Newborn children tend to quite often apply to the chest and tinker there, especially in the evening. In the first months of life, a child can spend as many hours. Usually it starts at 6-7 pm, but the time of restless feeding can be different. How often should the baby be fed while he is anxious?
The food is non-stop?
Multiple (or cluster, as it is also called specialists) feeding is characterized by the following symptoms: the child significantly shortens the breaks between feedings at the same time, greatly lengthening the intervals between meals during the rest of the time. That is, for example, your baby can continuously suck all night, but in the afternoon - on the contrary, sabotage the food at all. Very often restless feeding occurs exactly in the evenings, closer to a night's sleep. The baby is "sucked up", filled with milk before a long sleep. The baby usually acts like this: sucked a few minutes, turned away, shouted, and all over again, and again, and again! And so for hours! This behavior of the child makes mom nervous, devastating and even inspires the idea that the crumb does not like the breast! Unfortunately, it is at this stage that many women stop breastfeeding.Mother begins to think that the crumb does not suit her milk, that she ate something that has spoiled his taste, refuses certain foods ... However, as a result of receiving All that she does is disturbing the baby, and this can really ruin your self-confidence, especially if there is someone nearby (mother, mother-in-law, husband) who asks you a question that is already tormenting you: what's going on with baby?
This behavior of the baby is normal! And you do not need to do anything with breast milk or with your feeding. If during the rest of the time the baby looks quite happy, if you do not have a feeling that it hurts (as in the case of colic, for example) during a restless cry, try to take this behavior for granted and gently calm down your baby. Quietly ask him to suck so often and as much as he wants. Ask your husband (or another assistant if he is nearby) to bring you food, a warm drink, a book or phone so that you can occupy yourself while you feed your restless screamer. Does this behavior mean that the baby does not have enough milk? No. Do not rush to give the baby a bottle, as it will reduce lactation, even if you will express your own milk. In addition, this case will not help. And it is likely that your baby will show the same behavior again and again! Important specification: to avoid pre-feeding costs only on the condition that your baby is gaining weight (not less than 125 g per week in the first months of life).
Why do children worry?
Often such behavior of the child is explained by a decrease in the amount of milk in the evenings, which is natural for the daily cycle of hormone production. But even if the volume of milk decreases, the amount of fat by the evening usually increases and the caloric content of milk is absolutely the same. Another thing is that the strength of the milk flow can be different, which disturbs the crumb and forces it to refuse feeding in one period, and in the other - to suck a lot. Doctors usually associate the evening troubles of children with the immaturity of the nervous system, which is equalized by 3-4 months. However, Kathryn Detweiler, who studies breastfeeding in traditional societies, has found that children in Mali, West Africa and other traditional societies do not suffer from colic and do not have periods of restless feeding behavior, including in the evenings. The reason, in her opinion, is that mothers wear these children in a sling all day and feed them several times per hour. We can add the fact that colic in general (as recognized by researchers) is the main cause of foreign food in the first months (and especially in the early days), even if the baby received only one bottle, be it a mixture, water, glucose with water, "Only one bottle" changes the acid medium, it erodes the emerging bacterial flora of the intestine, and it takes weeks to restore it, so it is so important that in the very first days the baby receives exclusively maternal colostrum and milk. That for many children worry when feeding - a sign that they want to milk more often in combination with a more close contact with the warmth of his mother's body, arms and constant movement.
Too rare attachments
What happens to the breast when the mother feeds rarely? The mammary gland overflows, becomes tight, the ejection reflex is too strong. Milk, which accumulates long in the chest, can become less fat, but at the same time more sweet. Such milk is more transparent and lighter in appearance, it can cause a gas formation reaction in a child. With frequent feeding, if you do not bring your breast to a "stone" state, the milk is always fatter, it is better absorbed by the baby's organism, it is much more pleasant to suck the soft breast of the baby. The softer the breast, the fatter the milk and the less likely the colic is in the baby. you for some reason can not feed your baby often, try to squeeze the milk until the breast becomes soft, and then start feeding the baby.