Being a new mom is full of choices.  If you’ve made the choice to breastfeed your new baby rest assured that that is one of the most important decisions you will make as a new mother.  It’s hard to refute the benefits of breastfeeding and nowadays there are a lot of resources out there to help you along on this new journey such as how to find a certified lactation consultants, workplace accommodations for breastfeeding moms in the new health care law and health insurance plans that may cover breastfeeding related expenses.

The past few years has seen resurgence in the popularity of breastfeeding.  The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that mothers feed their babies only breast milk for the first six months. Breastfeeding is associated with a lower risk of many issues including ear and respiratory infections, diabetes and sudden infant death syndrome for babies and a lower risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer for mothers.  More recent is the study published in the journal Pediatrics, which states that if most new moms would breastfeed their babies for the first six months of life, it would save nearly 1,000 lives and billions of dollars each year.

If you are a new mom returning to work who does breastfeed then you probably are already thinking about what to do.  The need for a reliable, efficient and easy to use breast pump is almost essential to keep up with breastfeeding at work.  A good breast pump is also a necessity for moms of premature infants who may initially be unable to breastfeed and need to express their milk.  A high quality breast pump can be an additional expense for families that they might not have counted on. At this point you may want to contact your health insurance company to find out if they offer any assistance/programs for new moms; surprisingly many of them do.  And be sure to look into using your health-care flexible spending account (FSA) for breastfeeding related expenses too – many will cover breast pumps with a doctor’s note.

You may also want to consider having a visit from a certified lactation consultant either prior to returning to work for tips on pumping or at any point after baby has come home.  A lactation consultant is a health care professional who is knowledgeable, skilled, and experienced in lactation (breastfeeding). The lactation consultant’s primary focus is to provide education, assistance and support to breastfeeding women, including how to help and support those new moms returning to work. Services and visits from a lactation consultant may also be covered by your insurance.

One really good source of breastfeeding information on whether or not health insurance will cover a breast pump or a visit from a certified lactation consultant recently became available on Medela’s website. While Medela is best known for its breast pumps and accessories, they are also very invested in helping moms succeed in breastfeeding.  This online resource will help new moms with their questions about whether or not their health insurance will cover certain breastfeeding-related expenses, including for example, lactation consultant services, breast pump rental/purchase and other costs.

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During the breastfeeding period, mothers do not have to adopt any special diet plan and neither are they limited to eating only specific kinds of food. In general, they can eat whatever they like, however, certain precautions still need to be taken care of for the sake of the mother’s health. Fortunately, even if mothers do not take care of their own diet, their baby will still obtain the same nutrition and high caloric milk from their mother’s body. Still, it is vital to take a balanced, wholesome and nutritious diet to cater for the baby’s physical needs as well as for her own self.

There are certain kinds of food items that mothers needs to abstain from or avoid because they can indirectly affect the baby’s well-being. Breastfeeding mothers also have to make sure to consume certain food types for example, whole grains & cereals, fresh fruits & vegetables for the sake of iron as well as calcium rich dairy products and protein rich foods. Protein foods are a source of B vitamins, iron, phosphorus, zinc and magnesium; milk products are rich in protein, calcium, vitamin D, riboflavin and phosphorus; grain products are a source of B vitamins, iron, phosphorus and zinc and vegetables and fruits are sources of folacin and vitamins A, B6, and E, and minerals. Consuming a healthy, well-balanced and adequately caloric diet can assist in the baby’s growth and ensure the safety of the mother’s health as well. According to Kathleen Huggins, author of The Nursing Mother’s Companion, breastfeeding mothers don’t necessarily need to eat more than average mothers but they need to make sure that their diet includes all the healthful and fresh food items.

Certain mothers feel that losing pregnancy weight might be hard during breastfeeding; on the contrary, the technical process of breastfeeding actually helps to lose weight since deposited fats are diminished as body is prepared for lactation. Breastfeeding also helps delay menstruation and prevents pregnancy. Experts recommend that mothers should not attempt to lose weight during the first 6 weeks of breastfeeding since energy is required to nurse the baby around the clock. Rather, the weight loss procedure should be gradual, losing one or two pounds every week and maintaining a well-balanced and wholesome diet. If mothers find that they are losing more than a couple of pounds, they should consider increasing their daily intake of calories. Losing weight rapidly can release harmful toxins in the body’s bloodstream that can enter breast milk and be passed to the baby’s body; limiting food supply can also affect the mother’s milk supply. Therefore, mothers should take 10 to 12 months to gradually lose all their pregnancy weight by taking care of their diet.

For the fact that fish and seafood contain mercury, conceiving, nursing and pregnant mothers should limit their intake of fish to 6 ounces of ‘white’ tuna and 12 ounces of ‘light tuna’ a week. Moreover, shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish (golden or white snapper), tuna steak, orange roughy, Spanish mackerel, marlin, grouper have highest mercury levels and should be avoided. Breastfeeding mothers should also abstain from alcohol or limit its consumption because it too, can indirectly affect the baby. If an alcoholic beverage is consumed, mothers should wait for a couple of hours for the alcohol to pass from the body before nursing. During this time, the baby can be fed stored breast milk using a breast pump, which the mother has already saved and frozen earlier. Varying types of breast pumps are available in stores depending on costs, efficiency and ease of use. Two major types of pumps are manual or hand operated and breast electric pumps. This type of nursing should be done only if there is no danger of nipple confusion; a situation where the baby might confuse a bottle nipple with that of the mother’s. Water intake should also be taken care of; mothers should consume at least 8 ounces of water, juices, soups and other fluids to avoid dehydration since excess fluid is drained from the body during nursing. Also, caffeine in all forms should also be limited as it can make the baby agitated, fussy and alert; not more than one cup of coffee or equivalent should be consumed. Nicotine can cause respiratory diseases in the baby, so smoking mothers should quit during breastfeeding period or try to limit their nicotine consumption during this time.

Certain foods can cause the baby to fuss, cry or sleep little, therefore they should be avoided. Allergic foods can also be identified by observing skin rashes on the baby and any change in breathing and stool. Overall, if these precautions are heeded, both the mother and the child will benefit from them. Apart from these limitations, mothers can enjoy eating whatever they like during the breastfeeding time. Happy eating!

Additional Resources

Track breastfeeding and mom’s diet to make sure your baby is not sensitive to your diet.

More on foods mom can/can’t eat

 
 

Making the decision about breastfeeding vs bottle feeding is a very personal one and does not come easy for everyone. Just last week, however, 15 myths were revealed about breastfeeding that might help make the decision a little easier. This article will go over a few of them to help those considering breastfeeding, but may be afraid of certain things as it relates to adjusting to life after baby.

Breastfeeding is not always easy

For some, breastfeeding will be easy, but for others it will not come as easy. In general, it should not hurt. When a baby is latched on correctly, it might be slightly uncomfortable and weird, at first, but it becomes second nature after awhile. I will say that it did hurt me, at first, but only because our latch was incorrect and my nipple was damaged. When I was pregnant, everyone told me to make it to the first 6 weeks and don’t quit on a bad day. It was painful when he’d latch on the more damaged side, but thankfully I found out about saline solution to heal a damaged nipple and it was smooth sailing after that. I wish I had been able to see the lactation consultant in the hospital sooner because maybe it wouldn’t have been damaged.

Alcohol, Caffeine, and Food

Some new moms may want to avoid breastfeeding because they are afraid they will have to stop eating their favorite food, avoid coffee or soda/pop, or feel tied down that they can’t drink alcohol. It is rare that a baby has problems with mom’s diet, including caffeine and alcohol. Many people believe their baby is fussy due to mom’s diet and in rare occurrences, this is true, but not often. When my baby was almost 6 weeks old, his fussiness was really hard to handle and my husband’s co-workers suggest I cut dairy out of my diet. I was tempted, but I knew from my reading that fussiness is common up to 6 weeks and then gets better. I knew it was not colic, at least (thankfully!). Drinking a glass of wine and less than 2 cups of coffee a day is also considered just fine for breastfeeding mothers. You should “pump and dump” if you drink too much (like the night of my best friend’s bachelorette party).

Pumping

Breastfeeding as a working mom can have its challenges. Pumping can be tricky at the office and it can grow tiresome, but it is a relatively short time in your life…thankfully.

Exercise and weight loss

It isn’t true that exercise will affect the taste of your milk, so there is no reason to get back to your work-out regimen after the baby is born. Breastfeeding actually helps many women lose weight because of the extra calories burned to make the milk. I lost my baby weight very quickly…at least the first time. It helped that I was walking my son in the Baby Bjorn, something I couldn’t do as readily the second time.

Small breasts and saggy boobs

It isn’t true that you can’t breastfeed if you have smaller breasts and your breasts don’t get extra saggy after you breastfeed, either.

Although breastfeeding is healthier for your baby, some people either choose to bottle feed or breastfeeding just doesn’t work out for whatever reason. Everyone’s situation is unique and we all have to make the best decisions for our families. It is a very personal choice. Bottle feeding moms do not love their babies any less than breastfeeding moms. Be confident in your decision. We only strive to help give you information to help you make the right decision for you and your family.

There is a condition some doctors call “breast milk jaundice” in which it implies that a mother’s breast milk can cause jaundice. If you are just joining us, you might want to review the definition of jaundice, which is the build up of bilrubin in your baby’s blood causing a yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes. Today, we take a look at what breast milk jaundice is and how to treat it.

Breastfeeding and Jaundice

There are some doctors who believe that there is something they have not yet found in mother’s milk that causes higher levels of bilrubin to stay in the blood that causes jaundice and have termed that type of jaundice as “breast milk jaundice”. Breast milk jaundice is usually diagnosed after the first week of life and can last up to 2-3 months, but mostly peaks at 10-21 days.

Although some pediatricians will call your baby’s jaundice “breast milk jaundice”, there hasn’t been any proof that it really exists, but just a theory. Even the thought that something is “bad” in your breast milk can cause many moms to doubt themselves, but please remember breastfeeding is natural and it is highly unlikely you or your milk are causing any problems. Of course, I’m not a doctor, so take Dr. Sears’ advice on the subject, too.

Breast milk jaundice remedies

The important thing about jaundice is to decrease the amount of bilrubin in your baby’s blood. The best way to do that is to encourage a lot of urination and elimination. That is one reason why breastfeeding more often rather than less can be a good remedy to breast milk jaundice. When your baby is not getting enough milk, she won’t be having enough wet or dirty diapers. It may be a good idea to track the number of diapers each day, which is the best indicator of whether she is getting enough.

Work with your pediatrician on the course of action to remedy the jaundice as some higher levels of bilrubin require phototherapy lights. If your pediatrician recommends formula supplements, you probably want to work with a lactation consultant on alternative feeding methods to avoid nipple confusion. You can also pump so you have expressed breast milk to feed your baby. Keeping track of pumping sessions will help you find a pattern as to the best time to pump during the day and help you keep track of your supply, especially at different times per day. When I was pumping I’d always get most in the morning and very little around dinnertime. This is true for many mothers.

Worry can affect your milk supply, so try not to let the diagnosis of breast milk jaundice get you down. In most cases, it’s nothing to worry about. If your supply is suffering, you may be interested in ways to increase your milk supply.

Sources:
Kelly Mom
Dr. Sears

When helping my cousin with her new baby during a trip to NYC, I was reminded of some tips to increase milk supply.  When my first was born, my milk didn’t come in until over 10-14 days later.  I was recovering from an emergency c-section and was exhausted.  I was so distressed that I wasn’t able to provide enough food for my son that I often broke down in tears.  When he was a week or so old, my mom, husband, and I took him to a local mother’s store and with the help of a wonderful lactation consultant I weighed him, fed him, and weighed him again.  I freaked out because he weighed exactly the same as before!  Talk about feeling like a bad mommy.  However, after a few minutes we all realized that we had forgotten to put his socks back on when we weighed him the second time, and he had actually gained some weight!  Phew!  I can laugh about it now but boy at the moment…

Well-meaning lactation consultants and nurses told me repeatedly that I shouldn’t supplement.   I felt guilty (ugh!) about doing it, but I had to and I’m glad I did.  A few weeks later once my milk was in we no longer needed to supplement.  When my daughter was born, I had no qualms about supplementing the first couple of weeks of her life because I knew with certainty she would breastfeed exclusively and it gave me some time to recover a bit faster.  This time my milk came in within 3 to 5 days.  So here are some ideas from my experience and my cousin’s:

Fenugreek. This seed is commonly used in pill form to increase milk supply.  Fortunately for me, it is often used in Sri Lankan and Indian cooking and since my mom was here the first couple of weeks my kids were born I got to eat lots of tasty curries cooked with fenugreek.  I’m convinced this is what helped bring my milk in faster.  I’ll never know for certain but it was a yummy endeavor nonetheless!

Dark beer.  My cousin was advised to drink dark beer to help increase her supply.  We were both discussing how it was too bad that she wasn’t advised to drink a lot of red wine…which we both love.

Garlic.  I also ate a little more garlic than normal in the curries my mother made, but I have heard that some people will eat so much that their milk starts smelling like garlic!  They say that babies like the flavor/smell of garlic in their mother’s milk so they suck harder and eat more.  Go figure!

Whole grains/Oatmeal.  I’m not sure how this works but it’s probably related to why dark beer is helpful.

Rest. Sleep. Warm Showers.  Although it’s very hard to get any rest those first several weeks home, it’s probably what the body needs most to help stimulate milk production.  When you sleep, relax, and rest your body has time to make milk without added stress.  Stress has been shown to decrease milk supply because your body is using it’s energy for things other than making milk!

Aruni
Founder, Babble Soft

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These tips are based on our experiences, as well as those of our friends and readers.  Please always consult with your doctor before implementing any tip that might impact the health of your baby.  If you have a tip you’d like to submit please send an email to blogger(at)babblesoft(dot)com.  Please check the ‘baby tips’ or ‘baby advice’ categories to make sure your tip (in some form or fashion) hasn’t already been posted.  If it has been, feel free to comment on that post and support the tip.  We also welcome respectful challenges to the tips because ‘everything is relative!’  We will, of course, give anyone who submits a tip we publish credit and a link back to their site!

Here’s a tip on breastfeeding a newborn:  Use TWO boppies.  When I had my son in 2002, I received a boppy (breastfeeding pillow) at my baby shower.  I really liked using it but discovered that I often had to put cushions or pillows beneath it to get our newborn son at a comfortable position for feeding.  The cushions would slip out or somehow (I don’t know how) he would kick them out.  I would then find myself hunching over and my back aching a bit after a while.  When my daughter was born in 2005, I received another one and happened to try stacking them and putting them both around my waist.  It was great!  Since I’m a bit short-waisted having the two breastfeeding pillows made me sit up straight thereby forcing me to maintain good posture (a plus).  Having two boppies was helpful to me in the cradle, cross-cradle, and football positions.  In the football position, I would put both boppies stacked on each other to my right or left and then I would place my daughter with her head toward me and her body/feet behind me resting on one of the sides of the boppy.  I used two for the first probably 12-16 weeks of her life.

Of course it’s not that easy to take a boppy with you when you are breastfeeding/nursing-in-public so on those occassions I propped them on our big, fat diaper bag because I always had it handy.

If you can’t afford another boppy, try to find a really sturdy/hard cushion that you can place under the boppy for the football position.  You’d have to find two slightly firm cushions if you want to use them for the cradle and cross-cradle positions.  You can also ask a friend if they are done with their boppy…I just gave one of ours away to a friend.  We also used our boppy for tummy time, sitting support, and all sorts of fun things that I’m sure you are not supposed to use it for.

Aruni
Founder, Babble Soft

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These tips are based on our experiences, as well as those of our friends and readers.  Please always consult with your doctor before implementing any tip that might impact the health of your baby.  If you have a tip you’d like to submit please send an email to blogger(at)babblesoft(dot)com.  Please check the ‘baby tips’ or ‘baby advice’ categories to make sure your tip (in some form or fashion) hasn’t already been posted.  If it has been, feel free to comment on that post and support the tip.  We also welcome respectful challenges to the tips because ‘everything is relative!’  We will, of course, give anyone who submits a tip we publish credit and a link back to their site!

If you need help with breastfeeding, Babble Soft offers a Free Trial to create your own breastfeeding log to help you manage your breastfeeding schedule. All you need is an email address to try it out!

Now here’s an article I wrote about how I eventually established breastfeeding with my kids that might be helpful to you or someone else you know who is struggling with breastfeeding.

Our son was born by emergency c-section making my post birth recovery time challenging because a) I was exhausted, b) he didn’t seem to sleep very much and c) I developed a breast infection.  Now a) and b) are par for the course when having a baby but c) knocked me senseless.  I didn’t want to take any more medication given that I had just come off of several after the c-section so I waited to see if the pain would go away.   When I reached the point where I would wake up from a restless sleep with tears in my eyes from the excruciating pain and I began having thoughts like “I wish I could die right now, but I can’t because I have to feed my baby,” I began a round of antibiotics.  Within a week or so I felt sane again.

Now part of the reason I contracted the breast infection was because I wasn’t breastfeeding correctly.  It took about 7 to 10 days for my milk to come in and then because of the infection probably 10 weeks for me to quit wondering how the human race survived before bottles and formula!  Here are some tips that helped me establish a successful breastfeeding relationship with my children.

1. Mentally prepare yourself that it can take up to 8 to 12 weeks.  Some insightful person…maybe a nurse or my lactation consultant, told me “Give it 8 to 12 weeks before making a decision on whether you want to quit breastfeeding.”  So I told myself ‘this is a marathon, not a sprint. Breastfeeding is important to me and my husband, and I can’t quit before 12 weeks.’  I remember saying that to myself almost every day and when I was 8 -10 weeks into it I realized “Wow, this isn’t so bad.  In fact it’s pretty darn neat!”

1. It’s OK to supplement as long as you continue to pump!   I was so afraid to supplement because I was repeatedly told that supplementing was the worst thing I could do, which of course made me feel like an awful mom.  But let me tell you, if you are exhausted and your baby isn’t gaining weight, it is one of the best things you can do.  After feeling guilty for a week because my milk wasn’t coming in and my baby wasn’t gaining weight, I decided to supplement and what a relief.  I had more confidence when our daughter was born 2 ½ years later.  I continued to pump and kept track of how much I pumped to keep up my milk supply which is very important to do.  It was less physically and emotionally draining for me to pump and give him a bottle one or two times per day until I could rest and gain back my strength.  I’m so glad I did because my milk supply built up and continued to increase!

1. Don’t be afraid to take that baby off!  Some well meaning nurses told me that when the baby is finished he will fall off.  They didn’t know my son.  He would stay on for over an hour on each side just suckling half asleep if I let him.  I remember breastfeeding sessions that would last 90 minutes which when I had to start over again in an hour and a half reduced me to tears.  I believe not pulling him off when I thought he was done contributed to my getting the breast infection.  With my daughter I produced so much milk that after 8 to 10 weeks I was able to take her off sometimes at 7 to 10 minutes!

1. Keep a breastfeeding log.  So that you have an idea of how much time you are breastfeeding, what your breastfeeding schedule is, and maybe even what position you are breastfeeding in, keep a breastfeeding log.  When our son was born I used a form I created in Microsoft Excel to jot down often illegible notes.  Fortunately when our daughter was born, we had an alpha version of our mobile software program, Baby Insights, available.  I could easily keep track of my pumping and breastfeeding schedule which helped me understand her feeding patterns and how much milk I was producing.

1. Drink plenty of water.  Drinking plenty of fluids, eating well, and getting good rest is a huge contributor to successful breastfeeding.  In fact a vast majority of breast milk is water.  Keep a bottle of water next to you when you breastfeed.

1. Ask and/or pay for help.  Whether it’s a lactation consultant, a post-partum doula, your significant other, a grandparent, or a friend who has breastfed before, ask for help.  A good lactation consultant can give you great tips on how to get your baby to latch on and feed properly.  If you can afford a post-partum doula a few hours per week, they can be a god-send with both household and breastfeeding support.  Ask your spouse to help you manage your breastfeeding schedule by keeping the breastfeeding log, bringing you water, fresh fruit, snacks, and the baby!

1. Relax. I know this is easier said than done, but I found the more relaxed I was, the more my milk flowed.  Lack of sleep and stress actually reduces your body’s ability to create breast milk.  And worse you may start to resent the process and maybe even your baby!  Watch a funny show or movie.  Take a nap.  Take a leisurely walk.  Chat with a friend.  Or just bawl your eyes out…we all know what a stress relief that can be!

Once your milk flow is established consider donating to a Mother’s Milk Bank near you.  I donated to the Mother’s Milk Bank of Austin with my daughter and it was a wonderful feeling knowing that my milk was going to help sick and premature babies.

Aruni Gunasegaram, President/Founder of Babble Soft