Gotta admit: Breast feeding has both pros and cons. Some of the pros are you don’t have to meal prep, or clean afterwards so it’s less work from for mom. You don’t have to think about what else to cook or pack food especially if you will be outside for extended periods of time. Your don’t have to search for new recipes either because the taste of your milk changes daily based on what you eat. You don’t have to worry about if what you are feeding your baby is good or bad, organic vs. full of additives or healthy vs. unhealthy.
On the other hand, some cons are, you need to ensure you are wearing proper clothing such as a top or a dress that zips or buttons in the front, chance that your nipple may get chewed on, you may want to limit feedings to only 10 min but your little one does not want to let go yet, also if you are exclusively breast feeding your baby will feed more frequently vs, you give them formula or regular food. Lastly, if you are back to work or away from your baby for extended periods, you need to pump so bring along your pump and storage stuff.
Your intestines carry 70-80% of your immune system. We all have good and bad bacteria in our system and we are always under the attack of bad germs. Keeping your gut heathy is #1 step towards staying healthy and fighting diseases. As per dr palevsky and very well known and cited pediatrician, women need to breast feed for 18 months because babies gut flora is being formed and getting all the good bacteria from breast milk is upmost important. Breast milk is the basis for baby’s health and a strong immune system for a lifetime.
Regardless of what your choice is when it comes to breast feeding, one thing I can say is it is not very much encouraged in the US at least in NY/ NJ region. If anything moms are discouraged by their peers, even if they start breast feeding, most likely they are stopped by 6 months and instructed to continue with formula since it is believed to be sufficient.
As humans we have been around for a long time and as much as we undermine our ancestors, we also have to accept that if they had not done some stuff right, we would not be here today. Back in the day, they did not have much info on nutrition, had access to variety or great quantities of food and they still did ok. People did not follow different diets worrying about sugar cholesterol or bad fat intake. Nature worked it’s way, people mostly died because of war or accidents or disease outbreaks. Breast milk was enough for babies and women exclusively breastfed their babies. Let the nature do its job, at least that’s my take.
Thank you for reading, let me know what you think?
But once it came to my baby shower besides getting some of my registered items, I also got many more items that I didn’t register for, want or need. For example, we received 62 bibs, 27 of 0-3 months outfits, 12 bottles of shampoo and baby lotions, 32 toys, 17 blankets and plastic feeding bottles. Talking about not wanting clutter around the house, and being a good planner huh?! I had way too many of everything. Do not get me wrong, I was very lucky to get all the loving and gifts but I did not understand why people did not buy the register items but decided to get creative and get other stuff. I didn’t have any gift receipt or nor I had an idea which store they came from so I was left with bags of unwanted/needed baby items.
work both for you and the sales associates but as long as they can match the brand with similar items in the store, they will also give give you a store credit. At the end of the day, I did not get cash back but I got almost $300 store credit. I did some shopping for the house, then I was able to purchase more baby items that I needed. That way I was able to return the items that I wasn’t going to use and I was able to purchase what was left on my baby registry and I completed my shopping. I still had some extra items but I made great progress with completing baby’s room!
Also, waking up very frequently at night time, I did not want to walk to another room and make it as convent as possible for myself. I just wanted to feed the baby and fall back to sleep without leaving my cozy bed. Therefore, 3 of us started sleeping on our king size bed, plus the cat would show up to sleep on the footrest so there would be 4 of us. The research suggests that babies should start sleeping in their room past three months to facilitate independence, self sufficiency and personal growth as well as to have some privacy & connection for the new parents.
he woke up very frequently. During daytime, I would put him in his crib and he would take 2-3 hours naps versus he would wake up every half an hour when he slept with us. One night I decided to put him in his crib when he fell sleep. That night he slept three hours straight so mommy slept 3 hours straight. From that time on, he started sleeping in his room. It was possible that we were waking him up since our bed time was different than his. When he turned about three months old, he obtained a new habit of cuddling with mommy to sleep. Now, he does not sleep past an hour unless he is in our bed. Throughout the night, he sleeps very well; only wakes up twice to feed for about 10 minutes then falls right back to sleep. It is such a big convenience for me because I am no longer sleep deprived but at one point, we will have to get him used to sleeping in his crib on his own.
Does you little peanut clings on to you and wakes up as soon as you put him in his crib? For some time this was the story with us. We tried many different ways so that he would go to sleep and most importantly stay asleep without mommy. Here are five steps that worked for me:
Golden rule #3 is to make sure to burp him after nursing. One thing I kept forgetting is to burp my little one. After I nurse him, I would try to rock him to sleep but he would continue to cry, kick and punch. I would think he does not want to sleep and when I stand him up, he would burp and fall asleep on my shoulder.
Golden rule #4 is try swaddling your baby. Infants have a lot more involuntary motions that are jerky in nature. Any type of loud noise may startle them and wake them up. I believe that babies also dream so once they fall asleep, they tend to wake themselves up by jerking their arms/leg. Once I swaddled my little one, his movements did not wake him up and he slept for longer periods of time.
Golden rule #5 Babies know their moms by moms scent. My little one would periodically open/close his eyes to make sure I was not laying him down. Once he really fell asleep, I would lay him down and try to leave the room and he would wake up immediately. I started leaving my worn-couple-of-times shirt or cardigan in his crib right next to him. That did the trick. He thought I was laying down with him I guess so he did not wake up.
Milk production is a supply demand mechanism meaning, more often your breasts are emptied either by nursing or pumping, more milk your body will produce. Meeting that demand takes time since your body will not go from producing an ounce to 3 ounces over night so be patient.
2- Mothers milk tea has lot of good ingredients. Drink 3 to 5 cups a day as the instructions say. Many stores such as whole foods, target or walmart has it or you can order it online. You can also get the ingredients of mothers milk tea separately which I found to be more helpful for me.
3- I got FenuGreek which is one of the ingredients in Mother’s milk tea. You can find it in wholefoods store or order online. Mine came as capsules and I took three capsules a day with meals. Fenugreek really helped me boost my milk supply.
My pediatrician encouraged tummy time then to put him on his back to sleep because the medical world is afraid of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). If you do a little research about SIDS, they don’t know what really causes it. Was I worried about it? Absolutely yes! So what did I do? I made sure I eliminated all the factors that may have led to SIDS. I laid him only on a firm surface (his mattress is firm). I made sure to take off his hat and bib to eliminate the possibility of airway blockage. Also I removed all the toys/stuffed animals so he wouldn’t be able to get to them. I also periodically checked on him.
Babyhood: A to Z 