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Home › Articles › Your Growing Baby › Straight Talk About Real Babies

Straight Talk About Real Babies

Defining New-mom Expectations

By Ann Calandro, BSN, RNC, IBCLC

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Moms Need Babies
OK, so Baby is immature and needs to eat a lot. What else? I forgot to say that mothers also have needs. Mothers need to be with their babies just as much as their babies need to be with them. Ever see a nursing cat leave her babies unattended more than just a few moments when they are brand new? Follow your own instincts as a mother – and as a mammal. Love and hold your baby as long as you want. Forget the nursery in the hospital, and keep your baby close to you. You will both be happier.

Wander down the hall in a hospital maternity ward in a baby friendly hospital. All is quiet. Babies are with moms, content and being cared for one on one. Check out a hospital with a central nursery where babies spend time away from their mothers. You will hear crying, screaming, sobbing babies, fearful and unsure of their safety. As adults, we know they are safe. They don't.

Secrets to Success
In order to be successful with breastfeeding, it helps to know about the needs of normal babies. Breastfeeding babies cue by rooting or chewing their hands when they are hungry. Successful breastfeeding mothers respond to early cues and feed before their babies cry.

Breastfed babies don't eat on schedules. Breast milk is fully digested in an hour and a half to two hours, so babies respond to their empty stomachs by cueing for more. Trying to schedule a breastfeeding baby or to restrict how long he can eat is a recipe for breastfeeding failure.

Infants have hunger needs and touch needs which must be met. Perhaps formula babies can be scheduled more easily, since their food digests slowly. In fact the whole idea of scheduling has come from formula-feeding practices. Breastfeeding is totally different. Many breastfed babies will fall into a pattern after a few weeks, going longer between feeds, becoming more efficient at eating. Growth spurts may interrupt the pattern, but babies will fall back into their pattern after the growth spurt.


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