Yesterday we published the first part of the IBCLC interview Ana Charfén, in which he told us about the inconveniences of artificial milk, especially the reasons why it is related to more frequent obesity in adulthood. Today we are going to ask you about the normal growth of the breastfed baby and good breastfeeding practices.
How to correctly assess the condition of the breastfed baby?
In most cases, breastfeeding takes place naturally, if the mother has good support, and follows her instinct. Many external voices interfere with the process by which a mother learns to breastfeed successfully, when through myths she is instructed to breastfeed every certain number of hours for a certain number of minutes. Unfortunately, these myths are perpetuated even by doctors or nurses, who confuse the new mother, since she assumes that if the information comes from them it must be reliable.
If toilets are not always up to date, what can we do?
My suggestion to not need evaluations of the breastfed baby is to look for groups of nursing mothers during pregnancy, to know the process, observe it and learn from people who breastfeed successfully, I highly recommend the groups of La Liga de La Leche, which is in all the world, on the page of this organization you can search. We can know as mothers that everything goes well in breastfeeding if the baby breastfeeds very often, releases itself, seems satiated after taking, wet enough diapers (5-6 or more every 24 hours) and grows in weight according to his age. I suggest for this to consult the WHO standards and that describe the normal development of the baby when it is well fed, that is, it drinks milk from its mother.
What points should make us seek help in breastfeeding?
The points that should make us seek help are:
What would a mother who breastfeed and have any of these processes do?
If a mother has these problems and needs expert help to solve breastfeeding problems, it is best to go to an IBCLC that we are an internationally certified lactation consultant by a council, and we recertify every 5 years to keep our knowledge up to date. It is important to verify the certification number of the consultant on the official website, as there is a lot of quackery.
However, mothers are urged to supplement or wean to get faster weight gain, right?
Most of the time this happens, it is because the baby's weight gain is being compared against tables made with babies who drink artificial milk (formula) since babies have to gain more weight with her from a certain age . One of the most frequent doubts that moms who consult me have is that their baby does not gain enough weight at any time with respect to what the pediatrician believes is necessary. And in the vast majority of the time it is because the baby is being compared with tables made by laboratories that produce "formula", which is associated with excessive growth of the baby and too high weight, compared to babies fed with milk maternal If we compare a breastfed baby with a baby who drinks artificial milk, we will realize that from before the year of age their weight is very different, especially between 6 and 12 months, being the thinnest breastfed babies. This is incorrectly interpreted as that the baby "is underweight" and obviously "needs formula" to weigh the same as their peers who drink artificial milk, when in fact it is the other way around, babies who take formula weigh too much for their age, and they would need to take more chest to have a healthy weight. WHO's growth standards can be consulted on its page with any questions.
When is it necessary to supplement with artificial milk or wean completely due to low weight gain?
Weaning is NEVER necessary for those reasons.
Although a mother does not produce all the milk that her baby needs, which is something really rare, she can enjoy partial breastfeeding, and continue giving her child the best milk that is human, even partially. Even if she didn't have milk, breastfeeding is more than physical food, breast sucking and being in the mother's arms is food for the baby's soul and for her mother. There are devices to breastfeed moms who, for example, have breast reduction surgery, or a problem that prevents them from breastfeeding, or who want to breastfeed their adopted baby, are known as supplements and are used to completely avoid the possible confusion of suction that the baby may have when receiving bottles if supplementation is needed, many babies especially those under 2 months if they take bottles end up preferring them and distending prematurely.
And supplement, when would it be necessary?
As for when it is necessary to supplement, my opinion is that it should be done when the baby has a weight that in the WHO tables is between the 2nd and 3rd standard deviation in the Z score table of weight for age. But this should be seen on a case-by-case basis, so I suggest contacting an IBCLC certified consultant to not give a supplement if it is not necessary, as in most cases, and especially to give it in a way that does not affect breastfeeding so much maternal
Are babies who gain weight faster as they are sometimes thought to be healthier?
Babies who breastfeed are the healthiest.
Normally breastfed babies increase more than those who take formula the first 3 or 4 months, but from 6 months of age those same babies are thinner. This is normal and healthy.
What are the growth patterns of breastfed babies at one year of life?
Breastfed babies are often thinner than those who drink artificial milk. There is a general rule that a baby should double the weight he was born at 6 months of age and triple it a year.
And so?
No, this rule is incorrect for babies who breastfeed, because they usually double their weight at 4 months and almost never triple it at one year of age, they stay 2.5 times their birth weight.
But, there are also more chubby breast babies, right?
I should mention that sometimes breastfed babies gain a lot of weight and are very chubby and this is also normal. If a baby gets too fat just by drinking breast milk, he is reducing his risk of obesity later, and it is not necessary to put him on a diet or restrict his breast or give him other foods if he is under 6 months of age. From 6 months on, you can start with complementary feeding normally.
Tomorrow you can enjoy the third and last part of this interview with the IBCLC Ana Charfén. I really liked being able to learn from her and with her, because nothing gives more security than knowledge.
