By Dr Santosh Mhetre, MD (Paediatrics)
We will be continuing from last week’s breast-feeding advice.
Storing Breast milk in containers correctly while nursing
If you are nursing a newborn, you need to wait for two to three weeks before you start pumping and storing breast milk because your body is still producing colostrum and adjusting to a schedule of nursing. Once you have a regular milk supply, you can start pumping and storing your breast milk.
If you pump your milk and store it in the refrigerator, it can last from five days to a week
1. If you have a deep freeze that operates at about 20 degrees Fahrenheit, you can store milk for up to a year before using it. A regular freezer can store milk for six months.
2. If you’re travelling, use a cooler with dry ice packs to keep expressed milk fresh.
3. Don’t microwave breast milk; thaw frozen milk by reheating it in a bowl of hot water.
4. Your milk may have separated; shake it to re-emulsify the cream and the thinner liquid.
Milk that has been frozen and thawed can stay in the fridge up to 24 hours.
Breast feeding health benefits
The medical evidence is clear: Breast milk results in healthier babies, stronger immune systems and better bonding between the mother and infant. The ingredients in breast milk measurably increase baby’s resistance to illness and infection. Breast milk will make babies gain appropriate weight faster than bottle-fed babies, and also these babies suffer less with childhood diseases. Breastfeeding is a process which strongly influences the health and happiness of the infant and the mother. Babies who are breastfed go to sleep faster, and are more easily soothed than bottle-fed babies. The nursing mother experiences greater bonding with her baby as well as the benefit of easier post-delivery weight loss: breastfeeding burns up about an extra 500 calories a day, or 3,500 a week, which amounts to a one-pound per week weight loss just by breastfeeding.
Benefits of Formula bottle feeding
If you don’t have enough milk, your doctor will probably recommend that you combine breast and bottle feeding so your baby gets enough to drink. But these are rare instances, and most of the time, women who decide to stop breastfeeding early in their child’s development or right after leaving the hospital do so because their lives make breastfeeding too inconvenient. Many women can’t afford to quit their jobs to stay home and nurse a baby, and most jobs still don’t make allowances for nursing mothers. In the case of mothers suffering from disease (eg HIV) which can be transferred to baby through milk, it is advisable to stop breastfeeding and start formula.
The advantages of formula feeding
Breastfeeding is considered the best nutritional option for babies by the major medical organizations but not every mother chooses − or is able − to breastfeed. Commercially prepared infant formula is a nutritious alternative to breast milk and even contains iron.
Manufactured under sterile conditions, commercial formula attempts to duplicate mother’s milk using a complex combination of proteins, sugars, fats, and vitamins that would be virtually impossible to create at home. So, if you don’t breastfeed your baby, it’s important that you use only a commercially prepared formula and that you do not try creating your own formula.
In addition to medical concerns that may prevent breastfeeding, here are a few other reasons women may choose to formula feed:
Convenience: Either parent (or another caregiver) can feed the baby a bottle at any time (although this is also true for women who pump their breast milk). This allows the mother to share the feeding duties and helps her partner to feel more involved in the crucial feeding process and the bonding that often comes with it.
Flexibility: Once the bottles are made, a formula-feeding mother can leave her baby with a partner or caregiver and know that her little one’s feedings are taken care of. There’s no need to pump or schedule work or other obligations and activities around the baby’s feeding schedule.
Time and frequency of feedings: Because formula digests slower than breast milk, formula-fed babies usually need to eat less often than breastfed babies.
But there are challenges for formula feeding
Organization and preparation: Enough formula must be available at all times and bottles must be sterilized. The powdered and condensed formula must be prepared with sterile water. Ready-to-feed formula can be poured directly into a bottle.
Bottles and nipples can transmit bacteria if they aren’t cleaned properly, as can formula if it isn’t stored in sterile containers.
Bottles left out of the refrigerator longer than an hour and any formula that a baby doesn’t finish must be thrown out.
Bottles also may need to be warmed before feeding the baby, although some babies actually prefer cold bottles to warm ones. Some parents pop bottles in the microwave for a few seconds; however, the microwave should never be used to warm a baby’s bottle because it can create dangerous ‘hot spots.’
Instead, run refrigerated bottles under warm water for a few minutes if the baby prefers a warm bottle to a cold one. After warming the milk, check temperature by dropping some drops of formula on the inside of the wrist.
Lack of antibodies: The important antibodies found in breast milk are not available in manufactured formula, which means that formula doesn’t provide the baby with the added protection against infection and illness that breast milk does.
Expense: Formula can be costly. Powdered formula is the least expensive, followed by concentrated formula, with ready-to-feed being the most expensive. Special formula (ie, soy and hypoallergenic) cost more − sometimes much more than the basic formulas.
Possibility of producing gas and constipation: Formula-fed babies may have more gas and firmer bowel movements than breastfed babies.
Can’t match the complexity of breast milk: Manufactured formula cannot duplicate the complexity of breast milk, which changes as the baby’s needs change.
