Truly Happy Baby ... It Worked for Me: A practical parenting guide from a mum you can trust. Holly Willoughby
Чтение книги онлайн.

Читать онлайн книгу Truly Happy Baby ... It Worked for Me: A practical parenting guide from a mum you can trust - Holly Willoughby страница 7

Название: Truly Happy Baby ... It Worked for Me: A practical parenting guide from a mum you can trust

Автор: Holly Willoughby

Издательство: HarperCollins

Жанр: Здоровье

Серия:

isbn: 9780008172534

isbn:

СКАЧАТЬ target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="#litres_trial_promo">here) in his milk for his reflux, I had to warm it for it to dissolve properly. Determined to make bottle-warming as hassle-free as possible, I devised a quick and easy plan once he’d moved on to formula. When I went up to bed, I would take a thermos flask of boiling water and, say he was having a 7oz bottle, I would fill a sterilised bottle with 6oz of cooled boiled water. Then when Chester needed a night feed, I would top the cooled bottle up with 1oz of boiling water from the flask, which made it the perfect temperature for the formula and carobel to dissolve and Chester to drink right away (although with carobel you do need to leave the milk to thicken for a few minutes). Likewise, during the day, say I was going out at midday for the afternoon, I’d put 7oz of freshly boiled water in a bottle, then zip it up in a bottle cosy so it would cool down slowly. By 3pm it would have cooled just enough to add the formula and be the perfect temperature for a hungry baby. But if Chester hadn’t had reflux, he would have been getting room-temperature milk all day long!

      Is my baby thirsty? Should I give her water? …

      I was told that, as a rule, babies get all the fluid they need from milk and shouldn’t need any extra water. If it’s a boiling hot day, you should feed your baby more often to stop her from becoming dehydrated.

      HOW TO: BOTTLE-FEED

      Whatever position works best for you, make sure you are positioned comfortably and have everything you need to hand. When you begin, your baby should make a seal around the teat with her lips to stop her swallowing too much air as she feeds. If there’s milk pouring down her chin during a feed, try adjusting the position of the teat in her mouth. It should be straight, not at too much of an angle. If her lips are dragged in when you put the teat in at first, give the bottle a gentle twist to release her lips.

      Your baby’s head should be slightly tilted back, so there’s plenty of room in her throat for the milk to flow down. If you’re not holding her upright enough, it will be difficult for her to swallow freely. It’s also very important that the teat is completely full with milk. Otherwise, any air in the teat will get swallowed along with the milk and you’ll end up with a very windy baby on your hands.

      Bottle-feeding positions to try …

      Cradle hold

      Hold your baby in this classic hold, where you rest her head in the bend of your arm and support her body with the rest of your arm. Her head should be positioned higher than her feet so she’s slightly upright, preventing any milk from making its way into her ear and causing an ear infection. This leaves you a free hand to hold the bottle.

      Sitting-up hold

      Sit your baby up and lean her against your chest or rest her head in the bend of your arm. This is a great position for reflux babies and one I used a lot with Chester. It’s also great for nosy babies who want to look around whilst they’re feeding!

      The face-to-face lap hold

      You can do this sitting or lying. Bend your knees to make a slope and prop your baby up against your thighs, facing you. This is really nice for both of you as you can look at each other and your baby will feel fairly independent!

      You don’t need to always hold your baby when you bottle-feed her. If, for example, you have backache you can prop her up on a pillow and feed her that way. You can still make eye contact with her and talk to her as you feed. The only thing to bear in mind is you mustn’t let her fall asleep, as this isn’t a safe position for her to sleep in (see here).

      Making up formula: the rules …

      If you follow the instructions on the formula container, it will advise you to make up each bottle, one at a time, as and when you need it using the following steps:

      1. Sterilise the bottle.

      2. Boil the water, then let it cool for about 10 minutes before adding it to the bottle. It will still be hot. (Don’t boil the water multiple times, thinking you’re making it cleaner! Apparently over-boiling intensifies chemicals in the water. Think sauce reduction and how much it intensifies the flavour!)

      3. Add the correct number of formula scoops to the water.

      4. Cool to the perfect temperature for your baby.

      5. Feed to your baby immediately.

      Making up formula: the cheat’s way! …

      However, I’m going to be honest with you, I didn’t do it this way. This is one of those alarm-bell moments, where you need to weigh up the official advice against my experience and make your own choice. Current guidelines say you should heat the water you mix with formula to 70˚ or above to minimise the chance of any nasty bacteria forming, so while below was my preferred option, it’s really up to you. If, like me, you just don’t have the time or the inclination to repeat formula preparation steps 1–5 several times a day, you might find this alternative way useful.

      After consulting several midwives and medical professionals about how far to take official formula advice, here’s what I found out to help make life a little bit easier:

      • Once sterilised, bottles will remain sterile for up to 24 hours as long as the lids are screwed on – whether you’ve left them empty or have put cooled boiled water in. So sterilise all your bottles for the next 24 hours in one hit, fill with the correct amount of water and pop the lids on.

      • Pre-prepared bottles with only cooled boiled water in can be left at room temperature for 24 hours so you can add the formula just before you feed your baby, unless of course you give your baby warmed milk, in which case you’ll have to warm the bottle (see here).

      • You also have the option of adding the formula to completely make up the bottles after you’ve cooled the water, which means you have no milk to make up when your baby is hungry. If you do this, these ready-made bottles need to be refrigerated and kept cool when you’re out and about, and washed and sterilised again after 24 hours whether your baby has touched them or not.

      • Never save a half-drunk bottle of formula for later, otherwise you’re opening your baby up to all sorts of harmful bacteria. You might feel like you’re wasting so much formula but this will only happen in those early days. Soon your baby will be knocking back the whole bottle in one feeding session so there won’t be any wastage at all.

      The bottom line is whichever way you choose to make up bottles, you must wash, sterilise and replenish everything every 24 hours.

      Washing and Sterilising …

      It’s really important to wash all your feeding paraphernalia with washing-up liquid and hot water before sterilising, as СКАЧАТЬ