Sometimes a woman is confused: who to believe? Believe someone who has a positive experience. When a woman herself did not feed her baby, or did not do it for long, her advice is unlikely to help you. And today the topic for consideration will be the truth and myths concerning breastfeeding, which are the most common. This will help you to filter out unnecessary information.
Myth first. If the baby is often applied to the breast, then enough milk will not be produced.
It is not true. And on the contrary, if the child is given the opportunity to receive milk on demand, the amount of milk will correspond to his needs. After all, the volume of breast milk is met by the hormone prolactin, and it can only be developed at a time when the baby is sucking on the breast.
Myth of the second. Long intervals between feedings are necessary, only so the milk will have time to replenish.
Breastmilk has the main property - it is produced continuously, without interruptions. There is evidence that the more often a child empties the breast, the sooner and in greater amounts she will produce milk. And, accordingly, than the breast is fuller, the more slowly the milk production will pass. In addition, when there is a lot of milk in the breast, its further secretion stops, which prevents excessive filling of the mammary glands.
Myth three. When a baby has a bad weight gain, it is because of insufficient nutritious milk from the mother.
It is proved that milk changes its qualities only if the woman is extremely exhausted. In all other cases, even with nutritional deficiencies, the female body is able to produce a sufficient amount of milk of excellent quality.
Myth Four. As soon as the child turns 1 year old, it is not necessary to feed him with breast milk.
Even in the second year of life, the baby still needs breast milk. And although he is no longer able to meet the needs of the baby completely, it continues to be an important source of vitamins and nutrients. From breast milk, for example, a child older than a year receives 31% of the required energy, 95% of vitamin C, 38% of protein. In addition, the content of anti-infective substances in milk is able to protect the baby from infection. As an indisputable proof of the need for breast milk in the second year are special hormones, tissue growth factors, biologically active substances contained in it. These components can not be enriched with any of the artificial mixtures or ordinary adult food. That is why the indicators of health, physical and intellectual development in children breastfed, higher. This is especially important for children older than a year.
Myth five. Modern breast milk substitutes have the same composition and are as useful as breast milk.
Myths about feeding are different, but this is the most persistent and most harmful myth. In reality, mother's milk is absolutely unique product, which nature itself created. Any, even the most expensive mixture is its inferior copy, based on incomplete knowledge of what in general is breast milk. In modern artificial mixtures contains about 30-40 components, and in human milk - about 100, but it is believed that in reality there are about 300-400. Most of the mixtures are based on cow's milk, but the nature of cow's milk is intended for calves, for which growth rates are important, and not the quality of development processes, so the composition of human and cow's milk differ. The breast milk of each woman corresponds to the needs of her baby in particular, and in this connection milk is different in quality and composition among different women. In addition, the composition of milk can vary even depending on the weather conditions, the condition and age of the child, the time of day and even the mood of a woman during each feeding. A mixture of the same composition is always the same and can not fully meet the needs of crumbs. In artificial milk does not contain living cells, antibodies and other factors that protect the body from infections that inhibit the growth of pathogenic microbes that promote the growth of useful microflora. And another quality of maternal milk that is irreplaceable by artificial mixtures is the content of a whole complex of growth factors, special hormones that regulate the growth and development of the child. Therefore, children who live on breastfeeding experience optimal development rates. In addition, when breastfeeding, a special emotional contact is established between the child and the mother, which gives the child a sense of security and tranquility.