Some women breastfeed for the health benefits for their babies and themselves. Some women breastfeed for the cost savings. Some women do it as part of a parenting style. And some women do it for a combination of those reasons. Me? I do it for the applause.esterday my 14-month-old nursed on one breast, popped herself off, sat up and clapped! Then she leaned in and hugged me before she switched to the other side. When she was done on that side, she popped herself off again, sat up, clapped, and hugged me again! When she saw my delight at this …read more

In celebration of my 1,000th post here at Breastfeeding 1-2-3, I want to share a very happy story I came across. You might remember this post I wrote for Blog Action Day last year on Breastfeeding and Poverty (read it if you haven’t already — it’s one of my better posts if I do say so myself ). In that post I shared what I learned about how a malnourished mother should continue breastfeeding and not wean and give her baby f*ormula. I remembered that information as I started to read a post by Mary at Owlhaven.net on …read more

My family just moved from a rental home to a new home we purchased one town away. Out of all my family members, I would say my 13-month-old has handled the move the best. Not only has she survived, she has thrived. She is excited about all the new places to explore and she thinks we’re on a grand adventure.
I believe that breastfeeding allows her the ability to thrive in this new environment because breastfeeding (and the closeness with me) is a constant. She knows that she is free to explore but she can always come back to the security …read more

Welcome to the August Carnival of Breastfeeding in celebration of World Breastfeeding Week August 1-7, 2009! The theme for La Leche League’s celebration is “Breastfeeding: Prepared for Life.” Breastfeeding prepares mothers and babies to deal with life’s emergencies: a natural disaster, war, epidemic, or time of political and economic unrest. Breastfeeding provides vital protection for infants in an emergency. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports:

The August Carnival of Breastfeeding coincides with World Breastfeeding Week the first week in August. Do you have thoughts on La Leche League’s World Breastfeeding Week theme: “Breastfeeding: Prepared for Life”? Perhaps breastfeeding helped you in the wake of Hurricane Katrina or another natural disaster. Maybe nursing helped you cope with a medical crisis? Did breastfeeding allow you and your child to undertake a trip you might not have otherwise? Please email me your post on “Breastfeeding: Prepared for Life” by July 27, 2009, for consideration for the blog carnival on August 3, 2009.
As a reminder, here are the …read more

Today my husband took my older girls to a major league baseball game while I stayed home with my 11-month-old. The minute her sisters (i.e., the entertainment) left she started fussing! Who wants to stay home with boring old mom anyway?! Now I say this in the most loving way possible: this child is like a dog, if only in the sense that she goes to the door, bangs on it with her hands and yells until I say we’re going out! She wants to be where the action is, there’s no mistaking that.
o we headed out the door …read more

Sometimes being a mother means being a detective. My 10-month-old had a restless night last Saturday. On Sunday she was fussy and not much interested in eating solid food, which was unusual for her. I chalked it up to teething because I could see two new teeth poking their way through the top gums.eething was ruled out later that night when she spiked a fever of 103 degrees Fahrenheit. The next morning I started to get really worried — what would cause a fever and disinterest in food, but no runny nose, vomiting, or diarrhea? Had she managed to swallow …read more

This rather shocking quote affirms everything I have always felt about breastfeeding. You can’t replace breastfeeding with formula, or even breast milk with formula; they simply aren’t equivalent. That doesn’t make formula “bad” nor should it make formula-feeding mothers feel guilty. It acknowledges that breastfeeding is part of an intimate relationship between mother and child.
To reduce breastfeeding to milk is like reducing sex to semen.
– Rachel Myr, Lactnet list facilitator, named “Midwife of the Year 2008″ in Norway, as quoted in Lactnet

This latest installment in the Mom-to-Mom question and answer series deals with advice for families planning a car trip with a baby. After reading The Value of Traveling with Your Baby, reader Christina asked the following question:
I am actually taking my first trip with my 4 month old this weekend to a wedding. It will be a 7 hour car drive – any advice for the car trip? And on a tangent – any advice for breastfeeding in a dress or am I doomed for separates?
Great question! When my first daughter was four months old we drove from Boston to …read more

While it’s not always easy to travel with a young baby, the rewards of doing so are great! I recently traveled to Newport Beach, California, for a La Leche League conference and I took my 10-month-old with me. It was a grand adventure being away for the weekend and my daughter made a developmental leap — something I have noticed happening with each of my three children when we travel!
Some of the benefits of traveling with a baby:
~ The extra stimulation from new places and new faces when we travel has led to new words or first steps for …read more