Nursing Your Kids

Whenever I feel frustrated nursing a toddler I have to remember that at least I’m not nursing a litter!

I’ve seen this on a couple of breastfeeding blogs lately and couldn’t resist posting it here.

Sesame Street sure has changed since the seventies. Could you imagine them showing something like that now?

sesame street, breastfeeding, breastfeeding video

I delivered at a hospital that was as breastfeeding friendly as they come. Before his birth Bob and I took a breastfeeding class that was a great resource for both of us. After Sam’s birth he latched on and nursed so well that the nurses let him keep nursing, rather than whisking him away for his bath, eye drops and whatever else it is they do in the nursery. I chose to sleep alone rather than rooming with Sam because I knew it might be the last chance I had for sleep. They brought him to me every two hours to nurse then took him back to the nursery so I could get a little bit of rest in between. The same lactation consultant from the class came to see me the next morning and helped us with some latch problems. The next day, still having some trouble with latch, a nurse brought in a different lactation consultant who recommended saline solution to help ease my pain. Later in the afternoon she dropped off a huge bottle and little dixie cups. Throughout my hospital stay the nurses were supportive, kind and generous and answered questions

I know that not all hospitals or lactation consultants are so easy to work with. I’ve known women whose nurses insist that a baby who cries needs formula because the milk isn’t coming quickly enough. I know women who’ve had nurses who give bad information about proper latching techniques. There are also lactation consultants who don’t listen to mothers, who insist that their way is the only way. It’s no wonder that many women who try to nurse give up before the recommended six months.

A new study in Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care recommends five hospital breastfeeding-friendly practices that can increase long-term breastfeeding success.

-Initiating breastfeeding within 1 hour of delivery

-Keeping infants in the mother’s hospital room

-Feeding infants only breast milk in the hospital; no supplementation of water or formula

-Prohibiting pacifier use in the hospital

-Providing a telephone number to call for breastfeeding help after hospital discharge

“These practices are important because a high percentage of mothers initiate breastfeeding, but a large percentage discontinues it within the first month or two after birth,” says Erin Murray, lead author of the study, “and the main reasons for stopping are related to preventable or resolvable difficulties with breastfeeding.”

I’m not sure if agree about rooming in. I chose to room separately, nursed every two hours and I don’t regret the time apart, especially since I was exhausted after a 21 hour labor. And pacifier use is definitely up to the baby. I think it’s best to wait until after latch has been established to start with a pacifier, and my son never really took to one anyway, but I don’t think it’s a make or break item. I do think that prohibiting formula and water feeding during the hospital stay* when a newborn is closely monitored is key, especially bottle feeding which can interfere with latch. Sam lost more than ten percent of his birth weight in two days so we supplemented with formula until my milk came in three or four days later, but we supplemented with a dropper after each nursing session, so nipple confusion was never an issue.

But for continued breastfeeding success, it’s imperative that hospitals provide support after the mother leaves the hospital. My hospital offered a lactation support group once a week that I attended several times in the first two months of Sam’s life. Without that support I probably would have been very discouraged and possibly given up.

Read the press release about the study here.

* Of course I don’t believe that women who truly don’t want to nurse should be forced to. Formula should be available to mothers who don’t wish to breastfeed, but it should be the exception, not the rule.

breastfeeding, hospital practices, breastfeeding success

This is a fantastic list for what to include in a Breastfeeding Gift basket for a new mom at Half Pint Pixie.

Some of the items include

* A sling - so your little one can sleep & feed easily while out and about.

* Booby tubes - gel-free, used hot or cold, these are a real help with blocked ducts, mastitis or engorgement.

* Nipple cream - hopefully it’s not needed, but if it is, it’s great!

* A reuseable water bottle - to keep mama hydrated

* Nursing Pads - for me these were essential!

* Freezer bags for expressed milk - these will be handy later if she decides to express.
* Some snacky treats that you know the mama loves…

* A nice dressing gown - for receiving guests, so she won’t have to get dressed in a hurry!

* Call LLL and get the number of her local leader and the times they meet, put this on a card for her, along with the words… “www.kellymom.com“

More suggestions are being added from the comments section. I suggested a link to Ask Moxie, a subscription to Netflix for the many, many hours spent sitting and The Nursing Mother’s Companion for its comprehensive medication section and matter of fact advice. I just remembered saline solution. Saline solution was much more effective for me those first few weeks than nipple cream.

What would you add?

Sleep was one of my biggest struggles when Sam was first born. Co-sleeping was the easiest, obvious choice since we were nursing. He lost so much weight after he was born that I had to wake him every two hours to breastfeed so when I say we were nursing around the clock, we really were nursing around the clock. Keeping him close was a necessity. The problem was that most of what I read told me that sleeping with my son was dangerous. The rest of what I read said it was the best thing for mother and child and helped reduce SIDS occurrences. I didn’t know what to do with such conflicting information so I just did what felt right and let him sleep with us.

Sleeping With Your Baby probably could have answered some of my questions. Tanya at the Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog has a copy of Sleeping with Your Baby to give away- send her an email by 8pm EST and you’ll be included in the drawing. Check out the site for her email address and her full book review.

Manila, Philippines (AHN) - The Philippine Department of Health (DOH), World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) all expressed dismay over a campaign launched by private pharmaceutical companies against breastfeeding.

“We are appalled by the persistent distortion of data by the Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP)”, DOH Undersecretary Alexander Padilla said. “They propagate misleading information that seriously undermines breastfeeding in the country.”

Read the full article here, but the full article doesn’t quite explain all that’s going on. The Manila Standard’s article False claims on infant formula bared gives a bit more information about how drug companies are taking advantage of the fact that many women are unaware that formula isn’t sterile.

WHO country representative Dr. Jean-Marc Olive said the Food and Agriculture Organization and WHO earlier convened a panel of experts that concluded that powdered infant formula is contaminated with Enterobacter sakazakii and salmonella, micro-organisms that cause serious illnesses and even death.

Olive said experts have concluded that the advantages of infant formula are outweighed by the benefits from breastfeeding, which can prevent diseases and promote better health to both mother and child.

The Boycott Nestlé- Protect Infants blog writes, “The same is true in the UK. Only one company includes this fact on its labels, but then it contradicts the expert advice on how to reduce the risks.” Is this also true in the United States? Do we not hear about it because water in the US is cleaner and safer to drink than water in the Philippines?

There’s no disputing that “breast is best,” but if breastmilk isn’t an option I certainly hope consumers are given accurate information about the risks and benefits of infant formula.

Philippines breastfeeding campaign, infant formula contaminated

I stopped nursing Sam before bed around the same time he stopped falling asleep while nursing. Instead of settling down for a nice relaxing drink before bed he started beating the crap out of me and flailing around like he’d stepped into a hornets’ nest. For the past couple of months Bob’s been in charge of putting Sam to bed which has really cut down on breastfeeding in general. We’ve gone for more than a week and I’ve thought, “That’s it, we’re done,” and then for no reason he’d ask to nurse and I’d let him.

It’s strange nursing during the day. The few times he’s wanted to he’s been more interested in looking at my breasts than getting milk from them. He’ll sit on my lap and go from one to the other, back and forth, not really settling in at all. After a minute or two he’ll lose interest and either go back to playing or ask for something to eat or drink. At night though, the few times Bob’s not around and I put Sam down, it’s worse than it was before. He’s like a burrow owl or something. He’ll brace his feet against my legs, shove his butt up in the air and try to burrow his way into my breasts, mauling them in the process.

At what point will he settle down?

There’s been a lot in the news recently about pregnancy, breastfeeding and nutrition, specifically that if you eat a lot of junk food your child may develop a taste for junk food. A study to be published in the British Journal of Nutrition found that rats given a diet of sugary and fatty foods had offspring who tended to overeat. The researchers believe the findings have implications for humans.

“Our study has shown that eating large quantities of junk food when pregnant and breastfeeding could impair the normal control of appetite and promotes an exacerbated taste for junk food in offspring,” says lead author Dr Stephanie Bayol. “This could send offspring on the road to obesity and make the task of teaching healthy eating habits in children even more challenging.”

Controlling appetite is complex, involving hormones which signal to the brain to regulate energy balance, hunger and satiety (feeling of fullness). However, feeding is not only a matter of regulating energy balance; it is also a pleasurable experience that involves “reward centres” in the brain, such that the combination of pleasure with feeding may occasionally override the normal regulation of satiety. Previous research has shown that junk foods rich in fat and sugar inhibit the satiety signals while promoting hunger and stimulating the reward centres.

“Exposure to a maternal junk food diet during their foetal and suckling life might help explain why some individuals might find it harder than others to control their junk food intake even when given access to healthier foods later in life,” explains Dr Bayol.

This study makes perfect sense to me. If mothers eat crap all day, every day while they’re pregnant and nursing why wouldn’t their children prefer junk food? Whether it’s nature or nurture, genes or bad habits, a trip to an amusement park proves that many obese parents have obese children. I am not a stickler for healthy eating all of the time. I exercise regularly just so I can indulge my fondness for fried foods when I go out. But I still eat the recommended servings of fruit and vegetables on a daily basis and cook healthy foods at home. I’ve always thought that people who deny their children sugar entirely are way too overzealous and need to chill out, but that doesn’t mean I give Sam sweets all day, every day. When it comes to food I believe in moderation. Small amounts of anything aren’t going to hurt you.*

More information about general breastfeeding nutrition can be found at the Lactivist, Attachment Parenting- A Much Better Way , and Kellymom.

*Food allergies are, of course, an exception to this. Please talk to a doctor if you suspect your baby may be reacting to something you’ve eaten.

breastfeeding, nutrition,

In a case that I find totally offensive in every way possible, a St. Cloud, Minnesota nursing mother in the middle of a custody battle was asked to stop breastfeeding by a court investigator.

Christa Burton, whose son Carter is now 15 months old, takes three different medications that are all listed as safe in the book Medications and Mothers’ Milk. The court made the recommendation based on testimony from a nurse practitioner who originally recommend that Burton breastfeed her child who was born 6 weeks premature. The court says that they’re erring on the side of safety, despite the fact that a doctor says about the medications, “They are basically all fine, particularly in a 14-month-old infant who can metabolize drugs as good if not better than an adult.”

Obviously I don’t know anything about this case other than the articles I’ve read, but it seems like the court is being totally misogynistic and anti-mother in this case. I’m sure that the father is probably threatened by the mother-son bond, and the fact that they’re still nursing threatens him even more. I can’t believe that this is fair game in a custody hearing, that the court is willing to ignore the numerous benefits of nursing a toddler to appease the father.

If you’re nursing a baby or toddler and are prescribed a medication make sure it’s safe for your child before you fill the prescription. Many unsafe medicines have safe alternatives. Medications and Mothers’ Milk sounds like a fantastic resource. I’ve been relying on the medication index in my copy of the Nursing Mother’s Companion.

Kellymom has an extensive list of the benefits of extended breastfeeding. Here are just a few of them.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t particularly like being in pain. My delivery room nurse warned me that it was best to take the pain killers before you need them rather than wait for them to wear off so I took her advice. After Sam’s birth I made sure that I was very well-medicated for the first couple of days and continued taking my pain pills for until I was good and sure I was no longer in pain.

I recommend taking your pain pills but be careful if you’re prescribed codeine. The FDA has put out a codeine warning for breastfeeding moms. Apparently some people have a gene that makes them metabolize codeine very rapidly. Nursing mothers who have this gene may give their babies a sudden jolt of codeine that could be fatal. The gene mutation occurs in Caucasians, African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians, but it is most prevalent in North African, Ethiopian, and Saudi Arabian women.

The FDA does NOT advise women to stop breastfeeding if they need codeine.

“This announcement today does not mean women who need pain medicine should not breastfeed,” Woodcock said. “The benefits of breastfeeding are well documented.”

The FDA urges all breastfeeding women taking codeine to watch their infants — and themselves — for signs of side effects.

The FDA recommends that if you are a nursing mother taking codeine, you should call a doctor immediately if you become extremely sleepy to the point you are having trouble caring for your baby.

Usually newborns nurse every two or three hours and should not sleep for more than four hours at a time. If you are a nursing mother taking codeine, you should call the doctor immediately if your newborn:

* Sleeps more than usual
* Has difficulty breastfeeding
* Has difficulty breathing
* Becomes limp

Read the full article at WebMD

breastfeeding, warning, codeine,

I’m Jackie. I really enjoyed reading Kelli’s take on breastfeeding and I’m excited to take over the blog for her. I also write Kids Dish, a blog where I write about food and children and how to hopefully get my child and yours to ingest more of the foods that are healthy.

My husband Bob and I have one son, Sam, who is currently seventeen months old. He latched on just minutes after his birth and nursed like a champ, but it took longer than expected for my milk to come in which was traumatic for all of us. Then the milk came in with a vengeance. Aside from some overproduction issues, a few bouts of mastitis, and a couple of long-lasting solid food strikes our nursing relationship has been easy. I never dreamed I’d still be nursing seventeen months postpartum, but I am, and I don’t mind it nearly as much as I would have expected.

Sam isn’t nursing every day or even every week. We’re currently in a “don’t offer, don’t refuse” holding pattern where we’ll go days or weeks without then he’ll look up at me and make the ASL sign for “milk.” When he asks I look at him carefully and ask, “Are you sure? Would you rather have something to eat or drink?” He usually signs for milk again and start lifting my shirt up to get it himself. This tends to happen first thing in the morning, though occasionally he’ll want to nurse when he wakes up in the middle of the night. All things considered it’s not so bad.

As for my parenting philosophy I don’t consider myself an follower of attachment parenting, though I certainly am attached. Nor do I consider myself a lactivist, though I am (obviously) very pro-breastfeeding. I just try to keep myself and my family happy, healthy and safe by whatever means necessary. Sometimes whatever means necessary involves popsicles for breakfast.

Today is my last day at 451Press and Nursing Your Kids. I have really enjoyed writing this site, but I couldn’t keep up with the 5 posts per week. A new baby AND a new business did a double whammy on me. I had to rethink my priorities. However, I will still be posting about my adventures in breastfeeding and parenting over at my personal site, Rancid Raves - just on a more sporadic basis. I will definitely still be skulking around this site and will be excited to see who the new writer is and where he/she can take it.

When I took this site on, I had no idea how much I would enjoy it and how much I would learn from it. Oh sure, I didn’t think I knew everything about breastfeeding when I began - I am talking more about my own previously held notions about various topics such as public nursing and weaning.

To conclude, I would say my #1 piece of advice to a new mother about to embark on the journey of breastfeeding is this:

Get yourself some support. Start reaching out while you are pregnant - find a friend, explore the Internet for forums and blogs, contact your local La Leche League chapter, research support groups at your area hospitals. Even if your own hospital doesn’t have a group, another local hospital may have one. I am also always available via email at cagey333ATgmailDOTcom. Don’t go it alone! Sure, women have been breastfeeding since caveman days, but it doesn’t mean it has always been easy. So, don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Peace.

Bryan over at Sympathy Pain has linked to a great article on how we gals go about making breastmilk. Definitely go over to Bryan’s site and check it out! The only comment I have about the article is that it says the following:

During the first days of nursing, you may feel some cramps in your abdomen as your baby sucks. This usually mild discomfort signals the release of oxytocin, which helps shrink your uterus back to its pre-pregnancy size.

Mild discomfort? That’s putting it mildly!! For me, the initial cramping like that was VERY painful. Not quite as bad as early labor, but far worse than menstrual cramps.

Next, I want to discuss semantics - what do you call all the different kinds of milk in your house? We have soymilk, cow’s milk and mama’s milk. I want my son to be clear and as such, I call them all by their “proper” names. In a related note, he calls food in general by the word “bop-poo” (we think it stems from his word for “apple” which is “bappull“). Even before Anjali was born, he would point to my breasts and say “bop-poo“, so we think he may remember or have an inkling that he used to eat from them, too. However, he calls ALL nipples “bop-poo“, so the poor kid has A LOT to learn.

Over the weekend, a breastfeeding friend of mine expressed concern that her milk smelled “soapy” - as if she hadn’t rinsed out the bottle enough. I told her that she perhaps had an issue with the enzyme lipase and would need to scald the milk before freezing it. Unfortunately, that was ALL I could tell her - I didn’t know what caused it, for example. So, of course, Dr. Google came to my rescue and directed me towards Kelly Mom. Basically, all human milk has lipase, but some of us gals simply have more of it - I’ve always suspected I had this issue, but since my son rarely took a bottle, I never bothered to worry about it much.

Anyway, per Kelly Mom, the solution is simple:

My husband had told me about this article, but failed to send the link. Which, hello - not helpful. Then, my friend Aliciathoughtfully sent it - thank you! Because these fingers are too lazy to start walking all over CNN.com in search of the article. Know what I mean?

Anyway, the article highlights some common breastfeeding mistakes - here are the “short n’ sweets”. The article provides more details…..

Mistake 1: Moms go it alone
Solution: Get out of the house — fast

Mistake 2: Moms forget about their successful breast-feeding friends
Solution: Invite one over

Mistake 3: Moms assume they don’t have enough milk
Solution: Rethink your baby’s nursing behavior

Mistake 4: Moms get intimidated breast-feeding in public
Solution: Have snappy comebacks at the ready

Mistake 5: Moms panic when milk doesn’t gush out
Solution: Realize that at the very beginning, you’re not going to see a lot of milk

After reading this, it highlighted even more so how fortunate I was in my experience. Not only did I have my sister, but I also had a good friend who was active in her Leche League group - both my sister and my friend were just a phone call away. Even if I had not had such awesome lactation consultants at my hospital, I was still a bit ahead of the game in the way of support.

In short, if you are a new mother the moral of the story is “Buddy Up to Your Buddies”.

In one of my favorite Wise Baby Tomes, Baby 411, the author explains 5 different breastfeeding styles on page 100:
1. The Barracuda - This little guy attacks the breast and gets down to business. Mom’s nipples sometimes pay the price for this style. Be prepared.

2. The Excited Ineffective - Yes, this is the baby who is so excited to eat that he loses his latch. Calming, then reattempting to latch helps until baby figures out the routine.

3. The Procrastinator - The baby who waits until the milk lets down to bother with eating. There is no rush. Be patient and keep trying.

4. The Gourmet - She must mouth the nipples, have a taste test, then begin. Again, there is no need to rush. Let her do her thing.

5. The Rester - He takes his own sweet time. He eats for a few minutes, rests, then continues. He will eventually finish the meal and eat well but you can encourage him by rubbing his back or head.

My son was a Barracuda. He always got right down to business and ate quite quickly. Anjali? Um, not so much. She is definitely a Rester. Couple this with the fact that she likes to comfort nurse and basically, she would be happy to just suck ALL DAY LONG. It’s been an adjustment for me, to say the least. There’s been several times when I’ve pulled her off and got ready to head out the door when she made it quite clear that she was NOT done eating. I am still learning that I need to give her PLENTY o’ time to do her business.

Totally Tangential: Regarding Wise Baby Tomes, I also swear by Toddler 411. Toddler 411 continues where Baby 411 leaves off - hands down, these two books are the ones I would own if I could only have two. They have absolutely everything you need for your child up to about kindergarten in 2 concise volumes that are easy to read, entertaining (you’ll laugh out loud) and most importantly, are conveniently organized as a reference tool. The overall tone of these two books is that of a “Hey, you’ll be okay, Grasshopper.” — a tone that is comforting and reassuring.

My other favorite parenting tome is the excellent The Science of Parenting - I enjoy this book because I am fascinated by the biology of what’s going on with babies and toddlers. There are often valid reasons for what they do simply because their little brains and nervous systems are still developing, yet we desperately want them to act like little, logical adults. This book goes a long way in explaining why parents need to manage their expectations regarding what their Precious Progeny is actually capable of doing at their particular developmental stages.