Hey Guys,
Jess here with a short chat about newborn feeding.
I am up to 4 weeks with a little one and have spent about 12 years in childcare. I have seen a range of feeding and with my own nearly 1 month old I am combi feeding, this is a mix of bottle and breast feeding. Some people breastfeed, some bottle and some combi feed, and people will feed in different ways for different times, I know people who stop breastfeeding quite early and others who will keep breast feeding for many years.
Ultimately however you choose to feed is up to you and no one should be able to tell you otherwise because you have to find what works best for you and your family. #FedIsBest
There still seems to be a bit of a stigma around bottle feeding babies, and you still see and hear things around Breast is best, there are rules around advertising initial formula for newborns in order to encourage breastfeeding and most commonly you will find people are being encouraged or advised to breastfeed in the initial stages.
Now don't get me wrong breastfeeding is really good for your baby, it gives that skin to skin contact, you don't have to sterilise or get a mass of bottles, baby can feed on demand ‘easily’-more on this later- and they get a huge amount of benefits from your breast milk! However now everyone wants to or can breastfeed, and it was advised to me if I am exclusively breastfeeding it's best to give little one vitamin d drops as they don’t get this from my breast milk, they would however get it from formula as it's already added.
Some of the downsides of breastfeeding? It is exhausting! Baby feeding on demand is great, but on demand can seem like every hour or more, cluster feeds through the night make more sleepless nights and because the breastfeeding party is the only one with active boobs this means the jobs can’t be shared.
Breast feeding isnt easy, it takes time to learn what works for you and little one, finding positions that work for you both can be a challenge and then there is getting hang of the latch, a lot of the time we see breastfeeding mums and it just looks so natural but just know it will have also taken time for them to get the hang of it too.
Now as I mentioned earlier some people can’t or don’t want to breastfeed and that should be respected and supported, with bottle feeding comes some pros and cons, the benefits, you can track how much they are eating, great if you are monitoring weight and food intake, feeds can be shared between parents and supporting family, this can make the night times and the days run a little easier, and feeding on the go can be simplified for parents who might be nervous about getting out a boob in public or if you are in places where there might not be ‘breastfeeding friendly’ place- this is something else I will touch on later.
The downside of bottle feeding is the need to sterilise and wash lots of bottles through the day and night, making feeds can take time and they only last so long so some planning needs to be done for long trips or going out.
So let’s talk about ways to support parents with feeding:
-first let's drop the Breast is best thought process when actually #FedIsBest, it doesn't matter how you feed your baby as long as they are fed,
-secondly respect and support however people wish to feed without judging them, this includes using phrasing that makes parents feel like what they are doing is wrong.
-Breast feeding friendly spots should be a common occurrence, this doesn't just mean a separate room for breastfeeding parents to go but also the overall place to be free of judgement for those who don't want to go in a separate room, and this doesn't just go for public places for also family homes, If you have a friend who is a mum who wants to breast don't make them feel like they need to go into a separate room, offer it if they want it but don’t expect them to move if they are happy to stay where they are.
-Finally Increase support on all aspects of feeding before, during and after birth- How you want your baby to be fed is up to you and this is easier with support, and clear understanding.
A little on my feeding Journey, I have always wanted to give breastfeeding a go, but if it didn't stick I had no problem with bottle feeding formula, However when the jaundice hit there was a lot of conversations around feeding and it was always advised to increase the breast feeding, breast feed more often,etc this got the idea stuck in my head that it was the breast milk that would make the difference, fast forward a couple of weeks and after some researching and battling trying to breastfeed as much as possible, which in turn caused and increase in stress and anxiety I finally figured what i needed to ask is, is it the breast milk or the feeding that helps, once I got my answer I managed to calm down and made the switch to formula for a few days, this gave me a much needed mental break as well as the ability to set a routine for expressing milk supplies, get hubby set up for feeding and find the best way to combi feed for us. Now we bottle feed through the day on expressed milk and formula when I haven't expressed enough for his massive appetite, as then I breastfeed through the night so we reduce the need for prepping bottles, and we both get a much better night's sleep.
My thoughts around all this as I reflect is if in the beginning it was made clear that it was the feeding that was important not the breast milk I would have started formula sooner and I feel like things would have gone a lot smoother in the first few weeks and I certainly wouldn't have got as stressed.
So as I wrap up this ramble here are a few things to take away, feed how you like and how works best for you and your family, nobody should judge anyone based on how they choose to feed their baby, Ask for the advice you need on how you want to feed and don’t let anyone make you feel like you are doing the wrong thing by feeding how you want, and If you are supporting a feeding parent don’t judge, offer support and help them any way you can!
#FedIsBest
Thanks for reading,
Scribble back
Jessie
X x x
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