breastfeeding Archives - Page 2 of 2

July 22, 2015

Weaning or Nursing Strike?

“My baby ‘self weaned’ at 6 months, 9 months, a year old.'” In fact, my mom told me the story about how I self weaned at 6 months old. I just simply didn’t want the breast any more, apparently. However, I remember clearly the last time I had a pacifier, and it wasn’t pretty, so it wasn’t like I didn’t want to suck on SOMETHING. Many times, what looks like weaning may actually be a nursing strike. A nursing strike is a sudden refusal of the breast, brought on by teeth, illness, growth, or introduction of solids.

Let’s look at the difference.

1. Babies rarely wean before a year of age. After all, if solids are fun until age one, what exactly are they eating at such quantities that they don’t need breastmilk anymore at such a young age? Usually, this means too many solids have been introduced, a bottle preference has been established, or a nursing strike due to teeth or some other developmental milestone.

2. Weaning is slow and steady, and takes months to complete. Weaning of course, starts as soon as something other than the breast (or bottle if exclusively pumping) is introduced. This is recommended as starting the middle of the first year, around 6 months of age. Look for signs of readiness to make sure your baby is ready for solids. If your baby suddenly refuses the breast, you may have a nursing strike on your hands.

3. Look for reasons your baby is refusing the breast. Do they have a cold? Getting teeth? Have an ear ache? Eating too many solids? Learning something new? Some babies simply just get distracted by the world around them (usually around 4, 6, and 10 months old) and can’t be bothered by snack stops.

4. Remember that as babies get a bit older, they get more efficient at the breast. So, just because they are nursing for short spurts every few hours, it doesn’t mean they aren’t getting enough. Keep an eye on output and weight, but don’t expect a 10 month old to continue taking 20 minutes at the breast!

When faced with a nursing strike, look to your goals. If your goals are to nurse for a year and beyond, keep going! Keep offering! Use medication or ice to help sore gums, see a doctor if you suspect an ear infection or cold. Go to a dark room to nurse so your baby can calm down and nurse peacefully. Cut down on solids a bit, and offer before each meal. Be patient, this strike could last for anywhere from a couple days, to a week or two. I encourage you to stick with it.

Likewise, if your goal is to wean at an early age, take advantage of this strike, keeping in mind to replace nursing sessions with a bottle or sippy cup of formula or expressed breastmilk, as your baby still needs the nutrients and calories from either formula or breastmilk until age one.

July 20, 2015

To Eat or Not To Eat (Part 2)

The Myth:

There are a number of foods that people (and Pinterest) will tell you to avoid eating while breastfeeding. Beans will make the baby gassy, dairy and citrus will make the baby break out, cabbage will give baby a tummy ache, spices will make the baby fussy, caffeine will make the baby sleepless, and alcohol is pretty much the same thing as child abuse. I even saw one article that said to avoid garlic, because it has a strong flavor.

The Truth:

Variety is the spice of life. Any thing that you drank or ate all the way through your pregnancy, is going to make your milk taste familiar and delicious when you are breastfeeding. Garlic has actually been proven to make babies eat MORE at the breast, not less, and as long as your baby has been exposed to caffeine in the womb, it is unlikely it will affect them that much outside of the womb. Eat what you like, drink what you like, and keep it all in moderation. Science has also proven, the more variety you eat while pregnant and nursing, the less of a picky toddler you will have on your hands. BONUS!

If you are the kind of person who likes rules, here are some:

Don’t go crazy with the carbs and sugar, because yeast LOVES sugar
Don’t restrict calories
Watch your baby, if a certain food doesn’t agree with him, don’t eat it as much.
Don’t go overboard with alcohol because:
- In SUPER high doses it can affect the baby’s eating and sleeping
- It can inhibit your letdown reflex, and cause the baby not to get as much milk
- No one wants to deal with a newborn with a hangover! However, pumping and dumping is not recommended. You can’t get the alcohol out of your milk by pumping any more than you could stop being drunk by draining your blood.

July 16, 2015

5 Best Boob Books and Blogs (and one App)

I love books. When I was new on the mommy scene, I read everything. No topic was off limits and I read everything about parenting, from sleep to feeding, potty training to discipline. Not all books are created equally though, and not all blogs are worth the time it takes to click on them.

Aside from this blog, obviously, there are a few other resources I want to be sure to mention!

1. Breastfeeding Made Simple by Nancy Mohrbacher and Kathleen Kendall-Tacket

Based on the idea of 7 natural laws of breastfeeding, this is an easy to read, and informative guide of what normal breastfeeding looks like and how to make it more intuitive and less of a struggle. I recommend it to all my moms, and have even based my Breastfeeding 101 class on it.

2. Peaceful Parenting

While not specifically a breastfeeding blog, Dr. Momma has some great, evidence based articles on latch, breastfeeding, pumping and just parenting in general. There are some things I don’t agree with, but like with any blog, take what you want, leave the rest.

3. Adventures in Tandem Nursing by Hilary Flower

If you are going to nurse during a pregnancy, or after, this is the book to read. It is non-judgemental, easy to digest, and will walk you through what to expect each step of the way. I was so grateful for this book when I was pregnant with my second and still had my boob addicted toddler reluctant to give up his habit! It made me feel like all of the feelings and thoughts that were making nursing difficult were normal, and nothing to be ashamed of!

4. Kelly Mom

This isn’t exactly a blog, but it is the single most useful site I have seen regarding breastfeeding. From growth charts, to information on common medications, to ages and stages of children, to wonderful accounts of overcoming breastfeeding struggles, this website is something I refer to all the time.

5. Dr Hale’s Infant Risk Center

Dr. Thomas Hale is the leading authority on perinatal pharmacology. Meaning, all he does, all day long, is study the effects of medications on pregnant and lactating mothers and their babies. He and his team work tirelessly to give full and understandable scientifically researched information about the safety of every single medication out there. You can reach the experts a few different ways too! Their website has some good blogs, but if you need help with a specific medication, you can call them Monday-Friday 8am-5pm central time at (806) 352-2519. Or you can download the “Infant Risk” app on either iphone or android devices for a small fee. Or, heck! call me and I will read off the information, that app is invaluable!

July 15, 2015

Weaning Whines

I live in a very breastfeeding friendly, nearly stringent, bubble. Having worked with La Leche League as a leader for the past five years, I have seen breastfeeding babies from ages newborn all the way to five years old. Nothing tickles me more (internally of course, because I am a lady!) than a first time pregnant mom who comes to a meeting and sees a gigantic toddler latched on and sprawled out on his mother’s lap. The fear in her eyes say, “That baby has TEETH, and a pretty hefty vocabulary!” In fact, because of this bubble of breastfeeding, I saw a toddler nurse FAR before I ever witnessed a newborn doing the same.

I’ve seen women hell bent on nursing through pregnancy, tandem nursing, and nursing until the baby self weans, as if each goal will earn them a merit badge. I have seen the same women feel extremely guilty when they realize they can’t stand the feeling of nursing anymore during a rough pregnancy, or when they need sleep more than they need to respond immediately to every peep from both their first and second born kid with a breast and a smile. I have seen women worry that weaning their 2 year old will mean ostracizing from their friend group, that they will be pariahs for admitting that they are done with nursing before their baby. On the other hand, I have seen women force their baby to the breast, because they aren’t ready for their toddler to wean yet.

It is great to nurse babies until they are done, don’t get me wrong. However, there might be reasons that a mom wants to wean before the baby is absolutely done. This is okay. There might also come a time when the baby is done, and the mother isn’t. Breastfeeding is a relationship, one that involves two people. To ignore the feelings of one of the people in that relationship can be a major mistake.

I am here to say, it is okay to wean. It is okay if that happens before you wanted it to. It is okay to set goals, but it is also okay when those goals change. Over the next couple of weeks, I will explore this taboo topic, and how to wean in a way that is gentle, safe, and loving to both parties in the relationship.

July 13, 2015

Foods to eat, or not to eat (Part One)

Two questions I hear very often from breastfeeding parents: What can I eat to increase my supply? and What should I avoid eating during breastfeeding? This Monday I will focus on the first question, next Monday I will focus on the second.

The Myth of the Galactagogues – “The More Milk Makers”
There are a lot of urban legends floating around about foods that will boost your supply. Recipes for “lactation cookies”, steel cut oatmeal, flaxseed, and article after article about supplements such as fenugreek, goats rue, and blessed thistle. One mother I knew drank pineapple juice, an entire glass, every time she sat down to nurse. I know of a mom who was force fed milk by her mother, because “to make milk you must drink milk.” Most recently, and oddly, women are swearing by blue Gatorade and Oreo cookies. I don’t know why it has to be the blue flavor but apparently IT DOES.

There are tons of old wives tales, cultural foods too lengthy to list here, and homemade remedies. I am sure, SURE, someone is selling an essential oil that they say will make milk flow like the Mississippi.

The Truth
I say to you. The best way you can make more milk is: FEED YOUR BABY MORE OFTEN. Yep, that’s it. The more you feed, pump or express your milk, the more milk you will make. The longer you let your milk stay in your breast, the less you will make. So, eat to hunger, drink to thirst, and avoid eating too much sugar, it will only make you pack on the pounds and possibly land you with thrush. Is steel cut oatmeal a bad idea? Absolutely not! It is a nutritious breakfast full of fiber! Have at it! Do you need to drink gallons upon gallons of milk or water or eat five cookies a day to meet your baby’s needs? Nope.

Remember, you are enough, you can do this. Below you can see my favorite recipe for lactation cookies.

December 16, 2014

I Hate Breastfeeding

I am not sure when we got the idea that all good mothers love breastfeeding. Today, there seems to be a cult of motherhood. New mothers are expected to sit around the house contented to look like a painting from the Renaissance complete with tranquil smile, perfect cherubic baby latched to the breast and halo atop both of their heads. As any real life mother can attest, this is almost never the case. The baby won’t latch, your nipples hurt, your c-section incision aches, or it hurts to sit down for too long because of your birth. The baby seems to be so wiggly you need at least six more hands and a dozen more pillows, and HOW THE HELL DOES THIS PUMP WORK?!! You miss your old life, your old self, your old body. You are wracked with feelings of fear, love, guilt, anger, frustration, and pride, sometimes all at the same moment. New parenthood is hard work, and it isn’t ever perfect.

And here is my point. It is okay to hate breastfeeding. You can still be an amazing mom and give your baby the best food for their body and totally despise the act of breastfeeding. Lots of women (I suspect) feel this way, but no one talks about it. We are trying so hard to look like a painting that we don’t talk about how we are actually feeling because we are worried about being judged. I have three kids, and I really hate certain things about parenting. Playing tea party with my daughter is akin to shoving bamboo shoots under my nails, only less exciting. Changing my two year old’s poopy pants is not my idea of a great afternoon. Listening to my seven year old describe the structure he created on Minecraft makes me want to scream (to the tune of Minecraft that is constantly stuck in my head!!!!). I do these things any way, because they are ways I can show my kids that they are important, loved beings. It is part of my job as mom.

To me, breastfeeding is just a way of getting premium food and comfort to a baby. It was the way parenthood was designed to go. It is part of the job, not a magical act that will transport you to a place of blissed out tranquility immediately. It is okay if you hate it, you will hate a lot of things about parenthood. However, it is important that you do it anyway because your baby needs you and your baby needs your milk to grow normally and healthfully. Mama milk is important! As fundamental to your baby as a clean diaper, a warm bed, or your love.

Push through mamas, it won’t always be fun, but I promise you, it will always be worth it.

November 22, 2014

The Price is Right

If you broke your foot, you would get an x-ray. If your tooth hurt, you would see a dentist. If you had a heart attack, you would see a cardiologist. Most likely, you wouldn’t even balk at their fee. Why? It’s because we know that good, quality help from educated, caring, medical professionals is worth every penny. Why then do we gasp when we hear the price that comes with “natural” healthcare?

Lactation consultants, are often times accused of charging exorbitant amounts for their services. I have been told to accept all offers, to provide a sliding scale, to barter, and to offer my services for free for a time. When was the last time you bargained with your doctor? One large problem is that insurance will gladly cover your echo-cardiogram, but they may not even know what a lactation consultant is. The undervaluing the services of these people by the healthcare mainstream doesn’t do people any favors. Some insurances may technically cover IBCLCs but their “preferred providers” might be not easily accessible.

When you hire a private practice International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) you get someone with years of lactation focused experience and education. Someone who, most likely, is available to you day or night, through texts, phone calls, emails, and home visits. They will sit with you, help you, and make you feel sane and in control again. They feel as passionate about breastfeeding as you do, and they are there to facilitate your goals. We are required to continue learning all the time, combing through research papers, attending conferences, and networking with other IBCLCs to make sure that you get the latest and greatest breastfeeding knowledge available. Not too shabby for $100/consult, even if your insurance carrier disagrees.

Consider for a moment all the other things that we happily spend on babies. How much is your baby’s crib? Their highchair? Their stroller? Now how much would you pay to insure that your baby has the best food available to them? If an IBCLC can help you breastfeed successfully, think of all the money you will save by avoiding bottles, formula, and having a statistically healthier child.

Having a support team doesn’t make you weak, it makes you strong. And a strong mother and baby seems well worth every penny to me.

November 12, 2014

Howdy, Partners!

Over the past couple of days, it has come to my attention that one of the single most predictive elements of a successful breastfeeding relationship is not being addressed. So, let me address it. Hey there partners of breastfeeding moms out there! Hi there dads and other mamas! Did you know that your support of breastfeeding is imperative to your lactating life partner? I know there are some amazing men and women out there who support and guide and help and comfort and parent. These are not the partners that I am speaking to today. Today I am filled with a righteous anger towards those men and women who are not supportive of their partner breastfeeding their babies.

I have had two women contact me in the past two days regarding this phenomenon. These women are being teased, verbally abused, abandoned, and ridiculed for their decision to breastfeed past the first couple of months of life. By. Their. Partners. Not okay. The saddest part I find, is that the questions I am getting is not, “do you have recommendations for a good marriage counselor?” or “why do you think my husband is acting like such a child?” No, they are asking me this, “How to I wean, so my partner will stop making fun of me and help me parent?” and “Is this my fault? Have I ruined my child and my marriage by deciding to breastfeed? Let me just say that no, this is not your fault. Well, maybe you could have picked a better partner, but other than that, no, breastfeeding didn’t ruin your child or marriage.

Parents, regardless of how you feed your child, you deserve the following:

Support
Food
Exercise
Love
Safety
Occasionally sleeping in
Help

Partners, regardless of how you feed your child, good parenting/partnership consists of the following

Supporting your partner
Bonding with your child
Loving them both unconditionally
Supporting them both unconditionally
Occasionally passing up the opportunity to tell someone “I told you so”
Helping
Listening

In other words, stop being a jerk about how your kid is fed, love your kid and support the person you had them with. I don’t think this is rocket science, but sadly, many people have not yet gotten this message. Parenting is hard, don’t make it harder by acting like a spoiled brat.

November 11, 2014

Isn’t This Supposed to be Natural??

When I excitedly tell someone that I passed the test to become a Certified Lactation Consultant after nearly 6 years of study and being in the field, I usually get this response: You need a certification for that? Isn’t breastfeeding supposed to be natural? Of course, I get variations on this sentiment too. “Um, isn’t it like, open mouth, insert boob?” or “I had no idea that was even a thing.” This used to really frustrate and insult me, but I sort of understand where they are coming from. Media (mostly commercials for things like diaper rash cream), art, and every breastfeeding propaganda flyer I have ever seen depicts breastfeeding as some sort of magical happening that is perfect every time. I can almost hear angels singing in the background of many of these ad campaigns. Their intention was pure, to make breastfeeding look desirable, you probably don’t want to depict an exhausted mother and a screaming baby surrounded by used burp rags. Here is the catch, yes, breastfeeding is natural, but natural does not equal easy.

Let’s use a metaphor! Eating is natural, but cooking is a learned behavior. Many women have never seen another woman breastfeed. When formula took over as the prefered feeding method, in the 1940s and 50s, essentially an entire generation was skipped on learning how to breastfeed from their mothers, aunts, sisters and friends. With help from groups like La Leche League, and those same ad campaigns, the art of breastfeeding is coming back, but in general, the public knowledge base is still lacking. If you have never seen anyone cook, and all you have ever known from TV, family, and friends is take-out food, how would you know how to cook? That is where IBCLCs come in.

After having helped hundreds of breastfeeding pairs learn how to breastfeed, it is my belief that there is certainly a need for this kind of professional in every pediatrician office, OB/GYN practice and most certainly every hospital. I want to see every mother to take three hours away from pinning nursery designs and finding nerdy onesies on Pinterest and use that three hours to take a comprehensive breastfeeding class. I want those mothers who struggle at the beginning not to feel defeated and inept because they are having trouble getting the hang of it. I want partners to understand how important breastfeeding is to the physical and mental health of babies AND their mothers. I want them to value this bond as much as their lactating counter-point does. I want to educate and teach myself out of a job.

Now let’s get cooking!