Tag: breastfeeding advice

Where are you getting your feeding advice from?

- Julie Matheney

Feeding “advice” we would never tell an adult:

⌚️It hasn’t been 3 hours yet. You can’t possibly be hungry again

⏱It hasn’t been 3 hours yet. You can’t possibly be thirsty again.

🧊You need to drink all 64oz of your daily water intake in 4 equally portioned cups. If you can’t drink 16 ounces in one sitting, something is wrong with you.

🍽Clean plate club. Finish everything on your plate regardless of how full your stomach feels.

🍏Eat food purely for their nutritional value. 🍦Never have food simply for the comfort or enjoyment of it.

🔦Eat alone in a dark room and never with anyone else

💡How could you get so distracted while eating? Focus and pay attention.

🪑Eat until you’re done then leave the table immediately. Don’t hang out at the table for longer than needed.

🛌Never eat a bed time snack

🛏Wake up in the middle of the night thirsty? Too bad. Go back to bed you can have some water in the morning

⏰You have 15 minutes to eat. Tic toc. When the clock hits 15 you need to stop whether you’re done or not

🍴3 meals, 2 snacks. That’s it. 7, 9, 12, 3 and 5. Hungry or thirsty at a different time? Here’s a pen cap to chew on

🍔There’s only one way to eat and if you don’t eat like me and my family you’re doing it wrong

Do you get where I’m going here? Too often we analyze the science of breastfeeding instead of considering the art of feeding and eating. We try to make a literal formula for how our baby should eat when some times we have to appreciate feeding for what it is: an enjoyable and pleasurable sensory experience that is social and includes more than just calorie intake.

Cluster feeding

- Julie Matheney

CLUSTER FEEDING. Two words when paired together that drive fear and trembling to parents. Cluster feeding is NORMAL for ALL breastfed babies. It has nothing to do with your supply. It has nothing to do with the clock. It has nothing to do with what you’re eating or drinking or those supplements you just took. It may not even have anything to even do with being hungry. Babies typically cluster feed in the afternoon/evening. When your milk supply naturally and appropriately dips. When your milk is a smaller water concentration with a higher fat content. As long as baby is happy to feed the rest of the day, is making plenty of wet and dirty diapers, is content and sleeping routinely between feedings, and gaining weight over time, DON’T BLAME THE BOOB!! Even if baby seems like they want to feed constantly. Cluster feeding is normal. It typically happens MORE when baby is going through a growth spurt (body growing), developmental leap (mind/skills growing), or teething/illness. Why does baby want the breast more?

• Preparing for a longer sleep: Some babies just prefer to fill up on milk for a few hours before a longer sleep.

• Milk flow is slower at night: Some babies nurse longer to fill up due to the slower flow.

• A growth spurt: they usually occur around 3, 6, and 8weeks of age.

• They need of comfort. Breast milk has hormones to develop baby’s circadian rhythm. At nighttime baby may just seek comfort to help them sleep.

• Developmental leap: Mental and emotional growth spurts when they acquire new skills.

• Baby is sick, thirsty, or teething: breast feeding is a pain reliever, medicine and hydration all in one

Know that it’s normal. Be patient through the process. Be prepared with snacks and water for yourself, a comfy spot, a good pillow for support and the remote and your phone charger close by to get you through. You’re not alone and it doesn’t last forever!!

How to build a breast milk stash

- Julie Matheney

You don’t need to have a stash. If you want to exclusively breastfeed and are never away from your baby, you don’t need any milk in your freezer. You don’t need a huge stash if you’re going to be gone from baby. It’s nice to have stored up milk, but that milk is extra milk. Feed the baby, not the freezer. You only need enough milk for when you’re away from baby. If you’re only going to be gone for 2-3 hours, you may not need any milk at all. Feed your baby immediately before you leave. If baby becomes fussy before you get home, have your caregiver take baby on a walk, distract with toys or use a pacifier and feed them as soon as you walk in the door. If you’re going to be gone more than 3 hours, you only need to have enough milk for the time you’re gone. Optimally if baby is being fed by bottle, to maintain your milk supply, you should be pumping, thus replacing the milk from your stash that was used.

There are several ways to build your stash

🍼Passively collect with a milk catcher like a Lacticup or Milkies Milk Saver. No extra work needed, this works great in the early weeks if you leak

🍼Use manual silicone breast pump like the Haakaa. While these look passive, the vacuum created does stimulate the breast and can increase leaking and milk supply

🍼If you have a large to very large storage capacity and only feed from one breast at a time, pump the other breast during or after feeding baby

🍼Pump with a double electric pump, after breastfeeding, for 10-15 minutes. Only expect to get 1/4-1 ounce as this is “left over” milk that your baby doesn’t need.

🍼Pump with a double electric pump in between breastfeedings when you think baby may take a longer nap. Aim to pump half way between when you think baby will want to feed again. If you think baby will go 2 hours, pump after an hour, etc. try not to pump too close to the next feed as baby may get fussy at the slower flow of milk.

Remember:

🥛Decide how often and how much you want to pump/collect. Know that the more you empty, the more you will make as you’re telling your body baby needs that milk.

🥛Too much pumping or frequently changing your pump routine does increase your risk of plugged ducts and mastitis

🥛You can combine 24 hours of milk into one batch

🥛Breastfed babies usually only need 2-4 ounces every 2-4 hours. Aim to leave 1-1.5 ounces for every hour you’re gone

Forever milk

- Julie Matheney

Did you know that you will ALWAYS be able to make milk? You’ve had the milk making glands in your breasts since puberty. They’re like little empty clusters of balloons at the back of the breast. Pregnancy activates your milk making hormones, allowing the glands to expand and start filling with milk between 16-20 weeks gestation. In the early days after birth, the more stimulation the breast has (from feeding or pumping), the more the milk making glands and their corresponding hormone receptors multiply. The milk balloons fill and empty milk multiple times per feeding.

After at least 40 days of not expressing any milk, once you completely wean, your milk making balloons deflate and become dormant, like before pregnancy. But they aren’t dead. Pregnancy and breastfeeding hormones caused a permanent change in your body. Your milk making glands will FOREVER remember how to make milk. They can ALWAYS make milk again, no matter how long it has been. They just need enough of the right stimulation to turn on and start filling again. Some times years after breastfeeding a mother may feel the tingle of let down if she hears a baby cry. Or she may leak if her partner does enough nipple stimulation. There are grandmothers in other cultures who bring back milk to breastfeed their grandchildren! Our bodies are AMAZING!! Now you know!

Nipple shields

- Julie Matheney

Not all nipple shields are created equal. Nipple shields are a great tool that can be used to help baby latch and stay latched, help you heal from nipple damage or trauma, or transition baby back to breast from using a bottle. Nipple shields are a great tool and can be used as long as needed. There are risks to long term use, the biggest one is a decrease in milk supply if baby isn’t able to trigger let downs or remove milk efficiently. If you weren’t given a plan for transitioning off the shield, a qualified lactation consultant can help!

Best Parenting Advice

- Julie Matheney

Put them in water or take them outside. This is the best parenting advice I’ve ever been given. When breastfeeding has been established (baby is making good wet and dirty diapers, generally pain free latch, and gaining weight), there will be times when baby will be super fussy and refuse the boob. Many misinterpret this as having low milk supply or something wrong with the breast. Don’t be so quick to blame yourself or to supplement with a bottle. I guarantee you there will be times when you have no idea what to do to stop your baby from crying. The boob won’t work. Changing the diaper won’t work. Burping and rocking and shushing won’t work. I guarantee you there will be times when you will cry right along with your baby and feel helpless to soothe them (or yourself).

When the breast doesn’t work: put them in water or take them outside. It works. When your baby is falling to pieces for no apparent reason and the usual tricks don’t work, go outside or get in water. It works on adults, too!!

Cabbage for engorgment

- Julie Matheney

Cabbage is not just for Cole slaw. Did you know that cabbage leaves have been used for decades to help reduce breast engorgement? A handful of studies have shown that placing a chilled green cabbage leaf against the breast has been effective to reduce breast swelling and pain. It is suspected that the compounds found in the plant leaves have strong anti-inflammatory properties that help improve blood flow, decrease swelling, and allow milk to flow more freely.


Using Cabbage Leaves for Engorgement:

✏️Chill the cabbage, green cabbages are best

✏️Wash off one or two inner leaves, be mindful to remove any dirt, pesticides or residue

✏️Gently pat dry with a towel

✏️Crush the center stem for maximum potency

✏️Wrap a leaf around the affected area of the breast, exposing the nipple when possible.

✏️Use a bra or lose wrap to hold the leaves in place

✏️Leave for 20 minutes

✏️Discard the leaves

✏️Cautions:20 minutes seems to be for most the right amount of time

✏️Repeat no more than 1-2 times a day for engorgement, as cabbage leaves used more often can actually decrease milk supply!

✏️This process is also used for weaning breast milk, such as when quick weaning is needed or when mothers are done breastfeeding.

Can I empty my breast?

- Julie Matheney

Did you know that you will ALWAYS be able to make milk? You’ve had the milk making glands in your breasts since puberty. They’re like little empty clusters of balloons at the back of the breast. Pregnancy activates your milk making hormones, allowing the glands to expand and start filling with milk between 16-20 weeks gestation. In the early days after birth, the more stimulation the breast has (from feeding or pumping), the more the milk making glands and their corresponding hormone receptors multiply. The milk balloons fill and empty milk multiple times per feeding.

After at least 40 days of not expressing any milk, once you completely wean, your milk making balloons deflate and become dormant, like before pregnancy. But they aren’t dead. Pregnancy and breastfeeding hormones caused a permanent change in your body. Your milk making glands will FOREVER remember how to make milk. They can ALWAYS make milk again, no matter how long it has been. They just need enough of the right stimulation to turn on and start filling again. Some times years after breastfeeding a mother may feel the tingle of let down if she hears a baby cry. Or she may leak if her partner does enough nipple stimulation. There are grandmothers in other cultures who bring back milk to breastfeed their grandchildren! Our bodies are AMAZING!! Now you know!

Caffeine and breast milk

- Julie Matheney

An average cup of coffee can contain 95mg of caffeine, but some can contain as much as 500! Which is important to know when breastfeeding as generally considered safe to drink up to 300 mg per day— about 2–3 cups of coffee or 3–4 cups of tea.

The caffeine content of coffee depends on many factors, such as:

• Type of coffee beans: different varieties of coffee beans naturally contain different amounts of caffeine.

• Roasting: Lighter roasts have more caffeine than darker roasts.

• Type of coffee: caffeine content can vary significantly between regularly brewed coffee, espresso, instant coffee and decaf coffee.

• Serving size: “One cup of coffee” can range anywhere from 30–700 ml (1–24 oz), greatly affecting the total caffeine content.

• One cup of brewed coffee (8 oz) contains about 70–140 mg of caffeine, or about 95 mg on average

• One shot of espresso is generally about 30–50 ml (1–1.75 oz), and contains about 63 mg of caffeine

• Instant coffee usually contains less caffeine than regular coffee, with one cup containing roughly 30–90 mg

• Decaf has about 0–7 mg per cup, with the average cup containing 3 mg

Want to enjoy a coffee alternative that gives all the feels while still being breastfeeding supportive? My two breastfeeding friendly favorites are @wearerasa and @milkstabrew.

Sunflower lethicin and plugged ducts

- Julie Matheney

Lecithin is used in food to provide a smooth, moist texture and to keep ingredients from separating. Lecithin can naturally be found in green vegetables, red meat, and eggs. Commercial preparations are often made from soybeans, egg yolks, or animal products. It is also commonly used in eye drops, skin moisturizers, and food emulsifiers (agents that keep ingredients from separating).

Sunflower lethicin, a specific kind of lethicin, is often taken during breastfeeding to reduce plugged ducts or to help increase milk flow. Sunflower lethicin is thought to reduce the “stickiness” of breast milk by thinning out the fats in the milk and keeping them from clumping together. There are no known contraindications for breast-feeding, and lecithin is “generally recognized as safe” by the FDA. However, people with a preexisting tendency to depression may become depressed if taking high doses of lecithin. While very rare, if you begin to have a fish-like odor while taking high doses of lethicin, stop taking it immediately and notify your physician, as this is a serious sign of liver damage. As there is no recommended daily allowance for lecithin, there is no established dosing for lecithin supplements. Different brands might have different amounts of lecithin in each pill or capsule, so be sure to read labels very carefully before taking lecithin or any other dietary supplement. Per Kellymom.com, the maximum dosage recommended for recurrent plugged ducts is 4,800mg/day. As always, consult with your doctor before trying any dietary supplements while pregnant or breast-feeding.