Breastfeeding disease

I'm wondering today how you all in the breastfeeding world cope?  Right now my mind is flooded with lactation, lactation, lactation.

I feel asleep last night thinking of how I should respond to the controversial question of "co-sleeping for breastfeeding moms".

(And I came up with a brilliant answer, coming soon.)  I'm constantly having these internal debates with myself.  "What else could I have done for that mom?  Who can I call to help this friend get her baby's tight frenulum (tongue tie) cut sooner?  Why is that baby sucking so poorly?"  Breastfeeding management is really like playing detective.  We explore, we research, we try this and then that, and then bam the case has been cracked.  Well it's not always a "bam", but hopefully we can make things better.  I feel like breastfeeding is an all consuming topic, whether you're a professional or a nursing mom there's a good chance breastfeeding is on the brain most of your days.  It's like a pesky brain disease that slowly takes over your mind - a good disease though - breastfeeding disease.  If I have to have a disease, I'm happy it's about healthy baby food.

World AIDS Day

In honor of World AIDS Day (December 1st) I would like to share a couple of interesting pieces of information.  Formula is often used as an alternative when a mom has HIV/AIDS.  Here in the US we have access to clean water to prepare formula.  If you can't afford formula there are wonderful programs out there that will assist you.  However, not the entire world is as fortunate as us.  Fortunately we have some alternatives to provide babies affected by HIV/AIDS with breastmilk.  The University of California has a video on safe breastmilk practices for moms with HIV.  There is also a wonderful non-profit, International Breastmilk Project that collects milk of moms here in the US and sends it to other countries for babies affected by HIV/AIDS.  Check out these websites that provide excellent solutions to an otherwise life or death situation!

AND THE WINNER IS....

Rachel!!!

 From A Cupcake For Moose.

Thank you all for your comments!  I really appreciate your encouragement. 

Rachel - email (boobforthought@gmail.com) me your address and which cover you'd like and I will ship this bad boy out to you.  To the right is a link to Etsy is anyone is interested in a handmade cover.

P.S. I randomly picked a participant by numbering the responses and asking my husband to pick a number...I know very scientific of me!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Same Stroke for Different Folks

I occasionally enjoy an episode or two of the Duggars' 18 and Counting TLC show (I know many of you probably find this show to be insane, but hang in there with me for a minute).  Have you noticed that Michele (the mom) breastfeeds her babies? She walks around with a "My Brest Friend" pillow strapped to her and a blanket over her shoulder. The average person probably wouldn't think anything of this, but my trained eye knows what is going on under that blanket.  P.S. Great tip for multitasking/feeding in public!  One night while enjoying this fine show, my husband made an interesting point.  We were watching the episode where Anna Duggar (the daughter-in-law) decided to have a home birth.  The Engineer (as I lovingly refer to my husband in the blog world) said something along the lines:

"The natural childbirth and breastfeeding crowd are two very different groups of people.  On one hand you have the ultra conservative gang (a.k.a. the Duggars) and on the other hand you have the ultra liberal hippies (dare I say, La Leche League)."

Two very different groups with two very different approaches reaching same conclusion.  The conservative folks are just keeping things simple, saving money, and sticking to more traditional gender roles.  The hippie folks want to be natural, let their body do its thing.  They tend to advocate for themselves and others...maybe slightly feminist.  In some strange way I consider myself 1/2 of both of these.  I'm one part conservative and one part hippie, which doesn't entirely make sense, but I guess either way it works for being a breastfeeding advocate!

What do you think?  What are you - conservative, hippie or a mix?

Teething

Do you have a biter on your hands?  Here are a few suggestions:

• When your baby bites at the breast immediately remove them and firmly say "NO".  You can set them away from you for a few minutes and then resume the feed.  It shouldn't take more than a time or two before your problem is solved.
  
• Try a cold wash cloth or put a teething toy in the freezer. Let your baby chew on these to soothe and numb their gums before feeds.
  
  

Who doesn't love free stuff?

This is exciting stuff - MY FIRST GIVE-A-WAY!!!  To enter:
All you have to do is leave a comment.  If you want to be really nice you can follow my blog.  Just click on the "Follow" button to the right.  (I know, it does appear that your being bribed to be my friend...)  And if you really really want to be nice you can share this give-a-way with your friends :-)  On Thanksgiving (the most appropriate day of the year to give thanks to any readers out there, right?) I will randomly select a winner. 

What you get?  Your pick of one of the two breastfeeding covers featured above!  The blue plaid is made out of flannel...perfect for the chilly winter and the bright green one is regular cotton fabric.  Both feature boning at the neck line, an adjustable strap, and a pocket on the inside for nursing pads or pacifiers.

Stay tuned for November 26th!

2nd night syndrome

I try to warn new parents of a phenomenon that has been titled "2nd night syndrome".  It sounds so dramatic, but parents who experience this so-called 2nd night syndrome are relieved to have a "diagnosis".  There are few factors involved with this "syndrome":

1. Babies are typically on the opposite sleep/wake schedule as their parents.  For example, some women notice that during their pregnancy their baby is less active during the day when they are moving and more active at night when the mom is still.  The movement is lulls the baby to sleep and when momma is still baby is on the move. 
2. Because of this schedule parents tend to find that newborns are up more at night and interested in feeding more during the night.  This is why it is so important to nap during the day while you can!!!
3. Newborns usually have a good feed right after delivery (this should be initiated as soon as possible), zonk out for about 24 hours, and then wake up on that 2nd night.  When they wake up they realize they are away from momma and want to be no where but on her chest (a.k.a. their comfort zone...the closest thing to the womb).  They want to hear your heart beat, feel your skin, feel you breathing, and be all snuggled in right next to the food source (this is known as skin to skin - look it up if you're not familiar - it's uber awesome for both moms and dads, whether your breastfeeding or not).  

So, this is the basic recipe for 2nd night syndrome.  What I often see happen is mom feeds baby, baby falls asleep at the breast, mom swaddles baby in hopes of catching a few ZZZs and baby immediately starts to cry, mom puts baby back to breast, baby settles, falls asleep and this picture is on instant replay all night.  Mom becomes upset that she doesn't have any milk, her baby is never satisfied, and everyone becomes slightly delirious.  The solution is:

1. Be prepared for this and sleep when you get a chance during the day.
2. Feed baby and then hang out skin to skin taking turns with your partner (that is with skin to skin), so that you can get some sleep.   
3. Remember it's going to get better!