Advantages and disadvantages of mixed breastfeeding

Breastfeeding has great benefits for mom and baby. It prevents diseases for the breast such as mastitis , positively influences the prevention of chronic disease during childhood, reduces the risk of sudden death, the risk of meningitis, type I diabetes, favors the development of the jaw, improves the response to vaccines, promotes brain development, etc. For the mother: it reduces the risk of breast and ovarian cancer, improves anemia, improves calcium absorption, preventing osteoporosis, contributes to the recovery of the uterus after childbirth.

In short, breast milk strengthens the child’s immune system, provides all the nutrients that the baby needs and is a very cheap and quickly available resource. At present, there are many reasons why the feeding of the baby cannot come solely and exclusively from breastfeeding. In this sense, although “prepared milk” can never replace “natural milk”, these formulas are currently prepared to provide what the baby needs to develop normally and adequately.

Why bet on mixed breastfeeding? Next, we will analyze the reasons as well as the advantages and disadvantages of mixed breastfeeding, understood as the alternation of breast milk and artificial milk or formula. It can be done by alternating the feedings or supplementing the feedings.

WHEN TO BET ON MIXED BREASTFEEDING

Mixed breastfeeding is usually carried out for these reasons:

– At the mother’s wish.

– Due to the inability of the mother to give all the feedings to her baby.

– To complement the feeding of the baby when it is not gaining weight. This usually happens in very extreme cases (premature babies, babies with some pathology, low milk production, etc.)

ADVANTAGES OF MIXED BREASTFEEDING

Mixed breastfeeding can be very beneficial, according to its most positive points:

– One of the main advantages is that it greatly facilitates the baby’s feeding. While breastfeeding can only be done by the mother, with mixed breastfeeding, this work can be shared and other people participate in it. In this sense, the mother will have more time for other things (including sleep and rest) and the father will participate in this moment and be more involved in raising the baby.

– Another advantage is to guarantee the baby’s weight gain. With a bottle feeding after the breast , we make sure that the baby is really satiated and greater control is taken over the amount of milk ingested.

– Breast milk may be insufficient in quantity and in this way a good diet is guaranteed.

– Allows women to reconcile family life with work life. The mother can return to work sooner and can reconcile her role as mother with her work obligations.

– In addition, it facilitates breastfeeding outside the home. Being able to bottle feed the baby avoids the situation of nursing the baby in public or having to find a discreet place. Also, the mother forgets about having to remove layers of clothing.

– Formula milk, compared to breast milk, takes longer to digest and causes a feeling of satiety, which leads to more time between feeding and feeding.

– Facilitates the transition to weaning . The baby will not demand the breast as often , since the breast not only has a nutritional function but also works as a relaxing element for the baby. In this sense, it helps the baby to get used to the absence of the breast. Thus, we can accustom the little one to the new milk gradually (it is advisable to substitute one feeding at a time until the moment when the baby will take only formula milk, which will be at 7-10 days).

– Both are combined, so that mother and children can continue to benefit from everything that natural breastfeeding provides and that could not be supplemented with totally artificial breastfeeding.

DISADVANTAGES OF MIXED BREASTFEEDING

On the other hand, this type of diet also has some cons:

– The preparation of the bottle requires a process of sterilization, preparation and heating, which requires time.

– It can help the baby to get used to the nipple of the bottle, which generates less effort in suction, losing efficiency and ability to correctly suck the breast, which is more complicated.

– The breastfeeding period is shortened by reducing the frequency of breastfeeding. The body produces less milk each time.

– If the mother produces abundant milk and it is not released, there is a risk of mastitis.

– Despite its many advantages, nothing replaces natural breastfeeding, in terms of benefits on the health of the baby.

– Another downside is that for some babies, formula milk causes constipation, spitting up, gas, and colic.

– The price of formula milk is not as cheap as we would like and we will always prefer to give a quality prepared milk to a cheap one. Therefore, it is not as inexpensive a resource as breastfeeding is.

– It is a disadvantage in terms of time: the feedings are very long, since at half an hour or more of the breast you have to add the bottle, which can take an hour or more.

IN CONCLUSION

Natural breastfeeding should always be prioritized, due to its many benefits for both the baby and the mother, at all levels. However, whenever this option is not possible, priority should be given to mixed breastfeeding over exclusively artificial breastfeeding . Mixed breastfeeding ensures that the benefits of breast milk (many of them irreplaceable) are not renounced, and at the same time, it facilitates personal and family life.

Therefore, the suitability of the feeding mode must be analyzed in each case. The ideal way to enjoy long-term mixed lactation is to offer bottles as a complement to the breast always after breastfeeding, never as a substitute for it. In addition, we must try to choose nipples that simulate the shape of the nipple so that the child does not lose practice in sucking on the breast.