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]]>“Mothers are producing different biological recipes for sons and daughters,” said Katie Hinde, an evolutionary biologist at Harvard University.
Studies in humans, monkeys and other mammals have found a variety of differences in both the content and the quantity of milk produced.
One common theme: baby boys often get milk that is richer in fat or protein — and thus energy — while baby girls often get more milk.
There are a lot of theories as to why this happens, Hinde said Friday at the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s annual meeting.
Rhesus monkeys, for instance, tend to produce more calcium in the milk they feed to daughters who inherit social status from their mothers.
“It could be adaptive in that it allows mothers to give more milk to daughters which is going to accelerate their develop and allow them to begin reproducing at early ages,” Hinde said.
Males don’t need to reach sexual maturity as quickly as females because the only limit on how often they reproduce is how many females they can win over.
The females also nurse for longer than male monkeys, who spend more time playing off on their own and thus need more energetically dense milk.
It’s not yet clear why human mothers produce such different milk for their babies, Hinde said.
There is evidence, however, that the stage is set while the baby is still in utero.
Hinde published a study last week that showed that the sex of the fetus influences the milk production of cows long after they are separated from their calves (typically within hours of the birth.)
The study of 1.49 million cows found that, over the course of two 305 day lactation periods, they produced an average of 445 kilos (908 pounds) more milk when they had female calves than when they had bulls.
They also found no difference in the protein or fat content of the milk produced for heifers than for bulls.
Much remains to be understood about how breast milk impacts infant development in humans, Hinde said.
Knowing more could help improve the baby milk formulas sold to mothers who are unable or unwilling to nurse their infants, she said.
“While the food aspects of milk to some extent are replicated in formula, the immuno factors and medicine of milk are not and the hormonal signals are not,” she said.
Getting a better understanding of how milk is personalized for specific infants will also help hospitals find better matches for breast milk donated to help nourish sick and premature infants in neo natal units, she added.
(AFP Relaxnews)
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]]>The post Breastfeeding a newborn: How much liquid should you be drinking? appeared first on All4Baby.
]]>Dr du Plessis believes that mothers should aim to drink between eight and 10 glasses of fluid or water per day to stay hydrated. “Drinking to quench thirst” is a nursing mother’s best guide as to how much liquid she should drink.
Good sources of fluids include water, fruit and vegetable juices, milk and soups.
Contrary to popular belief, a mom does not produce more milk if she drinks more, but she may surely produce less when the intake of liquids are diminished and even more so when she is dehydrated. If the baby does not have unrestricted access to the breast, due to the limited production, he could become dehydrated as well.
“Furthermore, the nutritional content of the milk might change when the mother is dehydrated leading to adverse health effects for both mother and baby if the dehydration lasts for more than one or two days,” adds Dr du Plessis.
Breast milk alone is the ideal nourishment for infants for the first six months of life, because it contains all the nutrients, antibodies and hormones that an infant needs to thrive. Babies who are breastfed through the first year of life have fewer illnesses and a lower chance of death and serious illness as breast milk protects them from diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections.
It furthermore stimulates their immune systems and responses to diseases and aids the response to vaccination. For these reasons, it is important for nursing mothers to remain hydrated so that they increase their chances of successful breastfeeding.
Astrid Anderson, distributer of Philips AVENT products adds that the storage of excess breast milk does not need to be of concern to breastfeeding moms. “Philips AVENT has made it easy for mothers who choose to conveniently and safely store baby’s precious liquid. There are two fitting options for storage, both of which are fridge and freezer safe; The Philips AVENT VIA Breast Milk storage cups are dishwasher safe and compatible with all Philips AVENT breast pumps and teats and The Philips AVENT Breast Milk Storage Bags, which hold 180ml of breast milk, come conveniently pre-sterilized for immediate use,” adds Anderson.
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]]>The post Tips to get that pre-pregnancy body back! appeared first on All4Baby.
]]>However, a few months on, after your ‘bundle of joy’ has arrived, you have finally settled back into a normal routine and you may have caught a few unexpected glimpses of yourself in the mirror, leaving you a little unsatisfied.
Many new moms often have the desire to get back into shape and lose the baby weight post pregnancy. However, often the wrong approach is taken or they simply do not know how to get started.
Gareth Powell, National Training Manager at Ultimate Sports Nutrition (USN) says, “It is not easy to get back into shape after you have given birth, and your body may not be the same as before. However, taking up a healthy lifestyle post pregnancy depends on two factors; what getting ‘back into shape’ means to you personally as well as your ability to stay consistent in your workouts and nutrition.”
Powell suggests the following tips on how to stay fit after giving birth:
Lisl Windt, winner of USN’s 2012/2013 Body Makeover Challenge and single mother, managed to change her complete physique in just 12 weeks. “Between balancing a career and being a single mother, I could not find the time to look after my own health. Deciding to enter the USN Body Makeover Challenge and winning, has inspired me to take further care of my health and fitness so I may reach more of my goals.”
Using supplements while breastfeeding is not recommended as it can be harmful to your baby however should you not be breastfeeding you can make use of select weight control products. USN provides a variety of weight control products to choose from, such asPhedra-Cut Lipo/Ultra XT, Diet Fuel Ultralean,CLA Pure 1000, Waterslim and Cellu-Treat.
“You do not have to leave your home or your baby by going to the gym. Instead, you can work out from home by doing exercises such as Pilates, Yoga and even power walking around the house along with your baby in your company. Remember that the same healthy lifestyle guidelines apply as to prior to your pregnancy, which is to be consistent in your diet and training and to stay motivated so you can reach your personal goals,” concludes Powell.
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]]>The post Toddler nutrition: Keep forcing those veggies! appeared first on All4Baby.
]]>Faced with a nine-month old who makes faces at anything green, or a toddler who throws a tantrum at the sight of a carrot, many parents are tempted to give up on getting their kids to enjoy veggies.
But the findings of the HabEat project — a multidisciplinary Pan-European study of how food behaviors are formed in infants and children — give parents plenty of reasons to persevere. At the final symposium of the project, held in Dijon, France on March 31 and April 1, the research teams also presented practical recommendations for improving children’s intake of fruit and vegetables.
Initiated in January 2010 by 11 partner organizations from five European countries, the HabEat project followed the eating habits of several cohorts of children (aged six months to six years) over a four-year period. The goal: to understand how eating habits are formed and sometimes broken during the first years of life. Using various psychological, epidemiological, behavioral and nutritional analyses, the project sought to identify the key mechanisms in the development of children’s taste or distaste for certain foods.
At the end of the project, researchers’ recommendations all center around one essential point: children must be taught to enjoy fruits and vegetables at the earliest age possible.
The project’s findings also emphasize the importance of diversity in the diet, suggesting that children should be introduced to a wide variety of fruits and vegetables early on. For better chances of success, researchers advise introducing only one new fruit or vegetable per meal, without combining them.
Parents should act as role models during the process, encouraging their child to appreciate fruits and vegetables without forcing them.
In fact, coercive techniques and reward-based motivations (“Eat your sprouts and you’ll get cake”) can be counterproductive, as they alter a child’s natural ability to gauge hunger and satiety, leading to a risk of compulsive eating and obesity later in life.
It is better to trust the child’s appetite, however fickle it may be. Sometimes, the same vegetable may be offered and rejected 8 to 10 times over the course of a few weeks before a child finally takes a liking to it.
For older children, being involved in the cooking process can lead to more willingness to try new foods, especially if parents and caretakers bring them along to farmer’s markets to help pick out fruits and vegetables.
Finally, the HabEat project concludes that breastfeeding plays a vital role in the development of healthy eating habits. Researchers found a positive correlation between the number of months an infant was breastfed and the quantity of fruit and vegetables he or she consumed during later childhood.
(AFP Relaxnews)
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]]>The post Breastfeeding: Make feeding time a soothing time appeared first on All4Baby.
]]>Keep your baby’s sensory environment the same each feeding time. Be cautious with any extra sensory input, like talking or touching.
She needs to keep all her attention on sucking, swallowing and breathing. Reciprocate your baby’s sensory signals. If she looks at you, return eye contact, but look away when she looks away to allow her ‘sensory space’ to focus on feeding.
From the moment you lift your baby into your arms and throughout the feed, each one of her senses will be stimulated.
Your touch as you place your baby into your arms and position her at your breast.
Your baby’s sense of hearing will be stimulated by the sound of your voice and the rhythm of your heartbeat.
Sense of sight is stimulated as your baby focuses on your face and what is around her
As you lift your baby into the feeding position, her sense of movement is stimulated.
The smell of your milk and ‘mother space’ will stimulate your baby’s sense of smell.
Your baby’s sense of taste will be aroused depending on whether your milk is sweet or sour, hot or cold.
The inner sensations of hunger, satiety and gas.
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]]>The post Worried about breastfeeding? Don’t be! appeared first on All4Baby.
]]>Despite your good intentions though, you might be worried that you won’t be able to breastfeed. You’ve heard other moms talking about breastfeeding, about why they stopped, or why they didn’t even try in the first place. And all that talk can damage a new mom’s self-confidence.
When new moms hear the reasons many women give for not breastfeeding, it’s easy for them to start thinking that women’s bodies routinely malfunction, and that being able to breastfeed is just a question of genetic luck … ‘She has the right kind of boobs, lucky her’.
This is also why, at the first sign of difficulty, many new moms give up prematurely, thinking that they too must be on the path to failure. On the contrary though, had she only persevered, mom and her baby would have reaped the many benefits – both physical and psychological – of breastfeeding.
More women are physically able to breastfeed than are not. Consider that in Bangladesh, 98% of moms breastfeed, while in Norway, 95% of moms breastfeed – these are good indicators of women’s actual breastfeeding abilities.
The message is that if you have chosen to breastfeed your baby, you need to trust yourself and your body. Don’t let others’ often-misinformed reasons for not breastfeeding derail the vision you have for yourself and your baby.
Here are some of the reasons new moms give me for why they aren’t breastfeeding, and why these reasons shouldn’t put you off:
This is probably the number one reason I hear, especially in the first weeks after delivery, yet the vast majority of women will produce enough milk to nourish their babies if they follow good breastfeeding practice.
Moms often think they don’t have enough milk if their babies suddenly start fussing more than usual, or feeding more frequently, or popping off the breast sooner. Another red herring is the breast pump. After a mom has managed to pump only a few millilitres, who can blame her for concluding that she has no milk supply, when in reality she likely has an abundant supply? That’s because there’s nothing like a real baby to stimulate milk letdown.
Remember that breastfeeding is a supply-and-demand situation. Demand feed your baby, and your body will up production. Skip a feed or two every day and your body will respond by reducing the supply.
Your baby doesn’t understand your schedule, so put aside your need for control and order, and let your baby decide the schedule. Babies want to feed when they’re hungry, not when you and some baby-raising book say it’s mealtime.
If your baby is gaining weight, seems reasonably content, is alert, and produces five or more wet nappies, and two to five poo nappies a day from day four, put your worries about milk supply out of your mind.
Be warned … when you first start breastfeeding, it can feel like your baby’s got a mouth full of barbed wire. La Leche League says that 80-90% of breastfeeding moms will experience nipple pain, and 26% will get cracked, extremely sore nipples. Even moms who have breastfed before can be shocked to discover that breastfeeding the second time around is painful at the beginning.
There are many causes of this, and most of them, like poor latching, are simple to fix. With a little time, good nipple care, and the guidance of a lactation consultant, breastfeeding will stop being painful. But don’t wait to ask for help; sore nipples today can very quickly escalate to unbearable levels.
Mastitis is the inflammation of a mammary gland, which presents with flu-like symptoms and a sore area on your breast. While painful, mastitis doesn’t mean the end of breastfeeding. On the contrary, feeding more in order to empty the milk ducts is part of the cure (mastitis doesn’t make the milk unsafe for your baby).
Lactation-safe drugs like paracetamol and ibuprofen will ease the pain, as will ice packs. Consult a doctor if your symptoms persist, since you may need a lactation-safe antibiotic.
Few moms get the hang of breastfeeding instantly. Breastfeeding might be natural, but it doesn’t always come naturally. The majority of new moms need help, support and, most of all, practice. And babies don’t make it any easier. While newborns have a powerful instinct to breastfeed, they too have to get the hang of latching and sucking.
In the first weeks, breastfeeding can be difficult and you might feel like you’re a failure; you’re not! You’re just on the learning curve of breastfeeding – that four-to-six-week period when you’re both trying to master a new skill.
To help you and baby get up to speed quickly, begin breastfeeding within an hour after birth, keep separation from your baby to a minimum, feed your baby on demand, and avoid dummies and bottles.
Returning to work is a very real barrier to breastfeeding. If you have to return to work a few months after your baby is born, find out whether you’ll be able to express at work. If expressing isn’t an option, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t consider breastfeeding at all. Any amount of breastfeeding, even if for only a short period, is a gift for your babe.
About the Author: Jude Polack is the founder and director of active birth hospital, Genesis Clinic, where active birth and the support and promotion of breastfeeding are top priorities. For more information on Genesis, visit www.genesisclinic.co.za.
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]]>The post The power of a mother’s touch – Kangaroo Mother Care appeared first on All4Baby.
]]>About four million babies die each year in the first week of life, according to The Lancet; replicating the protective and nourishing environment of a Kangaroo pouch, through Kangaroo Mother Care, could help 25% survive, says Dr Nils Bergman, a public health physician specialising in Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) in South Africa.
“The very best environment for a baby to grow and thrive, is the mother’s body,” says Dr Bergman. “When placed skin-to-skin on her mother’s chest, a baby receives warmth, protection and food, and its brain can develop optimally.”
“Skin-to-skin contact should ideally start at birth, but is helpful at any time. It should be continuous day and night, but must be at least one hour to give benefit,” says Dr Bergman.
The next part of Kangaroo Mother Care is exclusive breastfeeding. That means that for an average mother, direct suckling by the baby from the breasts is all that is needed. For very premature babies, expressing milk and addition of some essential nutrients may be necessary.
Thirdly: support to the mother-child dyad means that whatever is needed for the medical, emotional, psychological and physical wellbeing of mother and baby is provided to them, without separating them. This might mean adding ultramodern equipment if available, or intense psychological support in contexts with no resources. It can even mean going home very early.
In the past, parents of premature babies were excluded from care directly after birth, including the neonatal ICU. Now, it’s known that separation causes harm to all babies – especially preterm infants.
Recent science shows that parents’ presence has a positive influence on brain development, says Jill Bergman, who has promoted Kangaroo Mother Care for 24 years. “We are realising more and more from neuroscience that the parent as central to the healthcare team is not just essential for survival, it ensures a good start to life,” she says.
1. Regulation
The baby at birth is wide-awake for the first 60-90 minutes and experiencing certain sensations. He hears mom’s familiar voice, feels her heartbeat, smells the familiar scent of her and her breast milk. The baby feels safe and comforted by these sensory signs and so his body calms.
Heart rate, breathing and oxygen saturation, blood pressure and temperature all stabilise far faster on mom than when they are separated. Baby has his basic needs for warmth, food and protection met.
2. Bonding and attachment
Baby’s brain also calms, and all of the expected sensations are collected and fire pathways in the brain. The baby will feel safe and open his eyes to make contact with his mother. This is the start of early bonding, and emotional and social intelligence. As continued contact and breastfeeding continues, a secure attachment is formed, which is the basis of all future physical and psychological health.
3. Breastfeeding
“A baby in the right place is very competent!” says Jill Bergman. A proper latch ensures adequate nutrition, and stimulation of all of the essential hormones. The mother’s chest will warm automatically if her baby is cold, and even cool baby if too warm.
4. Sleep
During quiet sleep, all of these sensations collected will fire and wire circuits to the emotional brain (amygdala), be organised and sent back to the cortex when he wakes again, thus completing the brain circuits for healthy development. Sleep should not be disturbed.
If a baby is separated from her mother early on, all those essential processes are disturbed and a stress response is created. When the baby cries, his heart rate and blood pressure goes up, and oxygen levels go down. The baby crying uses up more calories so is more likely to become hypoglycaemic; these calories are better used for growth.
“High levels of stress hormones for long periods of time are toxic to the neurons that make the brain work. The stress hormone cortisol makes more neurons die off at a faster rate. This disrupts and disturbs developing pathways and circuits. With prolonged stress after birth, the brain is measurably smaller one year later. The only difference between toxic and tolerable stress is the absence or presence of mother or father,” says Jill.
Kangaroo Mother Care babies benefit from better brain and emotional development, less stress, less crying, fewer brain bleeds, more settled sleep. They are more alert when awake and feel less pain from injections, the heart rate stabilises, more breast milk is produced and babies gain weight faster.
Ultimately babies can go home earlier when they have done Kangaroo Mother Care and have better brain and emotional development.
Your baby only needs a nappy and cap. Put her on your bare skin – starting at birth – facing you, inside your shirt. Sit in a chair with cushions so you can be at a 30-40 degree angle to help baby’s breathing. Tuck her legs up in the foetal position. Put her hands near her face for self-soothing. Cover her and yourself. Your body will automatically warm up if your baby is cold or will cool down if your baby is hot. Relax, knowing that your body is the best place for her.
To do this for long periods with a small or premature baby, safe technique requires that the airway is secured, and the baby firmly wrapped against parent’s chest. In this way baby and parents can both sleep. When awake and feeding, the wrapper is loosened, allowing eye contact, and access to the breast.
For more details see the book Hold Your Prem by the Bergmans and www.kangaroomothercare.com
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]]>The post Tips to help you shed those pregnancy kilos appeared first on All4Baby.
]]>This means that any extra weight gained during pregnancy will soon be lost.
Although this is very exciting to all lactating mothers, it is important to understand that this is not a time for dieting. Moms should still try to consume foods of high nutritional value in order to replenish those energy stores.
An additional intake of 2000kj may be required depending on frequency and length of feeds in order for a mom to maintain her weight. Fluid requirements are also slightly increased by 500ml per day. However, moms should listen to their thirst and drink accordingly.
For formula feeding moms, the weight loss task may be a bit more challenging but definitely not impossible. The key to returning to your pre-pregnancy weight is to re-establish your pre-pregnancy routine.
That means eating and exercising as you did and not concerning yourself too much with rapid weight loss but rather, gradual and safe weight loss.
Most moms take between three and six months to return to their pre-pregnancy weight. As your baby grows and demands more of your time, you will notice that you will need to be a lot more active around the house which also helps to burn those extra calories.
Here are some general healthy eating tips for both breastfeeding and formula feeding moms:
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