Most of the time, when I'm treating a child or baby with dehydration, I always asked the child's mother if she is breast feeding her baby well or not. Most of the time, mothers will tell me that they don't have much milk and this is especially so during the first 3 days immediately after delivery.
When I asked, why they don't give supplemental feeding, they all say this " I thought we should breast feed the child as much as possible? And we shouldn't give bottle feeding?"
Yes, what they say is so very true. Mummy's milk is ALWAYS the best. No doubt mummy should breast feed as frequent as possible. But, if a mother has got not enough breast milk (which is normal at the beginning), then she should not force herself into it. If a lady try to breast feed too hard, this is detrimental to the flow of breast milk. Ultimately, there will be less milk. Our brain is very awesomely made. If we are stressed, then the brain will 'tell' the breast to stop producing milk by secreting hormones.
So, the rule of the thumb is this. Breast feed as much as possible, and supplement feeds if there's not enough of breast milk. This way, your baby won't be dehydrated. If you consult your doctor, there are medications that can help to increase milk flow. These medications, to me, actually work wonders. There are lots of mothers, came back to me, thanking me for giving them the 'wonder drug' to make their breast feeding experience a success.! It's a simple drug and of course won't affect your baby even if you are taking it during breast feeding. It's very safe!
My breast milk very little only
ReplyDeleteI do agreed with you. Soemtimes i feel that if the mother is too stressed up emotionally.. even breastfeeding is good but then what the point, when the mother is under pressure which affected the father as well and the baby.
ReplyDeleteBut many breastfeeding supporter told me that newborn baby have very small appetite and the first few days they dont even feel hungry at all. I wonder is that true? and our colostrum is enough for them.
Well it's true partially. We judge adequacy of breast feeding for a child in 3 ways.
ReplyDelete1) sugar in the blood
- if the sugar in the blood is low (that is hypoglycemia) then the feeding is inadequate. a low blood sugar is bad for any babies, because sugar is the only 'fuel' for our brain to work. So without sugar, the child will have fits, lethargy, refuses to feed, and these whole thing become a cycle.
Colostrum is very sweet. So with just a minute amount, the sugar in the blood of the baby will be maintained. And, during the first 5 days of life, babies will tolerate a lower amount of sugar in their blood without their brains got involved! (see how amazing God made us!)
2) hydration
- This is pretty obvious. If the child is dehydrated, then not enough breast milk. So if a a child just drink colostrum only, the child will have normal sugar but the volume is so little, this make the child dehydrated. Hence, not enough breast feeding.
3) growth
A child that is stunted in growth is bad. 99.9% of the time it is related to feeding habits!
cheers!
ruth:
ReplyDeletethanks for following the blog!
You may need advice by any breast feeding consultant or paediatrician to help you be successful in breast feeding. It's a joy for any mothers to be able to breast feed, always be!
actually what I meant is that the mother should not be stress and try to relax.
ReplyDeleteHi Dr Paul,
ReplyDeleteMy son is 21 month old now and he always vomit very easily. I've asked his paed and he said ok but I'm still very worried. Is this normal?
Thanks.
Cheers,
Alyce
Well, commonly parents think that their child is vomiting, but, most of the time, their child is just regurgitating.
ReplyDeleteThere's a way to differentiate this 2, if the child vomits, there will be a lot of amount, projectile and it comes out not only from the mount, but copious from the nose as well. Most of the time, if the child vomits, he will be unwell too. Vomiting is always abnormal. The child will loose weight as well.
Regurgitation however is normal. Something very usual to happen in children, at the age before 1 yr old. Some will have mild regurgitation, some severe. The severe ones, the child will be small and fail to thrive.
So, the best way, to determine if what your child is having is 'normal' or not, then you only need to see if your son has got good weight gain. Babies weight generally should double at 1/2 yr and triple at 1 yr from the birth weight. (eg, if a child is 3kg at birth, then at 1/2 yr should be 6kg and 9kg at 1 yr to the very least)
There are 4 ways to minimize regurgitation.
1) Small amount but frequent feeds. (instead of feeding 3 oz every 3hrs, then you can change to 2 oz but every 2hrs)
2) Thickened the feeds. Instead of one scoop of milk powder to 1 oz of water, one will put 3 scoops to 2 oz of water. This however has got one side effect, that is constipation.
3) Burp the child longer. Say 15-20 mins. This will be difficult during the night. Parents will have to keep themselves awake longer.
4) Lastly, medications. There are certain medications to help to minimize regurgitation. And we don't usually give any medications if the child is thriving.
Hope this help!
Hi Dr Paul,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your time to reply.
I think my son is vomiting cause the amount is a lot and most of the time is projectile till it come out from the nose as well.
We have been feeding him smaller frequent meal also.
Not sure it is because he is not used to food that need him to chew as he is eating porridge.