Healthy milk, healthy baby
SIRIPATANA SIRITANARATKUL
The advantages of breastfeeding have long been established since the Roman civilisation, where breastfeeding was highly valued.
Two Greek physicians wrote about the duration of breastfeeding in ancient textbooks. Soranus first suggested that infants should be breastfed until "their complete set of teeth have grown", while Galen recommended breastfeeding until the age of three.
Breast milk provides infants with nutrition and protection against infections. So, it is natural that children in ancient times were breastfed until they were two to three years old.
Although nowadays the benefits of breastfeeding still exceed all other forms of milk, modern mothers tend to breastfeed their children for a short period of time. The main reason is that mothers have to go back to work after maternity leave.
Recently a young, working mother with a six-month old baby came for her regular visit. During the day, while she was at work, the baby was being fed with breast milk that she had pumped in the morning. She breast feed the infant in the evening and night. "Should I start formula milk, too?" she asked.
I told her that there was no need for formula milk, if she was giving him breast milk.
She then asked, "Are the nutrients in breast milk the same as in formula milk?"
"Not the same, of course," I answered. "Nutrients in breast milk are actually superior to formula. Breast milk is the best. Formula milk companies tried to make their products as close to breast milk as possible. But they will never succeed because a lot of substances in breast milk cannot be reproduced in a factory. They are antibodies which fight infections, living cells which attack germs, growth factors which facilitate optimum growth, enzymes such as lysozyme for protective function and lipase for fat digestion. And hundreds of other nutrients which can only be found in human breast milk."
"So when can I start giving him solids?" she asked.
I explained to her that once the baby is six months old, breast milk alone is not enough. The aim is to get him to start chewing and swallowing solid foods, and also supply him with more proteins and nutrients for growth.
Mothers may start with just a little amount of rice once a day, gradually increasing the amount day by day. Then add one kind of protein at a time so that you can observe whether he is allergic to that or not. Hard boiled egg yolk is easy to prepare. Mix it together with rice and spoon-feed him. Then try a variety of fruits, vegetables, meats and fish.
A six- to eight-month-old baby should have one complete meal a day. Continue to breastfeed as often as the babies desires because breast milk still has nutritional and immunologic benefits.
Some mothers are worried that they will produce less milk when they go back to work.
The thing is try not to worry too much because the worrying itself will suppress milk production. As long as you continue pumping the milk and the baby continues suckling from your breast, milk will flow.
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