On Breastfeeding and Bringing up Babies

Lizzie Smith

Description

Thinking of breastfeeding your baby? Do you have a partner who is breastfeeding that you would like to support? Not getting enough sleep? This is the book for you.A collection of wisdom and experience passed on to mothers and fathers, by mothers and fathers. Split into handy short sections, it covers big subjects such as how to get started with breastfeeding, sleep and weaning. A whole new world opens up to you as a parent. Look up Bumbos, pelvic floor exercises and kit lists.Ideas on how to have fun with your baby in the first year bounce off every page: sing a song, go for a run with the buggy, watch a film or head for the park! This is a celebration of that special first year of bonding with your baby, written by a Mum who successfully breastfed her two children and wants to pass on some tips. She chatted to hundreds of carers in those first couple of years who were very generous with their advice and shared their experiences honestly.Highs and lows and key decisions are here. Controlled crying? Bottles? Further down the line: what about paternity/maternity leave or going back part time? She would like to share this treasure trove with you, wherever you are.

Sujets

• Pregnancy

Informations

• Publié par: Troubador Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 31 juillet 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781838596323
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Copyright © 2020 Lizzie Smith

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.

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ISBN 9781838596323

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Disclaimer
This book is not intended as a substitute for the medical advice of physicians. The reader should regularly consult a physician in matters relating to his/her health, and particularly with respect to any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical attention. It is written from a layperson’s point of view.
Foreword
I am writing this foreword in lockdown for COVID-19 in Scotland, in the UK. It reminds me that babies are born into different situations, but they are all loved. I am sharing this book with you, which I wrote in the first year of having my first child. After my second child came along, I updated the book a bit.

I originally wrote it for other first-time mums in the UK. I’ve passed it around my friends and family, who have enjoyed it. Some of them had experiences a bit different from mine – like twins. One of my best recent reviews was from my brother.

Advice on bringing up babies is changing all the time, so research issues on your local health website: in the UK that’s the NHS. I hope that, wherever you are, you get lots of ideas from reading this and have fun with your baby!

Lizzie Smith
Edinburgh 2020
Contents
Introductory
Top Ten Things to Know
Dear Reader
Your Partner’s Role
Early Days

Part I – Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding
Bonding
Supply and Leaks
Positions
Left or Right or Both?
Time Off
Coming Off the Breast
Preparing
Sore Nipples and Engorgement
Number of Feeds
Problems
Rough Patches
Colic
Reflux
Teething
Six Weeks In
Six Months In
Illness
Storing Breastmilk
Bottle

Part II – Bringing up Baby
Feeding/Weaning
Second Stage Weaning
Highchair
NCT
Healthcare
Your Health
Pelvic Floor Exercises
Immunisations
Depression
Shortcuts
Positive Thinking
Common Sense
Friends
Mentors
Goals
Reading
Screens
Babysitters
Sleep
Settling the Baby
Controlled Crying
Cot Death
Routines
Nappies
Skin
Sterilising
Hygiene
Bathing
Clothes
Fathering
Mothering
Temperature
Household Management
Life After Baby
Staying Away
Films
Swimming, Jogging, Yoga, Pilates
Out and About
Buggy
Sling
Bus
Parks
Play
Toys/Entertainment
Singing
Motherese
Speech Therapy
Development
Socialising
Dieting
Maternity Leave
Back to Work
Food Shopping
Safety
Pets
Photos
Names
Will
Child Benefit
Free Nursery Care

Reference
Books/Videos
Websites
Appendix 1 – Baby Paraphernalia
Appendix 2 – Contents of a Baby-Changing Bag
Appendix 3 – Travelling Pack List
Appendix 4: Hospital Bag
Appendix 5: Songs
Sources
Acknowledgements

Introductory

Top Ten Things to Know
1. Having a child is the best thing to happen to you – so enjoy the experience, as babies quickly grow up into toddlers then children.
2. Birth hurts – but it is all over in a matter of hours. It is not called ‘labour’ for nothing. The pain is intense but natural. You will have experts on hand to get you through medically, and you should take someone special in with you to hold your hand. Don’t regret any of the birth process if it didn’t go as planned: that is now all in the past and you have your baby with you now.
3. Be prepared for ‘Day three’ – tears and emotions run high in the first week particularly. Try not to be shocked by the roller coaster of emotions you feel: they will pass eventually.
4. Take the traditional ‘lying-in’ period of six weeks – by lining up a team of helpers if you can, for at least the first week. You will feel weakened after the birth and sleep-deprived. Think about how to make meals for yourself easy, so you can concentrate on feeding the baby. Get help with meals from friends and family and fill up your freezer.
5. Have music – all around you. It calms you and the baby. Your tastes may change; you might find that your baby likes something a bit softer or is comforted by the music that they heard you playing while they were in the womb. Sing lullabies. Buy a wind-up music box.
6. Fresh air – get out of the house every day to the park or the shops to have contact with the outside world. Air the rooms inside your house. Let air circulate round your little one’s toes and bottom, to help you prevent nappy rash.
7. Breastfeeding hurts at the beginning – whatever anyone tells you.
8. Eat well – when you are breastfeeding you will probably feel hungrier and can have extra daily calories. Go for healthy choices as much as you can: eat lots of protein and vegetables and fruit. In pregnancy, I found that I enjoyed carbohydrates – bread and potatoes particularly.
9. Distraction – is the number-one technique for improving the temper of a baby. Turn on music, massage them, put a saucepan on your head or just give them a different toy. They have short attention spans and soon forget what was bothering them a few seconds before. This was my mum’s number-one strategy.
10. Instinct – you were born to be a mother. Follow your animal instincts. If your child is sick, you will feel it. If you think she is hungry, or just fussing, you will sense this too. You can read as many books as you like, but you are the best carer for your child and you will make your own decisions. You will just use your common sense and do what you think is best in every situation.

Dear Reader
You are probably reading this as you will be, or are already, a mother. Your natural instincts will tell you most of what you need to know. Mothers have been caring for children for thousands and thousands of years. Trust that nature has given you the sixth sense to tell if your baby is hungry or tired or ill.
You are not alone. In pregnancy you will have noticed that people often go out of the way to chat to you and help. You will be embraced by a ‘sisterhood’ of mothers and carers, who will share their folklore with you. This book is a way of sharing some of this amassed folk knowledge with you in writing. Along the way you will find many mentors who wish to share their knowledge with you. Every day be open to those who wish to engage you in conversation: in the café, at work or on the bus.
If you are lucky, you will have family and friends around you. If not, you will be creating a new network of friends, while at the same time you are growing your own family at home. This is a special time of your life, when you are responsible for nurturing a new life. I hope you enjoy the gift that you have been given and are able to embrace the challenges and pleasures ahead.
Your Partner’s Role
You may be going into this enterprise with a partner. They will have their own way of doing things. If it is a partnership you will take turns and at different times take the lead. Work commitments will mean that you have to work out how to balance childcare.
Early Days
My mentor mentioned a period of ten weeks or so as a ‘settling in’ period to get used to motherhood and for you and your baby to bond with each other. It may take you ten weeks; or more, or less. It is good to have the idea that it takes time, though, just to allow yourself some space. You undergo quite a traumatic separation at birth and it will take some adjustment for your baby to settle into the outside world and, indeed, for you to get used to the little one’s new character.
You need to try to remember in the first week or so, when hormones are high and you are sleep-deprived, that your perceptions may not be entirely rational. Give both of you time. It may be that you had been expecting a girl and are presented with a boy, or vice versa, which might be a bit of a shock. The baby’s arrival makes all your thoughts and hopes and fears material. Worries you may have about your relationship with your partner or family get magnified. You may also feel a great sense of responsibility and be completely overwhelmed by the reality hitting you.
The first few months can be quite traumatic if your baby has been hospitalised, or indeed, you have been. It is especially so if, for any reason, you have been separated for a period. Give yourselves space to readjust.
Mothers of all ages feel separation anxiety: from leaving the side of babies just days old, right up to letting go of their children going off to college. Mothering and parenting are a long process of separation. The baby was once part of you: you breathed together. Your role is to prepare them for independence. You will find along the way that actually you often suffer more for being separated, than