A wonderful new book has just been published! Check out the accomplishment of my friend and fellow blogger Tanya Lieberman and her co-author Diana Glick: Spanish for Breastfeeding Support.

I had the honor of reading one of the first drafts of the book so I can report first-hand that it’s a great resource for lactation professionals. Whether you speak no Spanish at all, remember a little of your high school Spanish, or you speak the language well but need to expand your lactation-related vocabulary, Spanish for Breastfeeding Support will teach you to communicate effectively with Spanish-speaking mothers. Lactation consultants can even earn over 12 CERPs for working through the practice exercises in the book!

To hear some excerpts from the audio portion of the book and to enter to win a copy of the book before July 17, 2009, visit Tanya’s contest post. She also has a book website set up with extra practice exercises and a place to ask “how do I say this” questions.

Congratulations Tanya!

Working mothers deserve a lot of credit for the dedication it takes to pump at work. I loved seeing this question posted from one working mother to another, and I thought it would be perfect to throw out to all the working moms out there.

I am a working mom breastfeeding my 9 month old, I am one of those that at first thought it would only be for 6 months but here I am with no real signs of weaning anytime soon. Since you are a working mom still breastfeeding, I was wondering if you could answer some questions I’ve had that I can’t seem to find answers to anywhere…Do you still pump and if so how often? Have you dropped any pumps over the years and if so how/when? Does your child still nurse regularly or is it sporadic? My main questions revolve around maintaining a supply when they are not nursing as much as before. I’ve heard of extended breastfeeders whose babies only nurse a few times a week…how does your body maintain a supply if they are nursing so little? I really want to give up the pump before bed because it’s an extra pump that mainly just builds my frozen milk supply and it seems to add a good 30-45 minutes to my getting ready for bed routine (it’d be nice to be able to just go to bed when I’m ready without having to worry about pumping, cleaning parts, etc. beforehand). Any info, resources you found helpful or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Medela Pump in Style in its Backpack

Pediatrician Dr. Bob Sears makes it his business to stay on top of the latest developments and news regarding vaccinations. He is the author of The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Your Child. He spoke on the topic of vaccines at the La Leche League conference I went to last weekend.

Posing with Dr. Bob Sears after his lecture

La Leche League conferences are great because children are welcome at the lectures. As I chased my 10-month-old around the back of the room (until she finally fell asleep in the sling as you can see above), I managed to take in a lot of valuable information from the lecture. Dr. Sears discussed the occurrence and severity of various childhood illnesses, how vaccinations have affected the prevalence of those illnesses, toxins in vaccines, delayed and alternative vaccination schedules, the debate about vaccines and autism, and how the “same” vaccines vary by manufacturer and brand. I like that he offers an opinion on particular vaccines but does not push vaccination or not vaccinating; it’s all about the parents making an informed decision. If you get an opportunity to hear him speak, it’s well worth it! He stayed long after the lecture ended to answer individual questions, and I took the opportunity to ask him some questions I had about my daughter’s potential reaction to the rotavirus vaccine.

One tip that’s not in The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Your Child: be wary of any future swine flu vaccination developed for humans. I plan to stay tuned to Dr. Bob’s blog for The Vaccine Book for the latest information on that and other vaccines.

So far in this three-part series I have offered ten tips for helping your baby enjoy solid food. In this last installment, I make some suggestions for what to do when your baby resists eating solids.

Helping my baby feed herself some yogurt

Five More Tips for Helping Your Baby with Solid Food Feedings

11. Don’t starve the baby of breast milk in the hope of encouraging solid food intake. I hope that sentence speaks for itself, but in case not, let me explain what I mean. Don’t give in to the unhelpful suggestion or thought that you are feeding the baby too much breast milk and that is the reason the baby shows little interest in solids. People who think that are misguided on a few levels: (1) it’s nearly impossible to feed a baby too much breast milk (you cannot force a baby to nurse when the baby is not interested, and babies self-regulate at the breast whereas milk from a bottle flows freely and it is harder for a bottle-fed baby to control the amount consumed), (2) depriving the baby of milk does not encourage solids but does encourage a cranky, potentially malnourished baby, and (3) there is no rush to get the baby to eat much solid food because breast milk provides the bulk of nutrition through the first year (and in fact some babies thrive on breast milk alone — see the comments section for more discussion on that assertion).

A baby who is resisting solid foods simply might not be ready for any number of reasons. Maybe the gag reflex has not completely gone away. Perhaps your baby is teething or ill and needs some time off from or a delay in starting solids. It’s even possible that your baby knows what is best. I have heard anecdotes about babies who resisted solid food or certain foods in particular and those babies turned out to have one or more food allergies. If you suspect a food allergy, read “A” Is for Allergy Prevention and Reduction.

12. Offer a choice. As I’ve said before, I believe most food issues are about control. If you limit food choices and try to force your baby to eat a particular food, that can backfire to the point that your child severely limits the foods he or she will eat. Give your baby the control by offering a choice at any given meal. “Squash or applesauce?” “Pears or kiwi or both?” Even a six-month-old can indicate a preference for food through facial expressions, sounds, or grabbing for a particular food. The idea is not to prepare two separate meals or to waste food, but to show the baby what’s on offer and to provide the food the baby will actually eat!

Of course, the choice is not “veggies or fast food chicken nuggets.” All of the options you offer should be nutritious. This will become more and more important as the baby becomes older. At my house, a child can choose whether to eat any or all of the fruit, vegetable, grain, and/or meat offered at that particular meal. If the child chooses not to eat any of the items on offer (this has happened two or three times with my four-year-old), then she gets to wait until I finish my meal before I will prepare one other healthful option (usually something unexciting like whole grain cereal and milk). I look at my child’s nutrition over the course of a week and do not worry about any isolated meal.

13. Ease up if it is not going well. Hindsight will often reveal why a baby was refusing a particular food or solids in general. Let your baby rely on the nutrition from breast milk as you slow down the process. Your baby will sense if you become tense or anxious about food. Don’t let your anxiety become contagious! The goal is for your baby to enjoy solid food, not any particular amount of food or any one certain food. Success breeds success, and a baby who has a good experience at meal time will look forward to the next meal. A child who refuses vegetables at one meal just might eat them at the next, and in the end the child quite possibly will eat better if you do not engage in a battle of wills over a certain food. It all comes back to the issue of control.

14. Invite over a peer. If your older baby still does not show much interest in solids or does not eat many different types of food, it can be very helpful to invite over a little friend you know is a good eater! Go on a picnic or have a play date. Talk to the other parent in advance about serving a food the other child will readily eat. When your child sees the other child eating that food, your child might very well want some too!

15. Read up on the subject. If you missed parts one and two of this series, see 5 Tips for Helping Your Baby Enjoy Solid Food and More Tips for Your Baby and Solid Food. If your baby is just starting solid food, check out Starting Your Baby on Solid Foods: When, What and How. For more detailed reading, you might enjoy the following books:

Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron
Child of Mine: Feeding with Love and Good Sense by Ellyn Satter
My Child Won’t Eat!: How to Prevent and Solve the Problem by Carlos González

What are your thoughts? Do you agree or disagree with my tips? Have you read any of the books I mentioned? Do you have any other books you recommend?

The classic parenting book How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish is as relevant and helpful today as it was when it first came out 30 years ago. The descriptions, examples and cartoons offer straightforward information that parents can put into practice right away. Readers can invest time in the practice exercises or simply skim the summaries for an overview or a brief refresher.

Throughout the chapters on “Helping Children Deal with Their Feelings,” “Engaging Cooperation,” and “Alternatives to Punishment” I found myself dog-earring pages and scribbling notes in the margins:

Prevention not punishment.

Punishment versus natural consequences.

Give child a way to make amends.

Teach them the problem-solving skill.

This book has helped me transition from being the mother of a breastfed toddler whose two’s weren’t all that terrible, to the mother of a four-year-old and a seven-year-old who challenge my parenting skills daily. When I have the presence of mind to employ one of the techniques suggested in the book, I notice how it diffuses conflict rather than escalating it. How to Talk So Kids Will Listen equips parents with helpful communication skills, and it will remain one of my favorite attachment parenting references.

Whether breastfeeding or formula-feeding their babies, all parents can benefit from The No-Cry Nap Solution: Guaranteed Gentle Ways to Solve All Your Naptime Problems by Elizabeth Pantley. The book boils down to two fundamental principles I really like: (1) observe your baby’s cues and responses, and (2) do what works for you (short of forcing the baby to cry-it-out of course!) Most parents do those things instinctively and this book helps parents fine-tune their ability to identify their child’s needs, cues, and habits. Read more

When a book requires a page of the family tree to illustrate the relationships of all the characters, that raises a red flag that it might be a little complicated for me right now! However, the community of women described in The Red Tent by Anita Diamant fascinates and inspires me. The novel is a re-telling of the biblical story of Jacob and his sons through the female perspective.

It’s a complex and somewhat disturbing book that is more like four books in one. The thing that keeps me reading though is the relationship of the women. In the red tent each month they celebrate their femininity and their abilities to create and sustain life. Take this passage describing the birth of the narrator Dinah:

After Rachel wiped me clean, she handed me to Zilpah, who embraced me, and then to Bilhah, who kissed me as well. I took my mother’s breast with an eager mouth, and all the women of the camp clapped their hands for my mother and for me. Bilhah fed my mother honeyed milk and cake. She washed Leah’s hair with perfumed water, and she massaged her feet.

Now that is how we were meant to give birth, to be initiated into parenthood, to receive the support necessary to care for ourselves and our children. Imagine how wonderful it would be if each new mother were attended to by some combination of her mother, grandmother, sisters, aunties, and midwives! Imagine if each breastfeeding mother had the on-going support of other mothers experienced in nursing! The La Leche League model of mother-to-mother support has filled in some of the gaps, but I still wish such support were passed from generation to generation within each family as well.

Concerns about milk supply make up the majority of questions posed to me as a breastfeeding counselor. While some of those concerns are legitimate, some are simply unfounded. The wonderful new book release The Breastfeeding Mother’s Guide to Making More Milk helps mothers troubleshoot, taking them through the evaluation process to determine whether there is indeed a legitimate concern, what might be causing the low milk supply, and how best to proceed to increase the milk supply.

Lactation consultants and authors Diana West and Lisa Marasco have written a must-have guide for breastfeeding mothers and lactation professionals alike. The book expertly packs a wealth of information into an easily readable format. Starting with “How to Know If There Really Is a Problem,” the book then proceeds to detail the physical, hormonal, and psychological causes of low milk supply and how best to address them. It also offers practical information about how to establish a good milk supply in the first place, and, if supplementation is indeed necessary, how to supplement without decreasing the existing milk supply.

This is the one book I wish I could press into the hands of every woman who has ever asked me, “Are there some women who just can’t make enough milk?” (My answer is that sadly some women do not get the support they need. Very few women simply cannot produce enough, but many women receive erroneous advice from family members and medical professionals). It would be a blessing if delivery nurses, obstetricians, midwives, pediatricians and family practitioners — anyone in a position to advise the breastfeeding mother — had a copy of this book.

For more about The Breastfeeding Mother’s Guide to Making More Milk, resources on low milk supply, and information on breastfeeding after a reduction, see the authors’ website Making More Milk.

Thank you to all who entered the latest round of giveaways! I selected the winners using the Random Sequence Generator at Random.org.

Out of 58 entries, the winners of the three copies of The Breastfeeding Mother’s Guide to Making More Milk are:

#14 Vanessa (@hotmail.com)
#39 Tracy (@yahoo.com)
#33 Deborah (@verizon.net)

Out of 173 entries, the winner of the prize package from Breast Pumps Direct is:

#36 Terra Heck

Out of 66 entries, the winner of Mommy’s Little Breastfeeding Book is:

#2 Amanda U.

Check your email ladies! If you don’t see an email from me, look in your spam folder in case my email landed there. You must email me your full name and mailing address by Tuesday, February 3, 2009, to claim your prize or another winner will be selected. Thanks again everyone!

This contest is now closed. Thank you for your interest!

For one of THREE chances to win The Breastfeeding Mother’s Guide to Making More Milk, see “How to Enter” below! The publisher McGraw-Hill has generously offered three copies of the book, and even better — anyone, anywhere is welcome to enter because there are no restrictions on the countries to which the books can be shipped!

About the Book

The Breastfeeding Mother’s Guide to Making More Milk is a new book that helps mothers identify and address problems with low milk supply. It deals with determining whether there is a problem in the first place, investigating the possible causes for low milk production, working on increasing milk supply, and dealing with the emotional aspects of low milk supply. Written by two board certified lactation consultants, Diana West and Lisa Marasco, this book is approved by La Leche League International. For more information on the authors and the book, see the website Making More Milk.

How to Enter

The contest is open to everyone, including international mailing addresses. You have two chances to win! For your first entry, simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address before the end of the day January 30, 2009 Pacific Coast Time. For a second chance to win, mention this contest on your blog with a link back to this post, and — this is the key part to get a second entry number — leave a second comment letting me know about your post! The three winning comment numbers will be picked at random using Random.org. Limit one book per person. I will notify the winners on January 31 both at Breastfeeding123.com and by email. The winner will have until February 3, 2009, to get back to me with a postal mailing address for shipping or another winner will be selected.

Leave a comment below!

For more contests, see:

~ My giveaway from Breast Pumps Direct of a breast pump kit, BPA-free plastic and glass bottles, a nursing reminder bracelet, and nursing pads
~ My other giveaway for Mommy’s Little Breastfeeding Book
~ The Bloggy Giveaways Carnival