The Mom Crowd

In honor of World Breastfeeding Week, I wanted to highlight a book that offers hope, encouragement, and information that will help women overcome some of the devastating issues of low milk supply.

The Breastfeeding Mother’s Guide to Making More Milk by Diana West and Lisa Marasco has been an eye opening book for me.  As someone who struggled with a low milk supply while breastfeeding, not once but twice, I found this book amazingly helpful as I read it. I heard about it from another birth teacher.  Oh, how I WISH I had known about this book after our third baby was born almost two years ago!  (It wasn’t written 6 years ago when my first was born) I don’t know that all my breastfeeding problems would have been solved but it would have offered me some peace and answered several of my questions.  I love nursing and it is a real struggle for me that I have had so much trouble feeding and sustaining my babies on breastmilk alone.

Making More Milk explains the biological process of how breastmilk is produced.  It  explains how hormones, the mother’s physical development, the baby, and the mother all work together to make a plentiful supply of milk.  This book covers  more detail than any other breastfeeding book I’ve read about problems that can effect milk supply.

This book is FAR more than a “just pump and you’ll increase your milk supply” solution to milk supply problems.  It covers in detail ideas about how to make a plan for managing milk supply, preventing low milk supply, altervative treatments and possibilities for treating low milk supply. It is the only book I am aware of that was written specifically for women who have difficulties with milk supply.  Each chapter has helpful information and things to consider when dealing with milk supply problems.

If you had trouble breastfeeding with a previous child and want to try again but are nervous about trying because you are scared you’ll run into the same problems, I highly recommend this book.  If anything, you will probably gain a better understanding of WHY you have milk supply issues.

Have you ever heard of this book?  Struggled with low milk supply? Scared to try again?  Tell us your story!

August 1 – 7 is World Breastfeeding Week. The main purpose of WBW is promote breastfeeding in emergency situations worldwide.  An emergency can happen anytime and anywhere. They want to inform mothers, breastfeeding advocates, communities, health professionals, governments, aid agencies, donors, and the media on how they can actively support breastfeeding before and during an emergency.

WHY WORLD BREASTFEEDING WEEK 2009?

• Children are the most vulnerable in emergencies – child mortality can soar from 2 to 70 times higher than average due to diarrhea, respiratory illness and malnutrition.

• Breastfeeding is a life saving intervention and protection is greatest for the youngest infants. Even in non-emergency settings, non-breastfed babies under 2 months of age are six times more likely to die.

• Emergencies can happen anywhere in the world. Emergencies destroy what is ‘normal,’ leaving caregivers struggling to cope and infants vulnerable to disease and death.

• During emergencies, mothers need active support to continue or re-establish breastfeeding.

• Emergency preparedness is vital. Supporting breastfeeding in non-emergency settings will strengthen mothers’ capacity to cope in an emergency.

In every country around the world breastfeeding needs to be supported and promoted, especially areas where clean water is limited and government conflicts can create national emergencies. Infant mortality rates in time of crisis can be dramatically decreased if a baby who was breastfed can still be breastfeed. “Breastmilk is the one safe and secure source of food for babies, instantly available, providing active protection against illness and keeping an infant warm and close to his/her mother. During the first three months of conflict in Guinea-Bissau in 1998, the death rate amongst 9–20 month old non-breastfed children was six times higher than amongst the children of the same age-group who were breastfed.“ Even women who are HIV positive can still breastfeed.

“Once an emergency strikes, simple measures can make all the difference in the world to a mother caught up in it. Ensure  that mothers are secure, have priority access to food for the family, water, shelter, and when necessary, safe places to breastfeed (with privacy, where culturally required).”

When Katrina hit New Orleans access to clean water was limited, but mothers who breastfed could still breastfeed their infants. Then they were evacuated to shelters where breastfeeding may have been frowned upon, because it isn’t widely culturally acceptable here in the United States. I wonder if there were comfortable places made for women to nurse. I know I feel more comfortable nursing in private another room or using a nursing cover.

So what can you do to help promote breastfeeding in an emergency?

Be Prepared

• Exclusively breastfeed your baby until s/he is 6 months of age.  Continue to breastfeed your baby to 2 years or beyond.

• Encourage your local mother support group(s) to discuss emergency preparedness. For example, plan ways that the group could staff a safe place for mothers and provide mother-to-mother support to breastfeeding if large numbers of people are made homeless.

• Make contact with local emergency authorities and community groups and tell them about IFE.

During an Emergency

• Continue to practice optimal breastfeeding.

• Offer support to other mothers who are having difficulties or to mothers of newborns in an emergency.

• Consider wet nursing if needs are identified, e.g. orphans, very ill mothers.

• Help organise safe places for mothers with mother-to-mother support for breastfeeding.

Support from Afar

• Identify agencies that support breastfeeding in emergencies and fundraise for them.

*All the information in this blog post is from World Breastfeeding Week’s Action Folder. I would highly recommend downloading it and reading it.

How are you going to celebrate World Breastfeeding Week? I am going to keep nursing my 5 month old!

You can ad a twibbon to your twitter profile pic to show your support. http://twibbon.com/join/World-Breastfeeding-Week

Several of my friends have been discussing with me how they are tightening up their monthly budgets.  We have been doing the same in our house.  We live in a pretty small house for having three children and I am happily trying to spend less money so we can move into a little larger home hopefully soon after the first of the year!  One area of our family’s budget which we have a lot of control over is our grocery bill.  We include diapers, toiletries, and cleaning items in our grocery bill and have budgeted about $500 a month on grocery items.  While that is not very much money for a family of five, with one on Pediasure, it’s a very doable number for our family.  However, I am trying to get that number even lower!

For the last two months, I have come in at $430 and $450 on our grocery bill-saving $80 and $50 dollars those months, which I think is great!  Both of those months, we had some unexpected expenses come up, so it was nice to have the cash already saved to spend on those unexpected expenses.  Here are some ways I’m lowering my grocery bill:

• Buy more generic.

I’ve always been a generic shopper, but there are some brand name items I prefer over generic.  On those items (like tomatoes, for instance), I’m halfing Hunts with generic and am not noticing the difference in the taste of my spaghetti sauce!

• Cook less meat.

There are a lot of great meals that do not require expensive beef and chicken.  For example, instead of taco night, I’m making bean and cheese chalupas.  We also ate a lot of chicken and rice and I have been replacing those meals with rice, bean, and vegetable varieties.  We still eat meat, but we’re just eating less of it.

• Try not to throw anything out.

I will typically buy fruits and vegetables and let them go bad in my refrigerator.  I am trying not to let that happen as often.

• Plan meals and shopping trips.

This is probably the hardest step for me, but it really makes a difference.  My grocery shopping time is Sunday nights now and I try to get everything I need for the entire week that night.  I find that I spend too much money on things we don’t need during my quick trips for milk or bread.  By eliminating those quick trips, I’m spending a lot less money!  I also have found that I spend less money when I don’t have the kids with me.

• Compare prices.

Bagged beans are way cheaper than canned beans and while they require a little more work, the little savings here and there make significant dents in your grocery bill.  Our grocery store has the price per ounce on the price sticker.  That is a very convenient tool to use when shopping.  Since some brands will package their items in different quantities, you can use this part of the price sticker to know if you are really saving any money by buying a little more bulkier of an item or a different brand.

These are just a few things that have helped me in my quest to lower my grocery bill.

Are you a coupon shopper?  What are some tricks/tips you have to save money on groceries?  How much does your family budget or spend each month on groceries?

I recently started pumping breastmilk for my second baby and I love the freedom it brings me. I never pumped for my first child. It was a source of pride for me that a bottle nipple never touched the lips of my baby and she went straight to a straw cup. I have since gotten over that pride.

Why I Didn’t Want to Pump

I was concerned about nipple confusion with my first baby. The breastfeeding class I went to was very clear that my baby could get nipple confusion and refuse to nurse from me afterwords. Also, I had heard stories from friends who started to pump and then the babies only wanted a bottle afterwords. These friends even felt certain that nursing was established and it would be okay to introduce a bottle.

Another reason why I didn’t pump with my first was because I didn’t want to shell out $300 for a pumping system. I knew Medela was the best, but it wasn’t cheap. I didn’t need it, my baby was always with me and I got very proficient at nursing in public with my nursing cover.

I also thought it was too much work to pump, store, and clean all the equipment. There seemed to be so many rules about how to store it, how long to store, how to heat it up. It was just another system that I didn’t want to take the time to learn.

Why I Pump With My Second Baby

With my second child I felt like a lot more confident breastfeeding, so I wasn’t as worried about nipple confusion. I also don’t have the same pride about not using bottles as I once did. I decided I wanted to pump, because I was invited to an evening wedding where kids weren’t allowed. The bride told me I could bring my son, but I wanted to enjoy an evening out with my husband without kids. My baby was 2 1/2 months old at the time.

Thankfully a friend (thanks Natalie!) loaned me her Medela pump that she wasn’t using. Some people discourage borrowing pumps, but I felt that it was okay to use. I found my book from the breastfeeding class and read up on the rules of storage. It wasn’t as complicated as I thought it would be.

I questioned what to do with leftover milk in the bottle that the baby doesn’t drink. After taking a survey of friends I decided that I would put the milk back in the fridge to only be used one more time only if the next time was soon after. I know that some of the nutrients may be gone, but I am okay with that. It is very rare that my son won’t drink everything now.

Now I don’t pump every day, but once a week or so to keep up demand. I love the freedom to be able to leave without my little buddy. I like to pump before church, so I can feed him in the sanctuary without having to miss the sermon nursing in the cry room. There is so much freedom in pumping. If you are about to nurse and are afraid to pump, you should at least try and see if it works for you! I am certainly happy that I tried it!

P.S. I just pumped this morning so I go to a Coldplay concert tonight with my husband. I wouldn’t have been able to go with him if I didn’t pump.

How about you? Have you tried pumping? Did you hate it? Did you like it? Did you have any concerns about nipple confusion?

– photo courtesy of webchicken

There is a great discussion over on PhDinParenting.com about breastfeeding and blogging about it. After reading PHDinParenting’s post and the comments I believe that there is a difference between supporting breastfeeding mothers and promoting breastfeeding.

Supporting breastfeeding mothers is encouraging moms in the decision they have already made. While promoting breastfeeding is trying to encourage new moms to breastfeed even if they don’t want to. My hope is that I can encourage those moms that want to nurse or are nursing, because breastfeeding moms need encouragement.

There is not a lot of support for new moms that want to nurse. I needed encouragement.

• Older generations didn’t breastfeed and my mom doesn’t encourage me.

• My former Pediatrician wasn’t active in supporting me.

• When I left the hospital with my first child I was given a diaper bag sponsored by a formula company loaded with formula in it.

• While outprocessing the nurse gave me a long speech how I was going to have to give my baby formula at some point. Now that I think back I may have made every effort to nurse my first baby without ever giving her formula just to prove that nurse wrong. And I did. Now I wish I knew her name so I could tell her she was wrong. I guess my personal challenge didn’t matter in the end. Ha!

The truth is that breastfeeding is dang hard. It took me 3 weeks with my first baby before I didn’t have any pain nursing. With my second baby I thought the pain wouldn’t last as long since my boobs were used to it and I knew what I was doing, but I was wrong. I still had immense pain for the first 3 weeks. I called a lactation consultant and she told me that I was doing everything right and that it would get better. Thankfully she was right, but I needed to hear that encouragement from a Lactation Consultant at that time.

I am currently nursing my 10 week old and it isn’t easy to watch my diet. I stay away from caffeine and alcohol and I try to eat healthy. My second baby is a boy and nursing a lot and that makes me really hungry. Since I am eating extra food, I am confused on how I should diet and exercise to lose my baby weight. I would love to have my body be mine again, but the trade off is worth it. If I didn’t believe that breastfeeding was better for my baby then I don’t think I would do it.

Breastfeeding is not always encouraged by professionals or older generations. Learning to nurse is difficult, time consuming, and can be inconvenient. My aim is to encourage my friends and those who ask for my help and support in their breastfeeding efforts. It is never my intention to always promote breastfeeding to those that choose formula or to judge them. I may look at them funny while I am observing what they do, because formula is foreign to me and I am watching and learning in case I ever have to do it one day.

One way that I like to support my friends in breastfeeding is by giving them a Brestfriend Pillow as a baby shower gift along with a copy of an article that I wrote titled, “7 Things You Should Know Before You Start Breastfeeding.”

Other ways to support your breastfeeding friends:

• Be a listening ear when they are going through the first few tough weeks.
• Encourage them to see a Lactation Consultant if they need help.
• Don’t be weirded out when they nurse in front of you.
• Share about your own breastfeeding experience.
• Buy them a nursing cover for a baby shower gift.

Have you ever encouraged a friend that wanted to breastfeed? Has breastfeeding vs. formula feeding ever came in between a friendship?