Leche, Baby!

I had no idea that there was a correlation between breast-fed babies and vitamin D deficiency, which can lead to a softening of bones, or rickets. If I had known that I would have been more vigilant about multi-vitamins for both myself and my son. My son was breast-fed for 2 years, although he started eating other foods around 6 month, which may have caused him to be inadvertently deficient in Vitamin D.

Physicians have known for more than a century that exclusive breast-feeding may be associated with vitamin D deficiency and rickets, and that the condition is easily prevented and treated with inexpensive vitamin drops or cod liver oil. But doctors are reluctant to say anything that might discourage breast-feeding.

Read the full article from the New York Times here.

A friend of mine, a school nurse and an avid holistic care practitioner, recommends Designs for Health’s Vitavescence powdered multi-vitamins for my toddler. You could also try a liquid vitamin supplement from your local health food store.

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I have completely weaned my two-year old toddler and the transition was surprisingly gentle!

For the past 6 months or so I have nursed my son only for his afternoon nap. I was very reluctant to try to completely wean him because I was afraid he would stop napping altogether (his nap lasts a good 2 hours and during this time I get a lot of my work done).

Last week, we unexpectedly weaned. He skipped his nap, and nursing time, on Monday because I had to be away from him in the afternoon. The next day, at nap, I said, “let’s just pretend to nurse”, so he did. He curled up into my arms and pretended to nurse over my shirt. He is familiar with pretending: we often pretend to cook or eat, or pretend to swim, etc. He was surprisingly agreeable to pretend to nurse. After all, I wasn’t saying “no” and we still got to cuddle. But after about 40 minutes of him doing flips and tossing and turning in bed, I gave up trying to get him down that day.

The next day we did the same thing. We pretended to nurse and this time he did fall asleep, after about 30 minutes. I was shocked! I probably shouldn’t have been (kids need to sleep), but for the past two years I (or more accurately, my nipples) have been the only thing to get him to nap. If he was going to wean, I reckoned, then the best way was going to be to spend a few days apart. I never imagined it possible to wean him the way I did.

It has now been almost two weeks. Other than having an engorged breast, things have gone smoothly. He still asks to nurse and I let him (pretend) whenever he wants. He has been asking to pretend nurse more often and I let him–I don’t see the harm. It’s now much easier for my husband, my mother and his babysitter to get him to take a nap, which I am very thankful for.

Ending nursing brings mixed emotions. I am sad because this beautiful part of our relationship has come to an end. And yet it’s a milestone, a necessary and inevitable part of my son growing up.

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Welcome, Carnival of Breastfeeding readers! The topic for this carnival is “Beginnings and endings”. My post is about the process of weaning a toddler.

I found myself wondering, after reading Tara’s post, Weaning a toddler while pregnant, how many women need advice like this? What percentage of women are still breastfeeding a toddler and what percentage of those toddler nursing moms are willing to endure the pain of nursing, due to sore nipples from pregnancy, in order to continue breastfeeding? I would guess very few.

When my son was nearing a year, friends and family started asking me how long I planned to nurse. They also tried to convince me that my son didn’t need the breastmilk anymore. A very good friend of mine even told me that I had to “cut the cord” and that breastfeeding “had no nutritional value” after a year. The funny thing is that at one point of my life (prior to having a child) I believed that.

It is true that breastmilk comprises less of a baby’s overall diet as it grows and begins to eat a variety of foods, but it is certainly not true that breastmilk loses its nutritional value.

“Breast milk continues to provide substantial amounts of key nutrients well beyond the first year of life, especially protein, fat, and most vitamins.” (Dewey 2001)

Kellymom put out a fantastic fact sheet about the value of
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A new guest blog from tara..

I’m 20 weeks pregnant, and am still nursing my son, who turned two last month. The pain is unbelievable! It started almost as soon as I got pregnant, and worsened. At the time I became pregnant, he was still nursing seven to ten times a day–with at least three of those being at night.

The “not sleeping” was really putting my sunny disposition in a bad place. I tried all kinds of tactics to get him to nurse less and it just wasn’t working. Also, he’s not a “sleeper”: nothing in his 25 months of life has put him to sleep except me, the backpack or the car.

What’s a knocked-up girl to do?

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My friend Tara and I went to see a screening of a new documentary called “The Business of Being Born” at my local art center, which was packed full of dulas and midwives. It was an amazing movie that shows how the culture of birth, in the United States, is based on mis-information. Tara sent out an email (see below) urging friends and family to see it. It will be released nationally in January at limited locations and will be available on Netflix in March.

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Hello Friends,

If you are a woman, are having a baby, thinking someday you might, have had babies and now have a daughter, I think you would enjoy this movie to learn more about birth and well woman care in our culture and it’s future. Or maybe all of them! Or you have a practice where you can spread this news around.

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Welcome Carnival-of-Breastfeeding readers! This is my first post for the carnival and I do hope you enjoy it and the rest of the site. Check out the other carnival entries at the end of the post!

Here are my thoughts on breastfeeding and sleep…

When our son was an infant he slept in a bassinet next to my husband’s side of the bed. I couldn’t have him too near to me because his every move and squeak would rouse me from my sleep, heart racing. That is, if I was lucky enough to be asleep. For much of the night, I would lay awake, waiting for the next breastfeeding session.

When he grew older, we assembled his crib and placed it at the foot of our bed. He spent a few nights in it, until I read Dr. Sears’s The Baby Sleep Book (see side bar). The book convinced me the best place for my son to sleep was between his parents. Sears makes many convincing arguments as to why your kid should sleep next to you: breastfeeding is more comfortable and easier to do, baby will sleep better, SIDS risk is lower, etc. So I lifted my beautifully sleeping child out of his crib, which we started using to store clothes and blankets.

If I wore earplugs, I could block out his sweet little noises and actually get some sleep. Breastfeeding was easy. He would just fuss a little, find my breast and then we could both go back to sleep. However, it wasn’t until he was 3 months old that I could actually lay down and nurse him. Before that time, we didn’t line up very well, which made it painful to nurse. For the most part, this sleeping arrangement worked out well for us. My husband and I enjoy cuddling up next to him at night, quietly taking turns mimicking the funny things he said during the day. There have been times, however, when the “co-sleeping” arrangement breaks down and none of us get enough rest at night.

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Confidence: Most important, have confidence in yourself that you can do this, if you have trouble call a lactation consultant, don’t wait! I wouldn’t have been able to get through the first week without one. They are great, they come with a suitcase (literally, she had one with wheels!) full of tricks and a scale to see how much the baby is eating and they don’t leave until everything is going ok, they are worth their weight in gold. Friends who are breastfeeding are great support but there is nothing like a professional when you’re having a problem. Usually the hospital has one and the pediatrician’s office sometimes does too. If not look up your local Le Leche League, they always know one.
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Keep baby nearby: If you can, keep the baby in your room at night, once you figure out how to feed laying down it’s really helpful for getting sleep. Most babies don’t even cry when they’re hungry, they have a way to tell you they are hungry before they cry. Rowan starts breathing through his nose really fast and moving his head all around. I hear this and I take him into bed and laying down I feed him and I usually fall back to sleep and so does he. It’s way better then sitting up and having my head keep falling because I’m so tired. I was doing that in the beginning because I couldn’t do it lying down, it hurt. But after I got used to it a little I tried it again and it’s much more restful. I’ve also heard of a lot of people who drop their babies because they are too tired feeding them. So if you’re up and exhausted make sure you’ve got the boppy and pillows or something supporting the baby so if you fall asleep the baby doesn’t fall.
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Don’t limit the baby on the breast: Don’t let people tell you he isn’t getting enough. People say the stupidest things that will make you feel like a loser, just ignore them. Your baby is getting enough if there are wet and dirty diapers, weight gain and if the baby is content after eating. We all know how babies act when they’re hungry, if the baby isn’t acting this way he’s full. Also, always let the baby finish, the hind milk has a higher fat content then the milk in the beginning of the feeding so don’t take the baby off the breast once you start. Babies all nurse differently; there is no right way. Some baby’s nurse from both breasts at every feeding, some alternate, and some babies will only nurse from one breast. The latter is fine for the baby but sucks for you cause then you’ll have one big boob!
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Food and Water: Try and have food ready to eat in the fridge, you’ll be really hungry and tired and getting food fast is good. Always have water near you when you are nursing, nursing makes you very thirsty. Especially during the night don’t forget to drink plenty of water, if you don’t drink enough water you can get constipated. And trust me, really not fun after you push a baby out from down there!

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My friend Tara was a great help to me with support and encouragement with breastfeeding. She found breastfeeding to be very challenging, the beginning especially, and put together an amazing list of useful tips to help new mothers. I’m publishing her tips in this post and the next few.

Thanks Tara!
Danish Wool breast pads: Really help to avoid sore nipples or make them feel better. They have 2 kinds, ekstra and regular. The ekstra are double layered if you leak a lot. I do, and even through them! But I found if you just put a disposable one behind the wool one, it catches any leaks. Any other breast pad made my nipples really sore. The lanolin in the wool is what helps with the soreness. It’s the same idea as the stuff in the tube: Lansinoh brand lanolin. Also the wool pads don’t smell bad after they catch the leaks. If you don’t leak they still help with the soreness.

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Funny spoof about saving the planet, one breast at a time. Is Tipper Gore really the spokeswoman for Columbia’s Earth Institute “Tits for Tots” campaign? Did Al Gore really say that his wife has a “fine rack”? As explained in the article by, er, Biff Scuzzy “the former vice president explained how the production, transportation, and preparation of one quart of cow’s milk added to the increase in global warming, but the production of one quart of breast milk did not.”

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During the first few weeks of nursing my nipples were very sore, even though baby had a good latch (this is normal). The Nansinoh lotion with natural lanolin helped a lot and was especially good because baby could nurse even with it applied. But what gave me the most relief was the LANACare nursing pads. They are made of 100% wool (which is where lanolin comes from), and are very soft and comfortable. After sleeping with them on for a couple of days my nipples felt much better. Also, the nursing pads are not as obvious under your clothes as the other store bought ones. They are a bit on the expensive side, but well worth it.

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I thought my friend who suggested it was crazy–so much so that the first time I had a clogged duct I politely ignored her advice. The second time I got a clogged duct I was so afraid of getting an infection that I would have tried anything. Hot compress, gental massage and a cabbage leaf tucked in my bra, over the area that was clogged. For me, it worked like magic! After an hour or two the clogged ducted was completely gone. If I have I could tell a nursing mother only one piece of advice, it would be to use a cabbage leaf when you have a clogged ducts

More information can be found here:

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