Dehydration and Breastmilk

Breastfeeding mothers have it tough. You’re giving so much of yourself to nurse and nurture you baby when you breast feed and there are road bumps you can definitely run into. When you commit to breastfeeding make sure you’re ready for all that it can throw at you.

Dehydration While Breastfeeding

Source: HEALTH AND WELLNESS BLOG INDIA

You know that breastfeeding is a great way to “burn” calories, so to speak. When you’re breastfeeding your body is using the calories given it and previously stored to produce breast milk. But what you might not know is that while breastfeeding uses so many, many calories it’s actually comprised of more than 90% water. That’s right, simple water is what your baby is feasting and thriving upon.

Because breast milk is mostly water your baby milk supply is dependent on not just calories consumed but water drank on a daily basis. Lack of water in the mothers’ body, maternal dehydration, can have serious consequences on the baby.

But how much water should you drink every day to produce ample breast milk? Let’s see….

A breastfed baby will consume 2-3 ounces for every pound she weight at about 3 months. For the first few weeks after he’s born a breastfed baby increases the amount of milk he can consume. As he baby grow so does the stomach and it’s capacity for hold more milk. The first week of life the baby goes from consuming 1 ounce per day (for the first day of life) to 16-18 ounces of milk (at a week old). At 6 months you breastfed baby is consuming between 19-30 ounces of milk a day.

At 6 months the baby can begin to eat solid foods so the need for a breast milk only diet decreases slightly. Instead of increasing the need for breastmilk in the growing months, your 6 month old baby will level off the need for more breast milk and get more and more calories from solid food.

Breastfeeding means paying attention to how much water you are consuming. If breast milk is hydration for the baby too than the mother needs to be drinking and adequate amount of water to hydrate herself and her baby. Considering consuming an additional 2-3 cups of water to the 8 glasses you already drink every day. This additional water will help your body produce breast milk for the baby all day long. If you’re exercising too, than consume water while you exercise to stay hydrated. It’s a balancing act to keep yourself and your baby well fed.

Signs of Dehydration From Breastfeeding

There’s no reason why you can’t workout, breastfeed and take care of your family too. If your multitasking includes water, great healthy foods and plenty of rest than you’re setting a great example for the rest of the family.

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Breastfeeding Helps Shape The Immune System Early In Life

Research shows women who breastfeed their newborn babies are helping to nurture good health in them. The Henry Ford Health System reported on Feb. 21, 2015, breastfeeding and other factors help to shape the immune system very early in life. Researchers at Henry Ford Hospital say that breastfeeding and other factors have an influence on a baby’s immune system development and susceptibility to allergies and asthma by what’s present in their gut.

Mom's Milk Helps Infant's Immunity

Source: HEALTH AND WELLNESS BLOG INDIA

Christine Cole Johnson, Ph.D., MPH, chair of Henry Ford’s Department of Public Health Sciences and principal research investigator, says these findings help to support the so-called hygiene hypothesis theory that exposure to microorganisms in early childhood affects the immune system’s development and onset of allergies. The microbiome in the gut is known to play a significant role in immune system development which is believed to contribute to many diseases such as autoimmune diseases, circulating disorders, obesity, and pediatric allergies and infection.

Dr. Johnson says we now know why a sterile environment is not good for babies. Research shows that exposure to microorganisms, or bacteria, during the first few months after birth actually helps to stimulate the immune system. If exposures to bacteria are minimized in babies the immune system will not develop optimally.

This research found that breastfed babies at one month and six months had distinct microbiome compositions in comparison to non-breastfed babies. Immune system development may be influenced by these distinct compositions. It has been observed breastfed babies at one month were at lowered risk of developing allergies to pets. Also asthmatic kids who had nighttime coughing or flare-ups had a distinct type of microbiome composition during the first year of their life.

The researchers observed that a baby’s gut microbiome patterns are also influenced by other factors including a mother’s race/ethnicity, the gestational age of a baby at birth, caesarean section versus vaginal delivery, the presence of pets in the home, and prenatal and postnatal exposure to tobacco smoke.

Medline Plus reports that breastfeeding offers many benefits to your baby. There is a good balance of nutrients in breast milk to help your infant grow into a toddler who is strong and healthy. There are also nutrients in breast milk which help protect your infant against some common childhood illnesses and infections.

Benefits of Breastfeeding

It's also worth noting that certain types of cancer may occur less frequently in mothers who have breastfed their babies. And as Womenshealth.gov points out the experience of breastfeeding offers the joyful experience of closeness and bonding with your newborn baby. It's therefore a good idea for women who don't have health problems to consider breastfeeding their babies for at least the first six months of life.

Health Blog URL: http://blog.edtreatmentindia.com/