Do I need Supplementary or Complimentary feeds?
As I was just saying colostrum is all I need for the first 3 days of my life, as I have enough reserves accumulated from mummy's womb to last me through before the breast milk comes in. But because mummy is gestational diabetic, the nurses feared that I am hungry or dehydrated so I was given complementary feed of formula milk. I will first suckle on mummy's breast for 15 minutes to stimulate her production of milk and will later drink 60ml of formula milk to complement the feeding.
Mummy and daddy became worried because having taken the complimentary feeds, I may not want to suckle mummy's breast. They were scared that the artificial feeds may have stopped my feelings of hunger or thirst. Valuable colostrum may be lost as a result of that. Mummy and daddy is also worried that I might have nipple confusion. I will not know how to differentiate between nipples and teats and suckle properly. I might become frustrated on the breast as the flow from the breast is little in the first few days and reject my mummy's breast. On top of all these, if I do not suckle on mummy's breast enough, the breast milk will take longer to come in and mummy will experience engorgement.
To make matters worse, besides formula milk feeding, I was given extra glucose water because I was put under phototherapy because of my jaundice. The nurses were scared that I might get dehydrated. Mummy and daddy got really confused. Should they feed me with formula milk and glucose water? What is the right thing to do? Later on, they seeked advice from the lactation consultant that as long I urinate 6 to 8 times a day, that means I have sufficent fluid. So I was put on TOTAL BREAST FEEDING with no supplementary or complementary feeds. And guess what I passed the test of having sufficent fluid just by suckling on mummy's colostrum. These had helped to ease the worries of daddy and mummy.
Grandma's role in breastfeeding
Grandma has been a great help to mummy on breastfeeding. She stayed over on the second night in the ward to teach mummy how to breastfeed me. She taught mummy the correct positioning and latching on.. She also taught my mummy how to massage her breast and apply hot press to stimulate flow of milk. She even massaged the breasts for mummy. And guess what mummy started to produce milk (transitional milk) on the fourth day of my birth-29th October 2007. Mummy was very happy that she is finally producing milk to feed me.
Daddy's role in breastfeeding
When mummy is breastfeeding, daddy showed his support by taking over all the household chores, bringing her a drink, taking over diaper duties, burping and bathing me. I have a wonderful daddy.