I am a mother of two wonderful daughters who were cheerful,
bright and happy go lucky kids, when they were growing up. Every mother
wants her child to be happy and healthy, all the time.
As I ponder over my experience, and learn from those of
other mothers that I talk to, I felt that one of the other important
factors which can really make a difference here is the mother being
in a relaxed, positive mood when breastfeeding her baby.
You must have heard the famous song
“Don’t worry be happy” from Bobby McFerrin which was #1 for quite a while
and continues to be popular even today. It is based on the famous quote by an
Indian spiritual master, Avatar Meher Baba.
I
know it is easy to say, and harder to do. When you are a mom of a new born,
coping with motherhood, with irregular schedules, with multiple stresses, it is
almost impossible to practice this throughout the day.
So, I want to add a small correction to this quote and
change it to say – “Don’t worry be happy – when you are feeding!”.
It is important for all mothers to practice this for those
15-20 minutes when you are breastfeeding your baby.
In all cultures and communities, it is an accepted belief
(and proven scientifically) that pregnant women should take care to be in a
happy and peaceful mood and have positive thoughts as it will affect the babies
in womb. The story of Abhimanyu and Arjun, where Abhimanyu learnt the art
of entering the Chakravyuh is well known, as is the story of Ashtavakra.
In the early months of motherhood, babies are exclusively
on breastfeed. So the emotional and mental state of mother at the time of
feeding affects the milk (both its quality and quantity) and consequently the
health (both physical and emotional wellbeing) of the baby.
If fetus, whose senses are not fully developed, can get
affected so much when within the womb, it is no surprise that health and moods
of an infant will be affected by mother’s milk.
An unhappy and depressed mood of the mother can affect the
quality, quantity of milk and the time spent on breastfeeding. This is an
ongoing subject of research in many medical schools world over.
Ayurveda too stresses the importance of being happy while
breastfeeding in its texts.
From my personal experience, experience of talking to
hundreds of Sangopan mothers and all the mothers that I have known, I truly
believe that a happy and relaxed state of mind is very important during
breastfeeding.
I have known several mothers who were stressed up
more than usual (for various reasons) in their early days. Many of them
had cranky and irritable babies while growing up.
I have also seen mothers who kept a happy mood during
feeding had healthy and happy babies.
It is easier said than done because motherhood in early
days per se is stressful and overwhelming, but if we consciously try to relax
in those moments it is worth it.
For e.g., everyone stresses importance of foreplay,
environment and mood setting for love making, and a stressful behavior can affect
negatively on lovemaking and overall relationship between a couple, and we know
couples take pains to take care that they set the right mood.
This is no less important.
Motherhood is about sculpting a whole new person. A mother,
with a little bit of effort and consciousness, can ensure a relaxed feeding
time.
This will go a long way to ensure a strong bond between the
mother and baby and help raise a confident, happy and a healthy baby.
Here are some things you can do which will help towards making a happy feeding time-
- Try to be alone with the baby while breastfeeding.
- Keep the things like diapers, wipes etc. required for the baby handy.
- Keep a bottle of water or juice and take a few sips in between.
- Listen to soft and soothing music of your liking.
- See some old photos and revive your old memories, anything which will bring smile to your face.
- Once in a while, reach out to people whom you like talking to. A heartfelt conversation with a well wisher can do wonders to your spirits.
- Talk to your baby and tell him/her to have as much as he/she wants.
- It may sound odd, but at times you could just spruce yourself up a little before the feeding time. You could even put on a light makeup, just a lipstick or a kajal, anything that makes you look and feel fresh and happy.
- Avoid getting into a verbal fight or argument with anyone in the house just before and during feeding time.
- Do not watch any unpleasant shows on TV during breastfeed.
- Lot of mothers get really worked up thinking that they are not lactating enough. There are ways to address this. Getting stressed up about it only makes the problem worse.
- Avoid exposure or reading of any unpleasant content which can lead to more stress (office emails, social media content etc.)
