Changes Needed In Nursing Practice

Keep in mind that your baby will get older and bigger. He will develop intellectually, physically and emotionally, and with that, his lifestyle and needs will certainly change. As a mother, it would be useful for you to learn about these changes and needs and their impact on breastfeeding. Therefore, you have to deal with them the best way possible.

What are the changes that can occur to breastfeeding? Keep reading to know more.

- A breastfeeding session for a newborn takes approximately between 20 and 40 minutes. However, this period is often reduced to between 10 and 20 minutes when your baby turns three months old. It is true that your child will need to eat every two to three hours, but he will do it efficiently so that you can move together to another activity.

- At first, the mother's body produces the right amount of milk with the proper amount of nutrients, vitamins and antibodies depending on her baby’s need, age, and signs of hunger and fullness. However, when the weaning period starts, the mother's milk supply will automatically decrease, since it will no longer be a necessity when it comes to her child’s nutrition. Don’t be afraid, this is very normal.

- Your baby will experience new emotions and new situations as he gets older, and breastfeeding will no longer be his only source of nutrition. It will become an effective way to relieve and calm him down. With this in mind, we recommend that you feed him on demand because of the important emotional benefits of breastfeeding.

- Between the third and sixth months, the child realizes that he and his mother are two different persons and they are not physically attached to one another. In many cases, the baby gets distracted from breastfeeding or just refuses to eat in order to look at his mother or his surroundings.

- Between the seventh and tenth months, the child’s ability to move increases, in addition to his ability to differentiate himself from his mother and others. As a result, breastfeeding sessions become irregular.

- When the baby is eleven months old, it becomes easier for him to complete various physical activities and he becomes more influenced by external factors (such as a change in his daily routine, separation anxiety, and communicating with strangers) which drive him to change the pace and duration of breastfeeding.

- The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six month after the baby’s birth, and complementary breastfeeding until the baby becomes one year old. However, this doesn’t mean that the benefits of breastfeeding magically disappear after twelve months and that you must stop it. On the contrary, breastfeeding remains possible as long as the mother and child are capable of doing it.

In conclusion, you should remember that every nursing experience is different from the other and every baby is different. The information listed above remains merely average rates achieved earlier or later by some babies compared to some others.

Read More: How And When To Introduce Solid Foods To Babies?