Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

Breastfeeding women need not feel they have to consume a special diet in order to provide the right nutrients in their breast milk. It’s true though that breastfeeding women need to consume extra calories (and don’t we all celebrate that fact!) But what about water? Shouldn’t you force extra fluids when you’re nursing, especially if you’re having trouble with low milk supply? Drinking extra water can actually hurt milk supply.

Are there any rewards for eating well? One study suggests that eating organic dairy and meat boots the beneficial fatty acids in breast milk. Mothers who eat fish also pass benefits on to their nurslings (but it is true that breastfeeding and pregnant women should follow the recommendation to avoid shark, swordfish, tilefish, and king mackerel due to their high mercury content.) Some women have noticed that eating oatmeal can help boost milk supply.

What about allergies? Shouldn’t a mother avoid certain highly allergenic foods like dairy? Fortunately, breastfeeding helps prevent or reduce the severity of allergies. There’s no need for all breastfeeding mothers to eliminate allergenic foods as a matter of course. If there’s a family history of severe allergies (such as an allergy to peanuts), the mother should talk to her doctor about eliminating the offending foods during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Certainly if a mother notices symptoms of allergies in her baby, she could undergo an elimination diet to determine what if any foods are affecting her nursling. If a baby has colic, it’s a good idea to investigate food allergies as a culprit.

In fact, the baby is the best source of guidance for what a nursing mother should or should not eat. Some babies are bothered by chocolate or coffee (and other sources of caffeine) in a mother’s diet, but many are not. Garlic and spicy foods are fine for nursing mothers, and might actually help the nursling develop a taste for a variety of foods when it is time to start solid foods! Surely eating gassy foods like beans, cabbage, and onions, will make the baby gassy? Nope, such a belief is not founded in research.

What about other things that affect breast milk, like smoking or alcohol consumption? While it’s true that a mother who smokes should make every effort to quit, it’s still better to smoke and breastfeed than to smoke and formula-feed. And while the new home test kits for alcohol in breast milk might scare some women into abstaining from alcohol altogether, breastfeeding women can enjoy the occasional drink, and certainly do not need to “pump and dump” their milk.

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

~ Does seeing a woman breastfeed stimulate people sexually?
~ Is breastfeeding perceived as a sexual act?
~ Are breasts just good for sex?
~ Why do some people feel shame when they see a woman breastfeeding?
~ How can we change people’s minds about the sexualization of breastfeeding?
~ What should we think when we see a breastfeeding mother?
~ Should a mother use a blanket to cover up while breastfeeding?
~ Has shame driven more women to use formula when they’re in public?
~ Do you think covering up while breastfeeding encourages shame?
~ Are there people I should never breastfeed around?

VideoJug: Shame And Sexualization Of Public Breastfeeding

Anyone have any thoughts on this discussion? Did you all see that fact pop up: “For every 1,000 babies born in the United States, four will die from formula feeding”? Wow. Feel free to leave a comment.

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

CLA is a type of fat that is believed to have anti-carcinogenic, anti-atherosclerotic, anti-diabetic and immune-enhancing effects, as well as a favorable influence on body fat composition. For newborns specifically, CLA is believed to especially aid immune system development.

“These findings provide scientific support for common sense, by showing that organic foods are healthier,” says Dr. Lukas Rist, who is the lead author of the study….

What does this mean for the average breastfeeding mother–is this good news or bad news? What I don’t want to happen is for women who have poor nutrition and/or cannot afford organic foods to think that their breast milk is somehow inferior or inadequate. Breast milk is always superior to f*rmula; it is always better for a mother to breastfeed her baby rather than switch to f*rmula. The Breastfeeding Answer Book notes:

Research from developing countries and other parts of the world indicates that even mothers who are mildly malnourished produce an adequate supply of good quality milk for their babies and that only under famine or near famine conditions will a mother’s nutrition affect her milk supply or the composition of her milk.

So, the good news from this research is that mothers can enhance the already superior nutritional value of their breast milk by choosing organic dairy and meat products over conventional. Lucky for us that Carrie at Natural Moms Talk Radio just wrote a helpful article with money saving tips for eating more organic foods without busting the budget!

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

Here’s my beautiful glass of water. When we renovated our kitchen recently we treated ourselves to a new set of water glasses from Pottery Barn! I like them because they’re sturdy and weighty — they feel good in your hand! They also come in three different sizes, perfect for a small glass of juice, a healthy serving of milk or a refreshing drink of water.

What’s the rule about drinking water when you’re breastfeeding? It’s the same rule for everyone, breastfeeding or not: drink enough to satisfy thirst. Drinking any more than that can actually decrease your milk supply! One study showed that consuming 25 percent more fluids than the “drink to thirst” recommendation led to a decrease in milk supply. I also learned from lactation consultant Linda Wieser at the LLL area conference that drinking more than 80 ounces of water per day can reduce a woman’s potassium levels and have a negative impact on milk supply.

So, while it’s a good idea to keep a glass of water handy next to the place where you typically nurse, there’s no need to force yourself to drink extra water. Just enjoy a glass as you feel the need!

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

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Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

The acquisition helps further Nestle’s recent focus on health and nutrition, following its purchases of U.S. weight control company Jenny Craig and [Novartis Medical Nutrition]….

“The acquisition of Gerber is the perfect complementary fit,” said Nestle Chairman and CEO Peter Brabeck-Letmathe. “It not only gives Nestle the leadership position in baby food, but it also constitutes a decisive step to establish Nestle Nutrition as the undisputed global leader in the nutrition field.”

And here I thought “Nestle Nutrition” was an oxymoron….

All the more reason to make your own baby food when the time comes to start solids.

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

With respect to food allergies, what are the main protective effects of breastfeeding?

1. Breast milk provides key antibodies that keep harmful substances from penetrating the digestive tract. The risk of food allergy is higher when antibody levels are insufficient.
2. “[H]uman milk also contains immune cells, immune-regulating cytokines and growth factors that exert positive biological effects.”
3. When solid foods are introduced (preferably around six months of age), breastfeeding continues to provide protective effects by helping the digestive system tolerate certain food antigens. For example, breastfeeding is known to provide significant protection against wheat gluten-triggered celiac disease.
4. Of course the general recommendation is for breastfeeding to continue for at least one full year or more. Another reason to continue and to wean slowly when the time comes? The protective effects mentioned above lead researchers to surmise that gradual rather than abrupt weaning helps develop a greater tolerance to food proteins. “Mixed feeding”–continued breastfeeding alongside the consumption of solids–may reduce food allergies.
5. A majority of studies show that breastfeeding also protects against asthma and eczema.

Babies are born with an immature immune system and an immature digestive tract.  The immune system utilizes antibodies to bind harmful foreign substances to the surface of the digestive tract and keep them from permeating the tract wall. The primary antibody at work is secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA). Because a newborn baby produces little or no SIgA, the baby relies on the mother’s breast milk as the only significant source of SIgA antibodies. It can take up to 10 years for a child’s ability to produce SIgA to mature. The process speeds up in developing countries where children are exposed to more microbes than children in developed countries with higher levels of cleanliness. (I’m not the world’s tidiest homemaker–all in the name of protecting my children from allergies! Yeah, that’s it!)

As an interesting side note, children whose mothers have allergies are at least eight times as likely to develop food allergies if they are born by cesarean section. It’s believed that is because the infants are not exposed to certain microbes in the mother’s birth canal.

What if, in spite of all the protective effects of breastfeeding, the child of a breastfeeding mother does develop allergies? She can eliminate the offending foods from her diet and continue to provide the protective benefits of breastfeeding. But what if a child is allergic to milk? Children who are allergic to dairy are allergic to a cow’s milk protein that passes through the mother’s milk. They are not ”allergic to breast milk” and a mother may eliminate dairy from her diet and continue to breastfeed. It’s important to note that if a mother chooses to switch the child with dairy allergies to artificial baby milk, she cannot of course choose a cow’s milk-based product. Not only is soy-based milk controversial but soy is almost as common an allergen as cow’s milk. If the child also happens to be allergic to soy, it may be necessary to rely on very expensive prescription baby milk.

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

Me: “Dinner’s ready!”

4-year-old: “What are we having?”

Me: “Beef barley vegetable soup.”

4-year-old: “I don’t want that.”

Me: “I put extra lima beans in yours.”

4-year-old: “Yay!”

Later…

4-year-old: “Mom, can I have a little bit more? Mmmm. It’s yummy! I love beef barley vegetable!”

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3