Advice For The New Mom

On-Demand vs. Scheduled Feeding: Which is Best for Baby?

Written by Ashley Treadwell, IBCLC

Google can be an amazing resource - but it can also provide WAY too much information for a first-time mom.  One of the questions we get often from our clients is what is the best way to feed a breastfed baby - let the baby demand when to feed or try to shape their feedings into a structured schedule?  Moms hear a lot of differing information about when to feed their babies in the early weeks - every 2-3 hours, 8-12 times in a 24 hour period, etc.  It can be confusing to know what this means exactly - is it every 2 hours or every 3 hours?  What if baby goes longer than 3 hours?  What if baby seems hungry before 2 hours?  What if baby wants to feed 15 times a day, or maybe only 7?  How do you know when you should feed your baby?  

Here’s the short answer:

WATCH YOUR BABY, NOT THE CLOCK.

Ease Up on Yourself

Written by Ashley Treadwell, IBCLC

Picture it: You’re having coffee with a good friend and she’s confiding in you about her guilt over not knowing her son had a double ear infection when he was running a fever recently.  He wasn’t pulling at his ears or crying when she laid him down.  He ran a fever for a few days, but had no other symptoms, and when she took him into his pediatrician, they diagnosed a double ear infection and prescribed antibiotics.  Your friend is feeling awful that she waited a few days to take her baby in.  She’s calling herself a bad mom.  

What’s your response?  

I’ve Had My Baby - Now What? Breastfeeding During Weeks 3-6

I’ve Had My Baby - Now What? Breastfeeding During Weeks 3-6

Welcome back to our new series, I’ve Had My Baby - Now What?  This is a guide with basic information to help you navigate the first days, weeks, and months of breastfeeding your new baby.  

Today we’d like to talk about weeks 3 through 6 of your baby’s life, and what breastfeeding looks like.  What can you expect for normal behavior from your new baby, and when do you know there’s a problem that you should seek professional help for?

I’ve Had My Baby - Now What? Breastfeeding During the Second Week

I’ve Had My Baby - Now What? Breastfeeding During the Second Week

Welcome to our new series, I’ve Had My Baby - Now What?  This is a guide with basic information to help you navigate the first days, weeks, and months of breastfeeding your new baby.  

Today we’d like to talk about the second week of your baby’s life, and what breastfeeding looks like.  What can you expect for normal behavior from your new baby, and when do you know there’s a problem that you should seek professional help for?

Now that my milk has increased in volume, what should feedings look like?  How much does a baby need at each feeding and how long should it take?

I’ve Had My Baby - Now What?: Breastfeeding During the First Week

I’ve Had My Baby - Now What?: Breastfeeding During the First Week

Welcome to our new series, I’ve Had My Baby - Now What?  This is a guide with basic information to help you navigate the first days, weeks, and months of breastfeeding your new baby.  

 

Today we would like to talk about that first week after your baby has arrived.  Breastfeeding can often seem overwhelming and  unfamiliar.  New moms often receive a *huge* amount of differing advice from many well-intentioned people, which can be incredibly confusing and discouraging.  Below is a quick guideline to what “normal” breastfeeding looks like, as well as some examples of when things aren’t going as they should and when you might want to seek help.

What Every Mom Should Know About Breastfeeding During the Early Weeks

How much breast milk does my baby need per feeding?
What is common nursing behavior for a newborn?
How will I know that my baby is getting enough?

As a new mom, these are common questions that you may ask your pediatrician, midwife, postpartum nurse, family, and friends and GUESS WHAT..... they may all have a different answer!  

Nurturing your Child's Potential with Voila Montessori

This week, we’re highlighting a local practitioner who is helping parents establish and integrate their parenting beliefs and styles into a peaceful, nurturing environment for their children.  She also offers Skype consultations for those not located in San Diego.  I’m thrilled to introduce Jeanne-Marie of Voila Montessori!

Comebacks for ‘Why Are You Still Breastfeeding?’

Any woman who has ever had a breastfeeding challenge or has breastfed longer than than someone else deems ‘normal’ has been asked this question at one time or another.

 

“Why are you still breastfeeding?”  

Sometimes this question is passive aggressive with undertones of “I can’t believe you have breastfed your baby for THIS long.”  Other times it comes from a place of love meaning “You seem like you are in pain... are you sure you still want to try this?”

Regardless, if you are anything like me, the snappy comeback or educated response that I SO desired to say only comes after the situation is long gone and I am kicking myself for not defending myself and my choice to breastfeed the way I wanted to.

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Top 10 Ways to Stop Caregivers from Overfeeding Your Breastfed Baby

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I hear it all the time. 

Mom and partner get home from a much-needed date night to find out that grandma gave their 4-month old two 6oz bottles in 4 hours.

Mom picks up her baby from daycare to find out that her 6-month old took three 5oz bottles, plus the backup 5oz bottle in the freezer, in 8 hours.  She pumped 12oz at work and thought that would be plenty for the next day. (which it is!)

Mom comes home from getting a haircut to find that her partner gave their 3-month old a 5oz bottle.  The baby only ate 3oz, so her partner threw the extra 2oz away.

Who ever said there’s no crying over spilled (or wasted) milk never pumped breastmilk for her baby!

It’s hard work to pump… who has extra time when taking care of a newborn to pop on some plastic milk-extracting contraption and just sit for 15 minutes?  Um… no one!  So when a caregiver over feeds a baby, or throws away breast milk that could have been used at another time, it can be very frustrating and defeating for a mom.  And as that extra freezer stash starts to dwindle because of misuse and over feeding, moms might feel their stress levels spike to an uncomfortable high.

So how can a mom ensure that her baby’s caregiver isn’t overfeeding, or unnecessarily throwing away, that precious liquid gold she spent time to pump out?

Advice for a Newly Breastfeeding Mama’s Partner

Let’s face it… becoming a new parent can be extremely overwhelming!  I still remember that first drive home from the hospital.  My husband and I were cracking up as we stared at our son in the car seat behind us.  “Can you believe that they trusted us enough to take this little guy home?  Do they know that we have never changed a diaper or bathed a baby before?  What were they thinking????”

As I spent the first few weeks mastering breastfeeding, it became apparent that two sets of hands were often better than one.  It amazed me that an entire day would pass before I realized that I forgot to eat or take a shower.  It was my hubby, aka breastfeeding cheerleader/parenting partner, that made sure that I was being taken care of as I was all consumed in feeding and caring for our newborn.

I often get asked by the soon-to-be parents in my breastfeeding classes about the roles of the partner.  What role does he/she play while mom is breastfeeding? Many partners often feel like they don’t have a defined role when their partner is breastfeeding because unless his/her breasts start lactating, it is truly a one person feeding show for those first few weeks.   Plus, diaper duty doesn’t sound too glamorous!