Breastfeeding: do it as long as you can

A my Chin, 31, has a full-time job as a breastfeeding mum. She is currently breastfeeding not iust her new baby, 17 week-old Kira, but also her first child, Liam, who's three and a half years old. Three and a half? Isn't that a bit old to be still breastfeeding?

Actually, no. Experts advise only breast milk for the first six months, and recommend that breastfeeding continue for at least 12 months and for as long as the child wants. Said Amy: "I'll carry on breastfeeding him until he stops himself."

Kira takes the breast about 16 times a day, and Liam about four times a day.

Fortunately, Amy has a good supply of breast milk and in fact, experienced overactive letdown (too much breast milk) with her first child. She pointed out that, after all, mothers of twins have to breastfeed two children as well.

She added: "I started reading up more on self-weaning after I gave birth to Liam, and decided that was the best for him. Of course, it's not for everybody. If the mother is not happy, the child will recognise this."

Far from finding it a drain on her, Amy finds breastfeeding a calming exercise. For example, she had resumed work two months after giving birth to Liam, but she said: "The first thing I did when I came back from work was to breastfeed, and I found it just so relaxing. The mothering hormones take over and it just helps you feel like, and be, a mother."

Benefits of breast milk to baby

Human breast milk is made expressly for your baby and has the right proportions of fat, protein, sugar and vitamins needed.

Breast milk is more easily-digested for baby, thus making her less prone to vomitting and diarrhoea. Breastfed babies are also less likely to encounter ear infections, allergies, pneumonia, wheezing, and bronchiolitis, and meningitis. In general, breast-fed infants are less likely to fall ill than formula-fed babies, because they pick up antibodies from their mums.

Six months (and more if you can)

In the first six months, you should not and are in fact not advised to give your baby anything other than breast milk - not formula, water, fruit juice or other food. At that age, babies do not need anything more.

After six months, you will want to start giving them other food but if you are still breastfeeding, formula isn't necessary. Instead, supplement your breast milk with iron-fortified baby food. You should continue to breastfeed for as long as she wants. The longer you breastfeed, the more your baby benefits.

Some babies are ready to stop breastfeeding at 9 to 12 months old. If so, dodn't force your baby to continue. Breastfeeding should be a mutual exercise and comforting to both mother and baby.

Added Amy: "The nutritional benefits of breastfeeding are only half of the story. The other half is the nurturing and bonding between mother and child."

So, breastfeed for as long as possible, it's beneficial for both you and baby.


The right time is anytime

Ivy Low's first experience with breastfeeding was with her first child, Caleb, now four. The first two days were fine. Latch-on was no problem. No mastitis. No sore nipples. But by the third day, Caleb was nursing "almost every hour".

She said with a laugh: "I could barely get out of bed!" As a first-time mum, Ivy, now 34, was understandably worried and wondered what she was doing wrong. She managed to speak to a lactation consultant, who assured her that it was probably due to a growth spurt and not necessarily abnormal. "With Caleb, I used to watch the clock. But after that, I didn't I just let them feed for as long as they want, make sure they're in a secure position, and I do other things while they're feeding, like read a book or trim my nails." She also breastfed her second child, Joshua, now two years old, and is currently breastfeeding baby Jacob, 11 weeks old.

Feed on demand

Experts advise you to breastfeed your child as often as she wants to, and for as long as she wants to. Let your baby drain one breast completely before switching to the other, since the milk at the end of a feeding session is slightly different from what is produced at the start. What's produced at the end is called hindmilk. It has more fat, is heavier and more slowly-digested, and will keep baby satisfied longer. The foremilk, which constitutes about one-third of the breast's milk supply in a session, is thinner, has a higher sugar content, and is more rapidly-digested. Greenish stools may be one sign that your baby is getting insufficient hindmilk. Since there's not fixed timing on when the milk changes from foremilk to hindmilk, let baby drain the breast naturally.

How do you know baby is ready to feed? When she:
 Don't wait until she cries, since that means she's already hungry.

Breastfeeding is convenient

One useful thing about breastfeeding is that you don't need a separate container or teat, you don't need to mix it up, and you don't have to fiddle around with used bottles or leftovers.

Said Ivy: "I was really glad I was breastfeeding when my husband and I were driving through California. My oldest, Caleb was a baby then, and it was so convenient to feed him. We didn't even need water and we could just carry on driving."

Roll over and feed

Amy Chin and her husband, David, both agree that breastfeeding is made easier because they share the bed with Kira, while Liam's cot is pushed up right next to their bed.

"This makes it much less tiring than bottle-feeding, where you actually have to be fully awake, get up, prepare the bottle and so on. With breastfeeding, you just roll over and you can be both half asleep. Co-sleeping also helps because then baby and mother have the same sleep cycle. You end up getting a lot more sleep!"



Source: Taoday's Parents, Aug 2001.
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