The Starting of a Family: 7th Month updates - Food for Baby

If there is 1 goal I'm trying to achieve for Peanut, that would be to exclusively breastfeed her from birth till at least a year. Of course, if there's not enough breastmilk, I'll surely won't starve my baby and probably will give formula milk instead. But clearly Allah swt has created breastmilk as food for baby, so I'm sure InsyaAllah, with some efforts, Allah won't deny it.

Furthermore, it is stated in the Quran the breastfeeding is encouraged till the kid is 2 years old.

"The mothers shall give suck to their children for two whole years..." (2:233)

And from my research, these are the benefits:

1. creates a strong bond between mother and child
2. increase both baby and mom's immunity system
3. higher baby IQ
4. a complete nutrition for baby
5. helps mom to reduce to pre-pregnancy weight faster
6. reduce risk of cancer to moms

I wasn't a breastfed baby either and I think I grew up pretty well. But sometimes I do wonder if I had, would I be a smarter kid? Would I be closer to my mother? Would I be less sickly now? (yes, i fall sick quite often..)

So for me, this would be some sort of a quest to those answers.

I did more research on what's best to produce breastmilk and a kind sister had forwarded me a hadis that recommended fenugreek (biji halba) and dates (kurma ajwa/nabi) to be best consumed during pregnancy for milk production. Other than that, drinking milk or hot milo helps as well. So far, I've been drinking lots of milk and 3 pieces of Kurma Ajwa a day (sunnah is 7 pieces). This sister did this as well for her 2nd kid and she claimed that her kid now is actually smarter and rarely fall ill as compared to her 1st daughter. In fact, her cousin too followed this routine and her kids are not only smart (uni grads) but also well behaved and beradap.

I was so worried initially that I couldn't produce milk because mom told me that she was 'dry' with all us 3 kids and I was afraid it's heredity but Alhamdullilah, all efforts paid off! Barely a few days into this routine, I've produced breastmilk!

Actually what came out, is not milk but colostrum to be exact. It's pre-milk which is clear liquid and tho very little, has the best nutrients and antibodies which is sufficient for baby to survive on before the full milk production kicks in about 3-4 days after birth.

Sorry, if i gross u out.. lol! Now, I just hope Peanut would latch well.