How to organize mixed breastfeeding

Mixed breastfeeding is necessary in cases when the mother's own milk is not enough or it's time to wean the baby from the breast.

Thanks to the achievements of the modern food industry, parents have ample opportunities in choosing an artificial milk formula. But whatever mix is chosen, mixed breastfeeding should not be organized spontaneously, but systematically, with the observance of medical recommendations.

When breast milk is small

It is possible to suspect malnutrition of the baby by breast milk if the number of urination per day becomes less than twelve. How to identify it?

Instead of convenient diapers in all respects, when clothing a baby, it is necessary to return to normal diapers for 24 hours. Regularly checking them for dryness, it is important not to miss a moment, so as not to care not to count two urination in one. This is called a "wet diaper test."

If the wet diaper per day is less than 12, the baby needs additional nutrition.

Calculation of the number of complementary foods

Mixed breastfeeding is organized in accordance with the calculation of the amount of milk formula. If as a result of carrying out a "wet test" only 7 diapers were wetted instead of the prescribed 12, it means that the resulting pre-feed should be enough to wet another 5 diapers.

For a child up to three months for each act of urination, approximately 30 ml of food is needed. Five dry diapers are multiplied by 30 ml and 150 ml of complementary fat per day are obtained.

A child from three to six months is no longer eating 30, but 40-60 ml, so with the same formula, the result will be changed accordingly.

Rhythm of supplementary feeding

There is no fundamental difference in how to organize a mixed breastfeeding, but there are two tactics:

1. After each breast feeding give the child a mixture (calculated according to the above formula, the amount divided by the approximate number of feedings per day).
2. One or several feedings per day are completely carried out with an artificial mixture.

The choice of tactics depends on the lifestyle of the family and the preferences of the baby, which also should not be ignored.

Before full-fledged feeding with an artificial mixture, it is necessary, smoothly, starting from half a teaspoon, to teach the child to a new food, carefully following the reaction. If on the second day after the administration of several drops of the mixture allergic reactions are not manifested, then the mixture can be safely introduced into the diet.

What will change when a child is transferred to mixed feeding?

Many mothers note that with the introduction of complementary foods and with the favorable course of adaptation to it, children become calmer, sleep better and readily suck a bottle of the mixture.

This behavior of the child can cause the mother to decide that breastfeeding for her baby is not necessary and it does not make sense to lose time and energy to maintain it.

This is an erroneous view, since no achievements of the food industry have yet surpassed breast milk in the composition of the unique substances that a small person so needs.

If the baby does not show satisfaction with life, but becomes even more restless, it means that his condition should be discussed with the pediatrician, answering in detail his questions about the regime of the child's day, his appetite and stool.

Is it possible to preserve breast milk when supplementing the formula?

Cases when lactation worsens with a lack of nutrients in the mother's body is a rare phenomenon. It is known that at the time of the fascist blockade the residents of Leningrad, with monstrous malnutrition, fed their infants with their own milk. This is not a medical miracle, because the mechanisms of lactation depend not so much on consumed food and beverages as on the hormonal background of a woman.

The formation of milk in the mammary glands is made possible by the hormone prolactin, which is produced at night and in the pre-morning hours, from about 3 am to 8 am, provided night feeding.

The hormone oxytocin, produced by stimulation of the nipples, helps to separate the produced milk from the breast, that is, to stimulate the lactation of the child, it is necessary to breastfeed before emptying.

To avoid the development of oxytocin, women should feel relaxed, calm, safe and as closely as possible to contact the baby with skin to skin: bathe, massage, take care of him, play and caress.

Breastfeeding will not come to naught, even if the rule of feeding has become a mixed breastfeeding. The scheme of application to the breast in this case should not be based on charts and tables, but on the request of the baby. In other words, with bad lactation, excessive application, especially at night, does not happen. Little by little, lactation will recover if there is no internal psychological resistance to the mother.

How to maintain lactation, if the mother can not be a whole day with the baby?

Sometimes a mother who leaves for work or who takes strong medicines is forced to make a transition to mixed feeding of the baby. Reviews of women who have passed this way say that even in the workplace or when taking medications, lactation can be maintained by expressing breast milk regularly with the help of a breast pump.

If hygienic conditions are observed, such milk can be placed in a refrigerator bag and frozen at home or given to the baby later from a bottle (except for cases with taking medications, of course).

In sad situations, when a toddler lies in a hospital isolated from his mother, who is deprived of the opportunity to breastfeed, this method will not only help to preserve lactation, but also by agreement with the doctor will facilitate the speedy recovery of crumbs, for which Mom's milk will become a medicine.

Physiological changes in stool for supplementary feeding

A child who receives supplementation in the form of a milk formula, adds to his weight almost the same as his "colleague" on natural feeding. But the chair of these children is different.

The maternal breastfeeding stool is characterized by a rust-brown color and has a slightly fetid smell resembling that of an adult. The consistency of the stool from the semi-liquid mush is transformed into a thicker, resembling clay. The frequency of bowel movements becomes less frequent. This is normal, because the child's digestive system encounters unnatural food to him.

At first in the feces of the baby can occur white lumps. Most likely, these are fragments of undigested food: the enzymatic system did not have time to adjust to the changed diet.

That is why the smell and color of the stool of a baby with mixed feeding are different from the bowel movements of babies receiving exclusively breasts. A few days after the introduction of supplementation, the stool should become homogeneous, but it will never be similar to a baby's stool.

Constipation

Dairy supplement, unfortunately, is not a panacea for digestive problems, even if the most expensive and advertised jar is chosen. With the most favorable combination of circumstances and provided that the supplement is good for the baby and the digestive system has coped with the restructuring, the excretory system also needs time for changes in the work.

The most frequent complaint about problems with the stool is constipation in the infant with mixed feeding. Often, this is the mother's fault, exceeding the dosage of nutrient powder in the mixture. The solution is obvious: carefully read the instructions for cooking and give your child extra liquid or, more preferably, more often to offer the baby a breast. The composition of breast milk is very specific and will naturally help to establish a normal defecation process.

But to solve the problem of constipation immediately, especially if the child demonstrates all the signs of discomfort, you can use glycerin candles, microclysmic, lactulose preparations and tummy massage on pediatrician's recommendation.

Liquid chair

The feces of the infant with mixed feeding for objective reasons should be formed, so when its consistency changes dramatically and becomes similar to a liquid non-uniform porridge, and the frequency increases from one to two times a day to 5 or more, they speak of diarrhea.

A liquid stool in a breastfed on mixed feeding can be caused by many reasons, and, unfortunately, artificial supplementation plays a role in its occurrence. The immune system of the child is stressed by the intake of nutrients not known to his body. Insufficiency of the mother's milk only exacerbates this difficult situation, so getting sick of pathogens less often passes without a trace for the baby.

If the already liquid stool of a breastfed woman with mixed feeding contains a large number of white curdled clumps, despite the fact that supplementation is introduced more than a week ago, one can suspect that this jar of food is not suitable for the child, and it makes sense to pick up the food of another producer. It is better to give preference to adapted milk formulas and select them according to the age of the child and the doctor's recommendation.

It is also superfluous to check whether the child suffers from lactase deficiency, which can be a congenital malformation or a consequence of other systemic diseases.

From whatever objective reasons the mother's decision to transfer her child to mixed feeding depended on, doctors recommend to maintain lactation as long as possible and closely monitor the condition of the child receiving artificial nutrition in the infant period.