Older Moms And Overweight Moms May Have Delayed Breastmilk Production
July 29, 2010 by Mommy News
Filed under Breastfeeding In The News, Breastfeeding Info & Tips
I discovered this article the other day entitled “Older age, extra pounds may delay breast-milk production” and the light just went off! This is EXACTLY what happened to me! I was 37 when my son was born and just over 200lbs. It took 6+ days for my milk to finally come in and my baby was dehydrated and we were both frustrated! There are many moms who may have given up in my situation – and my pediatrician was pushing me to supplement – but I was determined to breastfeed my baby.
So – I did supplement, about 10 cc of formula ONCE – then I took another route – my baby was lethargic and not urinating because he wasn’t getting enough to eat. So I fed him every 2 hours during the day and every 3 hours at night – waking him if he was asleep – and Voilà! It worked. Within 2 days my milk came in full-force and my baby was eating, less lethargic and urinating normally!
This article states that moms who are older than 30-35 in age and overweight may have delayed milk production. And since those giving us advice may or may not be aware that this is NORMAL for our situation, they give us advice that undermines our ability to be successful breastfeeding. Anytime you are giving your baby a bottle instead of breastfeeding, you are missing added stimulation that your body needs to make milk, hence delaying the already delayed process even further.
If this happens to you, the authors of the article encourage you to contact a lactation consultant and persist with your desire to breastfeed your baby.
With some support, Nommsen-Rivers said, mothers with delayed breast-milk production will “do just fine.” She noted that nearly all new moms — 98 percent — have their milk come in within a week.
For me, I was both – older and overweight – so I got the combined effects of delayed milk production for each – delaying my milk even further.
To help support early breastfeeding success, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that women ask to have their newborn placed in skin-to-skin contact with them immediately after birth so that they can breastfeed. Frequent feedings in the early days are also important, Nommsen-Rivers said. It is often recommended that women breastfeed every two hours, but she suggested that new moms try to breastfeed whenever their newborn “shows an interest,” with cues such as “smacking” his or her lips.
Were you above age 30-35 when you gave birth? Did you have any delays in your milk production? Were you overweight? Did you see any noticeable delay due to either of these two factors? The great news is – we can now educate our healthcare providers to encourage moms with delayed lactation to nurse more frequently rather than to supplement – and help those moms to have successful breastfeeding experiences with their children! I felt such great relief after reading this article – it explained so much of my early breastfeeding difficulties. Please leave a comment and share your experiences!
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World Breastfeeding Week Celebration
July 28, 2010 by Mommy News
Filed under Boutique News & Press
It’s almost World Breastfeeding Week (August 1-7, 2010) and we have started celebrating moms everywhere a little early!! Every day during our celebration, we will be offering GREAT specials on some of our top selling items. Each of the specials will be available at 50% off of the retail price for ONE DAY ONLY!
Be sure to act fast!! And don’t forget to check back often! These deals change daily! We will post deal updates on our blog as well as our facebook page – so check in daily from now until August 7, 2010!
Our first deals are three great items for summer – our best selling Melia Top, our super fun Breastfeeding “Milk Factory” Slogan Tee and a great pair of Capri maternity pants! Come on over to our boutique to take advantage of these great savings!
Department Of Labor Issues Fact Sheet On New Pumping Law
July 27, 2010 by Mommy News
Filed under Breast Pumping Info & Tips, Breastfeeding In The News
We posted information back in March about the new Health Care Legislation. While there was much to be desired about the implementation of the new law, the one thing that it did do was to offer protection for breastfeeding moms at work. And just last week, the Department of Labor issued a fact sheet explaining exactly what this means. While many other blogs have already posted information about this which can be seen here and here (amongst others), we thought it was worthwhile to bring it up again and make sure that all of your pumping, working moms know that you are protected.
The law is summed up with the following excerpts from the fact sheet:
Employers are required to provide “reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for 1 year after the child’s birth each time such employee has need to express the milk.” Employers are also required to provide “a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public, which may be used by an employee to express breast milk.”
Yes, that’s right – your employer HAS TO provide you with a decent space to pump. So all of you moms who are pumping in your cars or in co-ed break rooms, it’s time to head to your boss or your HR department and ask for better accommodations!!
Another important point is:
Employers are required to provide a reasonable amount of break time to express milk as frequently as needed by the nursing mother. The frequency of breaks needed to express milk as well as the duration of each break will likely vary.
The law recognizes that every mother is different – and while some can pump every 3-4 hours and be just fine – others (like me when I was pumping) need to pump every 2 hours to keep up with our baby’s schedule. The law recognizes and provides support for these differences between moms!!
And another important point is:
Employers are not required under the FLSA to compensate nursing mothers for breaks taken for the purpose of expressing milk. However, where employers already provide compensated breaks, an employee who uses that break time to express milk must be compensated in the same way that other employees are compensated for break time. In addition, the FLSA’s general requirement that the employee must be completely relieved from duty or else the time must be compensated as work time applies.
So while your employer isn’t required to pay you for “extra” breaks – if you are using your already scheduled breaks to pump, then they are required to pay you just like they pay other employees for those breaks.
This is a HUGE step for nursing moms!! Many states do not provide specific legislation to protect moms who are pumping at work. So this new legislation will provide you with the protection that you need!! It also does not preempt state legislation that is already in effect, so if you are lucky enough to live in a state that offers even better benefits (protection beyond 1 year and paid pumping breaks) then those benefits still apply to you.
What do you think of the new law? How will this affect your ability to pump at work? Please share your stories by leaving a comment on this post.
Myth-Busters Family Version!
July 22, 2010 by Mommy News
Filed under Parenting Info & Tips
By Tracy Liebmann
Most of us know and love the wonderful MythBusters series on Discovery Channel; well today I want to BUST some of the most common myths that surround family life and personal development! We often have long lasting thoughts about life that just are not *really* true! In this article I will do my part to help you bust those personal myths that hold you back from having Your Best Life! So let’s get started!
Myth’s about Happiness:
Myth #1 – I’ll be happy when I lose 20 (30,40,50) pounds.
How many of us have thoughts this, just to go ahead and torture ourselves by not eating the foods we love, lose the weight and be happy for just a little while. Yet after we get used to being our new slimmer selves, we realize nothing has *really* changed and we seem to have all the challenges we always had…including worrying about our weight! So in reality losing weight did not actually bring us the happiness we were looking for!
BUSTED!
Myth #2 – I’ll be happy after my house gets cleaned up.
So you’ve had it! You’re sick and tired of the mess and you get cracking…and you clean your house! Ahhhh…what a great feeling a clean house is…for sure! Yet did it really bring happiness? Well yes, it does bring happiness for a short while. Possibly even shorter than the weight lose brought due to your hubby and 3 kids messing the whole place up…LOL! You realize it does feel better to have a clean house and it does add to your happiness factor, yet it is not a lasting happiness.
PLAUSABLE!
Myth #3 – I’ll be happy when I move to a different area/state or into a larger house.
Oh boy, this is one I used to believe 10 to 15 years ago…guess what I found out? Where ever I went…there I was! Meaning, happiness is an inside job! We can truly be happy from the inside out…not from the outside in. For me I had a lot of self awareness, self acceptance, personal development action I needed to take…before I could truly be happy regardless of my weight, mess, town or house I was in.
BUSTED!
Myth’s about Parenting:
Myth #4 – Kids are going to be “bad” and misbehave if I/we don’t “teach” them how to behave!
Kids are not inherently bad…just the opposite is true! They are inherently GOOD! Yes, of course we have more experience in life that we can share with our kids to help guide them. Yet truly the best thing we can do for our kids is BE THERE for them, be there to help them, be there to guide them when they need us. The best way to teach out kids how to be and act responsible, respectful, kind, and loving is to model that behavior. Treat your children kindly, loving, respectful & responsibly; they will “learn” that is the way to act toward others.
BUSTED!
Myth #5 I was spanked and disciplined as a child and I didn’t turn out so bad.
Well, I’m sure if you are reading this Transforming Family blog post on Mommy News & Views Blog you are probably right…you did not turn out so bad…lol! Yet, if you look deeply, was your relationship with your parents damaged by being harshly disciplined by them. Do you find yourself harshly disciplining your children; then feeling badly wishing you had better parenting skills?
PLAUSIBLE? NO… BUSTED!
Myths about Marriage & Family:
Myth #6 – Happily Ever After. Things should be easier than this.
The truth about relationships is there is a certain amount of “work” that goes into them. So the idea that we fall in love with our husband or babies and everything is “happily ever after”…is just hoo-haa! Yep…that’s what I just said HOO-HAA! What a real happy marriage/family looks like is a group of people coming together in a common goal. Willingness to look at one another as being perfect humans in the mist of all our challenges. Being willing to do whatever personal development is necessary to be the best Mom, Dad or kids you can be. Are you willing to do what ever it takes to have the family of your dreams??
BUSTED!
What myths have you learned to bust in your family life? Please leave a comment and share them so that other families can benefit from your experiences!
Tracy Liebmann is a Personal Development Coach for Mothers. She believes deeply that connection and communication is key to deep, loving relationships. She mothers her two teenage children from the heart, knowing that is where the truth lies when it comes to parenting. Her coaching clients describe her using words like; compassionate, caring, understanding, patient, insightful and intuitive. She lives in Charleston, SC with her husband of 19 years, her 2 children and many interesting pets. She enjoys being with her family, cooking, anything outdoors and being with her horses! You can learn more about her and her coaching practice on her website Transforming Family. Tracy is a regular contributor to this blog, so stay tuned for more great parenting articles from her!
Summer At The Beach
July 21, 2010 by Mommy News
Filed under Wordless Wednesday
Suggestions For Starting a Breastfeeding Support Bag Project
July 18, 2010 by Mommy News
Filed under Breastfeeding Advocacy, Breastfeeding In The News, Breastfeeding Info & Tips, Breastfeeding Stories, Support For Moms
Our guest post last week on Breastfeeding Support Bags at Hospitals was SOOOOO popular and inspired so many moms to get something started in their own areas! It is amazing! So I asked Amanda Mack, the author of the post and founder of the Laramie Breastfeeding Bag Project to write up a list of tips for other moms so that we can start getting the ball rolling in other towns and cities around the country (and perhaps around the world!). Below is a list to help you get started. If you email Amanda directly, she will also send you the contact names of the people with whom she is in contact with for her bags – so that you can save some time on researching all of that information yourself!
Suggestions for starting a breastfeeding support bag project in your area:
By Amanda Mack
1. Contact business and organizations that you know are pro-breastfeeding. I started by looking through the ads in Mothering magazine because these are typically businesses that support breastfeeding and natural family living. I also contacted business that I had purchased products from and loved. I explained what I wanted to do and asked them for any donations they might have- samples, brochures, coupons, handouts, etc. I made a huge list of possible contacts and e-mailed them.
Breastfeeding Support Bags
3. Once you decide the bag has a variety of necessary information and goodies, it is time to assemble a sample bag!
4. Contact your local hospital- see if there is a lactation consultant or coordinator that you could meet with. Explain the project and show the bag. Suggest that the bags are given out when the mom is discharged from the hospital. Our hospital also had to approve the bags before we began giving them out.
5. Find out how many births there are per month at your hospital and assemble bags accordingly. We typically try to fill two months at one time. So here at our local hospital, we have 30-40 births per month, so we try to fill 50-60 or so bags each time. We then have some time in between to contact those companies again to ask for a “refill” on donations. That way when it comes time again to fill them, our supplies are all stocked and ready to go.
If you have any questions
or you need further information,
please feel free to contact Amanda:
Amanda Mack
Laramie Breastfeeding Bag Project
Amanda is one mom who made a difference! You can make a difference too! Please leave a comment telling us if you are planning to do something similar in your local area. And when you do get them started up – please come back after and let us know that too!!
Our, boutique, A Mother’s Boutique is a proud supporter of the Laramie Breastfeeding Bag Project!
Breastfeeding Bags At Hospitals – A Remarkable Project!
July 15, 2010 by Mommy News
Filed under Breastfeeding Advocacy, Breastfeeding In The News, Breastfeeding Info & Tips, Breastfeeding Stories
By Amanda Mack
Baby Owen at age 6 months
Breastfeeding Support Bags
After putting together sample bags, I called our local hospital and spoke with the the lactation coordinator. She was very receptive to the idea of true breastfeeding support bags. We met and she approved the bags with flying colors.
As of March 2010, women who give birth at Ivison Memorial Hospital are given the bags from the Laramie Breastfeeding Bag Project.
I then teamed up with my long-time friend Sarah Pruis, owner of One Creative Mama and natural childbirth educator. Our goals remain the same:
- To complete the bags at no cost or with funds from fundraisers or donations
- To support and encourage breastfeeding mamas with accurate information, and
- To include only pro-breastfeeding information, samples, coupons, etc. (For example, we don’t put in coupons for something like photography as “fillers” but we would include brochures on baby slings since that promotes bonding and facilitates breastfeeding.)
We are now approaching almost 125 bags filled. Currently, there about about 30-40 births per month at our hospital. We continue to get more donors, both at the local level and at the national level. This includes the hospital, who worked along with midwife Esther Gillman-Kehrer to donate reusable bags. They purchased 400 more reusable bags to keep the project going. The bags say, “Breastfeeding is (Eco)logical.” This means that we now have the donations and supplies to continue the project for at least another year, and hopefully indefinitely! The Laramie Breastfeeding Bag Project has also purchased stainless steel (BPA free) water bottles that say, “Laramie Supports Breastfeeding” and features the International Breastfeeding Symbol on it. ALL money raised goes toward the purchase of more stainless steel water bottles to include in the breastfeeding bags. Because of the success of a recent fundraiser, the Laramie Breastfeeding Bag Project was also able to purchase additional items to add to the bags so that new breastfeeding moms get even more goodies.
Fundraising in Laramie
The Laramie Breastfeeding Bag Project was also able to purchase International Breastfeeding Symbol stickers. Local organizations and businesses are being given these stickers to display in their windows as a statement of support for breastfeeding moms/customers. This project has just started. Along with the stickers, the businesses and organizations are being given information about breastfeeding laws in Wyoming, ways to support breastfeeding customers, and how breastfeeding impacts the entire community.Our local hospital, Ivinson Memorial Hospital has also initiated the Laramie Breastfeeding Coalition as a result of the momentum. This group meets once a month and includes representatives from Ivinson Memorial Hospital, WIC, Public Health, area midwives, local nurses, La Leche League, area doctors, a clinical nutritionist, myself, and others. The group encourages interested healthcare professionals and others to join in order to promote breastfeeding city-wide. The group will also be working with the Laramie Breastfeeding Bag Project to promote the stickers in local organizations and businesses. Ivinson Memorial Hospital now proudly displays their international breastfeeding symbol stickers in all entries and on each floor and is making steps toward becoming a certified “baby-friendly” hospital.
Whenever I see Deb, the lactation coordinator at the hospital, she always says to me, “All this from one little lady.” And I immediately say the phrase, “It takes a village.” This high school English teacher, turned stay-at-home mama, turned lactivist wants my two boys to be a part of a society that embraces and encourages breastfeeding and for us, it starts in our “village” of Laramie, Wyoming. Each month when it is time for Sarah and I to crowd into my guest bedroom that has now been dubbed the “breast room in the house” to fill more breastfeeding bags, there is a mantra that keeps playing in my head… ‘Take that Similac!’
If you are interested in starting something like this in your town and don’t know how to begin or you have questions, please feel free to contact me and I would love to help you take the steps to get started. Amandamack5@yahoo.com or join us on Facebook- Laramie Breastfeeding Bag Project. Happy nursing!
A Mother’s Boutique is a proud sponsor/donator to the Laramie Breastfeeding Bag Project. I met Amanda through Sarah Pruis of One Creative Mama and am so glad that I did! I am truly honored to be a part of this project!
If you have a similar project in your town, or want to set one up, please leave a comment below.
