Tag: breastfeeding

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Breastfeeding and Prescription Medications

Are you worried that the medicine you are taking is affecting your milk? You shouldn’t. Cells that are responsible for producing breastmilk has natural barriers that most medications cannot penetrate. Even if some medications are able to penetrate the barriers, they only do so in very low amounts that won’t have any effects to your baby. However, there are some exemptions which you need to consider before assuming that you can breastfeed while on medication.

Does my baby’s health and age influence how he gets affected by the medication I’m taking?

If you have a newborn baby or if your baby is considered to be medically unstable with poorly functioning kidneys, it’s best to steer clear of any heavy medications. However, for healthy babies who are 6 months and older, the risk of them getting affected by it is lowest compared to newborn ones.

Should I stop breastfeeding while taking medication?

Ensure that your doctor knows you are breastfeeding. If you think your doctor is not sure if you can breastfeed safely while on medication, ask that they consult with pharmacists. If your doctor says that medicine might be indeed be harmful for your child, ask for an alternative medication. Contacting the Medicines Information Centres to ask about the medicines you can take while breastfeeding is also highly recommended.

prescriptionmeds

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Looking After Yourself

As a mother, how do you take care of yourself, while also looking after your kids? Being a mum is rewarding and nothing can beat the feeling of taking care of your children as they grow but don’t forget to take care of yourself as well.

Pursue New Activities

Taking care of your children, not to mention the whole house, can be exhausting and stressful that’s why it’s important that you also unwind and plan some activities that you find enjoyable and relaxing. Unwinding could be as simple as learning a new craft or getting to know your neighbours or perhaps taking up a new sport. Basically activities that you can manage alongside taking care of your children. Other activities may need to wait until your children get older.

Disorganised Time

Don’t stress if you think that your time may seem disorganised. This is normal for mothers who have little ones at home. Though as a mother you always find yourself starting and completing tasks amidst many different interruptions, you could always pursue new interest while your children are sleeping or when they are busy.

Below are some more activities you can pursue while your children are sleeping or when they are out:

*read the paper
*enjoy a relaxing shower
*patchwork, knitting, sewing or painting
*Sit outdoors and take care of your plants
*Plan the itinerary of your next vacation
*Try talking to other mothers and share amazing motherhood stories

Get Enough Rest

There are several things you can do to take care of yourself. Make sure that you get enough rest. Though sometimes a daytime sleep is impossible, you can always listen to relaxing music and sit comfortably with your eyes closed and breathing slowly for a couple of minutes.

Keep in mind that how you are feeling will affect your entire family. It is very important that you not only look after your children but also your own well-being. Don’t forget to relax and improve yourself.

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Lactation Suppression When You Stop Nursing

When you breastfeed regularly, your body establishes a continuous cycle of breast milk production. If for some reason you decided to stop breastfeeding you’ll notice that your breasts will still produce milk for a certain period of time even if your baby is no longer breastfeeding. You will even notice that your milk leaks when you hear your baby cry. This is completely normal and the leaking will stop as your supply dries up and milk production ceases.

Avoid Wearing Restrictive Bras

In an effort to suppress lactation, many women in the past did binding. Binding is when women bound their breasts with bandages or brassieres in an attempt to stop milk production. Recent medical studies no longer support or recommend binding since doing so may make the breasts vulnerable to infection and swelling. Should you decide to stop breastfeeding, wear supportive bras and not bras that would restrict your breasts.

Go for Dark Clothing and Use Breast Pads

Wear dark tops if you’re worried about leaks and make sure you wear a bamboo breast pad in your bra.

Don’t Dehydrate Yourself

Though dehydration may help in stopping milk production, it will also affects your entire health and well-being. Make sure you drink lots of water and that you go for foods that are filled with vitamin B6. Vitamin B6 helps relieve engorgement during the first week after you stop nursing.

Don’t Fear Hot Showers

When you shower, your breasts are likely to leak milk. Many women think that leaking milk enhances milk production- this is not true. Breastfeeding enhances milk production and not hot showers. If your breasts are engorged, hot showers can certainly relieve the pressure and pain you are experiencing.

Gradually Stop Breastfeeding

Instead of quitting right awat, you may want to do it gradually. If you usually breastfeed every 4 hours, you may want to add one more hour to it. If you usually express 8 ounces of milk, try to cut it down to 5 or 6. By gradually reducing the breastmilk you express, you avoid some of the symptoms associated with lactation suppression.

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How to Relieve Lactose Overload in Babies

Lactose overload may happen when babies consume large amount of breastmilk. Babies who are experiencing lactose overload can usually gain a lot of weight and may urinate more than 8 x daily. Additionally, frequent bowel motions within 24hours is also observed. Poos may look like those of babies who are lactose intolerant– green and frothy. If you think your baby is suffering from lactose overload, you should make it a point to check the nappies because it can tell you what’s happening. Remember that what goes out always have something to do with what your baby has been consuming.

How It Happens

Your baby may be consuming larger portions of fat very quickly that the lactose is not being completely digested. The undigested lactose that reach the bottom bowel will then draw more water into the bowel that is then fermented by the organisms present there thus resulting to gas and acidic poop.

Once gas starts to build up, your baby may experience stomach pain and he will act like he’s hungry. If you notice your baby sucking then it’s best to let him be because it helps in moving the gas along the bowel. Sucking during a lactose overload helps your baby feel comfortable as it helps ease the pain temporarily.

Unfortunately, most mothers think that since their babies want to suck, they logically feed their babies again resulting in another vicious cycle of lactose overload.

Change Your Breastfeeding Routine

If your baby is suffering from lactose overload, it will help if you change your breastfeeding habit. This is only temporary and you can go back to your old routine once your baby feels well again. Keep in mind that the goal is to reduce the rate of milk going through your baby by feeding him only one breast or by block feeding. If you want to block feed, you need to set a 4hour period and each time your baby gets hungry during the 4hour period, you offer the same breast. You only start using the other breast on the next 4 hours.

Since your baby continues to suck on the used breast, he gets a low volume and a high fat feed which helps in slowing the system down. When the symptoms are gone, you then go back to your normal breastfeeding habit.

Severe Lactose Overload

If you think that your baby is experiencing severe lactose overload, you may want to work out the following to find out why an oversupply is happening.

  1. Have you been timing your feeds and switching breasts?
  2. Does your baby feel unsettled resulting in even more sucking and oversupply?
  3. Mothers with low supply of milk overcompensates by feeding their babies more than what they really need thus overstimulating her supply.

There are more ways to help relieve lactose overload but you may need to consult with your doctor or your breastfeeding counsellor.

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Breastfeeding and Tooth Decay

It is very common for parents to blame prolonged breastfeeding for the early onset of tooth decay. Though most parents think this is factual, it is not. As a matter of fact, there are no sufficient amount of scientific evidence that conclude breastfeeding indeed causes tooth decay. This belief may have only stemmed from a small number of case reports and on the inadequate knowledge of most dentists on breastfeeding.

Recent studies and research, in fact, suggest that breastfeeding may protect against tooth decay. Certain antibodies in breastmilk stops bacterial growth including Steptococcus mutans which is the bacteria that causes tooth decay.  The Lactoferrin, which is a protein found in breastmilk, kills Steptococcus.

Formula, however, may potentially cause tooth decay since it significantly dissolves tooth enamel and support bacterial growth.

How different is breastfeeding from bottle feeding?

The two feeding methods have obvious differences. In bottle-feeding, the milk gets released in the front of the mouth and gets around teeth. Whereas, in breastfeeding, the nipple reaches the back of the babies’ mouth and the milk gets released into the throat thus helping the baby to swallow.

Furthermore, when a baby falls asleep with a bottle on his mouth, chances are that the teat will continue  to leak milk on the baby’s mouth. The breast, on the other hand, does not release milk not unless the nipples are sucked.

What about our ancestors? Did they suffer from tooth decay?

According to certain archaeological studies, children from prehistoric times rarely suffered from tooth decay. Most babies during prehistoric times are said to have been breastfed and certain studies also stated that some even slept with their mothers and were breastfed during the night.

Factors responsible for the development of tooth decay

* Frequent sugar intake. Avoid exposing babies to sugar filled food and drink.
* Bacteria entering a baby’s mouth. This bacteria can be inadvertently passed by kissing a child on the mouth, sharing spoons or drinks.
* Salivary disorders
* Maternal illness or stress during pregnancy
* Poor oral hygiene of the family
* Family genetics

In Summary

There are sufficient pieces of evidence that disprove the notion that breastfeeding causes tooth decay. Breastmilk alone does not contribute to tooth decay. Babies who are purely breastfed, however, are not immune to decay because there are still several factors that can increase the risk of tooth decay.

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Breastfeeding After A Caesarian Delivery

Can you breastfeed after undergoing a c-section? Yes, of course! Breastfeeding does not have anything to do with how you delivered your child.

Babies are most of the time alert if they’re delivered through elective caesarean. But if a baby was born via emergency caesarean, the result may be more stressful for both mum and infant.

After Giving Birth

Make sure that you ask your doctor or pediatrician about breastfeeding your child right away.

Don’t let your baby be handled by others too much. There are some hospitals that allow you to have contact with your baby while you are still in the operating room. When the pediatrician is confident about the baby’s health and condition, your baby will then be placed on your chest while the obstetrician stitches you up. Breastfeeding can start as soon as the baby’s  placed on your chest. Cherish this moment, welcome to motherhood. Don’t mind the anaesthesia you had since it really won’t affect with your breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding

Some people say that breastmilk doesn’t usually come right away if a mother has undergone a caesarean. Lactation starts after the placenta has been removed. Though some babies may take a bit longer to get their birth weight back, it isn’t significant at all and will not have any repercussions.

How you position your baby when breastfeeding is very critical if you want to prevent sore nipples. Ensure that your baby’s body is close enough, his chest on yours, his chin on your breast and his nose away.

We understand that after undergoing a c-section you may just want to rest and may not feel up to feeding your baby overnight. But keep in mind that it is essential for your baby to get your colostrum and to start learning to breastfeed. By feeding him nightly, you prevent your breast from engorgement and you improve your milk flow.

When not to breastfeed

Not all mothers who have undergone caesarean can breastfeed right away. Some babies need to be placed in a humidicrib to stabilise their conditions. If you are told to suspend breastfeeding, the best thing you can do is to establish your colostrum. Colostrum can be regarded as a super milk since it has more protein and immunity elements than mature breastmilk. It also acts as a laxative to help your baby in his bowel movement.

In Summary

It’s not true that women who have undergone a cesarean cannot breastfeed. If you are not yet sure and still need some extra push, contact Australian Breastfeeding Association and they will be very glad to help you get past your anxieties about breastfeeding after a caesarean.

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Going Green While Breastfeeding

Going green seems to be a big issue nowadays. If you are breastfeeding and are someone who is conscious about the conservation of our environment and want to do your part to take care of it then we have some suggestions for you.

There is nothing more natural than breastfeeding your baby. I understand that for some mums unfortunately this is not possible but if you can breast is best, both for your baby and the environment. Formula creates waste in terms of the packaging, as well as the energy spent to produce it, not to mention how expensive it is. By nursing your baby you have made a choice to go green already. Below are a couple more suggestions to go green a step further.

Nursing pads are necessary for every breastfeeding mother. Just imagine trying to survive without them. Your shirt would be soaking wet! You probably already know by now how important breastfeeding pads are, but did you know that there are different kinds of breastfeeding pads?

To begin with, the disposable pads are the worst. Not only are they expensive; but they also ruin our environment and create more waste. It would be a good idea to stay away from the disposable ones and settle for washable breast pads. Imagine how helpful washable breast pads are. No more buying boxes and boxes of disposable pads, because with your washable pads you just wash and reuse.

In addition to using washable pads, why not go one step further and use organic breastfeeding pads? These pads do not contain any harmful chemicals compared to using non-organic ones which are treated with toxic chemicals when manufacturing or processing the fabric. Furthermore, by using organic pads, such as bamboo breastfeeding pads, you reduce the risk of having sore or cracked nipples as organic breastfeeding pads have antibacterial properties thus protecting your breasts from any kind of infection.

Bambooby Buddies creates incredibly soft and absorbent Bamboo breast pads that will make your breastfeeding journey even more enjoyable. Check out our range and have a look at all the cute designs we currently offer!

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What to Do If You Have Sore or Cracked Nipples

It can take some time to get used to the sucking of your baby. Expect your nipples to be sensitive when you start breastfeeding. Though sore nipples are expected during the first week or so of breastfeeding, allowing your baby to be fed as often as possible gives you the best chance of avoiding damaged nipples.

By being extra gentle in getting your baby on and off your breast and patience should solve the problem. Keep in mind that only when your infant learns how to suck or attach properly can your sore nipples heal and improve. Though it may be tempting to put off feeds, you shouldn’t. Instead, try to feed your infant regularly for shorter periods. By doing so, your baby will calm down and be less hungry and gentler when sucking your nipples.

Before feeding:

  • Ensure that you feed your infant before she starts crying.
  • Don’t stress yourself. Make it a point that you’re comfortable when breastfeeding.
  • It will also help if you massage your breasts gently so your milk can easily flow out.
  • Express some milk so your areola can soften and to lubricate your nipples as well.

During feeding:

  • Give your infant the side that is not sore.
  • Ensure that your infant is positioned properly and that she’s attached to your breast.
  • Try out different feeding positions.

After feeding:

  • Check your nipples for signs of stress.
  • Leave your bra open until your nipples are dry.
  • Change your breastfeeding pads regularly. Consider washable bamboo breastfeeding pads since these pads have antibacterial properties that can protect your nipples from possible infections.

Avoid:

  • Using products that may damage your nipple skin.
  • Using plastic-backed breastfeeding pads.
  • Using breast pumps that have strong suction.

Remember that painful, sore or cracked nipples should be treated right away. In most cases an incorrect position causes a sore or cracked nipples. If the soreness of your nipple is not improving and healing seems slow even after you have done our tips above, then it’s better if you just consult with your medical adviser.

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Increasing Your Milk Supply

Babies need to be nourished, comforted, and reassured. But how can you do this if you seem to have an insufficient supply of milk? Below are some ideas to help you increase your supply.

It goes without saying that everything your baby needs to grow and be healthy is in your breast milk. Breast milk is the best food for your baby for the first six months of their life. If you work together with your baby hopefully you can successfully increase your supply and breastfeed for many months to come..

Suggestions for increasing your milk supply.

  1. The quickest and best way to increase your milk supply is by breastfeeding your baby more frequently. Try to breastfeed your baby every two or three hours within the day, for a  few days and see if it boosts your supply. Alternatively offer top up feeds between your normal feed times.
  1. Allow your baby to finish the first breast before changing to the second breast. Let your baby drink until your breast is drained and until he gets all the kilojoule rich milk.
  1. If you feel like your baby’s sucking is becoming less vigorous then a tip would be switch sides several times. According to some mothers, switching sides motivates your baby to suck more strongly thus stimulating a good let-down of milk.
  1. You can also massage your breast towards your nipple as your baby is feeding. Just ensure that you do not disturb the nipple being used by your baby.
  1. Relax when feeding your baby. Remove distractions and settle with your baby in a quiet room. Read a book while he is feeding or watch the TV.
  1. Babies decide how long they want to suck for even if your breast has been emptied. This is fine. Remember that babies sucking and stimulating is what makes more milk!

In summary

Make sure to:

  • Feed your baby more often than necessary.
  • Make sure your baby is well positioned.
  • Allow your baby to decide how long he wants to feed for.
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The new BamBooby Buddies Breast Pads are coming soon

After using disposable breast pads (and hating them) with my first child Olivia I knew there had to be a better option. When I became pregnant with my second, I started researching alternatives and came across bamboo breast pads.

So I went out and sourced all the fabric I needed, pulled out the sewing machine and went about making my first lot of breast pads.

To my delight, the breast pads worked a treat and the best part was they got better the more I washed them. Not only were they so much more comfortable there was also a huge cost saving because I was able to re-use them.

I was so pleased with them that I started giving them to my friends who were also breast feeding and it wasn’t long before I was getting requests from people I didn’t even know wanting to use them.

A huge amount of testing and valuable feedback from my wonderful network of mothers have gone into developing what we believe is one of the best products available.

And that’s how my little business came about.

Stay tuned as the sewing machine is in full throttle as I start building up our stock levels and offering them for sale to everyone through our new website.

A special thanks to everyone who has been a part of helping us develop the bamboo breast pads. I have been overwhelmed by the support and encouragement to start the business to enable me to help all the mothers out there who choose to breast feed.

Kind regards,
Tina