Holy Bat Breasts, Batman! Today not only marks the successful end of NaBloPoMo, it also features my 100th post at Breastfeeding 1-2-3, “Breast Milk Cures Pink Eye (Conjunctivitis).” We’ve had some laughs over the last two months–in fact it’s been a veritable blog carnival fun house! It hasn’t all been fun and games though. We’ve discussed AIDS, cancer and cleft palate. There must be a lot of serious lactivists out there too because it seems like everyone had a story to tell, a vote to cast or a petition to sign. They’re a very supportive bunch, those lactating MOMS. Don’t mess with Texas, though.

Thanks for the mammaries, everyone!

Two nights ago my preschooler complained that her right eye hurt and felt itchy. Sure enough, the inner corner of the eye was red and swollen with pus. Those are typical signs of bacterial conjunctivitis, commonly called “pink eye.”

Fortunately, one treatment for pink eye is painless and free: breast milk! With clean hands and my nipple rinsed with plain water (no soap), I simply hand-expressed some milk into my daughter’s eye. That sounds complicated and looks a bit ridiculous, I admit, but it’s a lot easier and cheaper than going to the doctor for prescription eye drops.

The trick is to have the child lean back with her head in your lap. Have her close her eyes. Express a few drops of milk onto the affected eye, then briefly and gently open the child’s eye or have the child blink to get the breast milk in the eye. Of course, you can always use a sterile cup and eye dropper rather than expressing directly into the child’s eye. Continue this treatment three or more times per day until the infection clears up, and seek medical attention if the condition worsens. There are several different causes of pink eye–a virus, bacteria, an allergy, a foreign object in the eye, a plugged tear duct or a scratched eye. Breast milk works on bacterial conjunctivitis, and improvement can be seen within hours of starting treatment.

Pink eye is quite contagious. I treat the child’s unaffected eye and even preventatively treat my other child’s eyes too. There’s no harm in doing so, and I’d much rather spare each child another infection. We also wash hands frequently to prevent the spread of the infection.

My child’s pink eye cleared up in less than two days, allowing her to go to back to preschool yesterday without missing any days.

Don’t take my word on treating pink eye with breast milk though! Consult your doctor, and check out this link which explains the healing powers of breast milk:

A particular antibody in the breast milk, called immunoglobulin A, prevents the pink eye bacteria from attaching to the mucosal surface of the eye. This limits the growth of the bacteria, helping to end the eye infection.

See my follow-up article for more medical evidence to support this natural remedy for pink eye and blocked tear ducts: “Using Mother’s Milk to Treat Eye Conditions.”

That’s yet another advantage of breastfeeding!

Do any of you swear by this remedy too?

The last Carnival of Breastfeeding: Home for the Holidays was a huge success. The five breastfeeding bloggers who participated in that carnival are looking to grow the carnival slowly–each participant will choose one submission to be included in the next carnival. We’re seeking posts on the topic “Gifts for the Nursing Mother” (just in time for the holidays!) The carnival takes place on Monday, December 4, and all submissions must be received by Saturday, December 2, 2006, for consideration. Please email me with your submission!

What will up your odds of being chosen?

– A well-written, grammatically correct post
– Thoughtful commentary directly on point for the carnival subject (for example, for this carnival, write about your favorite nursing-related gift, your dream gift, economical ways to find/buy/make nursing-related products)
– Overall quality of the rest of your blog and whether the general subject matter is something of interest to our readers (breastfeeding, parenting)

Looking forward to reading the submissions!

I love seeing your answers to the poll questions! Thank you voters! The next question relates to the upcoming Carnival of Breastfeeding: Gifts for the Nursing Mother, which takes place on Monday December 4. Please vote in the new poll in the sidebar: As a nursing mother, what gift did you love getting or would you love to get?

Here are the results from the last poll: Which best describes how you feel about nursing in public?

Clearly the results are biased on a breastfeeding blog, but I still find it very encouraging that the vast majority of respondents nurse in public or support nursing in public. Only two people admitted that nursing in public offends them.

Let these results be an inspiration to nursing mothers!

Texas mothers plan another nurse-in at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport (DFW) this Friday, December 1, 2006, at 10 a.m. at the Delta counter in Terminal E of the airport.

According to participants, when five mothers and nine children originally gathered at DFW for the national nurse-in on November 21, they were harassed by airport security and threatened with arrest for indecent exposure and disorderly conduct. Mothers participating in this second nurse-in not only will gather in support of the mother kicked off a Delta flight for nursing without covering up, but to insist that the airport police (Department of Public Safety officers) apologize for their inappropriate comments and threats. They want the officers to receive training in the Texas breastfeeding law and the statutes defining indecent exposure and disorderly conduct. As it turns out, the indecent exposure law in Section 21.08 of the Texas Penal Code does not apply to breasts (not that any mothers were exposing their breasts anyway) but rather a person’s genitals and anus. Furthermore, the mothers were incorrectly told they had to leave because they did not have a permit to protest. When the mothers sought to apply for a permit for this Friday’s nurse-in, airport administration informed them that in fact a permit is not required for a peaceful gathering inside the airport, but only for picketers carrying large signs outside in front of the airport. As long as the mothers at Friday’s nurse-in do not carry picket signs or block people from coming or going, they are within their rights to gather inside the terminal.

Good luck on Friday, ladies! You are to be commended for your persistence and dedication.

When I was pregnant with my second daughter, I wanted to make something special for her. I had enjoyed using a store-bought sling as an infant carrier and as a discreet way to nurse my first daughter. After I bought that first sling, I noticed and admired the colorful fabrics many of my friends had chosen for slings they’d ordered on-line, bought on eBay or sewn themselves. I went searching for a sling pattern and found one listed on the Maya Wrap site. I really admire a company whose owners believe so strongly in their product and in baby-wearing that they are willing to share the pattern for free for those who require what the company calls a “Low Cost Option” (hint hint: if you’re not handy with a sewing machine, consider supporting Maya Wrap with your purchase! Maya Wrap also offers other products.)

It turned out to be very easy to sew a sling, especially since my husband did much of the work! It took more time to shop for the fabric and sling rings than it did to sew the sling, which took about two hours from start to finish. Read more

Tanya from the Motherwear blog knows that I love to share your breastfeeding stories, and she emailed me to see if I’d like to feature the story of Lauren. Lauren is an Athens, Georgia mother who gave birth to her daughter Charlotte last March. Charlotte had a cleft palate as part of Pierre Robin Sequence, which is also generally characterized by a small lower jaw and a tendency for the tongue to fold up in the back of the mouth. Lauren faced unique challenges in breastfeeding Charlotte, and she quickly became frustrated by the lack of information and support for mothers like her. That’s how her blog Patience, Grasshopper came into being. As she says: Read more

The dust has settled after the national nurse-in on Tuesday, November 21, 2006, and the final tally approaches 900 activists and children at 40 airports across the country! I’m impressed by the tremendous grassroots effort organized in just four days’ time!

As I said, most of the press has been extremely positive. I’ve seen just a bit of backlash from letters to the editors of newspapers covering the story, and a lot of heated debate on news message boards.

Overall I think the nurse-in and subsequent media coverage reflected positively on a woman’s ability to nurse in public. Certainly women airline passengers can now breastfeed confidently, with or without covering up, and not have to worry about being harassed by airline flight attendants. I think the intense coverage of the issue will also make business owners in other industries think twice about asking a nursing mother to cover up. They just might realize they’d better watch out or they too will have 900 lactivists speaking out against their ignorance!

My 4.5-year-old advised me how to put my toddler down on the bed for a nap after she fell asleep nursing:

The trick to do it is to pop her off gently. That way she’ll just think it’s in her dream.

It worked.

Dexie at Feisty Momma wrote in to share her breastfeeding story:

“Last Saturday, on our way to the Fellowship for the BBQ Benefit, I felt something was missing. We were running a little late so we bolted out of the house really fast. While in the car, I just knew I’d forgotten something. Then it clicked, I forgot to wear nursing pads. AAAAAHHH, nightmare! One important rule in breastfeeding, WEAR PADS!! As I was panicking inside my brain, I fought hard not to start screaming at my husband to turn around because I knew he and I would’ve been arguing in the car about my bursts of amnesia these days and well I just didn’t feel like doing it that morning. So I kept it to myself and decided as soon as we got there, I was going straight to the bathroom.

Well, I wasn’t able to stop in the bathroom because things got hectic and once again, it slipped my mind. Not until an hour and a half later. I felt the milk slightly dripping so I told my husband to watch the kids because I had to go to the bathroom. Thank goodness I got there in time. I hastily rolled a bunch of toilet paper for each breast and stuffed them in my bra. Whewww. Talk about a close call.

I guess I was destined to have a breastfeeding nightmare with both of my kids because I had an incident with my son as well while breastfeeding him. That time, I forgot to bring extra pads. My top got soaked while in the middle of a baby shower. My husband’s best friend’s wife was nice enough to lend me a shirt. Trying to cover up the wet spots with my long hair didn’t work. Yes I was a naive young new mom back then. It seems things haven’t changed that much…LOL.

Thinking about these mishaps made me chuckle a bit though. Teenagers, and even some women, use tissues or socks even to make ‘em look bigger while I stuffed mine to prevent leakage problems. See how that all works out?”

That last paragraph made me chuckle, too! I love reading these breastfeeding stories, and if you’d like to contribute yours, please click here.