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SUPPLY AND DEMAND The amount of milk a breastfeeding mother produces is dictated by the sucking of the baby, or babies, she is nursing. Whatever the baby takes is replaced. The feedback mechanism is direct and the response fairly immediate. It relies upon the baby having access to the breast when it asks either by sucking its fist or opening its mouth hopefully and turning towards the mother (rooting reflex). The baby needs to be able to spend as much time as it wants to at the breast as often as it wants to. The normal variation for this is enormous. There is a certain amount of flexibility in the timing; you don’t have to get it right every time. But the practice of regulating feeds over the last thirty years has caused many women in Britain to believe that they cannot breastfeed. For example it has been discovered by research that the minimum number of breastfeeds a day to maintain a supply is five. For many years women were told to feed four hourly. This means that they were only just above that minimum level, and many found their supply dwindled. They were then advised to supplement with formula which reduced the baby’s appetite at the breast and lowered the supply of breastmilk further. The solution when there is not enough milk is to nurse the baby more often until the supply increases to satisfy the baby. Many people find it hard to believe that when a breastfed baby has had enough to eat it will come off the breast of its own accord - usually with a wonderful look of blissful satiation on its face. The use of dummies or anything else other than the breast to suck on can affect the supply of breast milk. Therefore if you wish to fully breastfeed, you are advised not to use them. Since the word dummy means pretend, and a baby’s dummy is a substitute for the breast, you will see that it makes sense for a breastfed baby not to need one. However some breastfeeding mothers do use them once their milk supply is well established (ie after several months), or if they wish to wean before their baby has outgrown his need to suck. The problem is that you do not know beforehand what the effect of using a dummy will be on your supply - and some babies will refuse the breast after being offered only one bottle. A recent article in a breastfeeding newsletter describes how a fully breastfeeding infant, gaining weight well, became reluctant to breastfeed after being given a dummy. The mother was disturbed to find that her baby preferred the dummy, stopped gaining weight as well and changed her feeding technique, so the mother now gets sore. She has worked hard to reestablish her supply several weeks later. She wrote the article to warn other mothers. | ||
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CATHERINE HOLLAND Tel: 0701 7415310 Email: catherine@catherineholland.co.uk | |
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