Mixed feeding of the baby is necessary in cases when the mother’s own milk is not enough or the time has come to excommunicate the baby.
Thanks to the achievements of the modern food industry, parents have ample opportunities in choosing an artificial milk mixture. But no matter which mixture is chosen, mixed feeding of the baby should not be organized spontaneously, but systematically, in accordance with medical recommendations.
When breast milk is low
It is possible to suspect malnutrition of a child with breast milk if the number of urinations per day becomes less than twelve. How to identify it?
Instead of diapers that are comfortable in all respects, dressing the baby, you need to return to normal diapers for 24 hours. Regularly checking them for dryness, it is important not to miss the moment, so as not to count two urination due to negligence. This is called a "wet diaper test."
If there are less than 12 wet diapers per day, the child needs additional nutrition.
Calculation of the amount of feed
Mixed feeding of the baby is organized in accordance with the calculation of the amount of the milk mixture. If as a result of the “wet test” only 7 diapers were wetted instead of the set 12, then the resulting feed should be enough to wet another 5 diapers.
For a child under three months of age, approximately 30 ml of food is consumed per urination. Five dry diapers are multiplied by 30 ml and receive 150 ml of supplementary feed per day.
A child from three to six months eats not 30, but 40-60 ml, therefore, with the same calculation formula, the result will be accordingly changed.
Feeding rhythm
There is no fundamental difference in how to organize mixed feeding of the baby, but there are two tactics:
- After each breastfeeding, give the baby a mixture (the amount calculated by the above formula divided by the approximate number of feedings per day).
- One or more feedings per day is completely carried out with an artificial mixture.
The choice of tactics depends on the lifestyle of the family and the preferences of the baby, which also should not be ignored.
Before full feeding with an artificial mixture, it is necessary to gradually accustom the child to new food, starting carefully with half a teaspoon, carefully following the reaction. If on the second day after the introduction of a few drops of the mixture allergic reactions did not occur, then the mixture can be safely entered into the diet.
What will change when a baby is mixed?
Many mothers note that with the introduction of the supplement and with the favorable course of adaptation to it, the children become calmer, sleep better and willingly suck the bottle with the mixture.
This behavior of the child can make the mother decide that breastfeeding is not necessary for her baby and it does not make sense to lose time and energy to maintain it.
This is an erroneous opinion, since no advances in the food industry have yet surpassed breast milk in the composition of the unique substances that a small person so needs.
If the baby does not demonstrate contentment with life, but has become even more restless, then his condition should be discussed with the pediatrician, answering in detail his questions about the regimen of the child’s day, his appetite and stool.
Is it possible to preserve breast milk during feeding with a mixture?
Cases when lactation worsens with a lack of nutrients in the mother’s body is a rare occurrence. It is known that during the fascist blockade, the inhabitants of Leningrad, with monstrous malnutrition, fed infants their own milk. This is not a medical miracle, since the mechanisms of lactation depend not so much on the food and drinks consumed, but on the hormonal background of the woman.
The formation of milk in the mammary glands becomes possible thanks to the hormone prolactin, which is produced at night and in the early hours of the morning, from about 3 a.m. to 8 a.m., provided night feeding is provided.
The hormone oxytocin, produced by stimulating the nipples, helps to separate the milk produced from the mammary gland, that is, to stimulate the lactation of the baby, you must certainly breast-feed before emptying.
So that there are no obstacles for the production of oxytocin, a woman should feel relaxed, calm, safe and skin to skin contacting the baby as closely as possible: bathe him, do massage, look after him, play and caress.
Breastfeeding will not come to naught, even if mixed feeding of the baby has become the rule of feeding. The scheme of attachments to the chest in this case should be built not according to the graphs and tables, but at the request of the baby. In other words, with poor lactation, excessive attachment, especially at night, does not happen. Little by little, lactation will recover if there is no internal psychological resistance of the mother.
How to maintain lactation if the mother cannot be with the baby all day?
Sometimes a mother who goes to work or takes strong medications is forced to switch to mixed feeding of her baby. Feedback from women who have walked this path suggests that even at the workplace or while taking medications, lactation can be maintained by regularly expressing breast milk with a breast pump.
Subject to hygienic conditions, such milk can be placed in a cooler bag and frozen at home or given to a child later in the bottle (except for cases with medication, of course).
In sad situations, when the baby is in the hospital in isolation from the mother, who is deprived of the opportunity to breastfeed, this method will not only help maintain lactation, but, by agreement with the doctor, will contribute to the speedy recovery of crumbs, for which mother's milk will become a medicine.
Physiological changes in stool during feeding
A child receiving supplementary nutrition in the form of an infant formula gains weight in much the same way as his "counterpart" on natural feeding. But the stool in these children is different.
Mixed feeding stools are characterized by a reddish-brown color and have a slightly offensive odor, reminiscent of the stool of an adult. The consistency of a stool from a semi-liquid mushy turns into a thicker, reminiscent of plasticine. The frequency of bowel movements becomes less frequent. This is normal, since the digestive system of the child is faced with unnatural food.
At first, white lumps may occur in the feces of the baby. Most likely, these are fragments of undigested food: the enzymatic system did not have time to adjust to the changed diet.
That is why the smell and color of the stool of an infant with mixed feeding are different from the bowel movements of babies receiving only breasts. A few days after the introduction of supplementary feeding, the stool should become uniform, but it will never become similar to the infant stool.
Constipation
Docorm milk formula, unfortunately, is not a panacea for digestive problems, even if the most expensive and advertised jar is selected. Under the most favorable circumstances, and provided that the supplement is well suited for the baby and the digestive system has coped with the restructuring, the excretory system also needs time for changes in work.
The most common complaint about stool problems is constipation in infants with mixed feeding. Often the mother is guilty of this, exceeding the dosage of the nutrient powder in the mixture. The solution is obvious: carefully read the instructions for preparing food and give the child an additional amount of fluid, or, preferably, more often offer the baby a breast. The composition of breast milk is very specific and will naturally help establish a normal bowel movement.
But to solve the problem of constipation immediately, especially if the child shows all signs of discomfort, you can use glycerin suppositories, microclysters, lactulose preparations and tummy massage on the recommendation of a pediatrician.
Loose stool
Feces of a baby with mixed feeding for objective reasons should be formed, therefore, when its consistency changes dramatically and becomes like a liquid heterogeneous porridge, and the frequency increases from one or two times a day to 5 or more, they talk about diarrhea.
Fluid stool in infants with mixed feeding can be caused by many reasons, and, unfortunately, artificial feeding plays a role in its occurrence. The child’s immune system is under stress due to the intake of nutrients that are not familiar to his body. Insufficiency of breast milk only exacerbates this difficult situation, therefore, the ingress of pathogens less often passes without a trace for the baby.
If the liquid stool of an infant with mixed feeding already contains a large number of white curdled lumps, despite the fact that the supplement was introduced more than a week ago, it can be suspected that this particular jar of food is not suitable for the child, and it makes sense to choose food from another manufacturer. It is better to give preference to adapted milk mixtures and select them in accordance with the age of the child and the recommendation of the doctor.
It will also be useful to check whether the child suffers from lactase deficiency, which can be a congenital defect or a consequence of other systemic diseases.
No matter what objective reasons the mother’s decision to switch her child to mixed feeding depended on, doctors recommend maintaining lactation for as long as possible and closely monitoring the condition of the child receiving artificial nutrition in the infant period.