The feeding of infants and children is more than just satisfying the hunger urge.
There are, in fact, 3 goals of feeding: oTo meet the nutritional requirements of children so that they can grow oTo help children develop muscle and coordination skills.
As infants become older, they learn to feed themselves.
This requires complicated skill like reaching the tongue around the spoon, grasping the spoon and eventually inserting it to his mouth oTo assist infants and children in developing social skills, eating is a social activity that involves interaction with other family members An infant can start breast feeding within minutes after birth.
For the first several feedings, the breasts produce a material known as colostrum.
This is rich in antibodies that protect the child against infections.
There is no need to worry about the number of calories in your milk during the first several days because infants are born with extra weight that will tide them over until the high-calorie milk comes in Between the 3rd and 5th day after birth, milk begins to come in abundance.
Although you may have heard that the iron content in breast milk is low, the baby's intestines absorb the iron so well that supplemental iron drops are rarely necessary.
Vitamin D is the only supplemental breast-feeding babies need.
Remember that you are no longer eating just for yourself but also for your infant.
Drink whenever you're thirsty.
Be sure to drink 2 quarts (2L) of liquids per day: 1 quart of (1L) of milk and 1 quart (1L) of any other favorite nonalcoholic drink.
Limit coffee and colas to a cup a day Nursing lying on your side or sitting up is recommended.
Don't nudge the baby with your finger to start you're the rooting index, or the baby will root toward the finger.
Babies will let you know if they are having trouble breathing by pushing off the breast or opening their mouth and crying.
Beside the rooting reflex, infants have a sucking reflex that forms the basis for feeding.
After an infant has been sucking for a while, a vacuum is created and a tight seal is formed.
You can avoid irritation to you by breaking that vacuum between the infants gum to break the seal The mother also has reflexes that assist her in breast-feeding.
Seeing or hearing her child or even another child's cry will begin the flow of milk.
Feeding a small premature baby can present special problems, but they can often be overcome.
Indeed, many nurseries feel that breast milk is more important for premature infants than for full-term babies.
Special bottles with "premature" nipple are available.
Until the premature child is strong enough to suck and control the flow of milk, you can use a breast pump and bottle-feed.
Newborns require feeding every 2-3 hours (every 4 hours is unusual).
Frequent prolonged feedings may help prevent engorgement.
You should begin by allowing the child to suck for several minutes on each breast, gradually building up to 15 minutes on each breast by the third day of life.
The infant will reject a partially full breast because the taste of milk changes somewhat during feeding.
The child should be allowed to reject one breast and change to the other one.
If your breast is so full that the infant is having difficulty grasping, press out some milk.
Many mothers who breast-feed find that the father can begin giving a supplemental bottle within the first 2 months.
The father should usually give it at the same time each day, although this is not a rigid rule.
Some parents prefer to have the mother pump her breast and have the father bottle-feed the breast milk.
Other women find that they adjust within a short period of time to the uneven schedule that is created by the father's feeding.