Breastfeeding
New parents want to give their babies the very best.
More than two decades of research have established that breast milk is perfectly suited to nourish infants and protect them from illness.
Breast-fed infants have lower rates of hospital admissions, ear infections, diarrhea, rashes, allergies, and other medical problems than bottle-fed babies.
Solid foods can be introduced when the baby is 4 to 6 months old, but a baby should drink breast milk or formula, not cow’s milk, for a full year.
“As long as the baby is eating age-appropriate solid foods, a mother may nurse a couple of years if she wishes.
Health experts say increased breast-feeding rates would save consumers money, spent both on infant formula and in health-care dollars.
Breast-fed babies have fewer illnesses because human milk transfers to the infant a mother’s antibodies to disease.
It’s harder work to get milk out of a breast than a bottle, and the exercise strengthens the jaws and encourages the growth of straight, healthy teeth.
Nursing may have psychological benefits for the infant as well, creating an early attachment between mother and child.
Delay artificial nipples: It’s best to wait a week or two before introducing a pacifier, so that the baby doesn’t get confused.
To minimize the baby’s exposure, the mother can take the drug just after nursing or before the child sleeps.
Some drugs can be taken by a nursing mother if she stops breast-feeding for a few days or weeks.
She can pump her milk and discard it during this time to keep up her supply, while the baby drinks previously frozen milk or formula.
Bromocriptine (Parlodel): A drug for Parkinson’s disease, it also decreases a woman’s milk supply.
Ergotamine (for migraine headaches): Causes vomiting, diarrhea, convulsions in infants.
Lithium (for manic-depressive illness): Excreted in human milk.
Methotrexate (for arthritis): Can suppress the baby’s immune system.
Nicotine can cause vomiting, diarrhea and restlessness for the baby, as well as decreased milk production for the mother.
Maternal smoking or passive smoke may increase the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and may increase respiratory and ear infections.
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