My two favourite pillows
Soft and warm
Smells like Mommy
Fills my tummy
All mine
Monday, September 26, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Breastfeeding and the Enviroment
I just found this great thing called "The Blog Hop."
Each week there is a different topic, this week it is Breastfeeding and the Enviroment.
I have to admit I'm not much of an enviromentalist. I like convienience. I don't always recycle. I use disposable diapers. I probably have left a pretty big carbon footprint so far. Do I think b/f is beneficial to the enviroment though? Yes. Even a good set of bottles will not last you an entire year. If you are exclusively bottle feeding you will probably go through at least three sets of bottles. Where do the used bottles go? Garbage. And then there's the containers that formula comes in. And you need good soap and water to wash these. Soap which may not be good for the enviroment, use of water, you have to boil everything so there's energy. It would be an interesting experiment to have two households running the same but have one bottle feed and one b/f and see what the difference is on the utility bill. So, just the impact on garbage and energy costs alone speaks to the relation.
That's all direct damage. Then we have to look at indirect damage. B/F babies are healthier. They will require less pill bottles, less medical waste from surgeries and medical interventions.
Now, as I said, I'm no enviromentalist or doctor but it's clear that b/f is better for the enviroment since it contributes NOTHING to waste. You don't have to use energy or throw anything out.
Here is the link to get to the Blog Hop:
<script src="http://www.linkytools.com/basic_linky_include.aspx?id=108276" type="text/javascript" ></script>
Each week there is a different topic, this week it is Breastfeeding and the Enviroment.
I have to admit I'm not much of an enviromentalist. I like convienience. I don't always recycle. I use disposable diapers. I probably have left a pretty big carbon footprint so far. Do I think b/f is beneficial to the enviroment though? Yes. Even a good set of bottles will not last you an entire year. If you are exclusively bottle feeding you will probably go through at least three sets of bottles. Where do the used bottles go? Garbage. And then there's the containers that formula comes in. And you need good soap and water to wash these. Soap which may not be good for the enviroment, use of water, you have to boil everything so there's energy. It would be an interesting experiment to have two households running the same but have one bottle feed and one b/f and see what the difference is on the utility bill. So, just the impact on garbage and energy costs alone speaks to the relation.
That's all direct damage. Then we have to look at indirect damage. B/F babies are healthier. They will require less pill bottles, less medical waste from surgeries and medical interventions.
Now, as I said, I'm no enviromentalist or doctor but it's clear that b/f is better for the enviroment since it contributes NOTHING to waste. You don't have to use energy or throw anything out.
Here is the link to get to the Blog Hop:
<script src="http://www.linkytools.com/basic_linky_include.aspx?id=108276" type="text/javascript" ></script>
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Cancer Research
We have all heard that breastfeeding helps to lower a woman's risk for breast and ovarian cancer. Please click on this link to an article on a study that was performed on women who gave birth to two or three children and the link to certain positive and negative cancer reseptors. The research studied women who breastfed versus women who did not.
*Article credit - UPI.com
*Article credit - UPI.com
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Breast is Best
I found this article a few weeks ago from KellyMom.com. It is such a wonderful perspective about how the campaign "Breast is Best" might not be enough to spread the benefits for breastfeeding. I love this quote from the article:
*Click here to read the full article - Womensenews.org
"I'm questioning why our natural instincts to nurse have gone askew and why our views about feeding our young are less instinctive and more socially and culturally constructed.
I'm questioning why what should be one of the most natural experiences of motherhood is under cultural fire and even being used as fodder for political grandstanding."Take a look for yourself - what do you think is hindering our natural instinct to care for our young by breastfeeding - knowing that "Breast is Best"?
*Click here to read the full article - Womensenews.org
Monday, September 19, 2011
Photo of the Week
PHOTO AND "LETTER FROM BABY" TAKEN FROM http://theleakyboob.com/2011/08/baby-explains-normal-newborn-behavior/. I had tears in my eyes reading this, imaging my little boy saying it...
By Diana Cassar-Uhl, IBCLC
Dear Mommy,
Thank you so much for breastfeeding me! You probably already know that your milk is designed especially for me, and is better than anything else you could feed me.
I know that right now, you feel like your friends who aren’t breastfeeding their babies seem to have an easier time of things. Those other babies sleep soundly and longer between feedings, they drink so much, and they don’t fuss to eat all the time like I do! I can tell you’re getting a little bit frustrated, and I hear all the advice you’re getting … my grandma says you weren’t breastfed and you turned out just fine, my daddy says he feels like he can’t do anything to soothe me, and that lady with the cold hands that you call “doctor” gave you a can of something that she says will help me grow faster. You’re tired and frustrated because taking care of me just seems too hard, but please mommy, before you give up this yummy breastfeeding thing, let me explain some of my behavior to you. It might help you feel better.
First, if you and I were separated after I was born, for any reason (maybe it was hospital protocol that I be left under a warmer, maybe you were recovering from surgery), I’ve got some catching up to do, because I probably lost more weight than my friends who got to stay close to their mommies. It’s OK … I’m really good at letting you know when I need some more calories, but it’s important that you let me breastfeed lots and lots, even if my grandma says “he just ate!!” In my first few days, the nurses at the hospital might tell you I’m hungry and your body can’t make enough milk for me … but mommy, that colostrum from your breasts is some awesome stuff! It’s packed with protein, which binds to any bilirubin in my body (elevated bilirubin causes jaundice in more than half of newborns) so I can poop it on out. It’s also a great laxative, which makes it easy for me to get all that black, tarry meconium out of me and we can move on to the seedy, yellow-brown poops that are much easier to clean off my sweet tushie. Now, the colostrum is really thick and sticky, and I’m so small and still figuring out how to move my tongue, and we’re both still trying to get comfortable together, so it might take me 20 minutes or longer to suck out just ONE TEASPOON (5-7 mL) of that liquid gold.
But it’s OK, mommy! You know, there is really nowhere I’d rather be than in your arms, hearing your sweet voice and smelling you — even though you haven’t had a shower since before I was born, you’re just delicious to me. And something else you should know about me … even though I have a really cute “Buddha belly” that looks all chubby, the capacity of my stomach on the day I’m born is just 5-7 milliliters – that’s the size of a small marble! You’re the smartest woman in my whole world, so I know you see the connection here! The amount of colostrum in your breast is exactly the capacity of my tummy! My stomach walls on my first day of life are very rigid and won’t stretch; this is why, if anyone tries to feed me with a bottle, I’m going to spit most of it back up again, even though I eagerly suck at it. See, mommy, I only have two ways to send and receive information from my brand-new world – I can cry, and I can suck. I can’t see much, and all these sounds are so much louder than when I was inside you, and I can use my hands to help me orient myself on your breast, but crying and sucking are pretty much how I make sense of everything.
I know it seems really confusing, mommy, that I would want to suck and suck and suck even though my tummy is full. When I suck, lots of great things happen for both of us. I keep my own digestion moving by triggering the involuntary digestive muscles in peristalsis – moving the contents of my stomach along because I’m still moving my mouth and tongue, which are the beginning of my digestive tract. When you let me do all this suckling at your breast, I can very easily regulate how I suck, depending on why I’m sucking at any given moment. You can probably feel when I’m suckling nutritively and swallowing lots of milk, and when I’m kind of relaxed about it, feeding sort of like I’m savoring a bowl of ice cream … you know how sometimes, you scrape just a tiny bit onto your spoon, because you want it to last a long time? To me, you’re better than ice cream! But on a bottle, it’s impossible for me to suck and not get whatever’s in there, and that’s confusing to me, so I might keep sucking because that’s what my instinct is telling me to do, or I might realize my tummy hurts (because even on day 10, my stomach capacity is only a ping pong ball) and I’ll cry and cry because all I really know is crying and sucking!
A word about these instincts I feel … I really can’t help it, mommy, that I want to suckle so much. It’s just how I came out, and there doesn’t seem to be much that I can do about it. Please believe me, I’m not trying to trick you! In a few weeks, this need lets up a tiny bit, but for now, suckling is my M.O. But, do you want to know something really cool? I’m not the only one who benefits! When I suckle at your breast in these early days, your body actually activates prolactin receptors! Isn’t that amazing? In my first two weeks, the higher I make your prolactin levels go (my suckling triggers a prolactin surge in your body), the more of these receptors get activated in your breasts, and the higher your potential milk production will be for as long as you choose to breastfeed me. That’s one reason your lactation consultant tells you to wait on introducing that bottle or that binky– this prolactin receptor thing only happens for the first 10-14 days. After that, the prolatcin surges when I breastfeed are much smaller, so the more receptors there are to gobble up what prolactin is there, the more easily you’ll make all the milk I need.
Besides prolactin, there’s oxytocin, another hormone I activate when I am at your breast. Oxytocin is part of what makes you so addicted to me! It’s “the love hormone” and it helps you feel relaxed and content when we’re breastfeeding. Go ahead, mommy, exhale and relax! It’s OK! Oxytocin release is triggered by nipple stimulation, not necessarily milk removal (though when things are going well, my stimulation of your nipples usually means I’m removing milk!). Now, I know this might sound a little awkward coming from your baby, but I need you to know something about oxytocin. There are only three events in your life that trigger oxytocin release: nipple stimulation (like when I’m breastfeeding), labor (the oxytocin released during childbirth stimulates uterine contractions, which is why nipple stimulation might be suggested when labor stalls, and also explains why sometimes, after you breastfeed me, you feel an increased expulsion of lochia and maybe some cramping), and … orgasm!! Isn’t neat that the same hormone plays a part in making me, birthing me, and feeding me, and it’s a hormone that makes you feel GOOD to do all three?
Mommy, I know you are trying your very best for me and you’ve been worried about whether your body can satisfy my appetite. I know you’re used to being able to measure everything, and your breasts don’t have markers on them to tell you how much milk I got. Maybe you used a breast pump, and that confirmed your worries that there isn’t much milk there – but mommy, please understand that a good pump can mimic me, but your body wasn’t designed to have all these wonderful hormone surges for a cold piece of plastic with a noisy vacuum motor. You know that feeling you get when you hold my warmth and weight, smell how delicious I am, and nom nom nom on my fat cheeks? That feeling helps you make milk! That feeling is part of the whole system that was designed to make you need to be close to me, just as much as I need to be close to you. And mommy, I know you’re very busy, and important, and there’s so much you used to do before I came, and I know right now, it feels like you’ll never do those things again, and our house is getting messy, and maybe that scares you. But please know, every moment you spend holding me, every time you gaze lovingly at me, and every hour you spend breastfeeding me in these early days is so important to me, because you’re all I know. I love daddy and grandma and all of our friends, but I’m designed to be happiest and least stressed when I’m with you. Can you wear me in a sling or soft carrier after I’m milk-drunk? I really like listening to your heart beating while I sleep, and you are warm and soft and smell so good. That space between your breasts is perfectly sized for my head, and there’s nothing I like better than the feel of your skin against mine. Well, maybe there is something I like better … I love it when you sleep next to me after we’ve been breastfeeding. Oh, mommy, when you nurse me while lying down, you relax and your milk flows so nicely, and I feel like you’re so happy to be with me, and I’m very special to you because you don’t have to run off and do something else as soon as I’ve let your breast go.
And mommy, I have a promise to make to you. I can’t say for sure when it will happen, but there will come a day when I need you a little bit less intensely. My feedings will get more organized, my weight gain will stabilize, and sometimes, I’ll even like when my daddy or grandma or other loving person holds me. But today, I need you. You’ll always be my number one, even after we’re done breastfeeding, but I will learn, like you did, to defer my needs and to trust others to meet them once you and I get a good thing going. Thank you so much for all you’ve done for me so far. Until you start giving me an allowance, I hope my good health, sweet smiles, coos, and giggles will sustain you!
Love,
Baby
By Diana Cassar-Uhl, IBCLC
Dear Mommy,
Thank you so much for breastfeeding me! You probably already know that your milk is designed especially for me, and is better than anything else you could feed me.
I know that right now, you feel like your friends who aren’t breastfeeding their babies seem to have an easier time of things. Those other babies sleep soundly and longer between feedings, they drink so much, and they don’t fuss to eat all the time like I do! I can tell you’re getting a little bit frustrated, and I hear all the advice you’re getting … my grandma says you weren’t breastfed and you turned out just fine, my daddy says he feels like he can’t do anything to soothe me, and that lady with the cold hands that you call “doctor” gave you a can of something that she says will help me grow faster. You’re tired and frustrated because taking care of me just seems too hard, but please mommy, before you give up this yummy breastfeeding thing, let me explain some of my behavior to you. It might help you feel better.
First, if you and I were separated after I was born, for any reason (maybe it was hospital protocol that I be left under a warmer, maybe you were recovering from surgery), I’ve got some catching up to do, because I probably lost more weight than my friends who got to stay close to their mommies. It’s OK … I’m really good at letting you know when I need some more calories, but it’s important that you let me breastfeed lots and lots, even if my grandma says “he just ate!!” In my first few days, the nurses at the hospital might tell you I’m hungry and your body can’t make enough milk for me … but mommy, that colostrum from your breasts is some awesome stuff! It’s packed with protein, which binds to any bilirubin in my body (elevated bilirubin causes jaundice in more than half of newborns) so I can poop it on out. It’s also a great laxative, which makes it easy for me to get all that black, tarry meconium out of me and we can move on to the seedy, yellow-brown poops that are much easier to clean off my sweet tushie. Now, the colostrum is really thick and sticky, and I’m so small and still figuring out how to move my tongue, and we’re both still trying to get comfortable together, so it might take me 20 minutes or longer to suck out just ONE TEASPOON (5-7 mL) of that liquid gold.
But it’s OK, mommy! You know, there is really nowhere I’d rather be than in your arms, hearing your sweet voice and smelling you — even though you haven’t had a shower since before I was born, you’re just delicious to me. And something else you should know about me … even though I have a really cute “Buddha belly” that looks all chubby, the capacity of my stomach on the day I’m born is just 5-7 milliliters – that’s the size of a small marble! You’re the smartest woman in my whole world, so I know you see the connection here! The amount of colostrum in your breast is exactly the capacity of my tummy! My stomach walls on my first day of life are very rigid and won’t stretch; this is why, if anyone tries to feed me with a bottle, I’m going to spit most of it back up again, even though I eagerly suck at it. See, mommy, I only have two ways to send and receive information from my brand-new world – I can cry, and I can suck. I can’t see much, and all these sounds are so much louder than when I was inside you, and I can use my hands to help me orient myself on your breast, but crying and sucking are pretty much how I make sense of everything.
I know it seems really confusing, mommy, that I would want to suck and suck and suck even though my tummy is full. When I suck, lots of great things happen for both of us. I keep my own digestion moving by triggering the involuntary digestive muscles in peristalsis – moving the contents of my stomach along because I’m still moving my mouth and tongue, which are the beginning of my digestive tract. When you let me do all this suckling at your breast, I can very easily regulate how I suck, depending on why I’m sucking at any given moment. You can probably feel when I’m suckling nutritively and swallowing lots of milk, and when I’m kind of relaxed about it, feeding sort of like I’m savoring a bowl of ice cream … you know how sometimes, you scrape just a tiny bit onto your spoon, because you want it to last a long time? To me, you’re better than ice cream! But on a bottle, it’s impossible for me to suck and not get whatever’s in there, and that’s confusing to me, so I might keep sucking because that’s what my instinct is telling me to do, or I might realize my tummy hurts (because even on day 10, my stomach capacity is only a ping pong ball) and I’ll cry and cry because all I really know is crying and sucking!
A word about these instincts I feel … I really can’t help it, mommy, that I want to suckle so much. It’s just how I came out, and there doesn’t seem to be much that I can do about it. Please believe me, I’m not trying to trick you! In a few weeks, this need lets up a tiny bit, but for now, suckling is my M.O. But, do you want to know something really cool? I’m not the only one who benefits! When I suckle at your breast in these early days, your body actually activates prolactin receptors! Isn’t that amazing? In my first two weeks, the higher I make your prolactin levels go (my suckling triggers a prolactin surge in your body), the more of these receptors get activated in your breasts, and the higher your potential milk production will be for as long as you choose to breastfeed me. That’s one reason your lactation consultant tells you to wait on introducing that bottle or that binky– this prolactin receptor thing only happens for the first 10-14 days. After that, the prolatcin surges when I breastfeed are much smaller, so the more receptors there are to gobble up what prolactin is there, the more easily you’ll make all the milk I need.
Besides prolactin, there’s oxytocin, another hormone I activate when I am at your breast. Oxytocin is part of what makes you so addicted to me! It’s “the love hormone” and it helps you feel relaxed and content when we’re breastfeeding. Go ahead, mommy, exhale and relax! It’s OK! Oxytocin release is triggered by nipple stimulation, not necessarily milk removal (though when things are going well, my stimulation of your nipples usually means I’m removing milk!). Now, I know this might sound a little awkward coming from your baby, but I need you to know something about oxytocin. There are only three events in your life that trigger oxytocin release: nipple stimulation (like when I’m breastfeeding), labor (the oxytocin released during childbirth stimulates uterine contractions, which is why nipple stimulation might be suggested when labor stalls, and also explains why sometimes, after you breastfeed me, you feel an increased expulsion of lochia and maybe some cramping), and … orgasm!! Isn’t neat that the same hormone plays a part in making me, birthing me, and feeding me, and it’s a hormone that makes you feel GOOD to do all three?
Mommy, I know you are trying your very best for me and you’ve been worried about whether your body can satisfy my appetite. I know you’re used to being able to measure everything, and your breasts don’t have markers on them to tell you how much milk I got. Maybe you used a breast pump, and that confirmed your worries that there isn’t much milk there – but mommy, please understand that a good pump can mimic me, but your body wasn’t designed to have all these wonderful hormone surges for a cold piece of plastic with a noisy vacuum motor. You know that feeling you get when you hold my warmth and weight, smell how delicious I am, and nom nom nom on my fat cheeks? That feeling helps you make milk! That feeling is part of the whole system that was designed to make you need to be close to me, just as much as I need to be close to you. And mommy, I know you’re very busy, and important, and there’s so much you used to do before I came, and I know right now, it feels like you’ll never do those things again, and our house is getting messy, and maybe that scares you. But please know, every moment you spend holding me, every time you gaze lovingly at me, and every hour you spend breastfeeding me in these early days is so important to me, because you’re all I know. I love daddy and grandma and all of our friends, but I’m designed to be happiest and least stressed when I’m with you. Can you wear me in a sling or soft carrier after I’m milk-drunk? I really like listening to your heart beating while I sleep, and you are warm and soft and smell so good. That space between your breasts is perfectly sized for my head, and there’s nothing I like better than the feel of your skin against mine. Well, maybe there is something I like better … I love it when you sleep next to me after we’ve been breastfeeding. Oh, mommy, when you nurse me while lying down, you relax and your milk flows so nicely, and I feel like you’re so happy to be with me, and I’m very special to you because you don’t have to run off and do something else as soon as I’ve let your breast go.
And mommy, I have a promise to make to you. I can’t say for sure when it will happen, but there will come a day when I need you a little bit less intensely. My feedings will get more organized, my weight gain will stabilize, and sometimes, I’ll even like when my daddy or grandma or other loving person holds me. But today, I need you. You’ll always be my number one, even after we’re done breastfeeding, but I will learn, like you did, to defer my needs and to trust others to meet them once you and I get a good thing going. Thank you so much for all you’ve done for me so far. Until you start giving me an allowance, I hope my good health, sweet smiles, coos, and giggles will sustain you!
Love,
Baby
Friday, September 16, 2011
Health benefits of breastfeeding
I have learned over the years, through experience and reading; that breastfeeding keeps children healthier than their non-breastfed counterparts. If they do get sick, it tends not to last as long. Breastmilk can be used to cure eye infections, clear up congested noses, and help speed the healing of superficial wounds (in babies and adults too!) Breastmilk contains anti-infective and anti-bacterial properties and breastmilk that is pumped and left out on a counter for 6-8 hours, actually contains LESS bacteria than it did when it was first expressed!! It is so amazing and scientists have discovered some of the wonderful things in breast milk but not all, and formula companies are unable to reproduce exactly what is in breastmillk. This is why I was not surprised to read the following article (which made me feel sad all over again for the children who are not breastfed and for parents who do not know all of the benefits of mothering their children at the breast and the small percentage of breastfed infants in the US (and other parts of the world).
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/04/05/health/main6364292.shtml
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/04/05/health/main6364292.shtml
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Nursing for Others
This is old news, it happened in 2009 but here is a photo of Salma Hayek b/f an African baby who was literally starving to death. I just read about this on another b/f blog and immediately had to find the story. I'm not a big fan of hers but this was an incredible gesture. To offer yourself to nurture another woman's baby because she had no milk to give him. This is what the cliche means "it takes a village to raise a child." It gave me some questions...
would I donate to a human milk bank?
would I purchase from a human milk bank?
would I step in to nurse a friend or family members baby if they needed help?
what would our society say about this?
We seem to just barely accept the sight of a mother nursing her own child. Even with all of the education out there telling us it's best. We are still squimish and prudish about it. Unless the breast is there on show we don't want to see it. Women's breasts are there for the pleasure of men right? How would someone react if I were in public clearly b/f a child that wasn't mine?
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Shattering Myths
There are so so many myths out there surrounding breastfeeding. Some are reasons that mothers find NOT to breastfeed or that scare them off. Some extremely silly and some almost dangerous. Here are the top seven that I could personally think of, that I have actually heard women say or write about. I've tried to link to actual medical sources when possible, otherwise it's just my opinion.
1. If I don't b/f then my boobs will stay big.
Yes, I actually heard someone say this. Luckily I don't know them personally it was a woman on the subway talking to a friend about why she is not going to b/f. I don't know if this is true or not but if your boobs are your number one priority then consider the fact that women who b/f are less likely to get breast cancer. If you are worried about b/f causing your boobs to shrink then consider how you would feel if you had to lose them altogether.
"If all women who do not breastfeed or who breastfeed for less than 3 months were to do so for 4 to 12 months, breast cancer among parous premenopausal women could be reduced by 11 percent, judging from current rates. If all women with children lactated for 24 months or longer, however, then the incidence might be reduced by nearly 25 percent. This reduction would be even greater among women who first lactate at an early age."
Newcomb PA, Storer BE, Longnecker MP, et al. Lactation and a reduced risk of premenopausal breast cancer.
N Engl J Med. 1994;330:81-87
2. Babies will sleep better with formula.
This may be true, although not scientifically proven, but consider WHY they sleep more. Formula is harder for the baby to digest. They are sleeping because their stomach is working overtime trying to digest the cow's milk. They aren't sleeping because they're more full or satisfied. They are just too tired to wake up. Also, babies who sleep for longer periods of time are more likely to die from SIDS.
3. B/F is not convienient in public.
In Ontario and in most states of the U.S. you have a legal right to b/f your child wherever, whenever. We all know we live in a lawsuit friendly society so think of it this way, if someone approaches you and tells you to stop b/f sue them and send your kids to college! B/F is super convienient and much easier than having to carry around a cooler, find a place to warm up formula, or mix formula and have to carry around bottles of distilled water. Personally I am just too lazy for all of that work!
4. If I b/f then Dad won't be able to help.
If Dad is desperate to get up at 2am and feed the baby then you can consider pumping. Or, Dad can do everything else while you nurse. Dad can change the diaper, get you a snack or drink, adjust pillows, massage you while you nurse and rock baby back to sleep when nursing is over. There is lots of work to go around! Otherwise, Dad needs only to wait 6 months and then he can do all of the cereal and veggie feedings while Momma watches the game.
5. I don't know if I can work out and b/f.
I have an incredibly grueling workout. I still do it. I nurse my son before I workout and then again after. It hasn't had any impact at all.
6. I only have a short mat leave from work.
This is not a huge issue in CDA as we have one year of mat leave. But I have heard some U.S. bloggers and writers comment on this issue. It will be tough but if you are dedicated it is more than plausable. While I don't know what the law says to me it makes sense for employers to accomodate b/f moms since it's proven that b/f babies are sick less often and that means mom doesn't need to take time off work to care for sick kids. It's a win/win.
http://www.breastfeedingbasics.com/html/returning_to_work.shtml
http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/pdf/bf_guide_2.pdf
7. If I nurse at night baby can get cavities from the milk.
Bottle-fed babies
"are at increased risk for baby bottle caries, a destructive dental condition which occurs when a baby is put to bed with a bottle containing formula, milk, juice or other fluids high in carbohydrates. Extensive dental repair may be required at a cost of thousands of dollars."
Loesche WJ/ "Nutrition and dental decay in infants." Am J Clin Nutr 41; 423-435, 1985
What sort of old wives tales or myths have you been told or overheard?
Some sources I read while writing this post:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/528749-what-are-the-benefits-of-breastfeeding-past-one-year/
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-sleep.html
http://www.notmilk.com/101.html
1. If I don't b/f then my boobs will stay big.
Yes, I actually heard someone say this. Luckily I don't know them personally it was a woman on the subway talking to a friend about why she is not going to b/f. I don't know if this is true or not but if your boobs are your number one priority then consider the fact that women who b/f are less likely to get breast cancer. If you are worried about b/f causing your boobs to shrink then consider how you would feel if you had to lose them altogether.
"If all women who do not breastfeed or who breastfeed for less than 3 months were to do so for 4 to 12 months, breast cancer among parous premenopausal women could be reduced by 11 percent, judging from current rates. If all women with children lactated for 24 months or longer, however, then the incidence might be reduced by nearly 25 percent. This reduction would be even greater among women who first lactate at an early age."
Newcomb PA, Storer BE, Longnecker MP, et al. Lactation and a reduced risk of premenopausal breast cancer.
N Engl J Med. 1994;330:81-87
2. Babies will sleep better with formula.
This may be true, although not scientifically proven, but consider WHY they sleep more. Formula is harder for the baby to digest. They are sleeping because their stomach is working overtime trying to digest the cow's milk. They aren't sleeping because they're more full or satisfied. They are just too tired to wake up. Also, babies who sleep for longer periods of time are more likely to die from SIDS.
3. B/F is not convienient in public.
In Ontario and in most states of the U.S. you have a legal right to b/f your child wherever, whenever. We all know we live in a lawsuit friendly society so think of it this way, if someone approaches you and tells you to stop b/f sue them and send your kids to college! B/F is super convienient and much easier than having to carry around a cooler, find a place to warm up formula, or mix formula and have to carry around bottles of distilled water. Personally I am just too lazy for all of that work!
4. If I b/f then Dad won't be able to help.
If Dad is desperate to get up at 2am and feed the baby then you can consider pumping. Or, Dad can do everything else while you nurse. Dad can change the diaper, get you a snack or drink, adjust pillows, massage you while you nurse and rock baby back to sleep when nursing is over. There is lots of work to go around! Otherwise, Dad needs only to wait 6 months and then he can do all of the cereal and veggie feedings while Momma watches the game.
5. I don't know if I can work out and b/f.
I have an incredibly grueling workout. I still do it. I nurse my son before I workout and then again after. It hasn't had any impact at all.
6. I only have a short mat leave from work.
This is not a huge issue in CDA as we have one year of mat leave. But I have heard some U.S. bloggers and writers comment on this issue. It will be tough but if you are dedicated it is more than plausable. While I don't know what the law says to me it makes sense for employers to accomodate b/f moms since it's proven that b/f babies are sick less often and that means mom doesn't need to take time off work to care for sick kids. It's a win/win.
http://www.breastfeedingbasics.com/html/returning_to_work.shtml
http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/pdf/bf_guide_2.pdf
7. If I nurse at night baby can get cavities from the milk.
Bottle-fed babies
"are at increased risk for baby bottle caries, a destructive dental condition which occurs when a baby is put to bed with a bottle containing formula, milk, juice or other fluids high in carbohydrates. Extensive dental repair may be required at a cost of thousands of dollars."
Loesche WJ/ "Nutrition and dental decay in infants." Am J Clin Nutr 41; 423-435, 1985
What sort of old wives tales or myths have you been told or overheard?
Some sources I read while writing this post:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/528749-what-are-the-benefits-of-breastfeeding-past-one-year/
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-sleep.html
http://www.notmilk.com/101.html
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