Jack Newman, MD, FRCPC

A lactation aid is a device which allows a breastfeeding mother to supplement her baby with expressed breastmilk, formula or glucose water with added colostrum (glucose water alone should only be used, in general, in the first day or two after birth) without using an artificial nipple.

Breastfeeding mothers frequently ask how to know their babies are getting enough milk. The breast is not the bottle, and it is not possible to hold the breast up to the light to see how many ounces or millilitres of milk the baby drank.

Sore nipples are usually due to one or both of two causes. Either the baby is not positioned and latched properly, or the baby is not suckling properly, or both. Incidentally, babies learn to suck properly by getting milk from the breast when they are latched on well.

Colic is one of the mysteries of nature. Nobody knows what it really is, but everyone has an opinion. In the typical situation, the baby starts to have crying periods about two to three weeks after birth.

Breastfeeding is the natural, physiologic way of feeding infants and young children milk, and human milk is the milk made specifically for human infants.

Breastfeeding is as good as combined contraceptive pills (about 2% failure rate) if all the following conditions apply (no exceptions):

Breastfeeding is the natural, physiologic way of feeding infants and young children milk, and human milk is the milk made specifically for human infants.

Severe engorgement about the third or fourth day after the baby is born can usually be prevented by getting the baby latched on well and drinking well from the very beginning. If you do become engorged, please understand that engorgement diminishes within 1 or 2 days even without any treatment.

One of the most powerful arguments many health professionals, government agencies and formula company manufacturers make for not promoting and supporting breastfeeding is that we should "not make the mother feel guilty for not breastfeeding".

Mastitis needs to be differentiated from a plugged or blocked duct, because the latter does not need to be treated with antibiotics, whereas mastitis often, but not always, does require treatment with antibiotics.

Because more and more women are now breastfeeding their babies, more and more are also finding that they enjoy breastfeeding enough to want to continue longer than the usual few months they initially thought they would do it.

Fluconazole (Diflucan™) is a synthetic antifungal agent which can be used for the treatment of a variety of Candida albicans infections. For the breastfeeding mother in particular, it can be used to treat recurrent Candida infections of the nipples, and, if such an thing exists, Candida infections of the milk ducts.

Domperidone (Motilium™) is a drug which has, as a side effect, the increased production of the hormone prolactin. Prolactin is the hormone which stimulates the cells in the mother's breast to produce milk.

All health professionals say they are supportive of breastfeeding. But many are supportive only when breastfeeding is going well, and some, not even then. As soon as breastfeeding, or anything in the life of the new mother is not perfect, too many advise weaning or supplementation.

This is not an information sheet on all the ins and outs of working outside the home and breastfeeding. This sheet provides information on how your baby can be fed when you are not with him.

Because there comes a time when breastmilk no longer supplies all your baby’s nutritional needs. (This does not mean, as some uninformed people say, that there is no nutritional value in breastmilk after the baby is six months old.)

The purpose of breast compression is to continue the flow of milk to the baby once the baby no longer drinks (open-pause-close type of suck) on his own. Breast compression simulates a letdown reflex and often stimulates a natural letdown reflex to occur. The technique may be useful for

Regular X-rays such as a chest X-ray or dental X-rays do not affect the milk or the baby and the mother may nurse without concern. Mammograms are harder to read when the mother is lactating, but can be done and the mother should not stop breastfeeding just to get this done.

Babies do not breastfeed on nipples, they breastfeed on the breast. Though it may be easier for a baby to latch on to a breast with a prominent nipple, it is not necessary for nipples to stick out.

The vast majority of women produce more than enough milk. Indeed, an overabundance of milk is common.

Breast milk is the only food your baby needs until at least 4 months of age and most babies do very well on breast milk alone for 6 months or more. There is no advantage to adding other sorts of foods or milks to breast milk before 4 to 6 months, except under unusual or extraordinary circumstances.

Over the years, many, many, many women have been wrongly told to stop breastfeeding. The decision about continuing breastfeeding when the mother must take a drug, for example, involves more than consideration of whether the medication appears in the mother's milk.

Finger feeding is a technique which allows you to feed the baby without giving the baby an artificial nipple. Finger feeding is also a method which helps train the baby to take the breast. If you want to breastfeed successfully, it is better to avoid the use of artificial nipples before your milk supply is well established.

Jaundice is due to a buildup in the blood of bilirubin, a yellow pigment which comes from the breakdown of old red blood cells.

Gentian violet (1% solution in water) is an excellent treatment for Candida albicans. Candida albicans is a yeast which may cause an infection of skin and/or mucous membranes in both children and adults.

A breastfeeding mother should try to eat a balanced diet, but neither needs to eat any special foods nor avoid certain foods. A breastfeeding mother does not need to drink milk in order to make milk.