Search Results for: blog understanding the language of breastfeeding

Three Factors in Breastfeeding Success

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How prepared a woman is to breastfeed will have a huge impact on whether she sticks with it. But three factors can negatively affect her chances of successfully breastfeeding: inadequate support, a lack of know-how, and flimsy reasons for trying. If the family isn’t behind her, she’ll be tempted to switch to the bottle to avoid awkward confrontations. While a woman might be able to stand up in the face of criticism from her extended family, if she does not have the full support of her husband, that can become a problem. Some guys are grossed out by breastfeeding, particularly … Continue reading →

Ask a Baby Blogger: You Said Not to Pump. . .But They Said to Pump

Question: Hi. I’ve read most of your blogs on breastfeeding and first, thank you so much. We’ve had a rough start and my baby was in the NICU for a few weeks so I had to pump. But when she came home, I stopped pumping because I had read somewhere that you said pumping does not increase your supply. However, the nurses in the hospital said I need to keep pumping to keep up my supply because the baby won’t suck effectively. What’s your advice? First of all, you’re welcome and I’m glad you’re breastfeeding your baby. You’re right. I … Continue reading →

Initiating Breastfeeding with the Breast Crawl

Did you know that if you place a newborn on his mother’s abdomen after birth, he is capable of finding her breast all on his own and initiating breastfeeding by himself? This act is known as the breast crawl and it is being heavily promoted during World Breastfeeding Week. All Babies Do This This phenomenon was first published in an organized study in 1998. Infants were dried off and then immediately placed on their mother’s abdomen with the baby’s head on mom’s chest. Every single infant was able to instinctively find his mother’s nipple and begin suckling. In subsequent studies, … Continue reading →

Great Breastfeeding Books

If you are planning to breastfeed your new baby, you’ll want to spend some time learning about it during your pregnancy. There are dozens of books in print for breastfeeding mothers. When you browse the bookshelf or search the internet, you may be overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices. In this blog, I will review a few of my favorites. The Breastfeeding Book: Everything You Need to Know About Nursing Your Child from Birth Through Weaning By Martha Sears and William Sears, M.D. This is my personal favorite and I’ve read many breastfeeding books. Bill and Martha Sears are … Continue reading →

Understanding the Language of Breastfeeding

I’ve said it more than once in this blog; the time to learn about breastfeeding is when you are still pregnant. Trying to read through the breastfeeding books when you are exhausted and dealing with a newborn will leave you in tears. Spend some time during your pregnancy taking breastfeeding class, reading books and visiting a La Leche League meeting. When you spend time preparing in advance, you will feel more confident. If an issue does arise, you will probably remember reading about it and will be more likely to feel confident handling the situation. This blog contains some of … Continue reading →

Nursing Moments

These days I spend a large portion of my day (and night) nursing my daughter. Sometimes I find myself getting a little frustrated when I have to stop to nurse her when I am in the middle of doing something else like cleaning, cooking, or writing etc. Again at night when I am particularly tired and she cannot seem to latch on without focused illuminated help. Even though I find myself feeling temporarily frustrated, I also feel a sense of appreciation for the “forced breaks” that I get to take throughout the day and I am grateful for the time … Continue reading →

Tips for Buying Nursing Bras

Your belly isn’t the only thing that expands during pregnancy. You’ll find that your bras will fit a little more snugly, too, if they fit at all. After your baby is born, when your milk comes in, is when the real changes happen. For example, you might start off as a 34B, grow to a 36C during your pregnancy, expand to a 36DD when your milk comes in, and return to a 36D cup once your milk supply is regulated. These constant changes in bust size make bra shopping tricky! Bras you buy during your last trimester may fit again … Continue reading →

Can You Breastfeed While You’re Pregnant?

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As I discovered yesterday on a thread in the forums, there is a lot of misinformation regarding whether or not you can breastfeed while you’re pregnant. Many doctors in fact tell their patients that you cannot breastfeed while you’re pregnant as it causes miscarriage. Some other misinformation also includes that breastfeeding during pregnancy can cause low birth weight babies. Finally, there’s always the idea that you won’t be able to make enough milk for the new baby and supply enough nutrients to the growing fetus. Since someone asked, I thought I’d take a closer look at each of these arguments … Continue reading →

Breast Changes During Pregnancy

All women experience breast changes at various times during pregnancy. There is an important reason for these changes; your body is preparing to feed your baby. During pregnancy, your breasts are preparing to make milk. Some women see colostrum leaking while they are still pregnant. The changes in the breasts start early. One of the first symptoms of pregnancy is sore breasts. The tenderness will start around the time you start wondering if you could possibly be pregnant. It will continue throughout the first trimester. Hormones are the main reason for the tenderness. An increase in blood flow to the … Continue reading →

I’m not Leaking; Will I be Able to Breastfeed?

The title of this blog is a question that I asked when I was pregnant. During my pregnancy with my first baby, my husband and I took a giant step out of the stone age and bought our first computer. A friend showed me how to get online and I began reading everything I could find on pregnancy, breastfeeding, birth and babies. On site after site, I read about leaking colostrum during pregnancy. From all my reading, I knew what colostrum was and I knew I wasn’t leaking it. I had also read enough to know that I wanted to … Continue reading →