Most women can nurse their babies if they desire to do so, and if they eat the foods necessary to build up the stores of nutrients for milk production. Breast feeding can convey a sense of satisfaction to the mother, and a safe, protected feeling to the infant. Human milk provides the benefits of easy digestion and desirable rates of growth and development. Women who are unable to breast feed their infants or who must return to employment should never be made to feel guilty if they must choose bottle feeding.

About 15 to 45 ml of thick, yellowish fluid called colostrum is produced during the first few days after delivery. Although this small amount of milk does not provide much nutrient intake, it provides the infant greater protection against infection. Placing the infant at the breast early also helps to stimulate the milk flow.

Self-demand feeding permits the baby to nurse when he is hungry, rather than according to an arbitrary time schedule. The mother soon learns to recognize when the baby is hungry and not crying for relief of some other discomfort. Infants nurse as often as every two hours during the first few weeks, but soon regulate to an approximate three- or four-hour schedule. About the second month the baby begins to sleep through the 2 or 3 a.m. feeding. By five months he usually does not awaken for a feeding at 10 to 11 p.m.

Breast-fed babies should be weaned about the fifth month or later. A bottle or cup feeding is substituted at a convenient feeding time. When the baby has become accustomed to this – after about a week or two – a second bottle or cup is offered. As much as two to three months are needed for full weaning. Breast-fed babies, like bottle-fed babies, require the addition of foods from time to time.

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GENERAL HEALTH