Category: Nursing Support

(Incorrectly) Assumed Reasons Why My 4-Year-Old Nurses

hollymilkowski March 17, 2017

I think by now we can all agree exclusive breastfeeding is the optimal method of infant feeding. Our society is slowly but surely becoming more accepting (even approving) of breastfeeding (the concept of it, if anything).

But, here’s the thing.

I notice many of us still seem a tad obsessed with HOW LONG a woman and child should breastfeed.

Okay, so you get it, you get it. Breastfeeding is healthy, it’s both normal and best, and breastfeeding in public is perfectly appropriate.

But do you pause when the breastfeeding involves a child older than you’d expect? Do you question whether it’s still good or still appropriate? Do you already firmly believe it’s not? Have you ever uttered the phrase “I support breastfeeding, but…” and concluded with an opinion about upper age limits?

If I Could Give Only 5 Pieces of Breastfeeding Advice To a New Mom

hollymilkowski January 6, 2017

If you could give only five pieces of breastfeeding advice to a new mother, what would you say? Here’s what I’d tell her.

What The ‘Tree of Life’ Brelfies Tell Us About Breastfeeding Moms

hollymilkowski December 19, 2016

We really want to share our breastfeeding moments.

Nursing our children is incredibly important to us. We’re proud, grateful, sometimes hesitant, always brave. See how quickly we all LEAPED at a chance to share some of our most treasured breastfeeding moments?

That moment when our babies gave us the big ol’ doe eyes, thanking us from somewhere deep in their souls for nourishing them? We couldn’t ignore it. And we’re so happy about it, we want others to notice too.

An innocently cute brelfie (breastfeeding selfie) trend like this should go viral and incite mad passion — even the World Health Organization said so in a UN briefing for this year’s World Breastfeeding Week.

We’ve been patient. So very patient. But we’re starting to get antsy in our nursing gliders and uncomfortable under the paisley tent-covers. It takes this degree of overwhelming social media with Tree of Life brelfies to normalize breastfeeding by tomorrow, when it really should have happened yesterday.

My View at The Big Latch On – Houston

hollymilkowski August 8, 2016

This weekend I attended The Global Big Latch On as a mother, a resource person, and an advocate.

So what’s the point of women and their nurslings congregating to breastfeed together at 10:30 a.m. for sixty seconds? (Most of the kids were latched long before and after, of course). First, GBLO wanted to set a new world record for the most children simultaneously latched to breastfeed, and for the most moms simultaneously breastfeeding.

This popular World Breastfeeding Week event also spreads awareness of all the different ways mothers breastfeed (nursing newborns, infants and toddlers, older kids, tandem nursing, adoptive nursing, wet nursing, with various apparatus like nipple shields or SNS, restricted diet nursing, supplementing, and exclusively pumping mothers were counted for the latch, too).

It intends to encourage support networks for families within their communities during the breastfeeding years and beyond.

5 Reasons I Share My Breastfeeding Photos

hollymilkowski July 17, 2016

1). Breastfeeding needs to be seen to be learned.

“We absolutely need to see positive, educational breastfeeding images on social media and to encounter these maternal norms on a daily basis. Women learn how to breastfeed by example and observation, as is the natural design, rather than by instinctual expertise.

For a new mother, breastfeeding is like using a muscle she’s never used before — NOT like picking up an exercise routine with the blessing of muscle memory (even with breastfeeding experience, she still must learn afresh how to breastfeed each new child).” – Brelfies Aren’t TMI — They Celebrate a Power Exclusive to “Mom Bods”

Engorgement: Just Keep Cool (Cabbage Leaves On Hand)

hollymilkowski March 17, 2016

Via drgreene.com

It’s pretty sucky when you’re up to your armpits in swollen milk machinery, none of your clothes fit, and your boobs suddenly feel like they might actually burst open as if they, too, overindulged in too much Easter feasting the day prior (ugh, when will they start making nursing bras out of stretchy pants?).

I had oversupply, and would wake up many mornings for months so engorged that I could see my milk ducts rippling through the taut skin, totally horror flick style. The problem was exacerbated during my four months -long pumping stint, which tricked my body into scrambling to provide for MaiTai’s nonexistent twin, or so it felt convinced. And so, every day it made sure my milk-makers were stretched out to wazoo. It defied the laws of physics, really.

Colic in the Breastfed Baby

hollymilkowski March 12, 2016

Via mybabyneedthis.com

Infant Feeding Today Pt. 4: Help With Mixed Feedings

hollymilkowski February 2, 2016

Via NancyMohrbacher.com

Can You Supplement with Cow, Goat, Soy or Nut-Derived Milk?
Homemade Formula
Formula Supplementing Help

**Also read Part One (Why Isn’t Every Baby Breastfed?), Part Two (Cow-Made, Man-Made, or Mother-Made?), and Part Three (Making a Baby-Friendly Culture Amid formula Marketing) of this series.**

Mixed Feedings

One of THE most important things to remember for those who are struggling to meet the recommendations for mama milk exclusivity: Breastfeeding does NOT have to be ‘all or nothing.’ If you cannot breastfeed but can express some breast milk, some is better than none for as long as you can. If you’re a full-time working mom who cannot nurse on the breast very often, it will help to breastfeed when you can, even if it’s only at night to put your baby to sleep, or only on the weekend to mostly dry-nurse, or something in between.

Don’t Let a Breast Lump Turn You Into a Grump!

hollymilkowski January 20, 2016

Via Etsy.com

I know, an extra bump in the lady lumps can be annoying! And confusing. Or worrisome. Painful even!

But before jumping to conclusions (and the medicine cabinet), it’s important to first determine what the lump truly is. An abscess? A plugged duct? Something more serious? Your health provider can give you a diagnosis and treatment options, but most of the time lumps found during breastfeeding can be resolved without a trip to the doctor.

Read on to find out more…

Taming the Thrush Monster

hollymilkowski January 18, 2016

Once you’ve heard of thrush, trust me — you’ll know it when it finds you.

Feeling the drag of what must be broken glass shards from the top of your breast, downward and heavy through the bottom to the release of letdown? That’s thrush.

The experience of seeming white-hot razor blades slicing round and round your areola in sickening circular motion as baby nurses? That also can be thrush.

Seizing up with dread before every feed, knowing (and sweating bullets over) the least pain that might come, and imagining the worst that could, and that sometimes does come? Well, that too is a hand-walker with thrush.

Bottles Up! (The Differences Between Breastfeeding & Breastmilk-Feeding)

hollymilkowski January 12, 2016

Are you ‘juggling’ bottles and breastfeeding? Photo Credit: Ana & Ivan Lifestyle Photography

**Read more about how to have a great bottle-feeding experience in the next post.**

Preparing for Breastfeeding Before Birth

hollymilkowski December 27, 2015

Kimberly Williams with her two-week-old, Kaleb. Photo Credit: Ana & Ivan Photography

PREPARING BEFORE BIRTH:

Be Able to Recognize “The Booby Traps”
Choosing a Pediatrician
Know the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding After an Epidural
What’s Colostrum?

Why We’re “Still” Breastfeeding…

hollymilkowski November 17, 2015

To the people who ask…

“Why do you *still* breastfeed?”

“Why do you breastfeed a toddler?”

…I could tell you a few things.

I could tell you that the World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding for a minimum of two years and beyond as desired by the mother and child.

I could tell you that the biologically natural age of weaning for humans is between 2.5 – 7 years.

I could tell you that breast milk is just as nutritious (and actually packed with more antibodies) for young children as it is for young babies.

I could tell you that my child likes to have the option of nursing for comfort, just as much as he likes hugs, kisses, and self-soothing techniques.

I could tell you that breastfeeding is more than just food.

Many of these answers worked for a while. A good two years, really.

But now that I’m growing a second child in my womb and MaiTai is three years old, the questions have changed.

“Why do you *still* breastfeed during pregnancy?”

“Will you tandem nurse and why would you do that?”

This time the answer is simply… I don’t know.

Can You Skip the Bottle & Cup Feed Your Newborn Instead?

hollymilkowski October 7, 2015

Via healthyfamiliesbc.ca

Why do we make young babies learn to feed from bottles if they can learn to feed from cups at any age?

Here’s a new product designed with newborns in mind — one that doesn’t carry the drawbacks of bottle feeding (including affecting oral development, potential nipple confusion or nipple chewing, excessive air swallowing, forced pacing and overconsumption, etc).

Would you try this?

Behold, the NIFTY cup!