Mixed feeding

Bare milk of the mother will always be the best diet for newborns, but there are times when a child is required to transfer mixed feeding. With the proper organization of feeding, there is no danger to the health of the baby and mother.

Lack of breast milk in the mother may occur in the late stages or immediately after childbirth. Low growth of body weight, anxiety or apathy, rare stools and urination are the main indicators that the mother’s milk is not enough.

Correct mixed feeding is considered to be breastfeeding and mixtures in equal proportions or a mixture of no more than the amount of breast milk. It is breast milk that contains all the necessary beneficial substances and protective enzymes, and the mixtures are only close in composition. However, mothers do not always manage to breastfeed the baby.

Causes of mixed breastfeeding

In addition to the simple reluctance of some mothers to breastfeed, there are other reasons for the transition to feeding milk mixtures:

1. Hypogalactia. Insufficient amount of breast milk and lactation decrease.
2. Social and domestic conditions. Going to work or study, the impossibility of breastfeeding due to the lack of a mother.
3. Diseases of a nursing mother. If there are diseases of the kidneys, heart, blood vessels or respiratory organs. If mom needs drug treatment.
4. The inferior composition of the mother’s milk. With anemia, hypotrophy or, if necessary, the use of therapeutic mixtures.
5. Mixed feeding of newborns began with the hospital. With cesarean section or large blood loss during childbirth, with Rh conflict of the indicators of the child and mother, at the birth of twins or triplets, with the prematureness of the new-related one.

Mixed feeding. How to correctly determine its need?

Hypogalactia or lack of milk is most often the reason for the transition to feeding the baby, so you need to know how to determine such a shortage:

1. Rare urination - less than 7 times a day. Urine becomes a concentrated color and has a pungent smell.
2. Low weight gain. For a month, the child must add at least a half -kilogram of weight.
3. Irregular feeding. The child is hungry or apathetic and the feeding mode is not observed every 2 hours.
4. A rare or changed chair. Liquid (may be accompanied by vomiting) or a denser stool of dark brown or green, as well as its absence per day.

Methods for improving lactation to avoid mixed feeding

The best mixture for mixed feeding will never replace the benefits of breast milk, so with a lack of milk in the mother should stimulate its influx and try to switch to breastfeeding again:

• rest and follow your diet and sufficient drink, turn on products and herbal teas to stimulate lactation;
• do not overload your home work, if you are tired - relax and trust the work with others;
• increase the feeding mode by once per hour;
• apply the baby to both breasts during each feeding;
• after feeding, always express the remaining milk;
• be sure to feed the child at night;
• do not accustom to feeding from the bottle, feed the child from the spoon, so he will not wean from his chest.

How to organize mixed feeding?

There are three types of child feeding:

• first, breastfeeding, and then a mixture;
• breastfeeding alternates after mixtures for mixed feeding;
• feeding occurs with breasts together with the system for the mixture attached to the chest.

Basic rules for feeding mixtures

In order to know how to switch to mixed feeding and which mixture to choose, first of all, you need to consult a pediatrician. It is also worth knowing the main principles for such feeding:

1. Mixed feeding of the baby should begin with breastfeeding, and then feed the baby with a mixture. The exception may be mixtures of therapeutic nature used before breast milk.
2. Feeding with mixed feeding is better to give from a spoon, bottles can wean the baby from the chest and lead to a decrease in lactation.
3. Breastfeeding should be maximum, especially in newborns on mixed feeding. Give preference to night and morning breastfeeding when mom has more milk.
4. Try to breastfeed your baby and increase lactation as long as possible. Express all the milk from the chest.
5. The mixture and dishes should be sterile, and the water is boiled, it must be prepared immediately before the reception. When the feeding with mixed feeding, adhere to a temperature of 37 degrees.
6. Observe the feeding mode, as the mixtures are digested longer than breast milk.
7. In no case do not use cow or goat milk for mixed feeding at 5 months or earlier. This type of feeding lowers immunity, overloads the kidneys and pancreas, and disrupts the work of the gastrointestinal tract.

Calculation for feeding a child with mixed feeding

For the correct calculation of the required amount of the mixture, taking into account the need of all useful ingredients, the following indicators are taken into account:

• child's age;
• the approximation of food to natural or artificial nutrition (mixed feeding of 4 months or more);
• type of the mixture (adapted or not).

If the child is less than two weeks, then the volume of food per day should be at least two percent of the weight multiplied by age in days. After a two -week age, the calculation will be different - the volume of power should be at least the fifth of the child's weight.

Types of mixed mixtures

The mixtures are made on the basis of cow or goat milk, which has passed special anti -allergenic processing and are divided into groups according to the adaptive degree:

1. Sour -milk, liquid, fresh and dry. Mixtures with increased adaptation for the smallest, containing all components of the closest composition to breast milk.
2. Mixtures with casein (dairy cottage cheese protein). Such mixtures do not contain serum proteins and are recommended for children with intolerance or increased sensitivity to dairy products, and are also used in the first weeks of mixed feeding.
3. Transitional mixtures. For children from six months, who subsequently switch to complementary foods with children's sterilized dairy products.
4. Therapeutic mixtures. The instability of the stool during mixed feeding, allergies, abdominal pain, lack of outcome and small weight can lead to mandatory feeding with therapeutic mixtures. Do not choose such mixtures without consulting a pediatrician.

Cons of mixed feeding

If there are no problems with lactation, and mixed feeding is not necessary, then it is worth paying attention to some factors when feeding the mixture:

• when using mixtures of the intestinal flora, it changes as in children at full feeding with mixtures;
• the content of bifidobacteria (environmental acids) in the intestines of children who are breastfeeding are lower than that of the mixtures that are fed;
• when feeding with mixtures in the first two weeks, the acidic intestinal environment changes, which cannot be returned to the original level;
• feeding with mixtures can lead to allergies to dairy products;
• in infants, constipation occurs with mixed feeding;
• mixtures can cause dysbiosis, the symptoms of which will be colic and liquid stool;
• no mixture will replace the child with the necessary substances contained in the breast milk of the mother.

Factors of inappropriateness of mixed feeding

Sometimes a child does not need donkey, but parents or pediatrician give him preference. In order not to make hasty decisions and not to pursue a child’s health with unnecessary risk, you need to know when the feeding is simply superfluous:

1. Poor awareness. If the baby refuses the chest, the chest is not filled, the milk is shortened, the child has not gained weight, the child’s stomach hurts or a rash (diathesis) appeared - these factors do not yet mean a forced transition to mixtures.
2. Incorrect feeding. An inconvenient position for feeding, the discomfort of the baby during eating, too strict diet.
3. Recommendations of the pediatrician. The mixed feeding scheme is the most convenient for power control and was developed according to statistical data. Each child is unique and his nutrition should correspond to well -being and personal indicators, and not to general norms.
4. The mother’s simple reluctance to continue breastfeeding. Unreasonable fears and uncertainty can lead to a decrease in lactation. It is necessary to understand that there is nothing better than breast milk, and any, even the most expensive mixture will not replace it. Changes in the child’s body after using mixtures can be inevitable, so feed the baby with breasts as long as possible, more and more often.
5. Large temporary interruptions in contact with the mother. If there is an opportunity to be more often with a child, then use it. Constant connection with the child will increase the reaction to his needs and normalize lactation. Even if there is no milk in the chest, always apply the baby to the chest. Express the remaining milk if the child is not hungry.
6. An incorrect understanding of the lack of breast milk. Every three months up to a year, a crisis of lactation occurs. The child gains mass worse and is capricious when feeding. This factor must be taken into account and do not rush to feed for feeding with mixtures.
7. The opinion of others. Experienced relatives and friends can advise you to the transition to mixed nutrition. Do not trust someone else's opinion too much. The mother herself feels and knows how and when to feed the baby, because intrauterine communication is still preserved between them.

Mixed feeding or completely artificial?

It is generally accepted that feeding at least in equal parts with a mixture and chest is better than the transition to the mixture completely, but this issue remains purely individual. This is due to the difficulty of adapting children to food from the first days. If the initial feeding was chest, then you can use mixed.

If the child receives the mixture from the first days in its purest form and the adaptation to them was successful, then it is worth consulting with the doctor about the transition to feeding even breasts. After all, the child’s body will have to get used to the new type of food. Sometimes this leads to weakness and rejection of food.

It should not be not serious about the transition to feed, consultation with the pediatrician is required. Only mother's milk is completely adapted to the individual needs of the baby’s body, to his age, the state of health, the season, and even the day. You should not choose a mixture by advertising or someone else's advice, because the incompatibility of components will lead to at least allergic reactions in a child.

Do not forget about the huge stress of the child after childbirth, he needs constant contact (the closer and longer, the better) with his mother. Any mixture is heavier than breast milk and is absorbed longer and more difficult. After feeding the mixture, the body gets tired more and the child wants to sleep all the time, which will not be well reflected in his mode of the day.

Do not listen to older relatives who advise feeding children with milk of cows or goats. This harms the babies more than any mixture. This milk is consumed in any form for up to a year, even as supplementary, it is contraindicated.

Lactation can increase, especially if both mom and all around will want it. Do not be subjected to unreasonable experiences and take too many households. Remember that you and the child are one, you must be in harmony and peace. Trust the household care for loved ones, at least for the first months. Also an important factor will be your sleep and night feeding.

There are many individual situations, and early feeding or the transition to feeding mixtures - no reason for grief and premature anxieties. With a diet and diet prescribed by the doctor, the child’s body will be adapted without lively health problems. The most important thing for good health is the love and care of parents about the baby that no one else will replace.

Mixed feeding (Dr. Komarovsky). Video

In the program “Live Great”, Dr. Komarovsky also covers the problem of feeding with feeding: