I think the biggest misconception when it comes to babies feeding and sleeping cycles is that it is our job as parents to get our babies on a schedule. In theory, this sounds like it would really work and is in the best interest of the baby and parents. If your baby ate and slept on a schedule that you designed, this would fit nicely into your day and you would have a routine that you can count on. In theory, seems good, However, when adults attempt to have this degree of control over a new baby, it typically is a hard thing to make happen and if you are breastfeeding your baby, this forced routine causes lots of breastfeeding difficulty.
There are some very real common sense and practical reasons why this is just not a safe way to go about feeding your baby.
Helen has 2 daughters, ages 24 and 20 years old. She did breastfeed both of her babies and tells us that it was a very important experience for her and it really formed a lot of her thinking about the research that she did in the early days.
Bed sharing is having the babies sleep in the same bed as the adults. This is what I did.when my kids were young. I didn't know it at the time because it just seemed right and it helped me get some much needed rest, however, Bed sharing was very common up to the 19th century. People use to sleep in very close quarters to each other, places were small, sleeping with each other kept people warm at night. What changed? Houses got bigger, babies were given their own room, the baby crib industry grew and more and more babies were put in their own crib. In the scheme of things, meaning bed sharing has been happening since the beginning of time, This nightime habit is relatively news. Bed sharing and co-sleeping has been shown to save babies lives, promotes bonding,and enables parents to get more sleep.
This is where I will share tips and tricks to help you navigate pumping in the Workplace or School. This show is filled with lots of great tips on getting yourself ready for leaving your baby for that first day of work and school. I know from working with lots of moms, that what makes this transition easiest is to be incredibly organized and this planning takes place a few weeks before you go back to work and the next most important time is the night before. Putting all your stuff together and being organized. It can seem like a lot when I start going through all this, however, I give you lots of little tips and tricks that you just don't find in the books. And to make this even easier, I have given you 3 fabulous checklists... 3... that will help you get and stay organized. There will be links to these checklists in the show notes.
My guest today does not know this, however, I met her many years ago, in a friends home on Long Island, NY. The Birth Partner was a fairly new book and my childbirth educator friends and I were just learning about what it means to be a labor support person and were learning about this new profession called a Birth Doula. We were a small group of less than 10 moms and we were suppose to meet for about 2 hours and we wound up talking until the wee hours of the morning. She really left us with a good impression and I have followed her career ever since.
Weaning – by definition means to gradually take away, to detach. My personal and professional preference would be for moms who want to wean do so, Gradually and with love. This would be an optimal way to go about the weaning process. There are times when this is not possible and moms need to dry up their supply as quickly as possible. Today’s show is all about the “not possible.” About drying up quickly, which is why I did not title this show Weaning and titled it: drying up your supply. And yet, you will hear me use the term drying up and weaning interchangeably because it just seems to be the most accepted and understood way of talking about this topic. And I refuse to have to stay the course always using the exact right technical term with moms. Lots of times they don’t care about our terminology, they just want help and if they “hear” me best when using a term they are familiar with and connect to, I will do so to best meet them where they are at.
As a lactation consultant, the assumption is that I only help mothers who want to breastfeed their baby. Of course, this is one of the important things I do each and every day. Educate through classes, blogs, and private consults and now with podcasting.
I also help moms with the weaning process. I recognize that there are many reasons why some mothers who have been breastfeeding and or pumping want to or need to stop producing milk. Since this is a choice and not an urgent matter, she can do so gradually. While there are few reasons why a mom would need to stop producing milk abruptly, these circumstances do arise.
Usually it becomes a necessity because she has a medical problem or needs to take medication that there are no other options and this is not compatible with breastfeeding. Sometimes a mom has had a breast abscess and can continue breastfeeding and other times for medical reasons can no longer breastfeed from one side and she needs to dry up that side. Good thing our breasts are autonomous .What we do with one side does not mean we have to do the same with the other side.
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