The Breastfed Baby

as-fine-as-dandelions: PLEASE REBLOG, ESPECIALLY IN THE AREAS...

Thu, 17 May 2012 01:27:27 -0400

as-fine-as-dandelions:

PLEASE REBLOG, ESPECIALLY IN THE AREAS OF NEW YORK, PITTSBURGH, PHILADELPHIA, AND NEW JERSEY!!!!

Posted by Hygeia. Adorable and funny!

Wed, 09 May 2012 14:20:53 -0400

Posted by Hygeia. Adorable and funny!

#beauty

Wed, 09 May 2012 13:09:42 -0400

#beauty

#newborns #love

Wed, 09 May 2012 13:06:05 -0400

#newborns #love

Photo

Tue, 08 May 2012 09:36:53 -0400

Toddler mama nursing her baby in traffic :) From Victoria...

Wed, 02 May 2012 09:00:41 -0400

Toddler mama nursing her baby in traffic :)
From Victoria Pearson, Dispelling Breastfeeding Myths

Baby's First Immunization

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 14:02:59 -0400

Baby's First Immunization

pretty mama and bebe fuckyeahbreastfeedingmamas: Mother and...

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 01:50:13 -0400

pretty mama and bebe

fuckyeahbreastfeedingmamas:

Mother and child by Teseum on Flickr.

Breastfeeding in Central Africa Republic.

Available via Creative Commons License.

Beautiful, happy, breastfed baby Sophia :)

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 12:58:19 -0400

Beautiful, happy, breastfed baby Sophia :)

I was amazed today, when reading the book “Babar and His...

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 23:36:00 -0400

I was amazed today, when reading the book “Babar and His Children” to my son, to discover this. Perhaps due to being written by a French author? (The French aren’t known for their high breastfeeding rates). Perhaps a sign of the times? Written in 1938? Who knows, but unexpected and odd!

The Correct Way to Bottle Feed

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 01:06:03 -0400

The other day while I was at the park with my kids, I watched a mother upend a bottle of baby formula into her baby’s mouth, as he lay flat on his back wiggling, or maybe writhing in discomfort. Why aren’t people educated on the proper way to bottle feed an infant? Turning a bottle upside down is like force feeding. They are just gulping away without stopping for breath, not having a chance to develop the skill of eating slowly and stopping when you’ve had enough. I tried to look away because I knew it would bother me, but I kept compulsively watching. The woman was talking to her husband as each of them bottle-fed their twin babies. She seemed determined to get the whole bottle in him whether he wanted it or not. I couldn’t help it. I judge(d) her. “God, be more sensitive!” I thought. “How about tuning in and connecting with your baby?!” “Well, she has twins. Give her a break. You don’t know anything about her.” My kinder, more forgiving side spoke up. It’s true. Who knows what her situation is. Maybe she did breastfeed at one time, maybe she still does some of the time. Hell, maybe that was breastmilk in those bottles! I doubt it, somehow, but you never know. And if it wasn’t, so what. Who am I to judge. But I do judge that kind of mindlessness. I look at my phone and wash dishes when my daughter sits in her chair and eats breakfast. So I guess I’m mindless in my own ways. Sigh. Maybe I should stop. We’re all doing the best we can. That woman loves her babies.

For what it’s worth, read up on “paced bottle feeding”.

The Joy of My Little Boy

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 23:13:44 -0400

I’ve been doing a lot of talking…yapping, lately, about having a three-year old. I’ve been lamenting to people about how challenging it is and how I just “don’t know what to do with him”. Well today I discovered exactly what I need to do. I need to just BE with him. Today, inspired by a friend who spoke the other day of making this a practice with her daughter, I decided to be fully present with my child. It was a fleeting thought and took little too no effort, but produced the most amazing result. At the same time that I experienced this moment of clear resolve, I told him I’d put on his favorite music. The music came on and, I believe, diffused me somehow. It distracted me, maybe, from my perpetual restlessness. The restlessness that pulls at me all the time to go put on the tea kettle, to look at my cellphone for the 100,000th time, to go wash a dish or two. All little things but adding up to a lot of time only being partially present with my son. He must have really felt that I was there, because he became giddy and happy - REALLY happy, laughing and dancing and smiling so BIG and beautiful. We were hugging, laughing dancing, smiling, singing all with him in my lap. Not really “doing” anything but just being together. It was so simple. A few days ago, in my moms discussion group, our group leader, who is as supportive as she is wise, encouraged me to make a conscious effort to spend quality time really engaging with him. “Whatever you have, give…” she told me. “Usually the child that is challenging us the most is the one that really needs us.” It is easy to lavish my one year old with positive attention and affection from noon until night because she is not willful and seemingly uncontrollable like my three year old. She is in the honeymoon period between 12 and 18 months, which I think of as the “mini-toddler” period. Adorable and babylike, but mobile and just curious enough for it to be cute and not taxing. She does need me, and admittedly I am very attached to her as well in a way that I wasn’t in the same way with my first, I assume because he is a boy. But she doesn’t need me the way he does right now. He is three, and three is such a big one. He is trying to make sense of the world around him as well as inside him. He’s trying to understand relationships - his own, and other people’s. He is learning more and faster than he will at any other time in his life. It is a lot. And although he looks “so big”, he is still a baby. He needs me to be here now with him. I accept the challenge. Yes, it is a challenge for all of us! A challenge not to hover in “partial presence” with one eye on the cellphone. But perhaps nothing is more important than this. This is it, after all. THIS IS IT! Nothing compares to forgetting what happened and not caring about what will happen and just being right in the middle of the moment with my child.

Wonderful tandem nursing photo :-) Courtesy of Lactation...

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 11:31:57 -0500

Wonderful tandem nursing photo :-) Courtesy of Lactation Narration

the-nip-project: Nursing in her maya mei tie while mama shopped...

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 00:21:21 -0500

the-nip-project:

Nursing in her maya mei tie while mama shopped at Target!

Nursing at Target!

Caffeine Experiment still going...

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 00:09:36 -0500

No changes so far in Gia’s sleep but it will take a couple weeks for both of us to get it out of our systems. I’ve felt irritable all day. I hope this works. I’m cutting chocolate completely out too because I read that breastfed babies don’t react well to the theobromine in chocolate!

Here is to sleep in my future!

do you still breastfeed your baby? how old would you tell a person to go too/?

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 00:01:51 -0500

Hi! Yes, I still breastfeed my baby girl who is 12 months. I breastfed my son until he was 19 months. I would tell a person to breastfeed as long as feels good to you and the baby! Some people choose to
set one year as their goal, since that is the AAP recommended minimum. For others, six months is enough of a commitment. Some choose to let the child choose when breastfeeding is going to come to an end. It’s so individual! No right or wrong!

fuckyeahbreastfeedingmamas: Breastfeeding Christ by clairegren...

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 22:56:37 -0500

fuckyeahbreastfeedingmamas:

Breastfeeding Christ by clairegren on Flickr.

Here they are again, serial breastfeeding offenders Mary and Jesus.

Available via Creative Commons License.

Breastpresso?

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 22:50:46 -0500

Few things give me more pleasure than to open my bag of beans in the morning and pour them carefully into my grinder, taking a deep inhalation of the wonderful rich smell. I’m a serious coffee drinker, and have never given real consideration to cutting it out because I love it so much I don’t really care if it isn’t the best thing in the world for me. Sure, I’d probably be calmer and overall in slightly better health if I didn’t consume caffeine, but it is something I really enjoy every day so it is more than worth it to me. I drank very little real coffee during my first pregnancy, purely because I was a scared first-timer. With my daughter I drank a cup to a cup and a half every morning. I’ve been saying that is why she tolerates my coffee consumption now, because she grew accustomed to it in utero. But, that’s the thing. Does she tolerate it? The world of breastfeeding news is abuzz today with a recent study published in the Journal of Caffeine Research about breastfeeding mothers and caffeine consumption. The study found that babies have a difficult time removing caffeine from their systems, and that it can build up over time. Additionally, as we had already been told, it can cause wakefulness, restlessness and irritability. As I said, this is old news - we have all been warned early on in our breastfeeding careers to “watch the baby” for signs of intolerance, not just to caffeine but to dairy, certain vegetables, etc. However, hearing that it can accumulate in the system over time got me thinking. Could my healthy daily helping of caffeine be the culprit for Gia’s nighttime sleeplessness? Hmm. As much as I savor my coffee, I cherish my sleep and I have been without it for a year. Perhaps it is worth weaning myself off and seeing if it makes a difference. I think I can stand to drink decaf until she decides she is done with the breast.

Pictured below is the coffee I’ll be dreaming about…the Caffe Luxxe cappuccino.

I'm not ready to wean (myself)

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 23:47:13 -0500

I am still not ready to wean my daughter from her numerous nighttime feedings, despite knowing how much she needs the sleep and feeling how much I need it. For one, I am a bit frightened of her temper, which has been revealing itself more and more in the days since her first birthday. My sense is she is going to put up a good fight and it’s going to be very hard for me. Harder than it was with my son both because he was pretty easy going and because I didn’t have such an intense physical attachment with him as I do with her. I’m also aware that part of me enjoys seeing her throughout the night and having the chance to snuggle with her and have that connection. I keep hoping that she’ll magically start sleeping through the night on her own but it probably isn’t likely. I am not ready today.

:)

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 23:41:13 -0500