he had little milk. This is normal, this period just needs to be endured. Frequent and long feedings increase lactation, there will be more milk in a couple of days. A lot is especially important. At night, a hormone that regulates lactation is actively released. The more a mother breastfeeds at night, the more milk she produces the next day.

To help a nursing mother, special teas to increase lactation. You can buy them at a pharmacy or supermarket. Not everyone shares the opinion about the effectiveness of this tool. But many such teas contain herbs with a sedative effect. It helps to calm down in difficult times when there is not enough breast milk.

The calm emotional state of the mother is the key to the restoration of lactation in necessary for the baby volume. And the child himself will cry less, feeling the confidence of the parent. On average, the period of a lactation crisis, when there is not enough or no milk at all, lasts several days, sometimes a week. This period is delayed in the case when a woman experiences severe stress. For example, there was not enough milk at the time of the funeral of one of the woman's relatives or friends. A vivid negative experience affects the general condition of the mother and her ability to continue breastfeeding. No need to panic, lactation can most often be restored.

But there are times when you have to spend a lot of mental and physical strength to feed the baby only with breast milk. Then it is better for a nursing mother to think: is it really so important to continue to fight for breastfeeding Or already to enter a mix? Sometimes more useful for psychological state mothers to stop such a struggle and switch to artificial feeding. There will be no benefit from breast milk if a woman, with tears at each feed, tries to squeeze out at least a little milk, blames herself for the lack of it, and fights with all her might to continue to feed the baby until the year.

Update: October 2018

Have you had a long-awaited baby? Or are you looking forward to its arrival? Then this article will help you learn a lot of interesting things about lactation. You will learn what lactation is, lactation crises, what causes them, how to determine whether a child has enough breast milk, and also a very important point - how to increase lactation for a nursing mother.

Every woman, with the exception of 0.01% of girls who have contraindications to breastfeeding, can and should breastfeed a child. This will not only provide the child with good immune protection, help maintain the health of the gastrointestinal tract, but also give your crumbs that necessary close contact with his own mother, which cannot be replaced by anything else.

A little about lactation as a physiological process

Lactation is a natural process in which the production, accumulation and release of breast milk by the mammary glands of a woman takes place. In addition, this is a hormonally dependent process, that is, the process of lactation is regulated by many hormones. secreted by the pituitary gland and stimulates the production of milk by the glandular tissue of the mammary glands. Milk accumulates in the glands and lactiferous passages.

Oxytocin is released when the baby suckles the breast and provides contraction of a number of muscles in the milk ducts, thus it is responsible for the release of milk. Also, oxytocin stimulates uterine contractions, which suggests that breastfeeding can accelerate the involution of the uterus, which leads to a rapid cessation of postpartum hemorrhage.

The first days after childbirth, a woman secretes colostrum, during which time the child receives only it. For some women, colostrum begins to be secreted during pregnancy.

This is an individual feature of such women, but it should be mentioned that colostrum should not be squeezed out during pregnancy, thereby stimulating the production of oxytocin, which means that the uterus contracts and premature birth may occur.

Colostrum is extremely nutritious and very healthy, it contains not only many nutrients, but also immunoglobulins, which are so important for a newborn baby. Albumins and globulins (proteins) contained in colostrum do not require splitting in the child's gastrointestinal tract, they are immediately absorbed in the baby's intestines. For 3-5 days, colostrum is replaced by milk.

The baby has enough colostrum in the first days of life, in no case should you supplement the baby with a mixture, drink water or anything else!

Why is there not enough milk for a child - lactation crises

Almost every woman breastfeeding a baby at least once thinks about the fact that suddenly the baby does not have enough breast milk. This is a very common mistake young mothers make. Below we will analyze in detail what mistakes women make that can lead to the loss of breastfeeding.

You have probably already heard this frightening phrase - lactation crises in a nursing mother. In fact, there is nothing wrong with that.

A lactation crisis is a temporary, natural decrease in the amount of breast milk excreted. This process is natural and, subject to simple rules, does not pose any threat to future lactation.

This phenomenon is caused by a change in the hormonal background of a woman. All crises can occur in different time. The most common terms for the onset of lactation crises are 7-14 days after childbirth, 30-35 days after childbirth and 3-3.5 months later. During these periods, under the influence of hormones, lactation may decrease slightly, which is normal.

These terms are not a dogma, for each woman they can be different, since the endocrine system is different for everyone. The duration of the lactation crisis ranges from 3 to 8 days, on average it is 4-5 days. There is no need to be nervous and worried during this period, to think that the child is starving, there is no need to listen to grandmothers with advice on how to increase lactation, the child has enough milk and will have enough if you follow the simple recommendations below.

How to increase lactation?

There are a few simple rules that will help to establish lactation. It should be remembered that lactation is established after 3-4 months, before that there may be flushes of milk, engorgement of the mammary glands, it may seem that there is no milk in the breast (although this is not the case at all), and after the establishment of lactation, the breast stops “filling up”, milk is produced only during feeding. Therefore, if you have already established lactation, then you will not need to increase it.

The amount of milk depends on the level of prolactin and nothing else!

If the lactation process has not yet been established, and you are wondering how to increase the amount of breast milk, then remember simple tips. In this section, we will talk about what needs to be done to do this. And what you don’t need to do - you will find out a little later.

Feed your baby on demand

Do not follow any regimen, you can not feed the child according to the regimen, he himself knows when he should eat and when to sleep. He may require a breast and after 20 minutes, and oversleep for 5-6 hours, all this is the norm!

Attach the baby to the breast as often as possible, the duration of feeding can be any

The act of suckling triggers the release of hormones, including oxytocin and prolactin. How more baby breastfeeding, the higher the level of these hormones, and therefore, the more milk.

Often women complain that the baby can suckle for several hours (see). This shouldn't bother you. In the first months of life, the child has a particularly acute need for contact with the mother.

After all, he grew up in her stomach for 9 months and was inextricably linked with her. When a child is born, he experiences great stress, it takes time for him to get used to the world around him. He has a constant need for contact with his mother, so the child can lie at his mother's breast for hours, periodically sucking on it.

He does this not at all because he is hungry, but because he needs his mother nearby, as close as possible. In my own way personal experience I will say that a child can not let go of his mother for 6-7 hours, being at her breast. And as a mother and a doctor, I will say that this is normal! Do not forget that in the first 3 months, babies are often worried about colic, and this is another reason to be closer to mom (see).

Be sure to feed your baby at night

Some mothers want to teach their child to sleep through the night almost from birth. Normally, a child can wake up to eat up to a year. And in the first months of lactation, night feedings play a crucial role. The child must eat at night! This is important, because it is at night that the level of prolactin increases, this is a feature of the human endocrine system, which means that during this period there should be feeding in order to increase milk supply.

homeopathic remedies

There are two opinions on this matter. On the one hand, no one has conducted studies of these drugs, in terms of evidence-based medicine, so it cannot be unequivocally said that they have a beneficial effect on lactation. On the other hand, it certainly won't get worse. For many, the “placebo effect” works and lactation increases, for some, the lactation crisis simply stops in a natural rhythm, but the fact that under the influence of these drugs the level of prolactin may also change slightly (see).

Products that increase lactation

The main thing I want to say is that there are no products that increase lactation! Since, none of the foods you eat will affect the level of prolactin (see). The only thing that should be done is not to limit fluid intake. Drink as much as you like. But forcibly drinking an extra glass of water is also not worth it. The body itself knows how much fluid it needs.

Some mistakenly think that there is more breast milk, and especially if it is not enough, then you need to drink as much cow's milk as possible (see details on whether and whether a nursing mother can drink). This should not be done for several reasons:

Cow's milk does not affect prolactin levels.
Everything you eat goes into your breast milk, including cow's milk proteins, which can cause a severe allergic reaction in your baby.
Cow's milk is not "processed" into breast milk.
The use of milk and dairy products by a nursing mother causes severe colic in children.

mommy mistakes

Now let's talk about what not to do if you are breastfeeding.

Do not set a feeding schedule. The child will decide when and how much to eat.

Do not give infant formula!

This is one of the biggest mistakes women make! Many, having decided for some reason that the child does not have enough milk, run after the mixture and begin to supplement the child with it. This leads to a number of consequences. The child may completely refuse the breast, because it is much more difficult to suck from it than from a bottle. The mixture is much sweeter than breast milk, it may well seem to the child that the mixture is tastier, and he will refuse breast milk. The introduction of the mixture will provoke not only pain in the tummy, but also severe bouts of colic in a baby with an immature intestine. You also risk not only completely losing lactation, but also provoking constipation and allergies in the child.

Do not give water to a fully breastfed baby until the complementary feeding period! Contrary to the claims of many authors.

Many mistakenly think that milk is food, that the child also needs to be watered. This is wrong. Breast milk consists of 80-90% water and even in dry air during heating season or in a hot climate - this is enough for the child. If suddenly you want to approach the child with a spoonful of water and offer it to him, then offer him a better breast, stimulate lactation.

If a child drinks water, then his stomach is filled (for this he does not need to drink half a glass of water at all, a few spoons are enough), a signal is sent to the brain about the filling of the stomach, so the child skips feeding.

It is necessary to give water with the introduction of complementary foods, at 6 months (see). There are frequent cases of poor weight gain in infants who receive less milk due to supplementation. When is the child on artificial feeding water is necessary, but we are talking about breastfeeding.

Don't think that crying baby- hungry child

There are many reasons for a child to cry. If he refuses to breastfeed, but continues to cry, perhaps his tummy hurts, maybe his head hurts, crying at night and in the evening speaks of a possible. He might be wet, he might be scared of something, he wants to see his mom or dad, maybe he's bored, maybe he's teething. There are dozens of reasons for crying in a baby, and it is wrong to think that every cry is due to the fact that he is hungry.

Do not think that if the breast is soft, then there is no milk in it.

Milk is always produced during feeding, if by the next feeding you do not have painful lumps in your chest, then this, on the contrary, is good, you have no risk of lactostasis and, perhaps, you have already established lactation.

No need to express milk after feeding

Pumping is necessary if there is lactostasis. If you express milk after a feed, you are losing the most nutritious "hind" milk. It is better to offer the baby the breast once again than to lose the most valuable portion of milk.

Do not use the old rules of weight gain

In modern medicine, comparative tables are used, according to the height, weight and age of the child. Many pediatricians use the old schemes, according to which the child must gain 1 kg in the first month. These schemes were drawn up many decades ago for formula-fed babies. For children who are breastfed, these rules have nothing to do.

Don't give a pacifier

Nature does not provide anything for a child to suck, except for the breast. As a rule, mothers give the baby a pacifier when he cries, and the mother does not know what to do. This is not a reason to plug a child's mouth with silicone nonsense that he does not need. If the child is crying, then you need to find the reason for his crying. The sucking reflex of the baby must be satisfied by suckling the breast. And weaning from a dummy in the future is nothing but stress for the child.

Don't rely on checkweighing

Sometimes it is recommended to weigh the baby before and after feeding to find out how much he ate. This is an inconspicuous method. First, the baby's stomach is designed to receive small portions of milk. Child daily allowance can eat for 12 feedings per day, which means that each time he will eat a little bit, but often. Secondly, the baby does not always eat the same amount of milk. In one feeding, he can drink 10 ml, in another - 100 ml. But if you see an increase of 10 grams on the scale, then you will immediately begin to panic, because you will decide that the child eats little and does not have enough milk.

Don't introduce complementary foods early

Up to 6 months, the baby has enough breast milk. Moreover, it is useless and even harmful to give him a new kind of food before that time. Up to 6 months, the child has enzymes only for the digestion of breast milk.

One of FAQ after the birth of a child is How can you tell if a baby is getting enough breast milk?

However, not only this worries a young mother - after all, although on the one hand breastfeeding natural process, but it also requires certain knowledge and skills.

So that you do not worry in vain and can always be sure that your baby is full, and your milk is full and satisfies all the needs of the baby - let's talk about the most common doubts of a nursing mother.

Why every day thousands of mothers doubt that the child has enough milk?

These doubts often settle in us thanks to our relatives and close people, and it seems that they only want to make us feel better, but in practice, breastfeeding stops right before it starts!

Doubt: I have low-fat milk!

You can determine it by the color, the taste, the smell, the behavior of the child....and all these ways will be wrong.

The fact is that the very concept of fat content in relation to breast milk is incorrect.

Breast milk is unique in composition and differs from mother to mother, from child to child, and even has a different composition depending on the time of day. That is why there are no analogues to breast milk! However, if you have such a question, read this article: How to increase the fat content of breast milk? >>> or watch a video on the fat content of breast milk:

A way to get rid of doubt: look at the weight gain of the child! If it is more than 500 grams per month, or more than 120 grams per week - everything is fine!

If less - check if you follow all the rules of breastfeeding!

Doubt: The child often sucks at the breast, so he does not eat up!

Absolutely not a fact.

For a baby, breastfeeding is 3 in 1: food, comfort and communication with mom! Therefore, it is simply not possible to understand which of these tasks he is solving now, sucking to his chest! Let the baby suckle as much as needed (this applies to children up to 3 months).

In the first months, a child with long sucking can relieve birth stress.

Way to get rid of doubt: look at the weight gain of the child! Count the number of times you urinate in 24 hours. If your child has peed more than 10 times, he has enough milk, and through prolonged sucking he solves other problems.

Doubt: Milk is tasteless, and therefore does not benefit the child!

Compare your mouth to that of a baby! Feel the difference?

In a baby, the concentration of receptors per 1 cm of the tongue is thousands of times higher than in an adult, so our perception of taste is different. In addition to this, you are already “spoiled” by sweets and flavor enhancers, and your child is not yet familiar with them.

Way to get rid of doubt: Understand that you are different! And never compare a child to an adult. Look at the happy face of your crumbs when he suckles - and forget about this doubt.

Doubt: If the baby does not sleep for a long time, then there is not enough milk.

The baby does not have a day-night rhythm. He has only the rhythm of eating and sleeping.

Therefore, children often eat at night and enjoy sleeping while suckling. A big role in the fact that the baby often, literally every hour, sucks the breast, the size of the ventricle also plays. As one ad said, “a stomach like a kitten and less than a thimble.”

As babies age, they can suck out more milk in less time, and therefore seem to suck less frequently.

Way to get rid of doubt: Look at the weight gain in a week and count the number of urination in 24 hours.

Doubt: The amount of milk depends on the size of the breast.

Absolutely not true. Milk does not accumulate in the breast, and the breast is not a jar that fills up with milk. Milk is produced in response to a baby suckling at the breast. That is why it is important to feed often, correctly and at night! I have covered this in detail in this article: ordering on demand >>>