For the February Carnival of Breastfeeding, write a post that tells how you overcame a breastfeeding challenge. Did you experience a lack of family support, deal with mastitis, or have a baby in the NICU? Email me your post by February 15, 2010, for consideration for the blog carnival on February 22, 2010.

Mom and baby in the NICU; Photo courtesy of EraPhernalia Vintage on flickr.com

If your post is selected for inclusion, you will be asked on the day of the carnival to publish or re-publish your post with links back to each of the other participants in the carnival.

I’ll let you in on a little secret. All three of my children “slept through the night” at three months of age! For real! I’m not lying! Except, then they didn’t. Inevitably my 3-month-old would cut her first tooth, get a cold, or just plain decide it was nice to have her mama comfort her back to sleep in the night. So can I say in all honesty that my children slept through the night at three months of age? Not quite.
I think a significant number of mothers are not completely honest about how things are going in their mothering …read more

I always appreciate seeing pictures of celebrities who breastfeed their babies (and toddlers!) in public or show up at an event to support breastfeeding. This photo gallery features eight women who by their very celebrity promote breastfeeding.

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The World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) announced its theme for World Breastfeeding Week 2010, scheduled to take place August 1-7, 2010: “Just 10 Steps! Breastfeeding the Baby-Friendly Way.”

By focusing on the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, this theme recognizes the vital role that health care facilities play in the establishment of breastfeeding. The joint WHO/UNICEF statement outlines the Ten Steps as follows:
Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding
Every facility providing maternity services and care for newborn infants should:
1. Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health care staff.
2. Train all health care staff in skills necessary …read more

The Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA) reportedly has been asked to retract its urgent call for breast milk donations for premature infants in Haiti. The Emergency Nutrition Network (ENN) says the donations contradict best practices for babies in emergencies and the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) said the donations create an “unfeasible and unsafe intervention” due to problems of transportation, screening, supply and storage, according to the MSNBC article “Call for Donations of Breast Milk in Haiti Goes Bust.” Time also asks “Will Donating Breast Milk Help Haitian infants?”
I have nothing but respect and deference …read more

The decision to make an urgent call for breast milk donations in the wake of the earthquake disaster in Haiti is controversial in the breastfeeding activist community. I think everyone can agree that donations of artificial baby milk are not helpful and that everything possible should be done to promote breastfeeding by mothers in Haiti. Breastfeeding is the long-term, life-saving method of infant feeding in a disaster.
Some, however, argue that at best the donations of breast milk are symbolic and not particularly helpful, and at worst they detract from the real and more practical need for donations of cash. …read more

In a joint press release issued today, several breastfeeding organizations are putting out an urgent call for human milk donations to meet the desperate need of premature infants in Haiti as well as sick and premature infants in the United States:
URGENT CALL FOR HUMAN MILK DONATIONS FOR HAITI INFANTS
The Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA), United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC), International Lactation Consultant Association/United States Lactation Consultant Association (ILCA/USLCA), and La Leche League International (LLLI) are jointly issuing an urgent call for human milk donations for premature infants in Haiti, as well as sick and premature infants in …read more

Welcome Carnival of Breastfeeding readers! This month the participants refer you to the “best of the best” on various breastfeeding topics. First, I feature several helpful resources on thrush, also known as an overgrowth of nipple yeast (usually the yeast Candida albicans) or candidiasis. At the end of this post are links to the other collections of resources from carnival participants.
When a woman is experiencing intense pain while breastfeeding, it is important that she consider the possibility of thrush, which is a yeast infection of the mother’s nipple and the baby’s mouth. If you only have time to read one …read more

Viola B. Lennon, one of the seven co-founders of La Leche League (LLL) and a co-author of the The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, passed away on Friday, January 22, 2010, at the age of 86. She had 10 children with her husband Bill, and learned by example from her mother that breastfeeding “is an enjoyable experience that brings you close to your baby.” She attended the founding meeting of what became La Leche League, and went on to serve as Chairman of the LLLI Board of Directors for five years, followed by Director of the LLLI Funding Development Department. LLL …read more

In addition to making progress with my toddler on sleeping through the night, we are making progress with potty training. We call it “toilet learning” because our informal method has nothing to do with “training” in the traditional sense. We don’t take our toddler to the bathroom on a set schedule (that’s too much work and a lot of pressure for everyone.) We try very hard to keep it an upbeat, positive process. We do not do elimination communication (EC) although the idea intrigues me and my American friend living in Shanghai swears she is going to set …read more