I have a few friends who have recently had babies. And they all have one question for me. “WHEN DOES THE NON-STOP BREASTFEEDING END?”
Well, here you go! Breastfeeding can be extremely challenging, especially for new mothers. I used to feel like an owl awake all night feeding away like a cow wondering when it would be morning. Sigh!! If I sit back and recall I really dreaded the first two months of breastfeeding. But I tried my best to make it easy on myself and my baby.
After my baby was born, from day one I started giving one top feed a day. Initially I used to make it the last feed of the day, around 11pm or so. So my baby’s tummy is full and she would sleep for a good couple of hours. That would be my time to sleep as well. Then we would be up again at 4am or 5 am for the next feed. I found this really easy because at least you get a couple of hours of rest rather than waking up every hour and feeding your little one. It can get tiring and cumbersome for mothers. Some mothers even get depressed and hit rock bottom and actually start wondering when the hell are things going to get normal again.
So new mommies here is what you have to do -
Select a good quality powder milk for your little one. I used SMA which was recommended to me by another mother.
Follow the instructions on the box and prepare your baby’s feed accordingly.
Always wash your hands before making the feed.
You might have to try a few milk brands as it is possible that they might not like the taste of the milk and they would reject the feed.
Make sure the milk you are feeding suits you baby. You would get to know if the milk is digested well and baby doesn’t get tummy pain. Keep colic aid ready as backup! Always!
You need one feeding bottle, newborn size nipple, bottle brush, nipple brush.
Always make sure you bottle is sterilised before using. Never use a dirty one. You don’t want your baby to get stomach infection.
Make it a point to rinse the bottle after feeding your baby.
Let the new dads take charge of bottle feeding. It would give you mommies a breather!
Mommies! Please understand:
Giving top feed is not bad for your baby. It will not harm your baby.
You don’t need to feel scared.
You don’t need to feel guilty that you are not breastfeeding.
Doctors do not recommend top feed as mothers tend to get careless and don’t maintain the correct hygiene and cleanliness of bottles which makes your baby sick.
Lastly, your baby will not give up breastfeeding if you give one or two top feeds a day.
So go ahead, get everything together!
Make your motherhood easy.
Remember, a happy mommy makes a happy baby!
You got this!