Q: My daughter is around 70 days old and has got watery eyes and thick yellow discharge constantly. Since I am not able to meet her demands, I support her with lactogen. She also has constipation and vomits very often. My mom says that my breast milk is spoiled after 4 hrs; is that so? Will the milk get spoilt when inside the breast and what can I do for her eyes and vomiting

A:Problems listed here are eye discharge, vomiting, constipation, insufficient breast milk. Eye discharge - it seems the infant has infection. If you have not taken any treatment, you may try putting antibiotic drops in the eyes 3-4 times /day, after cleaning with a boiled-and sqeezed cotton swab from nasal to ear side. Take a fresh swab every time. If there is no improvement in 3 days time, consult an eye specialist or pediatrician. Vomiting - if baby is gaining adequate weight, 700-800 gm/month, then there is nothing to worry. Vomiting can be due to bad positioning, over feeding, or rarely due to infection. Keep the child on shoulder for 15-20 min after feed then keep in cot with left side up and right down for sometime so that if vomiting occurs it does not go into lungs. If weight gain is poor-consult your doctor-he will give drugs for stopping vomiting and find the cause of vomiting. Breast milk does not get spoilt inside breast, but if breast is not emptied freqently, breast milk becomes less. You have started lactogen-most mothers think they have less milk even if weight gain of baby is adequate. If the infant is given exclusive breast milk the mother increases her diet; and if the infant is passing urine 5-6 times, it is getting sufficient milk. Do not give top feed by bottle- the mechanism of breast and bottle feeding is different, and the baby gets confused and fusses at breast. When ever milk other than breast is to be given, first offer breastand follow at the same time with cup/spoon feed. Never replace breast for bottle during some feeds. ALSO REMEMBER BOTTLE SHOULD NEVER BE GIVEN TO INFANTS, IT ONLY CAUSES PROBLEMS. Constipation- babies who are breast fed have softer stools, powder milk-fed babies have harder stools. Also make sure you are making the milk according to the recommendation, puting more powder can also cause problems.