Breastfeeding at Christmas

Christmas can be such a magical time. But it can also be stressful and never more so than when a new baby arrives to share it with you - especially a new breastfed baby. Babyworld are able to offer some expert breastfeeding advice.

As you juggle with Christmas, and your children, all the fun of Christmas can seem a long way away - a household full of relatives and friends, office parties, mulled wine and over-indulgence - the things you once looked forward to, can become fraught with anxiety.

Here are a few tips that might help to make this Christmas the breast ever!!

To Party or not to Party?

Don't deny yourself the chance to dress up in your sparkliest dress and join the party scene. Obviously, a lot will depend on the age of your baby and on your confidence with breastfeeding, but a bit of forward planning based on the following options might help:

Take the baby with you:

• Check that the venue is smoke-free and that the party is not too big and noisy.
• Carry a scarf or shawl that your partner can pull over your exposed chest for discrete feeding!
• Book a room at the hotel for the night or for the party hours only, and get a babysitter to call you up at feeding times.

• Book yourself a babysitter and start expressing just a little breastmilk every day for a week or so before the party. Doing this will give you a small stock of breastmilk in the freezer.
• Remember to wean the expressing down again after the party if you do not want excess breastmilk. Give a feed just before you go out and again on your return or express if the baby is asleep.

Contact your health professional or local support group for details of breastpump hire. Breastmilk freezer bags and handpumps can be bought from larger supermarkets or chemist stores and there is a selection of breast pumps in the babyworld shop.

Alcohol - how much is too much?

Small amounts of alcohol are unlikely to be harmful to mum or baby. If you are feeling particularly fraught it may even help to relax you.

As a guideline, the Health Education council suggests that 2 units of alcohol or less per day or less than 10 units in one week (provided this is spread out over several days and not taken all at once), is unlikely to cause any harm to the infant. One unit is equal to a half pint of ordinary strength beer, lager or cider, a small glass of wine or a single 25ml measure of spirit.

Although alcohol is not stored in milk and is quickly eliminated by the mother's body, it can interfere with the "let-down" reflex and may make the milk taste or smell different. By consequence mothers may notice more difficulties with their babies, in terms of feeding, milk expression, sleeping and digestion.

Breastfeeding mothers, may find that they are not able to tolerate alcohol as well as they might have done before pregnancy.

Christmas nibbles - should I avoid nuts?

Nuts and nibbles are bought and consumed by the bucket load at Christmas time. But with peanut allergies on the increase, is it safe for breastfeeding mothers to eat peanuts, or any other sort of nut?

The Department of Health currently offers the following guidelines:

Mothers can be assured that breastmilk offers babies some protection against allergy.

Peanut allergy is most likely to affect children if there is an allergy in the immediate family. So if the breastfeeding mother, or the baby's father, brother or sister already suffer from asthma, eczema, hayfever or other allergy it would be sensible to avoid eating peanut products whilst breastfeeding.

If you do not fall into this category, there is no reason not to eat peanuts or any sort of nut.

Embarrassed relatives

Most of the relatives that descend at Christmas are not seen from one year to the next. They can seem like strangers. Some relatives will get quite embarrassed when it comes to feeding time and so might you. This is bound to affect your ability to get a good latch and if this happens you will have a fretful baby, sore nipples and a cold turkey! So have a strategy in mind.

Obviously, how you choose to deal with this will depend on how confident you feel with your breastfeeding. It may be better to go off to another quiet room to feed. Having to do this can make you feel lonely and isolated, singled out from the festivities. So take someone with you to chat to, or watch the telly, read a book or listen to your new CD, feeding in uninterrupted peace and quiet - a chance to escape the rabble!

If you don't want to do this:

• Mark out your breastfeeding chair and set it the furthest away from the TV so your relatives aren't forced to see you feed whilst they are trying to watch the telly!
• Invest in a festive scarf to swing round to cover your chest whilst feeding.
• Wear a Christmas outfit that won't reveal too much exposed flesh but will allow easy access without too much fumbling!

Unsolicited advice from relatives

Many relatives will not be used to the frequent demand feeds of a breastfed baby. Whilst many of their comments are well-intentioned and sometimes helpful, they can seriously undermine the confidence of a breastfeeding mother.

You may well find yourself needing to arm yourself with some quick-fire retorts to counter criticisms such as:

"Not feeding again are you? You'll spoil/overfeed that baby."

"That baby's hungry, give him a bottle…"

"Leave him to cry a while, it does their lungs the world of good."

It may help to thank them for their comments and to explain, very simply, that this frequent feeding will ensure an abundant milk supply and much needed relief for your breasts.

Or better still, remind them of how much snacking they do, especially at Christmas time, so something like:

"She must take after you auntie, this is her third cuppa/sherry since lunchtime!"

Breastfeeding emergencies

If you get in a panic with your breastfeeding over the Christmas period you can speak to a NCT breastfeeding counsellor on the Breastfeeding Line: 0870 444 8708 8am-10pm everyday.

Where to next?

• Babyworld's Feeding forum is always open for you to exchange your experiences and advice with other new mums, and if you have a question about breastfeeding why not take a look
• Have you read our other Christmas articles? Check out Christmas on babyworld!