Nanny Joe

Q: My baby is 3 months old and i need to get back to my work soon.He relies onlky on breastfeeding and refuses to be weaned off with any bottles/teats/pacis.Any tips as i dont know how it will be like without my breast milk.

A:

1) Now that you know you will be back to work soon;gradually alternate feeding your child between breastfeeding and feeding via a bottle.You can pump out your milk and put it into the bottle.Get your hubby involve in feeding so that your baby gets familiar with other people especially during feeding time.This will help in reducing the ‘clinging effect’ during feeding.

2) If you choose to continue breastfeeding;you can pump your milk out and store it in a breastmilk bag in the freezer.Usually frozen breast milk can be stored up to 2 days(experts say you can freeze it at the back of freezer at -4 degrees up to 6 months.I personally feel 2 days to ensure freshness as sometimes no sure gurantee for 6 months.This also encourages continuity in lactating as more often you express,the lactating period is normally prolonged).

To defreeze the milk, warm it up in a tub of warm water.

Q: What is the fat content of human milk? Would you have a reference for this?

A:

Human milk has 1.3 gms of fat per fluid ounce and 11 grams in 1 cup (USDA Survey database). Human milk is perfect for little humans whereas cows milk is better for little cows. The American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends breast feeding for the first year of life. About time!