The implication of the Medela Breast Milk Commercial that women will need a breast pump if they plan to breastfeed got me wondering — in the last two months, have you used a pump? Was it electric or manual, or do you prefer to hand express?id you not require a pump or hand expression in the last two months? What is your opinion on whether a breast pump is necessary? As a stay-at-home mother, I used a manual pump with my first child but quickly found that my baby would not take a bottle and I only needed to express …read more

Finally the poll feature is functioning again here at Breastfeeding 1-2-3! This time let’s talk about your thoughts on tandem nursingHave you ever nursed more than one nursling at a time? Answer the poll and leave a comment to share your experience or your opinion! If you tandem nursed, how did you feel about it? Did you nurse your children at the same time (one at each breast) or nurse one and then the other? I will share that just after I had my second baby, I nursed my toddler and newborn at the same time so there was little …read more

The results of the poll on allergies and breastfeeding were quite telling and the comments were helpful and insightful, especially for all those dealing with allergies in the breastfed baby. Frankly I was surprised at the number of nurslings with known or suspected allergies and the number of mothers coping with an elimination diet. An even 1/3 of respondents said that yes, their nurslings have food allergies. These pyramids (in honor of the USDA food pyramid LOL) illustrate the distribution of the 148 votes.

Let’s be clear though — breastfeeding is wonderful for babies with food allergies. Do not interpret these …read more

In light of the controversies about breastfeeding photos on Facebook, MySpace and LiveJournal, I am wondering how you feel about the appropriateness of having breastfeeding pictures taken of you and your nursling. Do you have them taken?
Leave a comment!
If you have had breastfeeding photos taken, what do you do with them? Have you shared them with friends, posted them on a blog, or used them for avatars on web sites? Is there an age of the nursling after which breastfeeding photos are no longer appropriate? What about this news story (via Blacktating) that tells how a family’s children were taken …read more

According to the Chicago Tribune, before the “Back to Sleep” campaign began in 1994, only 14% of babies in the United States were placed on their backs to sleep. After the campaign started, the number skyrocketed to 73%. While the recommendation remains for babies to sleep on their backs, there are signs that more and more parents are choosing to place their babies to sleep on their sides or tummies. A 2005 article from the Detroit News reported that in a Babycenter.com poll of 24,000 respondents, a nearly equal number of parents (42%) put their babies down to sleep on …read more

When I asked how breastfeeding affected nursing mothers’ sex lives, the results were quite mixed. The good news is that 34% of respondents said that breastfeeding enhanced their sex lives at some point, and an additional 18% said breastfeeding neither enhanced nor hampered their sex lives. The bad news is that 36% said that breastfeeding hampered their sex lives at some point. An additional 30% answered “What sex life?!” (I suspect that has more to do with new parenthood and sleep deprivation than breastfeeding alone.)
Here are my musings, for what they are worth (leave a comment if you agree …read more

Breastfeeding your baby is one key way to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), also called crib death or cot death. In fact, a 2008 meta-analysis of 27 studies showed that babies who were breastfed, even partially breastfed, were one-third less likely to die of SIDS than babies who were never breastfed.
Back to Sleep
Over 13 years ago the American Academy of Pediatrics issued its first policy statement on reducing the risk of SIDS and recommended that all healthy babies be placed to sleep on their backs. Soon thereafter the “Back to Sleep Campaign” began. In the time …read more

The reaction to this “Bond with your baby. Bond with your man” poster was strong and the comments section developed an interesting discussion. I would like to open the question up to everyone — how has breastfeeding affected your sex life? Does your partner enjoy your new bustline, and/or has breastfeeding left you “touched out” at the end of the day? Do you feel the breastfeeding hormones have affected you in any way? Or are you simply too tired as a new parent to make this anything but a moot question?
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Feel free to leave a comment to explain your answer.

I had no idea how the latest poll would turn out. When I asked “Have you ever tasted breast milk as an adult?” the answers consistently ran 2-to-1 in favor of having tasted breast milk at some point. The final results after 211 votes:

Please vote in the new poll in the side bar!

Many of us tasted breast milk as infants of course, but have you ever tasted it as an adult? Maybe you were curious like Friends on television, illustrating a point like this professor, using it to treat cancer, or you have a breast milk fetish.
It’s the easiest poll ever!
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To see all past poll results, click here.
Feel free to leave a comment! Have you tried breast milk, why, and what did you think (keep it clean or I won’t approve your comment)?