Pregnancy

• Night Waking

  The question “When will my baby start sleeping through the night?” is one that I dread the most. Like most health professionals, I like questions that have easy answers, and this one doesn’t. I do have opinions about how to handle sleep problems, based on my experience with nursing six children, and over twenty years of working with new mothers. What I don’t have is a quick fix, or a magic solution for you that will make your baby sleep through the night.

• When Breastfeeding Doesn’t Work Out

  There are very few medical problems that prevent a mother from breastfeeding her baby. There are some situations where nursing must be temporarily interrupted, but if you maintain your milk supply by pumping, you can almost always resume breastfeeding when the medical problem is resolved. Situations where breastfeeding is contraindicated include: cancer, AIDS, HTLV-1, and abuse of certain illegal drugs.

• When a Nursing Mother Gets Sick

  When you are sick, you and your baby will almost always benefit from continuing to breastfeed. There are very few illnesses that require a mother to stop nursing. Continuing to breastfeed will help protect your baby from the infection, because your body produces antibodies to the specific bug that is causing the infection, and you pass them on to the baby in your milk. Often, a breastfed baby will be the only member of the family who doesnt get sick. If he does get sick, he will usually have a much milder case than the older members of the family.

• Weaning

  Weaning your baby is part of the natural breastfeeding experience. It doesnt have to be a time of unhappiness for you or your baby. If done gradually, and with love (the La Leche League motto), weaning can be a positive experience for both you and your little one.

• Waking A Sleepy Baby

  In order to stimulate an adequate milk supply, newborns need to nurse a minimum of eight times, and optimally ten to twelve times or more during a twenty-four hour period. This usually means that your baby will nurse every two to three hours during the day, with possibly one four hour stretch at night. Newborns often nurse almost constantly for hours each day (cluster feedings) and then may sleep deeply for several hours. These longer sleep periods are fine as long as the baby is getting in his minimal number of feedings in twenty-four hours, and his urine and stool output and weight gain is adequate (see article on How To Tell If Your Baby is Getting Enough Milk).

• Teething and Biting

  Many new mothers tell me that they plan to nurse their babies for six months, or until they get teeth.With the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) now recommending nursing for at least a year, it makes sense to re-examine our ideas about breastfeeding babies with teeth.I have had two babies out of six who got teeth at four months, so if I had weaned them at that stage, they wouldnt have been able to nurse for long at all.

• Guidelines for Storing Human Milk

  These guidelines apply to milk that will be given to healthy, full-term babies. If you are expressing milk for a sick or premature baby, check with your doctor or hospital staff regarding collecting, handling, and storing your milk.

• Starting Solids: Waiting Is Worth It

  The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends starting solid foods at 4 6 months.What many mothers dont realize is that the four month recommendation applies more to formula fed infants, and the six month recommendation applies more to breastfed infants. This is because formula is not as complete a food as breastmilk, and formula fed babies are more likely to become anemic than babies who are breastfed, so they need iron-enriched food earlier.