Category — Your Baby

Breastfeeding Your Adoptive Baby Is Possible

by LisaC

It is certainly not beyond the realms of the possible for an adoptive mother to nurse her new baby. Though breastfeeding is normally considered only the province of the biological mother, there are methods that will permit the committed adoptive mother and her new baby the experience of breastfeeding.

The first considerations should be the ones that common to every mother considering breastfeeding her baby.
Is breastfeeding your child right for you? Will your schedule allow time for it? Is your employer supportive of breastfeeding? Is your family supportive of breastfeeding?

Also, for the non-lactating adoptive mother there is the extra consideration of the commitment required to induce lactation.

If your lifestyle permits, and you feel that nursing is for you, then it is a wonderful option for not only bonding with your newborn, but also giving them all the benefits of breastfeeding that every child nursed at his mother’s breast enjoys.

After those questions are given thoughtful consideration, and if you arrive at the decision that breastfeeding your baby is what you want, you should consult a lactation specialist.

Your specialist will help guide you further, and advise you as to methods are available to prepare your breasts to begin producing milk, as well as helping guide you to find the one that may be right for you.

Generally though there are a couple of main methods of helping you to produce breast milk for your baby.

The first option, and usually considered the best, is to use a breast pump to prepare your breasts to produce milk. It is possible and has been done by other adoptive mothers wishing to breastfeed their babies. The more dedicated you are able to be, the better the results seem to be. A hospital grade breast pump is usually recommended with this method, as well as regularly scheduled pumping.

The second method entails hormonal or prescription drug treatments that may help your breasts to begin producing milk. However, hormone treatments and drugs can carry risks, and should only be considered for use under the guidance of your physician.

Whatever your choice is in methods, it is very important for you to understand you may never be able to produce 100% of the breast milk supply your baby requires. A supplemental nursing system may be necessary. It will however, allow you and your new baby to enjoy both the emotional and physical benefits of breastfeeding.

July 8, 2009   1 Comment

What Benefits Does Breastfeeding Give New Mothers?

by admin

Most people know and understand that breast is best for their new baby, but have you considered the benefits breastfeeding your baby may offer you as a new mother? Breastfeeding is not just good for your baby – it is great for you too!  In addition to helping you bond with your baby right away; reducing your risk of post partum depression (by keeping your pots-pregnancy hormones more regulated), get the rest you need; and even get you back into your old jeans more quickly, breastfeeding offers these other benefits to every new mother:

1.    Breastfeeding helps your uterus return to its normal size more quickly, reducing maternal blood loss.  Although more of a medical benefit than a practical one that you notice, this is an important factor in getting (and feeling) back to normal and healing more quickly from the traumas of childbirth.

2.    Breastfeeding  often gives new mothers a self-confidence boost by showing them that they do indeed know what they are doing and can handle all of the new responsibilities of motherhood.  Bringing home a new baby can be overwhelming.  Breastfeeding is a wonderful way to get the confidence you will need to tackle the other concerns that are bound to arise in the weeks and years to come.

3.    Breastfeeding can help new mothers get the rest they need for healing after childbirth by forcing them to sit or lie with their infants regularly for feedings.
4.    Breastfeeding can help boost a mother’s immune system (as well as her babies), to help her ward off infections and illness. Plus, breastfeeding mothers tend to eat better, which often increases their immunity and makes them feel better and more energetic.
5.    Breastfeeding helps new moms lose their baby weight more quickly.  Since milk production burns 500-100 calories every day, and can help to increase a woman’s metabolism, most breastfeeding mother’s return to their pre-pregnancy weight in a fraction of the time as their formula feeding counterparts.
6.    Breastfeeding for at least one year reduces a woman’s risk of getting breast, cervical and ovarian cancer by as much as 50%!
7.    Breastfeeding offers a reduced risk to osteoporosis and bone fracture later in life.
8.    Breastfeeding can save hundreds of dollars in formula costs.
9.    Breastfeeding can help reduce a mother’s stress by releasing important stress reducing chemicals into the body during feeding time.
10.    Breastfeeding is fast, easy and convenient.  No need to worry about packing or sterilizing bottles; mixing formula or even having enough.  Go wherever you want, whenever you want.  Simply latch baby on when he/she gets hungry – day or night – and continue with whatever you were doing.

Motherhood can be overwhelming feat at times, so why not reduce your stress and reap some of the added benefits that breastfeeding can offer both you and your baby? It’s a gift only you can give yourself and your baby now and in the future.

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February 13, 2009   No Comments

Why Breast is Best for New Babies

by admin

New babies deserve the absolute best start to a healthy life than we can offer.  This often begins with a mother’s choice to breast or bottle feed her new infant.  No mother wants to do something that’s wrong for her new baby, yet many mistakenly believe that high-priced, over advertised formula will give their baby a healthier start than their own milk.  And why wouldn’t they?  After all, most hospitals and doctor’s offices offer free samples upon delivery and hospital discharge, encouraging even breastfeeding mothers to “keep some formula on hand just in case.”  This often send the message to these new mother’s that failure is inevitable and they should be ready to pop open a formula can when it happens.

Forget the baby formula hype and even what you may have heard amongst your friends and family.  The Academy of pediatrics  encourages all new mother’s to at least begin their child’s first few days of life on the breast in order to give them the protein rich,  immune fighting nutrients found in a mother’s pre-milk called colostrum.  Of course the Academy encourages all new mother’s to continue to breastfeed for at least the first year, but acknowledges that if most would just start off with their new babies on the breast, many future illnesses and afflictions could be avoided.

The facts are clear: breastfeeding helps protect children from a variety of common ailments including:

•    chronic ear infections
•    childhood (and adult) obesity – since a baby learns to eat until satisfied on the breast (never being forced to finish a bottle), they learn how to avoid overeating instinctually on the breast.
•    severe allergies
•    food allergies – since breastfed babies have limited (and safe) contact with a a variety of foods through their mother’s milk, they are less apt to develop allergies to food products in the future.
•    breast cancer ( a female child who is breastfed at least 12 months has a 50% less chance of getting breast cancer as an adult than formula fed babies.  That same women, who breastfeeds her own children for 1 year cuts her chances of getting breast cancer by another 50% — amazing!).
•    asthma
•    infections – since breastmilk offers constant immunity protection through a variety of essential nutrients, most breastfed babies tend to have stronger immune systems both as infants and beyond.
•    Diarrhea –
•    juvenile diabetes
•    and even SIDS – no one knows why for sure, but far less breastfed babies die of SIDS than formula fed ones.

Plus, breastfeeding for 6-12 months has also been linked to children with higher IQ’s; better neurological development and even clearer eyesight.

Considering the abundant evidence to the myriad of health benefits breastfeeding offers, doesn’t it make sense to at least give it a try?  Although most experts agree that breastfeeding new babies for at least 12 months gives them the most benefit, even a few days or weeks can offer a baby important germ fighting immunities and other benefits to last a lifetime.

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February 11, 2009   No Comments

Establish Emotional Connection with Your Baby through Breastfeeding

by admin

The physical benefits of breastfeeding cannot be left unnoticed. We all know how beneficial breast milk is to our child’s health. But the benefits of breastfeeding do not end just in the physical manifestations of it to your baby. The benefits will transcend from the physical and cross over to the emotional. An emotional connection between mother and baby will be strengthened through breast feeding.

The emotional connection will not only benefit the baby but it can also give benefits to the mother. In a research conducted by the University of Queensland, they found out that mothers who breastfed their babies for at least four months or more are least likely to neglect their babies.

Related studies conducted in Australia shows us that the mothers who breastfed their babies are also least likely to be child abusers.

These two studies reiterated that breast milk also releases oxytocin, which is released from the brain and helps trigger maternal behavior and care for offspring. This is the reason why breastfeeding also helps the mother develop a bond with their baby.

Oxytocin also helps the mother deal with stressful situations and increases trust between two people so that the bond between mother and baby is stronger.

So, the next time that you breastfeed your baby, keep in mind that you are not only giving your baby the physical benefits but you are establishing an emotional connection as well.

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February 8, 2009   No Comments