“Dining at home” with a newborn

Going home with a newborn in your arms signifies the beginning of a new life for you and your family. Dining at home with your newborn will be new for all of you, so in this article, we hope to settle any thoughts you may have about the options to feed your baby when you get home.

Everything that happens in those first weeks has to do with transitions. No matter what happens, life is about to take a complete turn and you will be learning a lot about the latest addition to your family. How you prepare and how you adapt when things don’t go the way you imagined is key so let’s get you prepared by reviewing your feeding options.

Option 1 – Breast milk feeding options

You’ve probably heard this before: “Breastfeeding is best.” But is it really?

Yes, from a nutritional point of view as for the prevention of infections. Breast milk It is unrivalled today as the ideal food for babies. Antibodies that fight infection in breast milk, they simply cannot be packaged even in the most expensive commercial formula milk, and breast milk has been shown to reduce the chances that newborn develops anything from ear infections, allergies, vomiting and diarrhea up to pneumonia, meningitis, and potentially even sudden infant death syndrome.

It’s true, breastfeeding is “natural.” But that doesn’t mean starting breastfeeding is easy. Those first two weeks can be challenging since in reality, there is usually a period of self-education and teaching in the practice of breastfeeding your baby.

We recommend that you do it step by step, taking into account some precautions and being patient as you and your baby learn how to do it. Remember millions of women have successfully breastfed their babies; you can too.

Top Tips For Dining At Home With Your Newborn Baby

Here are some tips for writing your own success story when breastfeeding.

• If all goes well with the birth of your baby and you are both well after delivery, start breastfeeding as soon as possible, right there in the hospital. This is a good time to start, because you have professional help at hand that can help you get started in the best way.
• Ask for help. Starting with the hospital staff, there are a wealth of breastfeeding-related resources available for you and your baby, including our own ‘beyond the bump‘ community group
• Focus on fully understanding the “latch” process). First, get comfortable, use pillows for support and put everything you might need while breastfeeding, at your reach. Then get your baby interested in milk by rubbing a few drops of milk around your nipple. If your baby is unresponsive, try putting a little milk around their mouth to stimulate what is known as a “grasp reflex”. If your baby still doesn’t open their mouth wide enough, gently press down on his chin.
• Don’t settle for “almost made it”: Inadequate latch can quickly lead to sore breasts and a frustrated baby (and still hungry). Reattach your baby until the baby’s tongue is under the nipple, with the darker coloured area around the nipple (called the areola) towards your babies mouth. This will increase the chances of successful breastfeeding for both of you.

Option 2 – Formula milk (for) one?

So if breastfeeding is super beneficial, is formula milk less acceptable to feed your newborn baby? Of course, not! In fact, most parents will use formula milk at some point during their child’s first year.

Even though formula milk cannot exactly match the nutritional composition of breast milk and not contains the additional benefits of anti-bodies that serve to fight infections it does serve a very valuable purpose for those who cannot or choose not to breastfeed.

There are three basic types of formula milk, which are based on cow’s milk, those based on soy and “Specialized”, “hypoallergenic” or “elemental” (which means that the components of the formula are separated for better digestion).

Most babies tolerate the first two types of formula milk; the elemental formula is more expensive, sometimes even twice as much as the first two types.

There is a lot to consider when it comes to baby formula. To get started, here are some tips to make sure your baby get what you need from formula milk:

• Look for a formula that is fortified with iron. Iron is an essential part of a healthy diet for your baby. Some people mistakenly assume that iron causes stomach pain and constipation in babies. In fact, babies only absorb a small percentage of iron from their food, and most babies tolerate without any problem formula milk fortified with iron. If you have concerns about this, talk to your pediatrician.
• Consider how often you plan to use formula milk for feeding before buy a certain type. Another factor to consider is whether you want to pay for the added convenience of ready-to-use formula milk, or if using powdered formulas better meets your needs and budget.
• Stock up. If there’s something you never want to run out of it is your baby’s food. However, before doing this, make sure your baby is happy with the formula you have chosen. Also, watch out for coupons and deals. Also, look at the expiration date; you don’t want to buy more than you can use before it goes out of date.
• It is worth mentioning that about 10 percent of babies suffer from a condition known as Soy and cow’s milk protein intolerance (MSPI). These babies tend to complain shortly after eating, spit-up, gasp or have problems with constipation or diarrhea. If your baby reacts this way when drinking formula, talk with your pediatrician.