As some of us enjoy a break from working for the Labor Day holiday, I would like to ask your input on breastfeeding and working. I know all about juggling breastfeeding and the work of a stay-at-home mother, but I don’t have insight into breastfeeding and working outside the home.lease leave a comment on any or all of the following questions, and your answers might be used in a future post on breastfeeding and working (so leave your blog link if you would like me to link to you):
- How did you prepare to return to work after maternity leave …read more

My sister is having her first baby this fall and she seeks help about what to put on her baby registry. Please chime in with what worked for you and what was a waste of money!
I need your advice! We’re getting ready to register for baby stuff and I’m overwhelmed with all the choices. Can you please answer the following or give me any advice you think will be helpful?
1) What tools/items/stuff did you get for your baby either early or later on that you are so glad you got?
2) What did you think you needed that you never …read more

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 …read more

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

For this latest installment in the Mom-to-Mom question and answer series, I hope you will leave a comment to help a mom struggling with something familiar to many us — getting a good night’s sleep! Even if you don’t have some suggestions, I imagine you have some experience and empathy! Read on for my summary of top tips and past articles on the subject.

When my first two daughters had the need to suck, I would either have them continue to do non-nutritive sucking at the breast (which feels like light sucking in a fluttering kind of way, not the harder suck-swallow pattern). If they didn’t want to nurse, my husband or I would offer a clean finger to suck, turning the pad of the finger to the roof of the baby’s mouth. Neither of my first two would take a pacifier except to chew on it, hence our calling pacifiers “choo choos.” Neither of them ever learned to suck their thumbs.
Along comes …read more

Kelley wrote to me with the following question:
My 10 month old babe has started to come over (she’s been walking for about two months now). She starts to nurse, and then as soon as my milk drops she fusses to get up and walks away, happy as a clam I might add. Is this normal? Is she playing some nursing game that I don’t know about? I can’t find anything about it online. She only wants to really nurse at night, or if I catch her in a groggy state after a nap. Otherwise, it’s the routine above. Any info …read more

Given that physicians recommend breastfeeding for at least one year and beyond, it is assumed that at some point sooner or later, the breastfed baby will have new baby teeth! Some nursing moms and babies sail through that transition without problems, and even benefit from the soothing that breastfeeding can provide a teething baby. But what about the moms who start to notice tooth imprints in their nipples? The baby isn’t biting exactly, but those pesky teeth are getting in the way of mom’s comfort. This happened with a reader who writes:
My 10 month old son is not really biting …read more

As a follow-up question to this one about breast milk storage guidelines, I got this question:
My husband was supposed to feed the baby with my breastmilk while I was away but I came home too early and now, the baby would not bottlefeed. He probably sensed me. Unfortunately, the breastmilk got wasted. So how do I prevent something like this from happening again? Likewise, how do we get the baby to bottlefeed even when I’m around?
I know lots of women have struggled with this issue, whether it’s just the occasional bottle of breast milk while mom’s away or the need …read more

This latest question relates to the discussion we had recently about promoting breastfeeding to pregnant women.
Dear Angela,
I have a friend who is on bed rest and will probably have premature multiples. I gently asked whether she plans to breastfeed and she responded with comments about how she isn’t sure but she’s sick of strong pressure from very pro-breastfeeding women. She says she’ll commit to at least 4 weeks of “trying,” but I could already hear excuses in her explanation, such as “I’m really tiny and I don’t think my body will produce enough”, and “I’ve heard they actually …read more