Milk in the diet of women and children during breastfeeding: pros and cons
One of the myths that has remained in trend for many years not only among young mothers, but also among pediatricians is the claim that cow's milk during breastfeeding increases lactation and makes mother's milk more nutritious. Today, this trend has been challenged and debunked: the product in question does not improve lactation; moreover, excessive consumption of fresh milk “straight from the cow” can, on the contrary, slow down the process. A well-chosen diet for a nursing mother may include milk, but in limited quantities, and sometimes it has to be excluded altogether. We'll tell you why later.
Massage before feeding
- Breast stroking should be gentle and gentle. Nipples and areolas cannot be massaged.
- We take the chest in one hand and lift it. Massage with the other hand, pressing lightly. This will help avoid stagnation of milk, as well as prepare the breasts for feeding.
Perform 5 times each technique. A set of exercises will keep your breasts in shape.
For those who are worried that their shape will disappear after feeding, you can do physical exercise. Clasp your palms with your fingers pointing upward, as if you were praying.
Squeeze your palms forcefully, hold for a couple of seconds and relax. Elbows should be spread in different directions. Repeat 10 times. Raise your palms above your head and also squeeze and unclench them forcefully 10 times. Continue with the exercises, again placing your hands near your chest.
To properly breastfeed, start preparing while you are pregnant. Be sure to attend courses for expectant mothers, where experts will show you how to properly attach your baby to the breast to avoid unpleasant consequences.
How is cow's milk useful for breastfeeding?
This product, in addition to having a fairly balanced composition of fats, proteins and carbohydrates, is extremely rich in other useful components: it contains essential amino acids needed by mother and baby, and vitamins D, A, PP, C, as well as group B, and calcium, phosphorus and potassium, and hormones, and enzymes, and immune bodies.
Thanks to this, cow's milk is an effective antioxidant and demonstrates remarkable antimicrobial, bactericidal, immunomodulatory and antiviral properties. In addition, it is perfectly absorbed by the body, without requiring excessive efforts from it to digest. It would seem that from this perspective, the answer to the question of whether milk is possible during breastfeeding is obvious. However, not everything is so simple, and here's why.
What to look for when choosing underwear?
- It must consist entirely of natural fabric; synthetics are not allowed here.
- The bra should have a special pocket that will ensure easy unfastening and fastening.
- The bra should contain additional support so that the breasts do not fall out during feeding, because with the help of a pocket only the nipple and part of the areola should be exposed.
- If mommy has large breasts, then the straps should be wide and strong.
- It is very good if the bra has a section for inserting a pad against milk leakage.
- There should be no bones.
Allergy to cow protein: what is it and how does it manifest itself?
An allergic reaction is caused by specific proteins contained in cow's milk - casein, lactalbumin and lactoglobulin. Both the child and the mother may experience an aversion to one or more proteins at once.
Allergy to cow protein manifests itself in a child in different ways. The most common symptoms are:
- skin rash starting on the face and gradually spreading to the skin of other parts of the body;
- nasal congestion and runny nose;
- intestinal upset, constipation, diarrhea;
- excessive regurgitation, abdominal pain, increased gas formation;
- conjunctivitis;
- slow weight gain or loss.
In particularly severe cases, when a nursing mother’s diet includes a large amount of cow’s milk or when the allergic reaction is most pronounced, it can even lead to anaphylactic shock, laryngeal edema and other life-threatening conditions for the baby.
A mother with an allergy to cow's milk proteins has similar symptoms. If it is congenital, the woman, as a rule, is aware of her “peculiarity” and does not eat this product. However, it also happens that a woman who does not like dairy products begins to eat them heavily during pregnancy and during the period of lactation in order to give her beloved child as many useful substances as possible. In this case, an allergy that the woman did not know about may appear completely unexpectedly.
Physical condition of the mother
Many women do not want to breastfeed, explaining that they could ruin their figure. However, you don't need to eat a lot to produce enough milk.
How does the mammary gland of a nursing woman behave?
During pregnancy, breasts enlarge, and after childbirth they become even larger. This happens regardless of whether the mother is feeding or not. When the baby is a week old, the breasts become smaller during feeding and lose excess elasticity. This fact causes concern among mothers: has the milk disappeared?
Breast size doesn't matter, although many people worry about it. There is no reason to doubt. When a woman is not breastfeeding or pregnant, breast tissue is at rest and makes up a smaller portion of the total breast volume. The main part contains adipose tissue, so the larger the breast, the more adipose tissue it contains. As pregnancy progresses, ovarian secretion ensures the development and enlargement of mammary gland tissue. The veins and arteries that supply the breast with blood enlarge. In some cases they protrude to the surface. A couple of days after birth, milk appears, and the breasts increase in size even more. Any doctor will say that women with small breasts fed their children just as successfully as those with large breasts.
An allergy to cow protein during breastfeeding is not a death sentence: how to get out of the situation
Excluding an identified allergen from a nursing mother’s diet without depriving her and the baby of beneficial vitamins and minerals is a completely feasible task. Here are several options for solving it.
- Consume fermented milk products - cottage cheese, kefir, fermented baked milk, yogurt. The calcium content, necessary for the formation of the child’s skeleton, as well as for maintaining the health of the mother’s body, is even higher in them than in fresh milk, and the allergenicity is much lower.
- Replace fresh milk with baked milk: the process of slow simmering significantly reduces the allergenicity of milk proteins.
- Balance your diet during breastfeeding by adding non-dairy products with the necessary components.
- Take vitamin and mineral complexes from the pharmacy. Of course, you need to select them with the help of a doctor.
- Drink goat's milk. This option is worth dwelling on in more detail.
In addition to the fact that goat milk contains 13% more calcium compared to cow milk (although it is significantly inferior to the latter in terms of vitamin content), it can be an excellent replacement option for an allergy to cow protein in an infant, since it does not contain casein, but only traces of it.
Although the science is mixed on whether this alternative reduces the likelihood of an allergic reaction, mothers of breastfed babies say that drinking goat's milk reduces the incidence of allergic reactions in babies. Therefore, it is advisable to include this product in the diet of a nursing mother if the child is allergic to cow protein and carefully monitor the baby’s reaction.
The value of breast milk
Milk contains all the necessary components.
- Squirrels. Quite easily absorbed and digested. Proteins are necessary for a child to properly build the cells and tissues of his body.
- Carbohydrates (lactose). Necessary for the development of intestinal microflora.
- Fats. They contain fat-soluble vitamins A and E, which are very important for the baby.
With mother's milk, the child receives all the microelements, vitamins and minerals necessary for his development and growth.
Artificial feeding and complementary feeding
It is not always possible to choose a formula for an artificial baby the first time. The basic line of baby food is based on cow's milk. If your baby is found to be intolerant to it, you will have to look for options. They can be mixtures of the following types:
- on goat milk;
- with hydrolyzed (broken down to amino acids) cow protein;
- soy based;
- amino acid.
Such children will have to select the nutritional composition individually, since rejection can, in theory, manifest itself in any of the listed varieties.
It’s easy to provide your baby with adequate nutrition while breastfeeding – just apply it to the breast regularly. Difficulties begin with the onset of complementary foods. For some reason, many mothers believe that milk is a familiar product for babies, which means that they should definitely include porridge, jelly or another dish made with cow’s milk in their first complementary foods.
How to prepare the mammary gland?
In order to avoid problems with feeding, you should prepare your breasts for this.
Several decades ago, women were advised to rub their mammary glands with a thick cloth so that they would harden. It has now been proven that this is not worth doing. After all, women's breasts, especially the nipples, are quite sensitive, and such actions can easily damage them.
Purity
You should take a shower daily. The chest should be clean. Try not to lather your nipples so as not to dry out the skin.
Black tea
To soften the skin, use lotions with black tea. The procedure should be carried out several times a day. In this case, oak bark will help: brew the herb according to the diagram on the package and make compresses.
Hardening
To begin, walk around the apartment with your chest open for about half an hour. Next, take a shower and pour cool and then cold water over your mammary glands. But here you should be careful: do not set records, reduce the water temperature gradually.
It is useful to wipe the nipples with ice cubes. For convenience, you can freeze black tea, chamomile or oak bark. Keep the ice on your breasts until your nipples become hard. The procedure should be carried out no more than once a day, otherwise you can catch a cold in your chest.
Flat or inverted nipples
If the mother has flat nipples, this will make feeding much more difficult, especially if the baby is easily excitable. The baby will constantly look for them, and when he cannot find them, he will begin to get nervous and throw his head back. There are several ways to establish feeding.
Try to bring the baby to your breast as soon as he wakes up, then he will not have time to become capricious. If he starts crying, calm him down and then try again.
Have a light massage before feeding. It will make the nipples more prominent. To do this, use your thumb and forefinger to squeeze the nipple and pull it out, twisting it slightly.
Try squeezing out some milk. This will allow the halo area to become significantly softer and more pliable.
Nails must be trimmed and hands washed.
Nowadays, pharmacies sell special nipple correctors that should be worn in the last months of pregnancy. You should start with 5 minutes a day, gradually increasing the time to half an hour.
Milk for babies: at what age can you give it?
However, as we have already found out, cow’s milk differs significantly from mother’s milk, primarily in the presence of protein components that provoke allergies. Therefore, it is recommended to introduce the product into the diet of infants no earlier than they reach the age of 9 months, in the menu of artificial babies - from 7-8 months. The first milk supplement should be well-cooked porridge, and it is better to dilute the milk with water. Children over 1 year of age can be offered to drink whole cow's milk, undiluted and thermally unprocessed, in a volume of about 200 ml per day.
Thus, whether it is possible to drink milk while breastfeeding, each woman decides individually, based on her own well-being and the child’s reaction. A similar approach should be used when choosing a formula for artificial feeding.
Care
Taking proper care of your breasts while breastfeeding is easy.
Special creams will help restore the delicate skin of the nipples and areola, which will not only help improve the condition, but will also prevent cracks in the nipples. There are products that need to be washed off and that, on the contrary, need to be absorbed, so read the instructions carefully or consult your gynecologist. Those creams that contain aloe extract and lanolin are good. After use, they must be allowed to absorb well, and only then put on underwear. If you have damaged your nipples, do not endure the pain; use special covers. To avoid stagnation of milk, purchase a breast pump; it will express the remaining milk after feeding.
When is pumping necessary?
You should not purposefully express breast milk to ensure it comes in. It is enough that the child will latch on regularly. The mammary gland itself will adapt to the baby and produce exactly as much milk as he needs to be completely saturated.
However, there are exceptions in which pumping is simply necessary.
- If the baby cannot be put to the breast due to the health of the mother or the child himself. In this situation, this will help not to lose breast milk and subsequently resume feeding.
- If mom urgently needs to leave. In this case, you can express the milk and put it in the refrigerator. There it can be stored for about two days, and in the freezer for 3 months.
- If the baby's condition does not allow him to latch on. In this case, bottle feeding with breast milk will help. The baby will definitely get stronger and will be able to eat mother’s milk on his own.
