WIC. (2009, August 1). Feeding your baby the first year! UT WIC Program . Salt Lake City, Utah, USA: WIC.
Showing posts with label Feeding and Nutrition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Feeding and Nutrition. Show all posts
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Introducing Solids for Your 4-6 Month Old Infant
I bet you can't believe how fast your little one is growing! Now they're starting to eats solids, next they'll be moving out of the house for collage! Some important key elements to remember when introducing solids to your baby is to always have it pureed and give them small amounts at a time (1-2 Tablespoons). Also, giving your child one fruit, vegetable, or infant cereal dosing at a time and waiting for a whole 24 hours to make sure they aren't allergic to it specifically. Talk to your pediatrician for more in depth information on this topic before your start!
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Blog Recommend Alert!
Planning Family Blog
If you still have questions unanswered then this blog is perfect for you! It has been around for a long while and has extensive posts that will be helpful for you and your family. At http://www.planningfamily.com/ they have information on Preconception, Pregnancy, Newborn, Baby, Toddler, Parents, and even Free Baby Stuff! I will answer a couple questions you may have about this site and then I urge you to check it out for yourself!
First: “Is this blog good for me, as a new parent?”
Yes! In skawering through this blog I’ve found that it is perfect for the needs of our own audience of new parents. In their section labeled “NEWBORN” they have articles and videos of what you might need to know with having a newborn baby such as: Bringing your baby home, Feeding, Newborn Care, Depression, Circumcision, Baby Blues and Postpartum, Premature Babies. They also have sections on quizzes, recipes, checklists, and tools (example: Birth Announcements, Breastfeeding and Diaper Changing Log, ect.) Come and look through on your own: http://www.planningfamily.com/newborn/
Second: “Is what I’m reading reliable?”
Reliable information is hard to come by on internet sometimes! This is why we, UpAllNight, started our blog. We’ve worked hard in providing reliable information from reliable sources. With that said, it is still important for you, as a reader, to always double check your answers. Since anyone can post things on the internet what you need to do is check if their article has “references” at the bottom of it. References show you where the author got their information. If the article doesn’t have references, don’t be distraught! Just double check the information with your local pediatrician, with a quick call. Planning Family has many great articles, but if you have a question about what you’re reading don’t be afraid to double check your information.
Remember: Planning Family offers general information and is for educational purposes only. This information is not a substitute for professional medical, psychiatric or psychological advice. Nothing on this website should be taken to imply an endorsement of Planning Family or its partners by any person quoted or mentioned.
Third: “Will I be able to apply what Planning Family in my own life?”
Lucky for you, this blog has hundreds and hundreds of articles! Since this blog was made to educate their reader, it not hard to find what you are looking for. You may go looking for one specific question and come out with an answer to that question along with other ideas that you hadn’t thought of before.
Fourth: “Is it an easy read?”
Everybody likes easy reads, don’t they? The nice thing about this website is it gives you the information, without you needing to go hunting for it. For example, if you have a question on feeding your newborn you go to the section on “feeding” and click on the article that best describes your question. There isn’t a lot of “fluff” so they give you the information without you needing to hunt for it.
Last question: “What do you think about this blog, Chelsey?”
I’ve loved exploring this blog! It has A LOT of information, which is very comforting to you as a reader. I’ve loved how well established this blog and updated the information provided is. I would recommend it to anyone! But REMEMBER, check your resources and call your pediatrician if you have any questions and as always, don’t settle on one article or blog to answer your questions!
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Book Review! The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding
The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding is a wonderful book for mothers who need guidance with the idea of breastfeeding their infant. Written by an ever-changing group of mothers who call themselves the “La Leche League International” who have strived for the last 56 years to develop and refine all the information contained in this book. Since they’ve had so much time to refine their work, the La Lech League has a vast amount of information which aligns with the research on breastfeeding and because it is “The leading source of breastfeeding support and information” for mothers and soon-be-mothers the quality of application is evident. I have a friend who recently had her first baby and recommended this book to me telling me that it helped her understand more about breast feeding and what to expect as a new mother to the area. The reason this book was so helpful to my “new parent” friend was because of all the real life experiences this book shares as well as the vast amounts of topics it explores.
The wonderful thing about this book is that it not only focuses on breastfeeding an infant but explores other topics as well! And it applies to new mothers or returning mothers alike; walking the reader through the steps of having a baby. It starts out with the first part labeled “New Beginnings”- where the reader learns about breast feeding and if it is right for them. Other topics this book covers are birth (with areas of how to cope with a difficult birth), weight watchers, emotional roller coaster (dealing with your out of “whack” hormones), nursing schedule, concerns you may have with your baby through their growing stages, sexual life with partner (labeled: “Is This the End of Sex?”), sleep routines for baby, working mothers, pumping, weaning, dealing with a baby’s death, and technical support during breastfeeding (ex: Blebs, Blood in your milk, Colic, Eating Disorders, ect.).
This book was a great easy read that was designed so that anyone can use it. The stories in it will make you laugh and cry, but also learn. I’ve loved having this book in my home, it has helped me feel more comfortable with my body and my future decisions of breast feeding my own infants. I highly recommend this book to anyone who would like to breastfeed their child or who even has questions of breastfeeding!
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Book Review: The baby sleep book: The complete guide...
One of the biggest challenges for new parents is getting adequate sleep! The Baby Sleep Book: The Complete Guide to a Good Night's Rest for the Whole Family by William Sears, M.D., Robert Sears, M.D., James Sears, M. D., and Martha Sears, R. N., talks about the importance, tools and attitudes for the whole family to get a good night's sleep with their baby.
It is interesting that this book is written by a family of medical professionals: Dr “Bill” who received his pediatric training at Harvard Medical School's Children's Hospital in Boston and is presently an Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of California, Irvine; his wife Martha,
a mother of eight children, a registered nurse, a former childbirth educator, a La Leche League leader, and a lactation consultant; and two of their sons who are also pediatricians. I like the way this book has referenced research along with insights from the authors' professional and personal lives.
All four doctor authors have experience with their own children and children in their pediatric practice. They emphasize that this book is a book of options and not “shoulds”, and that new parents need to find solutions that they are both comfortable with and that allow adequate sleep. Parents should not become martyrs, and be so sleepy during the day that they can not have fun and interact with their baby. In chapter 1 they quickly get into strategies for improving sleep for the whole family, but before I mention them I want to tell Dr. Bill's and Martha's own personal experience.
Dr. Bill and Martha's first three children were easy sleepers and did not come into their parents bed except to snuggle in the mornings. Their fourth child, Hayden, was fine for the first six months in her cradle right next to Martha, but when she graduated to the crib she woke more and more often until one night, out of sheer exhaustion from being wakened every hour, Martha brought Hadyn to bed and they both slept for hours. For years Dr. Bill and Martha had believed the books that said no co-sleeping, but now Martha said, “I don't care what the books say, I'm tired and I need some sleep!” (ch 5, Our Co-Sleeping Experiences, ¶ 1 & 2).
Being a researcher, Dr. Bill did an experiment on another newborn daughter, Lauren. Lauren was wired to a computer to monitor her heart, breathing, and oxygen levels while she was sleeping with her mother and while she was sleeping alone. Baby Lauren's “breathing and heart rate were more regular during shared sleep, and she experienced fewer 'dips'—low points in respiration and blood oxygen from slower breathing episodes. On the night Lauren slept with Martha, there were no dips in her blood oxygen, where on the night Lauren slept alone, there were 132 dips” (ch 5, Our Co-Sleeping Experiments, ¶ 2). Other research shows that both human and animal babies who co-sleep with their mothers had more balanced levels of cortisol, higher levels of growth hormones which are essential for brain and heart growth (ch 5, Science says: Co-sleeping is healthful, ¶ 2, 5).
They also refer to some recent studies that suggest the risk of SIDS increased with co-sleeping, but they were not comfortable with the way the data was collected. They explained that researchers looked at death certificates in the United States for the years 1990 through 1997 and found 515 cases in which a child under two had died in an adult bed. Of these deaths, 394 were caused by entrapment in the bed structure, and the other 121 deaths were reported to be due to overlying of the child by the parent, another adult, or a sibling. The study failed to use matched controls nor explain other studies that show co-sleeping decreased the risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), except for smokers, and that countries with the highest levels of co-sleeping usually have the lowest levels of SIDS. “The fact is that many more infants die when sleeping alone in a crib than when sleeping in their parents' bed” (ch 5, co-sleeping is safer, ¶ 6, 7).
As a reader, I wasn't able to sort out the contradictions without further research, but I do believe they show that co-sleeping is a viable option. It does require safety precautions, such as preventing the child from sleeping on too soft a surface, soft pillows, piles of blankets, or near an edge where they could be wedged between the bed and a wall, etc. Also, parents who smoke, drink alcohol, take sleeping pills, or anything that could impair consciousness, should not co-sleep.
Co-sleeping was not the only method they recommended. They said if the child was doing well in a crib, and was thriving, that was fine. They also recommended room sharing, or a bed next to the parents bed. Five steps to improving infant's sleep are: 1. find out where you and your baby sleep best; 2. Learn baby's tired times; 3. Create a safe and comfortable environment conducive to sleep; 4. Create a variety of bedtime rituals; 5. Help baby sleep for longer stretches. They warned “If your baby is a newborn (less than two months old), do not jump into this sleep plan or any other sleep plan. Newborn babies are not ready to learn more mature sleep patterns (ch. 1, preview, ¶ 4).
Being a devoted father, Dr. Bill
gave fathering Tips. He asked, “What is the biggest contributor to mother burnout? Father walk-out!” (ch 8, ¶7) and gave these suggestions among many others: 1. Understand the switch to mother mode: respect the wife's desires to nurture the baby and herself, which will increase her romantic feelings; 2. Keep the nest tidy: Take Inventory Daily Yourself. Don't wait to be asked; 3. Be sensitive: Notice that the wife is trying to be the perfect mother and homemaker. Intervene before she begins to feel overwhelmed and depressed. Have a willing attitude. Resentment won't help the Dad feel more rested and it won't earn points with the wife. This goes along with research that parents need to be proactive in their parenting. They need to be invested and feel empowered. That is why fathers need to be involved. (Bredehoft & Walcheski,2009). Chapter 8 of The Baby Sleep Book gives Dads a total of 23 nighttime fathering tips to help with this proactive process!
Though the authors are open to ways to make it so parents will be able to get their sleep and maintain intimacy, they had great concerns about the Let Them Cry It Out (CIO) philosophy. As a physician, Dr. Bill could often sense when parents began to use the method. When they came in for check-ups, they seemed to be less sensitive to their baby, sometimes leaving the baby in the car seat as they talked. One couple's baby, who had been previously thriving, began what Dr. Bill called "shutdown syndrome". The baby only gained a few ounces in a couple of weeks, had lost the sparkle in his eyes, and had poor muscle tone. When he pointed this out to the parents, they changed back to their former ways and the baby began to gain healthy weight and muscle tone in the next few weeks, although the parents admitted he wasn't as "good" when it came to sleeping (ch, 4, Baby training, ¶ 3-5).
The authors admitted Crying It Out (CIO) may work for some easy babies without harming the child. It is important for the parent to remain sensitive to signals from the baby. Watch for signs of distress and detachment during the day. Also, if crying goes on too long, the baby may be going through a growth spurt and need more nutrition during the night, which could lead to learning disabilities later on. Studies show that infants who have been left to Cry It Out are ten times more likely to have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (Wolke, 2002 as cited in Sears, (2005) chapter 10, Science says..., ¶ 4) . Extended crying may signal that this baby is overwhelmed with fear and needs nurturing. Babies do not have object permanence, and when parents leave the room, babies believe they are all alone. They may stop crying, but not because they have soothed themselves, but because they have given up sending the signal, which may affect their intelligence. Dr M. R. Rao and colleagues at the National Institutes of Health showed that infants with prolonged unattended-to crying in the first three months of life had an average IQ of 9 points lower than average at five years of age (Rao as quoted in Sears, 2005).
Nature has made a mother's biology to respond to a crying infant. There is an increased blood flow to the breasts and blood samples show a sharp increase in oxytocin. This is because these attachment behaviors increase the survival rate of infants by provoking a response from the parents, especially the mother. The authors say the baby is not trying to manipulate, they are trying to communicate (ch 10, What crying “it” out really means). A mother does not need to feel guilt, or think she is weak, or worry about her baby's adjustment if she wants to respond to her baby's cries. It is biological and healthy, claim the authors.
The topic of getting enough sleep with a baby is very current and controversial, getting over 900 comments on Amazon for this book and other books on the subject. Good sleep is essential to good emotional and physical health, so anything that helps new parents and their babies sleep well is valuable. I believe this authors presented a reasonable and persuasive argument for their point of view, and I recommend this book to all parents to try if it will solve their family sleep issues.
More questions can be answered on the authors' website at "http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/attachment-parenting/4-ways-ap-can-reduce-risk-sids">
Bredehoft, D. J., Walcheski, M. J. (2009). Family life education: Integrating
theory and practice. St. Paul, MN: Concordia University.
Rao, M. R. et al. (2004). Long-term cognitive development in children with prolonged crying.
National Institutes of Health. Archives of Disease in Childhood 89:989-992 as quoted in Sears
The baby sleep book: The complete guide to a good night's rest for the whole family.
Sears, W., Sears, R., Sears, J., Sears, M. (2005). The baby sleep book: The
complete guide to a good night's rest for the whole family (Sears parenting
library). New York: NY: Little, Brown and Company, Hachette Book Group.
Available in paperback and eBook Edition.
Wolke, D., et al. (2002) Persistant infant crying and hyperactivity problems in middle childhood.
Pediatrics 109:1054-1060 as cited in Sears The baby sleep book: The complete guide to a
good night's rest for the whole family chapter 10, heading Science says: Crying it out may
harmful to your child's health, ¶ 4).
It is interesting that this book is written by a family of medical professionals: Dr “Bill” who received his pediatric training at Harvard Medical School's Children's Hospital in Boston and is presently an Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of California, Irvine; his wife Martha,
a mother of eight children, a registered nurse, a former childbirth educator, a La Leche League leader, and a lactation consultant; and two of their sons who are also pediatricians. I like the way this book has referenced research along with insights from the authors' professional and personal lives.
All four doctor authors have experience with their own children and children in their pediatric practice. They emphasize that this book is a book of options and not “shoulds”, and that new parents need to find solutions that they are both comfortable with and that allow adequate sleep. Parents should not become martyrs, and be so sleepy during the day that they can not have fun and interact with their baby. In chapter 1 they quickly get into strategies for improving sleep for the whole family, but before I mention them I want to tell Dr. Bill's and Martha's own personal experience.
Dr. Bill and Martha's first three children were easy sleepers and did not come into their parents bed except to snuggle in the mornings. Their fourth child, Hayden, was fine for the first six months in her cradle right next to Martha, but when she graduated to the crib she woke more and more often until one night, out of sheer exhaustion from being wakened every hour, Martha brought Hadyn to bed and they both slept for hours. For years Dr. Bill and Martha had believed the books that said no co-sleeping, but now Martha said, “I don't care what the books say, I'm tired and I need some sleep!” (ch 5, Our Co-Sleeping Experiences, ¶ 1 & 2).
Being a researcher, Dr. Bill did an experiment on another newborn daughter, Lauren. Lauren was wired to a computer to monitor her heart, breathing, and oxygen levels while she was sleeping with her mother and while she was sleeping alone. Baby Lauren's “breathing and heart rate were more regular during shared sleep, and she experienced fewer 'dips'—low points in respiration and blood oxygen from slower breathing episodes. On the night Lauren slept with Martha, there were no dips in her blood oxygen, where on the night Lauren slept alone, there were 132 dips” (ch 5, Our Co-Sleeping Experiments, ¶ 2). Other research shows that both human and animal babies who co-sleep with their mothers had more balanced levels of cortisol, higher levels of growth hormones which are essential for brain and heart growth (ch 5, Science says: Co-sleeping is healthful, ¶ 2, 5).
They also refer to some recent studies that suggest the risk of SIDS increased with co-sleeping, but they were not comfortable with the way the data was collected. They explained that researchers looked at death certificates in the United States for the years 1990 through 1997 and found 515 cases in which a child under two had died in an adult bed. Of these deaths, 394 were caused by entrapment in the bed structure, and the other 121 deaths were reported to be due to overlying of the child by the parent, another adult, or a sibling. The study failed to use matched controls nor explain other studies that show co-sleeping decreased the risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), except for smokers, and that countries with the highest levels of co-sleeping usually have the lowest levels of SIDS. “The fact is that many more infants die when sleeping alone in a crib than when sleeping in their parents' bed” (ch 5, co-sleeping is safer, ¶ 6, 7).
As a reader, I wasn't able to sort out the contradictions without further research, but I do believe they show that co-sleeping is a viable option. It does require safety precautions, such as preventing the child from sleeping on too soft a surface, soft pillows, piles of blankets, or near an edge where they could be wedged between the bed and a wall, etc. Also, parents who smoke, drink alcohol, take sleeping pills, or anything that could impair consciousness, should not co-sleep.
Co-sleeping was not the only method they recommended. They said if the child was doing well in a crib, and was thriving, that was fine. They also recommended room sharing, or a bed next to the parents bed. Five steps to improving infant's sleep are: 1. find out where you and your baby sleep best; 2. Learn baby's tired times; 3. Create a safe and comfortable environment conducive to sleep; 4. Create a variety of bedtime rituals; 5. Help baby sleep for longer stretches. They warned “If your baby is a newborn (less than two months old), do not jump into this sleep plan or any other sleep plan. Newborn babies are not ready to learn more mature sleep patterns (ch. 1, preview, ¶ 4).
Being a devoted father, Dr. Bill
gave fathering Tips. He asked, “What is the biggest contributor to mother burnout? Father walk-out!” (ch 8, ¶7) and gave these suggestions among many others: 1. Understand the switch to mother mode: respect the wife's desires to nurture the baby and herself, which will increase her romantic feelings; 2. Keep the nest tidy: Take Inventory Daily Yourself. Don't wait to be asked; 3. Be sensitive: Notice that the wife is trying to be the perfect mother and homemaker. Intervene before she begins to feel overwhelmed and depressed. Have a willing attitude. Resentment won't help the Dad feel more rested and it won't earn points with the wife. This goes along with research that parents need to be proactive in their parenting. They need to be invested and feel empowered. That is why fathers need to be involved. (Bredehoft & Walcheski,2009). Chapter 8 of The Baby Sleep Book gives Dads a total of 23 nighttime fathering tips to help with this proactive process!
Though the authors are open to ways to make it so parents will be able to get their sleep and maintain intimacy, they had great concerns about the Let Them Cry It Out (CIO) philosophy. As a physician, Dr. Bill could often sense when parents began to use the method. When they came in for check-ups, they seemed to be less sensitive to their baby, sometimes leaving the baby in the car seat as they talked. One couple's baby, who had been previously thriving, began what Dr. Bill called "shutdown syndrome". The baby only gained a few ounces in a couple of weeks, had lost the sparkle in his eyes, and had poor muscle tone. When he pointed this out to the parents, they changed back to their former ways and the baby began to gain healthy weight and muscle tone in the next few weeks, although the parents admitted he wasn't as "good" when it came to sleeping (ch, 4, Baby training, ¶ 3-5).
The authors admitted Crying It Out (CIO) may work for some easy babies without harming the child. It is important for the parent to remain sensitive to signals from the baby. Watch for signs of distress and detachment during the day. Also, if crying goes on too long, the baby may be going through a growth spurt and need more nutrition during the night, which could lead to learning disabilities later on. Studies show that infants who have been left to Cry It Out are ten times more likely to have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (Wolke, 2002 as cited in Sears, (2005) chapter 10, Science says..., ¶ 4) . Extended crying may signal that this baby is overwhelmed with fear and needs nurturing. Babies do not have object permanence, and when parents leave the room, babies believe they are all alone. They may stop crying, but not because they have soothed themselves, but because they have given up sending the signal, which may affect their intelligence. Dr M. R. Rao and colleagues at the National Institutes of Health showed that infants with prolonged unattended-to crying in the first three months of life had an average IQ of 9 points lower than average at five years of age (Rao as quoted in Sears, 2005).
Nature has made a mother's biology to respond to a crying infant. There is an increased blood flow to the breasts and blood samples show a sharp increase in oxytocin. This is because these attachment behaviors increase the survival rate of infants by provoking a response from the parents, especially the mother. The authors say the baby is not trying to manipulate, they are trying to communicate (ch 10, What crying “it” out really means). A mother does not need to feel guilt, or think she is weak, or worry about her baby's adjustment if she wants to respond to her baby's cries. It is biological and healthy, claim the authors.
The topic of getting enough sleep with a baby is very current and controversial, getting over 900 comments on Amazon for this book and other books on the subject. Good sleep is essential to good emotional and physical health, so anything that helps new parents and their babies sleep well is valuable. I believe this authors presented a reasonable and persuasive argument for their point of view, and I recommend this book to all parents to try if it will solve their family sleep issues.
More questions can be answered on the authors' website at "http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/attachment-parenting/4-ways-ap-can-reduce-risk-sids">
Bredehoft, D. J., Walcheski, M. J. (2009). Family life education: Integrating
theory and practice. St. Paul, MN: Concordia University.
Rao, M. R. et al. (2004). Long-term cognitive development in children with prolonged crying.
National Institutes of Health. Archives of Disease in Childhood 89:989-992 as quoted in Sears
The baby sleep book: The complete guide to a good night's rest for the whole family.
Sears, W., Sears, R., Sears, J., Sears, M. (2005). The baby sleep book: The
complete guide to a good night's rest for the whole family (Sears parenting
library). New York: NY: Little, Brown and Company, Hachette Book Group.
Available in paperback and eBook Edition.
Wolke, D., et al. (2002) Persistant infant crying and hyperactivity problems in middle childhood.
Pediatrics 109:1054-1060 as cited in Sears The baby sleep book: The complete guide to a
good night's rest for the whole family chapter 10, heading Science says: Crying it out may
harmful to your child's health, ¶ 4).
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Oxford study on breastfeeding
If you are wavering on whether or not to breastfeed your baby, here is one more quick pitch. A meta-analysis done by Oxford University and Essex University showed that breastfeeding improved school performance across English, maths and science scores, and persisted into secondary school. "Indeed, there is some evidence that the effect tends to grow over time" (Oxford, 2011). The study compared test scores of children who as babies had been "matched on a huge range of characteristics, including: their sex, gestational age, birth weight, their mother’s age and marital status, parents’ job status and education, and their home environment" (Oxford & Essex, 2011).
University of Oxford. (March 14, 2011). Study: Breastfed children do better at school.
Retrieved March 8, 2012 at http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_stories/2011/111403.html
University of Oxford. (March 14, 2011). Study: Breastfed children do better at school.
Retrieved March 8, 2012 at http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_stories/2011/111403.html
Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding can be quite daunting at times, but I’m here to help you put your fears aside and become aware of the amazing effects it has on your child throughout their whole life!
The First Weeks of Breastfeeding
All you need is breast milk to feed your baby!
·
- Breastfeeding should begin as soon as possible after birth (usually within the first hour)
- Use breastfeeding as the sole source of nutrition for your baby (for about 6 months) (Steven P. Shelov & Tanya Remer Altmann, 2009)
- Breast feed your baby at least 8 to 12 times each day (1 ½ to 3 hours)
- Breastfeed your baby whenever they seem hungry, not on a set schedule (Baydar, McCann, Williams, & Vesper, 1997)
- The length of time varies in the first few weeks of nursing, it could be a couple minutes or 45 minutes (Steven P. Shelov & Tanya Remer Altmann, 2009)
Benefits of Breastfeeding
There are many benefits of breastfeeding, I’ll cover only a few and add links were you are able to read valid websites that will help inform you more. In no particular order:
·
- Breastfeeding compared to bottle/formula feeding helps improve a higher cognitive development in babies (especially in pre-termed babies) (Quiqley, Hockley, Carson, Kelly, Renfrew, & Sacker, 2012)
- There are far greater amount of nutrients that your child is getting from the breast milk in comparison to formula (Heslett, Hedberg, & Rumble, 2007)
- The following is a video and article ABC new did about breast feeding:
Don’t Give Up!
According to a study about childcare and breast feeding, there is a reduced likely hood that mothers will breastfeed their child when the child starts going to childcare (Pearce, Li, Abbas, Ferguson, Graham, & Law, 2012). Here are some simple tips for mothers who have children in childcare or working mothers:
- Invest in a breast pump, and start pumping the excess milk that your child doesn’t eat; send that breast milk with the child when they go to their care facility
- If possible, take breaks from work to come and feed your baby
- For working mothers, during your lunch break, have someone bring your baby to you
- Or if none of these work only have your child drink formula while they are in childcare and when you have your baby feed them breast milk
Additional Website References
I believe that it is exceptionally important to have more resources than one. Below are web-based sites to give you more information on the art of breastfeeding. Look through them, it’s always fun to see that not only are you making the right choice in breastfeeding your child but you are not alone and there are resources to help you in addition to this one.
- This is a website is published by pediatricians, and has a wide variety of information not only for breast feeding in helping raise your child http://www.healthychildren.org/English/Pages/default.aspx
- This is a fantastic resource. Breastfeeding Today Magazine: Follow this link and you'll be able to access all of their issues http://www.llli.org/breastfeedingtoday
- This link talks about why breastfeeding is a public health issue and not just a lifestyle choice
- Info about la leche league meetings here in Utah (La Leche League is a group that supports breastfeeding moms) http://www.lllusa.org/UT/Utah.html
- You'll find a lot of great links here on a few of La Leche League's Salt Lake City facebook page
Just remember, you are your child’s hero for breastfeeding!
Works Cited
Baydar, N., McCann, M., Williams, R., & Vesper, E. (1997). Final Report: WIC Infant Feeding Practices Study. Seattle: Centers for Public Health Research and Evaluation.
Heslett, C., Hedberg, S., & Rumble, H. (2007). Did you ever wonder what's in... Breast Milk and Formula. BC, Canada: Douglas College, New Westminster.
Pearce, A., Li, L., Abbas, J., Ferguson, B., Graham, H., & Law, C. (2012). Childcare use and inequalities in breastfeeding: findings from the UK Millennium Cohort Study. Archives of Disease In Childhood [Arch Dis Child] , 97, 39-42.
Quiqley, M., Hockley, C., Carson, C., Kelly, Y., Renfrew, M., & Sacker, A. (2012). Breastfeeding is associated with improved child cognitive development: a population-based cohort study. The Journal of Pediatrics , 160, 25-32.
Steven P. Shelov, M. M.-I.-C., & Tanya Remer Altmann, M. F. (2009). The Complete and Authoritative Guide, Caring For Your Baby and Young Child, Birth to Age 5. USA: Bantam Book.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Gorilla Moms: What They Can Teach Us About Breastfeeding
Gorilla Mothers:
What They Can Teach Us About
Breastfeeding
In her popular book on breastfeeding, Janet Tamaro gives this account:
“At an Ohio zoo, a female gorilla lived by herself. It's hard to breed gorillas in captivity, but eventually this gorilla was courted, won over, and impregnated by a visiting male. When her baby was born, the gorilla did a terrible thing that mother gorillas do if they haven't been taught a particular skill. She killed her baby.“She killed the baby because she didn't know how to feed him. Gorillas will do one of three things after they give birth. Their first choice is to breastfeed. If they don't know how to breastfeed, the gorilla world gives them only two other options: let their offspring starve, or kill them...“When this gorilla became pregnant again, her keeper knew she needed help to avoid a repeat performance. Somehow, he had to teach her how to breastfeed her baby...But how?”...He called the La Leche League and each day a nursing mother came to the zoo and fed her baby in front of the gorilla...For days, the gorilla couldn't have been less interested. She fished fleas off her fur, scratched her behind, made faces. But as day after day went by, and new La Leche League mothers showed up with bare breasts and babies, the gorilla got more and more interested. Finally, when it was close to her due date, she had her nose pressed up against the bars of her cage to get a better look."But when her baby was born, she acted like a typical new mother. She'd forgotten all that she'd learned...She still didn't have a clue on how to hold the baby or how to get it to latch onto her breast. The baby was crying. The gorilla mother was obviously agitated...
"Her keeper feared for the infant...so he called the La Leche League again...Quickly, the League sent a mother out to the zoo. She stood in front of the bars and attached her baby step by step. She brought her baby's chest to her chest, slowly cradled the baby's head in her left arm, held her breast with her right hand, and tickled the baby's lips with the nipple to get the baby to open his mouth. Then she pulled the open-mouthed baby toward her breast and with one rapid arm motion, got the cooperative baby quickly onto her breast. The gorilla watched, mimicking the moves step by step until, with a nearly audible sigh of relief, the gorilla looked down at her chest and saw her baby feeding happily for the first time. When she had another baby, she didn't need any help from the La Leche League" (Tamaro, 1998, pp 37-38).
Knowledge is Power! It changes what
we do, how we think, and who we
are!
The Science
An article in the Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology, said a survey about great apes in captivity, showed “18% of all maternal infant care failures (i.e., death or human intervention) are the result of flawed or absent nursing” (Abello & Colell, 2006 as qtd by Volk, p 306).
Evolutionists say it may be that the human need for education is due to a “trade-off between the reliability of innate behaviors and the flexible power of a learning brain”, and that our “heightened intelligence... has greater learning requirements... and an increased reliance on learned behaviors such as maternal nursing” (Volk, 2009, p 306, 309).
The Social Factor
Primates and humans are altricial, that is, they are helpless at birth. They require greater parental investment, commitment, communication, and care for a longer period of time. Parents are able to pass on more knowledge and skills, which leads to a greater social support system, thereby increasing their progeny's chances of survival and learning. This social system became a necessary part of human nature and human civilization as humans became interdependent. Social support is essential to social beings. We need to ask for and accept help and education.
Asking for Help
References
Tamaro, J. (1998). So that's what they're for!. Holbrook, MA: Adams Media Corporation
Volk, A. A. (2009). “Human breastfeeding is not automatic: Why that's so and what it means for
human evolution”. Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology
www.jsecjournal.com - 2009, 3(4), pp. 305-314). Retrieved March 3, 2012 at
http://shell.newpaltz.edu/jsec/articles/volume3/issue4/VolkV3I4.pdf
.
Monday, February 13, 2012
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