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Home › Articles › Breastfeeding Advocacy › A Stronger Stance on Breastfeeding

A Stronger Stance on Breastfeeding

Updated Recommendations Encourage Breastfeeding

By Amy Carey Bowman

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Some of the notable additions to the statement include the following: the importance of skin-to-skin contact during those initial moments after birth until breastfeeding is first accomplished, avoiding the use of pacifiers until nursing is well under way and agreeing that sleeping "in proximity" to your baby helps build a successful breastfeeding relationship. The AAP also acknowledges what most nursing mothers have thought all along: that breastfeeding during a painful procedure such as a heel-stick for newborn screening provides comfort and pain relief to your infant.

In addition, while the AAP has always suggested parents wait until Baby is at least 6 months old to introduce solid foods, the organization now states that adding cereals or other supplements to your baby's diet before 6 months does not increase his growth rate, but "only substitutes foods that lack the protective components of human milk." In other words, your baby will eat the same amount no matter what you feed him, so giving him solids before 6 months simply means he'll get less of your nutritious breast milk.

Encouraging Employers
Cindy Fagiano is a breastfeeding advocate for working moms in Chicago, Ill., who breastfed her son and daughter for a combined seven years – all while working 24-hour shifts as a firefighter. She is particularly pleased about the statement's encouragement of employers to provide appropriate facilities and adequate time in the workplace for breastfeeding and/or milk expression. "I like the fact that they are being supportive of working moms," she says. "Anytime they come out with a new statement about breastfeeding, it brings [the topic] to the forefront, so that's a good thing."


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