Breastfeeding
Breast milk and breastfeeding help every part of your baby's development and breast milk provides all the nutrition your baby needs. It has hundreds of antibodies, enzymes, and other factors that will protect your baby from infections and disease. Breast milk is easy for your baby to digest, always the right temperature, easy to provide, handy, changes as your baby grows, and is free. It's recommended that you breastfeed your baby exclusively for the first six months, continuing to breastfeed until your child is two years old.
More Information
On The Best Chance website, you can explore how to begin breastfeeding, how to tell if your baby is getting enough milk, how to care for your breasts, and where to get help with breastfeeding if you
need it.
DID YOU KNOW?
Health Canada and the World Health Organization recommend only breast milk for your baby until six months, and that after you start giving your baby solid foods you continue to breastfeed for two years or longer.
Healthy Eating for Breastfeeding Moms
When you are breastfeeding you need energy and nutrients. Here are some tips for making healthy choices while breastfeeding (and after!).
- Choose great tasting, nutrient rich foods from the four food groups.
- Eat three meals and two to three small snacks every day.
- Avoid foods and beverages that are full of empty calories, fat and sugar or sodium such as cakes, doughnuts, potato chips, soft drinks, sports drinks and energy drinks.
- Limit foods containing trans fats.
- Drink lots of water.
- Have a glass of water, milk, soup or 100 per cent juice nearby when you breastfeed.
More Information
For more information about how to choose healthy food while breastfeeding, go to The Best Chance website.
DID YOU KNOW?
Breastfeeding moms need more calories while they are producing breast milk. Add 2 to 3 additional servings of food from the four food groups listed in Canada's Food Guide.
Avoid Drinking and Smoking
It is best to refrain from drinking alcohol while breastfeeding. Alcohol can affect your baby's sleep or decrease the amount of milk your baby takes at feeding time.
If you choose to drink alcohol, try to feed your baby before you have a drink. You can also wait for two to three hours after a drink before you breastfeed. This allows the alcohol level in the breast milk to drop.
It's important to create a smoke free environment for your baby as exposure to cigarettes and second hand smoke increases the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and other related health issues such as ear infections, asthma and bronchitis.
Smoking cigarettes is also not recommended for breastfeeding moms. Nicotine and other harmful ingredients in cigarettes pass through your breast milk and can affect your baby. Smoking may also reduce the amount of breast milk you produce. However, because breastfeeding is so good for your baby, it's still better to breastfeed than not, even if you aren't able to quit smoking.
Most of the time, quitting smoking is more successful with the support of smoking aids and your friends or family. You can increase your chances of successfully quitting smoking by getting smoking cessation counseling support available free of charge from QuitNow. Smoking cessation medications, available either from your pharmacy or by prescription, can double or even triple a person's success rate.
For more information about smoking cessation and programs available for you and your partner, consult your family doctor and visit HealthLinkBC or QuitNow.
Emotions During and After Pregnancy
Having a baby is both physically and emotionally challenging. It is normal to experience mood changes including mild feelings of depression or anxiety that come and go throughout pregnancy and up to six months following the birth of a baby.
The most common experience is the "Baby Blues" which usually starts 1 to 3 days after delivery and is considered normal. Women may experience mood changes, teariness, a lack of sleep, fatigue, feelings of vulnerability that often go away within 10 days of delivery.
Ongoing depression and anxiety during pregnancy or following the birth of a baby is not normal and it is important to seek help from a health care provider. Treatment and support are available.
More Information
To find out more about the signs of depression during and after pregnancy and where to get help, visit The Best Chance website.
DID YOU KNOW?
50 – 80% of women experience normal "Baby Blues" after the birth of their child.
Parenting Support
Bringing home a new baby can be challenging, even for the most prepared new parents. Frustrations may arise from changes in schedules or a lack of sleep. Talking with other new parents can be a helpful source of support and guidance. Call your local health unit for a list of the various baby and parenting support groups in your area. You can also check out a list of community resources on The Best Chance website or visit the BC Pregnancy Outreach Program website for information on services and supports that may be available to you.
Safe sleeping
Make a safe sleep environment for every sleep - nap time, night time, home or away.
- Always place baby on back, in crib for every sleep.
- Keep crib beside parents' bed for the first six months.
- Ensure crib has a firm mattress, a tight-fitting sheet and no bumpers, pillows, heavy blankets or toys.
- Crib, cradle or bassinet meets Canadian safety regulations
- Keep baby's environment smoke-free during pregnancy and after birth.
- Breastfeed your baby, as this protects against SIDS.
- Prevent your baby from over-heating.
- Never let your baby sleep on a sheepskin, pillow-top mattress, waterbed, couch, sofa, armchair, recliner or any adult bed.
- It is best to never share a bed with your baby.
Crying babies
Babies usually cry because they are hungry, uncomfortable, sick, hurt or want to be held. Dealing with a crying baby when you are tired can be frustrating; however, sometimes there is nothing you can do to help your baby to stop crying. This is called unsoothable crying and it usually ends by about three to five months of age. The most important thing you can during the crying stage is stay calm and take a break when you need it. It's also important to ask for help if you are feeling overwhelmed and overtired.
Soothing Tips:
Check if your baby is hungry, tired, too hot/too cold or needs their diaper changed.
Carry, comfort, walk and talk more with your baby.
· Sometimes these things work and sometimes they do not work.
If the crying is very, very, frustrating for you, it is OK to walk away.
Gently place your baby in a safe place and leave the room. Take a 10‑15 minute break to give yourself a chance to calm down.
Never shake or hurt a baby.
