Dr. Neetu Talwar, Senior Consultant Fortis Memorial Research Institute in Gurgaon, joins us and answers worried mommies about their breastfeeding concerns. Thank you Dr. Talwar for your support to the New Moms Club.

Shikha - My baby is 28 days old and I breast feed her but sometimes from right side milk comes in almost water form, in fact it is just like water but the other side has milk. What should I do? I have consulted a doc but she said it's normal, is it??

Dear Shikha, you as well as your doctor are correct. Brest Milk is in two parts , first part is the foremilk and the latter half is hind milk. Foremilk is like water and is high in sugar content. This is for the immediate satisfaction of the baby's hunger. It is the hind milk which is thicker and milk like in appearance. Both breasts have both the parts and have exactly the same constitution and are as good as each other. Both are absolutely normal.

Aanchal - My 14 months daughter is not leaving breastfeed....she is not accepting bottle milk as well....even if she is full with chapati and sabzi she asks for my feed....

At 14 months breast milk feeding is serving as an emotional support to the child rather than meeting any significant nutritional needs. Just be brave and take the decision to stop the breast feed. You could give her milk in a tumbler / glass/ sipper. Gradually when the child realizes that breast milk is not available, she will definitely start taking top milk, don't worry.

Tapsi - My baby is now 6months...I have started semi solids for her...m noticing these days that my bm has reduces...I spoke to my gyne. .she told me to take medicine 'perinorm cd'. ..for that...and m taking it everyday... because wen I stop... milk reduces ... I wanted to feed my baby at least an year (which doesn't seem possible now) ...feel like m feeding medicine milk to my baby. . Help me plz...

At 6 months we do weaning. Weaning is a gradual process of introducing feeds other than breast milk. Please note that it is a gradual process. So one or a maximum of two top feeds are sufficient at the age of six months. Rest of the feeds are essentially breast feeds. Once weaning starts, definitely breast milk supply reduces slightly. But if weaning is done fast and a lot of feeds are non - breast feeds then milk production decreases. In case you are worried you could take Ayurvedic supplements like Satavarex or lactonic granules which are harmless for the baby and the mother and at the same time quite effective. But the bottom line remains that you have to continue breast-feeding and wean gradually.

Shaveta - My baby is 4.5 months old and he is both bf+ff. Since past one month, he had reduced his milk intake from both modes... he had lost weight also. How to help my baby to improve his milk intake? Also he prefer to have milk while sleeping.

Weight loss is one thing and failure to gain weight according to expectation is another. While the latter can be due to insignificant reasons like teething or minor illnesses, the former case of weight loss can be worrisome. If it going on for a month you should consult your doctor . To improve milk intake, nothing needs to be done. If the baby is well and free of any diseases he will gain weight as per accepted Nomograms (Charts which tell us the normal ranges of weight and height). Excess weight gain is not that we can afford especially in age group below 2 years.

Chinky - My baby boy is 1.4 years old.. My query is how long one needs to breastfeed a toddler?? And how can one safely wean off from breastfeeding?

After 1 year one can wean the baby off breast feeds completely. One needs to take a firm decision and just say No to feeds.

Nidhi - Hi ma'am my lo is 11 month n she is only on bf n solids should I go for ff or cow's milk or amul tetra pack and what quantity I should give her in a day?

You could give whichever milk is being used routinely in you house e.g. Amul or Mother diary which comes in a packet. Let the baby decide on the quantity and avoid force feeding.

Pratima - By when babies wake up for feed in midnight....my son is 10 months....no matter what dinner he takes, he needs bf.....in night at times i end up feeding 5 to 10 times...whenever he is awake he needs feed

In this case either the baby has not taken enough feed at night and hence is hungry. A good idea would be to religiously follow the practice of burping the baby each time for 10 minutes by clock. Then offer feeds so that feed is completely taken and there is no false sense of satiety due to the air which they usually swallow. The other reason is probably for emotional security which they need whenever they wake up for urination or passing stools. Also check whether the baby is absolutely comfortable, room temperature, comfortable clothes, etc.

Sheetal - How frequently one should feed 6 months old?

Sheetal, whether the baby is one month old or six months old, you should be demand-feeding. It is not possible to have a schedule or a time-table according to which you should feed the baby. Usually a six month-old should be satisfied for 3-3.5 hours after feeding. In case he/she feels hungry and demand feeds sooner, that means they are not taking feed properly. In case the reason behind this is that your baby sleeps while feeding, you should wake her/him up and see it to it that they are completely satisfied before they dose off.

Jasmine - Hello Dr. My baby is 9 months old.. I give him bf+ff+semi solid. My prob is that I have to travel from Goa to Pune for an official purpose. 2 nights n 1 day I will be away from him without breast feeding which I mostly do evening n night time while sleeping. So wen I go for meeting my breasts will feel engorged as I wont be feeding him. Is it ok if it remains engorged for 2 days? Yes I know it will hurt me. but is there any way would I get relief? I know confusing but hope u understood what I wanna know. please give me some tips regarding this.

Whenever you are going away from your baby, you should not only make sure that your milk supply doesn't decrease, you should also make sure that you don't face any discomfort because of it. In order to do that, you have to keep expressing and throwing away your milk - this will not affect your milk production later on. This way it will also not lead to engorgement and pain. In case you still experience pain, just take a paracetamol or keep a hot water bag.