I struggled with breastfeeding. I had nipple soreness and damaged skin on my nipples until my daughter was 3 months old! My daughter was about two months old when two lactation consultants decided she had a mild tongue-tie. They called the type she had, a posterior tongue-tie. If you are having nipple pain and nothing seems to be helping, and especially if your baby is on the skinny side, please look into this. There is a simple fix - it can be clipped. First try to get help from a lactation consultant, since they are experts on this matter, and if they haven't considered it please suggest it as a possible problem. I had excellent lactation consultants who didn't diagnose it until my daughter was two months old because she didn't have a severe tongue tie that was easy to see when she cried. Also, ask your baby's pediatrician about it because some can do the procedure called a frenulotomy, in their office. If the pediatrician won't do it, an Ear, Nose, and Throat docotor (ENT) will do the procedure. The procedure is painless for your baby and done in the office.
Watch a fabulous video about it on an episode of "The Doctors" at http://www.thedoctorstv.com/main/home_page?init_type=Feature&init_id=2192
Breastfeeding my daughter was never easy and I continued to nurse her until she was almost two years old. Knowing what I know now, If sweet child #2 has any type of tongue-tie, that thing is getting snipped!
Showing posts with label Breastfeeding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Breastfeeding. Show all posts
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Friday, July 23, 2010
Book Review - Permission to Mother by Denise Punger
This is a beautiful and entertaining book for anyone who is interested in attachment parenting, natural birthing, and breastfeeding. Although, some of the author's parenting choices vary from mine, the book really struck a chord in my soul. Both the author and I share the desire to live a wholesome and balanced life for our children.
I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a medical perspective (the author is a medical doctor) on the benefits of natural living, attachment parenting, babywearing, and especially breastfeeding. Dr. Punger is a Lactation Consultant.
This book reads like a story, not a textbook. It is a terrific addition to any natural parenting library. The cover alone made me want to buy it :)
See the author's blog here:
http://www.permissiontomother.com/
Monday, June 14, 2010
A Realistic Approach to the Attachment Parenting Ideal
Watch a beautiful video about attachment parenting here
Attachment parenting is quite popular these days although it is often portrayed as an alternative or hippie way to parent. It's called attachment parenting because it is all about keeping your baby close. Strollers are less than ideal to the attachment parent. Breastfeeding and cosleeping are important. Gentle bedtimes with no "crying it out" is preferred. Attachment parenting, made famous by Dr. Sears, is a beautiful idea.
So, what do I think about all this? Well, it is an ideal. Ideals are not reality. I think many people have trouble applying all aspects of attachment parenting to real-life. In my house, we do what is most practical and healthy for my child. We also try to keep life relatively simple and structured.
We babywear. We also use strollers when it is more practical to do so. This time of year, babywearing can get pretty toasty. Now that my daughter is a toddler, she frequently prefers the stroller or grocery cart and has for quite some time. She also prefers to walk when she is allowed (I don't let her walk around at the store because that leads to trouble.) She is 21 months now. The older she gets, the less she wants to be worn.
I still breastfeed. I've thought about weaning my daughter completely but then she looks at me and says "nursie." I breastfeed my toddler one to two times a day - always just after she wakes up. She refuses to breastfeed before bedtime and has for months now. She is not the type of kid that just wants a milk snack from me at any time of the day. On days I work, I don't breastfeed (I work three days a week from morning to night.) Our lactation consultant said it is okay to go a two days in a row without breastfeeding and my milk supply will be fine - as is the case once a woman breastfeeds for over a year. If I was in the early stages of breastfeeding, going a day or two without nursing would cause my milk supply to dwindle fast.
I began to wean at 4 months due to the introduction of rice cereal to my baby's diet. Exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months did not happen for us. Not on purpose, but when I went back to school, my breastfed baby refused a bottle. To fill in meals when we were apart, her caregivers gave her rice cereal with breastmilk by spoon. This was awful because she didn't gain much weight her fourth month, however, at the time it seemed necessary. She is healthy and thriving now. She has hardly every been sick. My daughter has only had three ear infections, ever. My husband and I both had frequent ear infections as babies. I was breastfed until about 9 months and my husband was never breastfed.
I loved cosleeping with my daughter until she was nearly a year old. Unfortunately, the older my daughter got, the less she was able to sleep with me - she was too squirmy and wanted to be awake. At 6 months old, we also sleep trained her (aka - "cry it out" Ferber style) to fall asleep in her own bed. In the middle of the night, if she woke, I'd bring her to bed with me (a more gentle approach than Ferber's - let her cry again.) I didn't have the heart to let her cry in the middle of the night after she cried herself to sleep. Sleeping on her own happened gradually. My little sugarplum would nurse and sleep beside me frequently at five months - this has gradually decreased and by 14 months she only would come to bed with me to nurse when she woke in the morning between 6 and 8 am. When my little one was 5 months old, I would doze off in bed with her nursing. When I woke back up an hour or two later, I'd usually put her back in her own bed. Our goal from quite early on was for her to start the night in her own bed. We thought this would be a good way to get her used to her bed without forcing her to sleep in it by herself all night. This also gave me and my husband much needed time to ourselves. I still haven't figured out how people manage to cosleep when their 6 month old needs to be in bed by 7 pm. What do they do between their baby's bedtime and their own? Do their babies wait until the parents bedtime to go to sleep? You can't exactly leave a baby unnattended in an adult bed, that just seems like an accident waiting to happen. To me it seemed smarter to put my exhausted baby to bed, in her bed, at 7 and let her cry a little rather than keep her awake until 9 or 10 just so we could cosleep. Furthermore, my daughter only had to "cry it out" for two to three nights in a row. After that it got much better and only got tough again if routines were altered from vacation or illness.
I'm all for modified attachment parenting. I refuse to be a strict attachment parent because it is too exhausting for me. If I'm exhausted, I'm not a good mommy. I love sleeping with my daughter but I cherish my alone time with my husband as well. It is nice to have baby-free time together. Strollers AND my baby carriers have come in quite handy over the past 22 months. The small amount of formula we gave my daughter when I went back to school, allowed me to not have to pump as much (and pumping was always tough for me.) Despite giving my daughter supplemental formula at times, I'm still breastfeeding her at 22 months - that's pretty good right? I'm all for doing things the way they work best for my family. I'm all for watching my child's cues and meeting her needs. I think I'm doing a pretty decent job. I think I have a lot to learn.
Attachment parenting is quite popular these days although it is often portrayed as an alternative or hippie way to parent. It's called attachment parenting because it is all about keeping your baby close. Strollers are less than ideal to the attachment parent. Breastfeeding and cosleeping are important. Gentle bedtimes with no "crying it out" is preferred. Attachment parenting, made famous by Dr. Sears, is a beautiful idea.
So, what do I think about all this? Well, it is an ideal. Ideals are not reality. I think many people have trouble applying all aspects of attachment parenting to real-life. In my house, we do what is most practical and healthy for my child. We also try to keep life relatively simple and structured.
We babywear. We also use strollers when it is more practical to do so. This time of year, babywearing can get pretty toasty. Now that my daughter is a toddler, she frequently prefers the stroller or grocery cart and has for quite some time. She also prefers to walk when she is allowed (I don't let her walk around at the store because that leads to trouble.) She is 21 months now. The older she gets, the less she wants to be worn.
I still breastfeed. I've thought about weaning my daughter completely but then she looks at me and says "nursie." I breastfeed my toddler one to two times a day - always just after she wakes up. She refuses to breastfeed before bedtime and has for months now. She is not the type of kid that just wants a milk snack from me at any time of the day. On days I work, I don't breastfeed (I work three days a week from morning to night.) Our lactation consultant said it is okay to go a two days in a row without breastfeeding and my milk supply will be fine - as is the case once a woman breastfeeds for over a year. If I was in the early stages of breastfeeding, going a day or two without nursing would cause my milk supply to dwindle fast.
I began to wean at 4 months due to the introduction of rice cereal to my baby's diet. Exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months did not happen for us. Not on purpose, but when I went back to school, my breastfed baby refused a bottle. To fill in meals when we were apart, her caregivers gave her rice cereal with breastmilk by spoon. This was awful because she didn't gain much weight her fourth month, however, at the time it seemed necessary. She is healthy and thriving now. She has hardly every been sick. My daughter has only had three ear infections, ever. My husband and I both had frequent ear infections as babies. I was breastfed until about 9 months and my husband was never breastfed.
I loved cosleeping with my daughter until she was nearly a year old. Unfortunately, the older my daughter got, the less she was able to sleep with me - she was too squirmy and wanted to be awake. At 6 months old, we also sleep trained her (aka - "cry it out" Ferber style) to fall asleep in her own bed. In the middle of the night, if she woke, I'd bring her to bed with me (a more gentle approach than Ferber's - let her cry again.) I didn't have the heart to let her cry in the middle of the night after she cried herself to sleep. Sleeping on her own happened gradually. My little sugarplum would nurse and sleep beside me frequently at five months - this has gradually decreased and by 14 months she only would come to bed with me to nurse when she woke in the morning between 6 and 8 am. When my little one was 5 months old, I would doze off in bed with her nursing. When I woke back up an hour or two later, I'd usually put her back in her own bed. Our goal from quite early on was for her to start the night in her own bed. We thought this would be a good way to get her used to her bed without forcing her to sleep in it by herself all night. This also gave me and my husband much needed time to ourselves. I still haven't figured out how people manage to cosleep when their 6 month old needs to be in bed by 7 pm. What do they do between their baby's bedtime and their own? Do their babies wait until the parents bedtime to go to sleep? You can't exactly leave a baby unnattended in an adult bed, that just seems like an accident waiting to happen. To me it seemed smarter to put my exhausted baby to bed, in her bed, at 7 and let her cry a little rather than keep her awake until 9 or 10 just so we could cosleep. Furthermore, my daughter only had to "cry it out" for two to three nights in a row. After that it got much better and only got tough again if routines were altered from vacation or illness.
I'm all for modified attachment parenting. I refuse to be a strict attachment parent because it is too exhausting for me. If I'm exhausted, I'm not a good mommy. I love sleeping with my daughter but I cherish my alone time with my husband as well. It is nice to have baby-free time together. Strollers AND my baby carriers have come in quite handy over the past 22 months. The small amount of formula we gave my daughter when I went back to school, allowed me to not have to pump as much (and pumping was always tough for me.) Despite giving my daughter supplemental formula at times, I'm still breastfeeding her at 22 months - that's pretty good right? I'm all for doing things the way they work best for my family. I'm all for watching my child's cues and meeting her needs. I think I'm doing a pretty decent job. I think I have a lot to learn.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Nice Breasts
I absolutely love this advertisement. Best for Babes has a wonderful website promoting breastfeeding. What's better for your little ones? I also love how Best for Babes doesn't judge for not breastfeeding - they recognize the barriers that women face which often leads to not breastfeeding.
Best for Babes has an article posted called "Booby Traps" at http://www.bestforbabes.org/breastfeeding-booby-traps/. One of the cultural booby traps mentioned in this article is the negativism women experience when they "throw in the towel" after attempting to breastfeed, writing that women are "damned if you do and damned if you don't." This article calls all women to "beat the booby traps."
Monday, August 10, 2009
Mama's Milk - Perfectly Made for Baby
My daughter, now almost 18 months, just got over a stomach bug that consisted of diarrhea and probably stomach aches. Last time she had a stomach illness, she was 16 months old and her pediatrician told me that breastfeeding her probably made it milder. There is research that has found that breastfed babies (even those that are over one year old) don't get as sick with gastrointestional illnesses as children who are not breastfed! Wow. I already knew a slew of reasons to breastfeed my child, and now I have learned one more. I am not at all surprised by this though. Human milk is the perfect food for a human baby. It makes perfect sense to me.
Click here to view an article about how important breastfeeding is to baby and mother. One reason stated in this document is a 21% reduction in infant mortality after the first month.
Click here to see 101 reasons to breastfeed your child!
Click here to see 101 reasons to breastfeed your child!
Friday, July 17, 2009
And the Best Breast Pump is...
When I was preparing for my daughter's birth, I was told that Medela was the way to go. I purchased the Medela Pump in Style. I have had no problems with it but I can't help but thinking there are a few things that could be improved upon. Medela pumps come with only come with one size flange (the part that fits over your nipple) to start with. The Ameda Purely Yours Ultra comes with standard, medium, and large flanges. Medela has the other sizes available but they are expensive and if you are unsure which size to use this can be one more headache for a new mom.A good friend of mine, and new mother, got the Ameda Purely Yours as her breast pump at the recommendation of a lactaction specialist. She loves it. After looking at the two webpages listed below, I can see why the Ameda may be the better option. One more thing important to mention about the Ameda pump, it is CHEAPER!
Comparison chart on the Ameda Purely Yours Ultra and "Leading Competetor"
Comparison chart of Ameda Purely Yours Ultra and Pump In Style Advanced
Medela Pump in Style below (retail about $280) - not the personal use top of the line pump by Medela.
Ameda Purely Yours Ultra below(Retail about $280) - THE top of the line personal use pump by Ameda.
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