Recommended Breast-feeding Practices
Here are the latest guidelines for American mothers from the American Academy of Pediatrics:1. Human milk is the preferred feeding for all infants, including premature and sick newborns, with rare exceptions.
2. Breast-feeding should begin as soon as possible after birth, usually within the first hour.
3. ewborns should be nursed whenever they show signs of hunger, such as increased alertness or activity, mouthing, or rooting. Crying is a late indicator of hunger.
4. supplements (water, glucose water, formula, and so forth) should be given to breast-feeding newborns unless a medical indication exists.
5. When discharged less than 48 hours after delivery, all breast-feeding mothers and their newborns should be seen by a pediatrician or other knowledgeable health care practitioner when the newborn is 2 to 4 days old.
6. Exclusive breast-feeding is ideal nutrition and sufficient to support optimal growth and development for about the first six months after birth. Infants weaned before 12 months of age should not receive cow’s milk but should receive iron- fortified infant formula.
Gradual introduction of iron-enriched solid foods in the second half of the first year should complement the breast milk diet. It is recommended that breast-feeding continue for at least 12 months, and thereafter for as long as mutually desired.
7. In the first six months, water, juice, and other foods are generally unnecessary for breast-fed infants.
8. Should hospitalization of the breast-feeding mother or infant be necessary, every effort should be made to maintain breast-feeding, preferably directly, or by pumping the breasts and feeding expressed breast milk, if necessary.
(Editor’s note: This article was adapted with permission from the American Academy of Pediatrics in Elk Grove Village, IL.)
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