Styles of Attachment
Secure:
Child seeks contact with caregiver when distressed and settles when comforted. Child feels safe and calm to develop his/her sense of trust, leading to more independence and willingness to explore. (As an adult, they can trust others, become emotionally close, have mutual dependency, and self-confidence.)
Insecure:
Child’s need for safety and understanding are not met. As a result, child can be confused about identity, have difficulties learning/relating to others. Commonly leads to low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, withdrawal, and more aggressive interactions with others.
Types of Insecure Attachment:
Avoidant:
When emotionally upset, sick or hurt, baby is often ignored by caregiver. This child often does not seek comfort from their caregiver, even when distressed. (As an adult, they often avoid emotional connection with others.)
Ambivalent:
When distressed, caregiver sometimes responds to baby with comfort, but is sometimes unresponsive, annoyed, or emotionally unavailable. This child is reluctant to explore their environment, is preoccupied with getting caregiver's attention, becomes extremely distressed when caregiver leaves. (As an adult, often worry about being abandoned.)
Disorganized:
Neglected/abused by caregiver. This child avoids interactions and is fearful/confused around their caregiver. Child is disoriented, displays unusual behaviours. For example: approaches caregiver with head turned away, has trance-like freezing, or has strange postures. (As an adult, unpredictable and volatile in relationships and has difficulty trusting others.)
Things To Be Aware of:
Be careful what you ingest. Whatever you put in your body can potentially be passed to your baby. This includes alcohol, drugs, supplements, herbs, or vitamins. Please consult your doctor before ingesting things. For more information visit https://trashthepumpanddump.org/.
How milk production works in your body. Even if your baby is not ready to breastfeed, childbirth will make your breasts fill with milk about 48-72 hrs after birth. If you empty your breasts by breastfeeding/expressing (by hand or with a breast pump), your body receives a message that more milk is needed. If you don’t empty your breasts, your body receives a message that no milk is needed and within 3-5 days, milk production will begin to decrease.
How to start milk. To start the flow of milk, hand express or pump your breasts within 6 hrs of birth. To keep it going, continue to pump/express milk every 2-3 hrs for the first 24 hours after birth, and then every 2-3 hours during the day, and at least once at night.
Lactation Consultants: A Vital Resource
Challenges:
Hospitals may not have sufficient staff to meet the needs of their patients needing lactation coaching or education.
Moms may have trouble coordinating their schedule with the lactation consultant’s.
Workarounds:
Ask for all the resources the hospital can provide you.
Make an appointment with a lactation consultant as soon as you can after birth.
Be persistent and proactive about making this appointment, even if you think you don’t need help.
Hire your own lactation consultant:
