Straight Talk About Real Babies

Defining New-mom Expectations

By Ann Calandro, BSN, RNC, IBCLC

It's no wonder that new mothers are confused about breastfeeding. What opportunity do they have to understand real breastfeeding babies, not the pretend ones on TV or the fictional ones in stories? Not the formula-fed infant of their neighbor.

Let's see. On TV, infants are mostly upstairs in their cribs, sleeping peacefully while Mom lives her life largely unchanged downstairs. In stories they are much the same, sleeping 22 out of 24 hours a day, peacefully eating and cooing the rest of the time.

In our culture, mothers have been accustomed to babies who are formula fed, who behave very differently from babies who eat naturally. Formula is an artificial food, and it causes babies to act in artificial ways. Babies who drink formula receive in very short order a large amount of liquid that is very difficult to digest. After a formula bottle and a few big burps, babies sleep for several hours before they feel hungry again. Hmm... This sounds very nice; Mom can get lots of things done. Perhaps.

However, inside, Baby is dealing with an unnatural food that is very hard to digest and takes a very long time to move out of his stomach. In any case, many new mothers have come to accept that this is the way their own baby will behave. Not so with breast milk.

Breast milk is natural and digests very quickly – usually within two hours. Therefore, breastfed babies eat often. In the early weeks, they may eat eight to 20 times a day – or more. It depends.

As a lactation consultant, I frequently hear moms say, "Well I tried to breastfeed my first child but they always wanted to eat, and my milk could never fill them up like formula did. They were always hungry." Get it? The formula makes them feel very full, but is that good for them? Not really. Formula is deficient in all immunological properties.

Want to see more?

• 101 Reasons to Breastfeed Your Child
• Let's Hear It for the Human Breast!
• Breastfeeding – Starting Out Right
• Your Breast Friend: The International Board Certified Lactation Consultant
• Talk about it!