What about you? Have you borrowed a used pump from a friend? Would you or have you bought a used pump from a stranger? What do you think?

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Before I could read Baby Matters, Revised 2nd Edition: What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Caring for Your Baby, two breastfeeding women raved to me about the book. “Most doctors just tell you what they believe about baby care. This author tells you what she thinks and why. It has all the hard science behind attachment parenting!” I must say I agree with their positive assessment and their enthusiasm for a book that is unlike (in a good way!) most other parenting and baby care books. It is so refreshing to read a book that tackles both sides of issues like vaccination, vitamin K injections, and circumcision, with scientific studies to back up the arguments for or against such procedures. I kept a pen by my side to highlight key passages as I read through the extensive and fascinating coverage of parenting and infant care topics by author Linda Folden Palmer, DC. I wish I’d had this book when I was pregnant (when I really needed the information to make important decisions about early baby care, breastfeeding, and nutrition) and had the time to devour every bit of the information packed into this book. Baby Matters would make an excellent gift for expecting mothers, attachment parenting families, and those pesky grandparents who insist you’re “spoiling that baby” by responding to his cries. Chapters like “Allergy Matters” and “Discovering, Preventing and Treating Food Allergies” would be particularly helpful to women with a family history of allergies as well as mothers trying to get to the bottom of troubling problems such as colic, eczema, rash, ear infections, etc. And if you are looking for a parenting and baby care book that brings scientific evidence to the discussion of attachment parenting, co-sleeping, breastfeeding, nutrition and other baby matters, then Baby Matters is the book for you.

Other Carnival Book and DVD Reviews

After reading many of the following reviews, my wish list has grown tremendously!

~ The Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog reviews an assortment of ideal gifts including The Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers Revised and Updated
~ The International Breastfeeding Symbol Blog reviews The Baby Book and Unconditional Parenting
~ Hobo Mama reviews Our Babies, Ourselves
~ Mama Knows Breast reviews bOObs: A Guide to Your Girls
~ BreastfeedingMums reviews many books, including The Breastfeeding Cafe
~ On School Street reviews Blindsided by a Diaper: Over 30 Men and Women Reveal How Parenthood Changes a Relationship
~ Tales of Life with a Girl on the Go reviews the children’s book The Best Gifts
~ James and the Giant Moose reviews Having Faith
~ The True Face of Birth reviews Mama Knows Breast: A Beginner’s Guide to Breastfeeding
~ Crunchy Domestic Goddess reviews the DVD What Babies Want

If you’re looking for reviews of other books or breastfeeding products such as bras, breast pumps, and nursing covers, check out this compilation I put together a while ago.

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Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

VideoJug: Does general anesthesia affect breastfeeding?

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

What are they you ask? Let me give you a few…

1. Babies that are breastfed have a reduced risk for developing diabetes later on in life.

2. Prolonging the introduction of cow’s milk in genetically at risk babies may also give them a “leg up.”

3. Moms who are insulin dependent will most likely use less insulin while breastfeeding and it is absolutely compatible and safe in conjunction with breast milk. The insulin molecule is very large and does not pass through to the breast milk.

Now, there are some considerations that go along with breastfeeding while diabetic. For one, you are at risk for developing skin infections and mastitis. Newborn jaundice is also more common in breastfed babies, but that is easily treated. And I absolutely advise any diabetic mother to coordinate her breastfeeding efforts with her OB/Gyn, PCP and endocrinologist. Medications, hormone levels and blood sugars need to be closely monitored.

But by all means… go ahead and put that baby to breast. Living with a chronic disease like diabetes should not inhibit you from enjoying all that comes with “mommyhood”!

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Oversupply and Foremilk/Hindmilk Imbalance

It may take several weeks for a mother’s milk supply to regulate. When a mother experiences oversupply, the baby can take in too much low-calorie, lactose-rich foremilk and not enough high-calorie, fat-rich hindmilk. That can lead to fussiness, gassiness, low weight gain and/or green, watery stools. A mother can attempt to remedy the foremilk/hindmilk imbalance by “block feeding”: feeding on the same breast for any feedings during a two to three hour period. The mother nurses on one side per feeding, and if the baby wants to nurse again within two to three hours of starting that first feeding, she continues to nurse the baby on that same side so that the baby gets more hindmilk. During that block of time, the mother can express just enough milk on the other side to prevent engorgement, plugged ducts or mastitis.

Adverse Reaction

It is possible that the green stools are evidence of a sensitivity, allergy or negative reaction to something the mother consumed. Green stools with mucus is a one of the possible signs of a food sensitivity, along with fussiness, trouble sleeping, pain, eczema or rash, congestion, and blood in the stool, among other things. If you suspect an allergy, read more about allergies here.

Interestingly, some mothers taking the galactagogue fenugreek report green, watery stools as a side effect in their babies. It’s unclear whether this is from the fenugreek herb itself or the mother’s increased milk supply from the galactagogue.

As always, if you have concerns about your baby’s health, consult a doctor. Certainly if the green stools persist or there is any question about possible low weight gain, seek medical attention.

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Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

Each chapter will be devoted to a disease/vaccine pair and offer a comprehensive discussion of what the disease is, how common or rare it is, how serious or harmless it is, the ingredients of the vaccine, and any possible side effects from the vaccine. Ultimately, parents will have to make their own informed decisions as Dr. Bob Sears is neither pro-vaccine nor anti-vaccine. But THE VACCINE BOOK will provide exactly the information parents want and need as they make their way through the vaccination maze.

The book comes out October 22, 2007, but you can pre-order your copy now.

I’m curious to hear what your current opinion is. Please participate in the poll and leave a comment explaining your answer if you wish!

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Q: “Hi, I’m hoping that you, or someone you know can help. I’m a tandem nursing mom to my 2 1/2 year old and my 12 week old. I never had any nursing issues or problems with my first. I am currently suffering from mastitis for the second time in 4 weeks! On top of that, my 2 year old was just diagnosed with Herpangina (a form of Hand, Foot, and Mouth) virus. I guess it’s very contagious by saliva and I’m praying that my 12 week old doesn’t get it. My pediatrician completely frowns on tandem nursing, so I kind of left this little detail out when we just saw her for my son’s herpangina.

When he started getting sick, I immediately started cleaning my breasts/nipples after he nursed to protect the baby. My OB said that actually cleaning the nipple could cause mastitis!?

Did I actually cause the mastitis this second time? How can I protect my infant from the Herpangina? What am I doing wrong this time to get Mastitis twice since I never got it with my first child? What can I do differently to avoid getting it again? Thank you so much for any advice you can give!”

A: First off, congratulations on your 12-week-old! I’m sorry to hear you have endured repeated bouts of mastitis this time around. Mastitis can be very debilitating and has a nasty way of kicking you when you’re already down. You should be very proud of yourself for working through both cases and continuing to tandem nurse.

Recurrent Mastitis

Let’s address each of your questions separately. Did you cause the second bout of mastitis? It’s true that mothers are generally advised not to wash their nipples with soap because the soap can remove essential oils from the surface of the breast. I doubt though that washing your nipples caused the second bout of mastitis. When a case of mastitis comes closely on the heels of a previous bout of mastitis, it’s likely that the first case never really went away and the “second case” is really just a second flaring-up of the first. When battling mastitis, it’s important to rest-rest-rest and nurse-nurse-nurse. If you take antibiotics to treat the mastitis, it is imperative that you take the full prescribed course of antibiotics and you do not stop taking the pills once you start feeling better.

Spreading Germs

How can you protect your infant from the herpangina? It’s fine to rinse your nipples with plain water, and for a little added protection from virus transmission you could express some breast milk onto your nipples and let the milk air dry. Breast milk has antiviral and antibacterial properties. However, KellyMom says it’s really not necessary to take any special precautions to prevent the spread of germs between nurslings (with the exception of thrush):

By the time symptoms occur in a viral illness, the two nurslings will have been in close contact for days (both in the home and at the breast), and thus the well child will have already been exposed to the illness. In addition, your breasts will have already started to produce antibodies specifically for that illness. These antibodies will help the sick child get well quicker and will also help protect your other child from illness….

Washing the breasts between nurslings might even reduce the breasts’ exposure to the pathogens and therefore reduce the breasts’ efficiency at manufacturing antibodies.

Avoiding Mastitis

What can you do differently to avoid getting mastitis again? As I said, breast infections kick us when we’re down, so the key is to stay otherwise healthy and (reasonably!) well-rested. Follow these ten tips for breast health.

Share Your Experience

How have other mothers dealt with mastitis? Have any other tandem nursing mothers dealt with viruses? Leave a comment!

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Ultra-fast codeine metabolism occurs in people who have a mutation in the gene coding for a liver enzyme called CYP2D6. The mutation is uncommon, but not rare. [Sandra Kweder, MD, deputy director of the FDA's office of new drugs] says it occurs in 1% to 10% of Caucasians, about 3% of African-Americans, about 1% of Hispanics and Asians, and — surprisingly — in some 28% of North Africans, Ethiopians, and Saudi Arabians.

The Bottom Line for Nursing Mothers

Does this warning mean that breastfeeding mothers should avoid prescription and over-the-counter medications with codeine, or that women who need pain medication after giving birth should not breastfeed? That’s not the case at all. “This announcement today does not mean women who need pain medicine should not breastfeed. The benefits of breastfeeding are well documented,” said Janet Woodcock, MD, the FDA’s deputy commissioner and chief medical officer, in a press conference about the warning. The FDA simply advises doctors to prescribe the lowest dose of codeine needed for the shortest amount of time, and advises nursing mothers to watch for signs of morphine overdose in their infants. Signs of morphine overdose in a nursing baby include:

* increased sleepiness,

* difficulty breastfeeding,

* breathing difficulties, and/or

* limpness.

Of course any mother who notices such symptoms in her infant should seek medical attention. For more information on the use of codeine during lactation, search the LactMed database for “codeine.”

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