This Classical Life

I was going to write today about weaning or tandem nursing (what I have to say about pumping, you probably don’t want to hear.) But, in the last two days I have read and heard several discouraging things about World Breastfeeding Week and mocking breastfeeding in general.

THAT is why I do this year after year. As much as it can seem like breastfeeding is the easy choice (free! convenient!) there’s a reason so few moms make it to even three months of exclusive breastfeeding, even if they want to. It’s hard, and our culture doesn’t make it any easier. When women no longer stop me at church to say how much they admire me for nursing in public UNDER A BLANKET, when I turn on the tv and no one makes a breastfeeding joke, when moms have the resources they need to get through rough patches, I’ll stop blogging about it.

This year’s World Breastfeeding Week theme is to encourage the practice of mothers breastfeeding immediately after birth. Especially in hospital situations, when a baby is born people start doing things — suctioning, swaddling, measuring, medicating, warming, etc. All of those things CAN wait and its usually most beneficial if they do (barring emergencies, of course.) For example, skin to skin contact between baby and mom is more effective at warming babies than being swaddled (a blanket can be placed over baby and mom to hold in the heat.) Most babies do not benefit from being suctioned (only those having difficulty breathing.) If you elect to do things such as eye ointment or vitamin k injections, they can wait for an hour or more. When newborns are first born, they are typically more alert than they will be for the first day or so, and it’s usually easiest to get them to latch on then it will be later. Also, did you know that newborns can crawl and find their mother’s breasts? They lose this instinct very quickly, but its there! The videos are pretty amazing. So, in overview, those first few feedings of colostrum are so important for the health of newborns, initiating them quickly ought to be a routine practice. When you are doing your birth plan, remember to consider what will happen after the birth, and talk to your care provider about how you would like to breastfeed immediately.

Moms, please share a breastfeeding memory that you have, sweet or funny, encouraging or reminiscing. I know we have some new and expecting moms reading, what do they have to look forward to?

I have never been a person who despised labels, and I’ve always loved words, so I’ve never had a problem with the term “demand feeding.” The way milk production works, after all, is supply and demand. But, I have heard from several people, “Doesn’t demand feeding reward children for being demanding? Isn’t that the opposite of what we are teaching our children?” I am not going there in this post, but if that’s your association and the term makes you squeamish, try “cue feeding.” When your baby gives you hunger cues, you feed them. Same difference, but maybe it will go over better where you are.

Exclusive breastfeeding is another term that can confuse. Generally, it means that an infant’s only nutrition is from breastmilk, no supplements, not even water. Some group other recommendations such as no bottles or no pacifiers into that, but they are just overachievers ;o)

Rita Skeeter is doing a lot of freelance work these days, and she asked to interview me as part of a WBW piece she’s writing, perhaps for Witch Weekly, perhaps for some Muggle newspaper whose editor she confounded. I wasn’t sure. The interview follows below the cut. (more…)

Who are the Experts?
Why I Demand Feed
When to Start Solids
Ways to Promote Breastfeeding

What would you like to hear about?

For the third year, we are going to be observing World Breastfeeding Week here at the blog. I checked the latest statistics and there’s still a lot of room to grow towards exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months and continuing breastfeeding as primary nutrition for the first year, which is the minimal recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Did you see the statistics for my sweet home state? Only 52% of babies are ever breastfed, and less than one in 20 makes it to six months of exclusive breastfeeding. Tomorrow, I’ll post some links to old WBW posts and solicit your ideas for topics for this year, so please start gathering your ideas!

A few days ago, I took that personality test and was surprised to find myself an ENFP. In college I was always an ENTJ. So, I took another test, and got ENFP again. Learning that Jeannette had a similar transformation (INTJ to INFP) made the pieces start to come together. I’d always heard that motherhood changes you. It changed me, for sure. Leader to Advocate: that sounds about right…

My dear friend Tulipgirl has just finished her fourth annual Ezzo week. As a veteran of Ezzo’s materials, she’s a great source of information about them.

I am really a very infrequent contributor, but sometimes I post at the new Magic City Slingers blog. Susie, kind commenter and friend, rocks the posts over there. If you are interested in babywearing, subscribe today!

Kate had an accident today. She tried to climb up the dresser that has our TV on it and pulled the dresser and TV over. She knocked out one of her front teeth and the other is loose.

It was scary. I watched it as I walked into the room from doing laundry, and rushed to lift the heavy TV off her face as she squirmed out from under the dresser. If our bedroom was larger and the fall had been cleaner, she would have suffered very severe injuries, and very likely could have died. Our bookshelves and some of the dressers are bolted securely to the wall, this dresser is not flush with the wall (it forms a 45-45-90 triangle with the corner) and was not secured, for lack of creativity. I was able to remain calm and Kate was very calm and brave throughout the ordeal and was perfect at the pediatric dentist’s office. Our sweet neighbor helped me get the kids ready and followed me down so she could watch Lexi in the lobby while I stayed with Kate for her exam and x-rays.

I am very thankful that her injuries weren’t worse, but I mourn the loss of her front teeth. A piece of her childhood is gone forever, and the vanity motherhood brings will miss them, forever. I will tear up as I prepare her soft food and clean her bruised and bloodied face. I will cringe when people ask me about them. But I know that she is beautiful and life goes on.

Infantino has recalled 100,000 SlingRider slings sold at Babies R Us, Target, and other stores. The plastic clips that allow the fabric to slide can break, and several babies have been dropped. (This is why real sling manufacturers and not mainstream companies use sling rings, aluminum and nylon rings that have been weight tested and able to support up to 200 pounds.) I have also been concerned when I saw these slings in public that there was a danger of positional asphyxia.

The slings look like this and can be returned for a FULL refund, which can be used to purchase a safer and more comfortable sling!