5th Antenatal Class

Sunday's class was about feeding. Our instructor, Rosalind said that it was her "expertise" and hyped it all up like she's the breastfeeding guru or something like that. But I guess I have been reading so much on this that I didn't really learn anything new from her that day.

I plan to breast feed as long as I can, but I have heard of the difficulties from some friends, so I wanted to gain as much knowledge as I can from books, internet and magazines. I guess I've more or less grasp the theories, but practical wise, well, we'll see when princess comes... Generally, breastfeeding can be summarised in the following.

Lesson 5 - Feeding

• Breastfeeding

Pros
- Can help Mummy regain her figure
During breastfeeding, the uterus would slowly shrink back to original size!

- Breast milk, nature's best
You can't find any brand of milk out there that can beat Mummy's milk! Organic, nutritious, no melamine poisoning, easy to prepare(just put the baby on the nipple!), perfect temperature, always super fresh, always available and it's FREE! Haha...

- Enhance bonding between Mummy and Baby
That's the most important! Is there anything closer than that?

Cons
- Engorement would be unavoidable I guess, but there are ways to ease the pain
- Most of the other problems arise due to improper latching of the baby, resulting in sore nipples, no milk, etc... So very important to remember:

1. Proper latching on by baby - Very Important
2. Perseverance - Very Important

Breastfeeding Steps:
- Wipe nipples with wet cotton wool

- Massage the areola, massage outward towards nipple

- Burp baby and remove swaddling, so that her arms can move freely

- Baby's body must be positioned so that it's tummy to tummy with Mummy

- Hold breast with hand, but avoid the nipple so that your hand does not obstruct baby's mouth.

- Touch baby's mouth with nipple, when it opens, shove the nipple in!

- Make sure that areola is completely covered inside baby's mouth. If not, use finger to push down her chin to position properly.

- If need to "detach", press your little finger at the corner of baby's mouth to break the suction before pulling baby away.

- Feed about 20mins on each breast, when baby stops, burp baby before offering the second breast.

- After feeding, burp baby, change diapers and pump out breast milk to store in freezer.

Feeding Structure
When it comes to feeding structure, I guess different people have different school of thoughts. According to Rosalind, she believes that Mummies should feed every time the baby cries for milk, so that the milk supply is always there. Baby-base feeding.

But according to Gina Ford, (a childcare expert's book that I’m reading) she believes in introducing a structured feeding time to a child, even at a very young age.



Time-based feeding. This helps the child to expect feeding at certain timings (every 3 hours), and I kind of prefer her technique.

Bottle Feeding & Sterilization of Feeding Equipment
Rosalind then talked about bottle feeding and sterilization of feeding equipment, which is common knowledge lah. Follow the instructions on the packaging and you'll be fine. After sterilizing the bottles, flick away the excess water and assemble back the bottles (cover and all) before storing. Keeping the bottles open would expose them to contamination.

SO ends lessons for the Antenatal class. Next Tuesday I have to attend a Doctor's talk, which is part of the package, and on 30 Nov I have to come back and attend my 1st Lesson, which I have missed. Strange...