Feeding your Newborn Baby
Once your baby arrives you will either give it a bottle or put it onto your breast depending on what you have chosen to do. Health professionals advise that if you are unsure which of the two methods you are going to use you should try breast feeding first. The theory behind this being that your breast milk will be triggered by the hormones produced by giving birth and are continued by your baby’s suckling action.
If you try breast feeding and find that it is not for you, or choose not to breast feed then don’t worry too much. In hospital you will find that you will probably be given bottles of pre made up formula if you are not breastfeeding which does not require any preparation. For further information on how to prepare a bottle, click here
Breast Feeding
Your midwife should show you how to latch your baby onto your breast, especially if you are a first time mum or if you have not tried breast feeding before. If you need any extra help ask the midwife, do not be shy, they are specially trained to be able to help you. As a general rule your baby should get a big mouthful of breast and form a tight seal around your breast. At first you will need to feed your baby around every 3 hours, maybe more frequently. Newborn babies tummies are only tiny, and this is why they need feeding a little and often, even throughout the night. As your baby grows bigger he or she will be able to take a larger amount of food at a time and be able to go for slightly longer between feeds.
Bottle Feeding
Whilst health professionals encourage mums to breast feed (given that it does pass on your immunity to your child and is easy to digest etc) some mums either cannot or do not want to breast feed. If this is the case (or you would simply like to be able to go out of the house without expressing breast milk!) you may need to know how to prepare a bottle.
Sterilize the bottles using an appropriate sterilizer (there are various types on the market) and fill with boiled water, add the appropriate number of scoops of formula to the bottles and quickly cool and store in the body of the fridge. When needed gently warm in a jug of warm water. Take care when warming bottles not to use very hot water or leave it anywhere that an older child could tip it on themselves. An alternative to this method would be to prepare your bottles in the sterilizer in the morning and fill with cooled boiled water part way up the bottle, cool. When needed top up to the correct level with boiling water, and add the powder and shake gently to mix the powder. Always check the temperature of the milk before serving it to your baby.
© Don’t Wake the Baby 2007 All Rights Reserved
Disclaimer: Any advice you take you do so because you believe in your own mind that it is right for you and you do so completely at your own risk. Always get immediate medical help if you have any health concerns.
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