Things I wish I knew about Breastfeeding

Written By: Sindhu Kambam

April 2, 2021

Highlights

Don’t miss the first milk (Colostrum) to your baby

Do what works best for you and your baby.

Breast pumps are recommended when your baby is not sucking properly.

Try all the positions of Breastfeeding and choose the one that you and your baby are comfortable with.

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Breastfeeding is a magical process, but it’s a general misconception that it is a natural and easy process. The journey of a breastfeeding mother is hard with many challenges and more pain.

Breastfeeding could be incredibly painful and a difficult skill that both you and your little one will have to get perfect.

Colostrum is the perfect first meal for a newborn, that is invaluable to your child’s health, immune system, and development. So, the first milk goes a long way in your baby’s tiny tummy.

Breast pumps are recommended when your baby is not sucking properly or your baby is premature and needs special care in the hospital or sometimes, you may not be able to feed your baby due to some complications.

When you are breastfeeding, you may notice that milk is dripping or leaking from the other breast that your baby is not breastfeeding on. You may notice a tingling sensation in and around your breasts and a feeling of fullness.

Breastfeeding challenges are common in the first couple of weeks, and most of them resolve with time and a little guidance.

However difficult breastfeeding might be in the beginning, it can be so wonderful after that initial challenging period and more rewarding than you expect. All you need after the hard days is the health and happiness of your baby.

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Are you on the brink of motherhood?

Excited about your journey as a first-time mom and eager to find more breastfeeding tips?

Breastfeeding is a magical process, but it’s a general misconception that it is a natural and easy process.

In reality, the journey of a breastfeeding mother is hard with many challenges and more pain.

Here are some insights for new mothers to prepare for one of the most beautiful — yet challenging — experiences that you’ll encounter as a mother.

Don’t miss the first milk (Colostrum) to your baby

Colostrum is the first thick liquid that comes from your breasts, in the first few days of breastfeeding. Do you know how precious it is? It is packed with proteins, salts, antibodies, nutrients and is the ideal nourishment for a newborn which cannot be reproduced or substituted.

It’s the perfect first meal for a newborn, that is invaluable to your child’s health, immune system, and development. So, the first milk goes a long way in your baby’s tiny tummy.

Even if you can’t breastfeed or choose not to, try to give your baby the greatest gift of colostrum.

Breastfeeding is not always easy

Breastfeeding could be incredibly painful and a pretty difficult skill that both you and your little one will have to get perfect.

You may feel the need to feed your baby every two to three hours, (in the worse cases every 15 minutes), around the clock during the first few weeks. Your nipples might get sore and painful. Nipple creams or nipple shields can help soothe and protect them.

You might feel it difficult to understand the comfortable position to feed your baby. Sometimes, lying down might not work or it might be the only position that works for you. It changes as the baby grows and there is no one right or wrong way. It takes a lot of patience and persistence, especially considering post-partum body discomforts.

Try all the positions and choose the one that you and your baby are comfortable with.

You need to use Breast Pumps!

Many women have no idea about breast pumps. Some even wonder what that is and what is it used for. You might face a situation when you need to extract the milk and feed it to the child using a feeding syringe or a bottle. Here comes the need to use breast pumps, the tools used to extract the milk from breasts.

Pumping might seem daunting at first, but once you get the knack of it.it gets easier.

Hot showers, heat pads, and massagers will help you maximize your milk output.

Milk letdown

It’s a reflex that occurs when the nerves in your breasts are stimulated, usually as a result of your baby sucking and it’s normal.

Do what works best for you and your baby

Everyone says their opinions. But what worked for one mom may not work for you.

Trust your instincts. Seek help from someone who knows about breastfeeding.

It is completely normal if you hate breastfeeding and feel the need to stop it and it’s okay to feed until your baby wants to stop.

You can’t eat everything

If you are a first-time mom, you might probably have already got the advice from your mothers or elders, that you need to avoid some foods while breastfeeding.

Wondered why?

What you eat can cross into your breastmilk. For instance, garlic and other spices can tinge the taste of your breastmilk.

Certain foods can even lower your milk supply if consumed in large portions and some foods can cause gas in babies.

But not all types of food reactions are proven. So, unless you notice some adverse reactions in the baby, you are free to eat all the veggies and fruits.

You could get Pregnant

Don’t believe the myth that you can’t get pregnant while breastfeeding.

More pumping or breastfeeding results in the release of more prolactin levels and the chances you will ovulate are less.

So, don’t think of breastfeeding as a reliable form of birth control because you can still get pregnant while breastfeeding!

Don’t hesitate to ask for help

Breastfeeding challenges are common in the first couple of weeks, and most of them resolve with time and a little guidance.

Talk to your family members if you are struggling with breastfeeding or have any concerns. Ask your friends about their experiences. Consult a lactation specialist or nurses if there is a need.

baby Breast breastfeeding Breastfeeding Tips breastmilk motherhood new mother

Sindhu Kambam

A content writer by profession with a passion in art and science. Being a nature and technology lover, she loves to solve real problems that makes life easier.

1 thought on “Things I wish I knew about Breastfeeding”

Shtami

April 18, 2021 at 3:38 pm

There is so much misinformation in this post.
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How to help your teenager handle a heartbreak?

Written By: Suhani Sharma

June 6, 2021 | 09:00 AM |

670

Highlights

.Falling for others, having a crush on someone, or feeling rejected on the basis of physical appearance may seem silly to the grownups but that’s how the teen years are.
.Teach them about self-esteem and self-confidence at home before the beginning of their teenage years.
.It is easier said than done but speaking to them kindly, appreciating them on their qualities, working with them on something which they are good at will help your child deal with rejections or heartbreak when the time comes by creating a self-loving personality.

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First of all, always enable open, friendly communication between you and your teenage son and daughter. The bridges of dialogue should not only be accessible but welcoming too. It is much healthier when your child shares their feelings with you rather than hiding them and pretending that everything is fine with them but suffering alone.

Falling for others, having a crush on someone, or feeling rejected on the basis of physical appearance may seem silly to the grownups but that’s how the teen years are. Teach them about self-esteem and self-confidence at home before the beginning of their teenage years. It is easier said than done but speaking to them kindly, appreciating them on their qualities, working with them on something which they are good at will help your child deal with rejections or heartbreak when the time comes by creating a self-loving personality.

Give them their space when they need it and keep a check on them and their health. The pain of the first heartbreak only heals with time. As a parent, no matter how much you try, they will take their own sweet time to grow above this miserable feeling, so your job should be to support them in the process they choose but not force your method on them.

Don’t be disrespectful towards their emotions. For them, it’s for the first time. First love and first heartbreak can be devastating for that age. They haven’t known any way better than this. When you will respect their feelings, they will learn to respect their own and others too.

Don’t disapprove of their choice. You may feel that you are comforting them by belittling their ex or you may get infuriated on seeing your child’s state and feel like abusing or ridiculing your child’s crush or partner but that will only make things worse. They will start questioning their own choice, it may also hit their confidence.

In our lives, we meet many people, like few of them, fewer of them like us back, and very few of them work out in the end. Dissing others or disrespecting others will only leave a negative impact on our mindset and heart.

In the end, the first heartbreak is a journey that your teen has to take on their own. You can just be a call-a-friend or other helplines in this adventure. Your job should be to prepare them for this journey and not being an uninvited force to pressure them to finish this journey before time and getting bruised instead.

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I am a mother to a toddler girl. And ever since she came into my life I have been dwindling every day between the thoughts of whether to keep her safe, protected from any mishaps of life or to let her explore, let her get hurt, and learn to pick herself up.

God only knows, how will I calm myself down when she will come to me crying about the heartbreak in her teens, because I know that day will come.

I remember, having gone through a major heartbreak in high school and how my elder sister took me out for a Scooty drive and told me that it’s just a phase and how I won’t even know how soon I will get over it. My ears couldn’t believe what I was hearing from her at that moment. How could she trivialise my emotions? As the years passed by and I swiftly moved on to other phases of life, I remembered her words every time. But I also know that when it was her turn for heartbreak, she couldn’t console herself with the same profound beliefs.

So, what is this sorcery where it’s easy for us to guide others through their heartache and dejection but doesn’t work on our own selves? The answer is empathy. The answer is the ability to listen.

No matter how much experience you have gained in the journey of life but when your teenager cuts themselves from you to nurse their wound, all wisdom goes on strike.

So, how to help your teenager handle a heartbreak?

And when the sharing happens, be a good listener. Many times we just want someone to listen to us wholeheartedly, even when we know that they can’t do much or when we know about the ways to sort out our issues. We are not looking for solutions or reassurance always, being heard matters a lot. After a few years of what happened between me and my sister, my younger brother came to me and confessed about him finding it tough to handle his breakup. All I did was listen to him first.

I can say from my experience that being subjected to such confessions can be quite overwhelming as you want to give them a reality check by schooling them about the realities of life but it can take a toll on their emotional health.

Be empathetic and non-judgmental. They just need to know that you care and you understand how difficult it would be for them.

Also, be an open-minded receiver, understand that generations have changed and the norms of romantic relationships too, being judgemental will only force them to hide in their cocoons.

Share your own events of life. Sharing how once in your life you thought that you could never move on to a better relationship after having a misfortune in your previous one but today you are in a much happier, evolved, and mature space.

When someone shows us that once they were in a miserable position like the one we are in at present but they could get out of it to a much better state, our mind sees it as an example, a story of hope and positivity.

Adolescence comes with a self-awareness of our body and about others, on the other hand, the world starts making us aware of their opinion of conventional aesthetics of the body too.

So, it can also be an onset of adolescents, self-judging themselves on the way they look and comparing with others. Falling for others, having a crush on someone, or feeling rejected on the basis of physical appearance may seem silly to the grownups but that’s how the teen years are. Teach them about self-esteem and self-confidence at home before the beginning of their teenage years. It is easier said than done but speaking to them kindly, appreciating them on their qualities, working with them on something which they are good at will help your child deal with rejections or heartbreak when the time comes by creating a self-loving personality.

Remember, you are the safe haven for them. When the world shows them that they are less, it is your job to make them feel enough.

Don’t be a helicopter parent

heartbrek mom of teens mothers Parenting teenager

Suhani Sharma

Suhani is a Company Secretary by education but a writer by passion. She has studied film appreciation at FTII, Pune. She is an independent blogger and has been blogging on cinema for more than seven years.

She believes in open dialogues about the taboo subjects in society and with Infano she wants to encourage its readers to have a conversation around them.