February 2012
52 posts
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Promotion of Breastfeeding Goes Too Far. →
Nursing is simply a good method of feeding your newborn, but it is not the only safe or best way for all. The word is choice, and it is a big mistake to force one method for everyone. When some children fail to thrive on breast milk, there is, and should always be, an alternative feeding method, and it does not include the guilt be placed on these equally caring parents. Formula, despite...
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One Thing (Most) Parents Have In Common: They Try... →
I have made a choice when it comes to my parenting style and practice. This choice was made after countless hours of research and contemplation. I fully believe in the choices I have made, but I don’t believe that this parenting style is for everyone. After all, it takes all sorts of people to make the world go round, and I am thankful that we are all so unique.
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"Breastfeeding Failure" is an Oxymoron. →
Lately I’ve been wondering if “breastfeeding failure” is an oxymoron. I mean, to fail at something don’t you need to have a predetermined understanding of what failure is and what success is? Must you not be able to assess and quantify? But breastfeeding is a relationship—not a test—and success looks different for everyone. A teen mom, the mother of a preemie, a woman working outside of the...
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Four Ways to Share Your Parenting Philosophy... →
My goal here is to build on those posts further and present a few ideas for communicating with fellow parents in a positive, peaceful manner. Following are four things I consider when conversing about parenting, whether that be in person, online, with a friend, or with a random stranger.
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How to Bottle Nurse a Baby. →
If you are not able to breastfeed, or if you are feeding your baby EBM (expressed breast milk) from a bottle, you can still recreate some of the bonding experience of breastfeeding by bottle-nursing. Other people can use this method with your baby if they are watching them for you, but it’s best if you are your baby’s primary source of milk, just as if you were breastfeeding.
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Why Breast is Not Always Best. →
When my youngest child was born two years ago, I had no qualms telling the nursery I’d be bottle-feeding. The fact that he was my third bottle-fed child and that I had medical complications that made breast-feeding unrealistic eased my guilt considerably. But many moms hear “breast is best” and feel guilty about choosing not to breastfeed.
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Straight to the Bottle. →
After my second child was born, I decided I wanted my boobs back. It was a long journey, learning I deserved my boobs. Everyone had been telling me they belonged to my babies since my daughter was born three years ago. I tried breastfeeding her, but stopped when she didn’t gain weight. I felt less guilty about my first attempt than my second effort with my son. After all, he...
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10 Questions You Shouldn't Ask a New Mom. →
“Are you breastfeeding?”
The last thing a new mother needs is a guilt trip over how she’s feeding her baby. Besides, it’s really not your business.
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Breastfeeding or Not: New Mothers Need Plenty of... →
By applying less pressure you won’t lose mothers to formula feed, you will allow them to make up their own minds, which is the way it should be.
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"Not All Mums Want to Breastfeed- Get Over It!" →
I’m not sure if I agree with all of the “black or white”/judgmental comments in this article, but this is an opinion piece written to inspire a different line of thinking.
The end result of the constant “breast is best” browbeating and the expunging from public life of all images of infant formula for babies under six months is to communicate the idea that there’s only one ...
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Trust Drops "Evangelical" Breastfeeding Message. →
“We are very happy to put our hands up and say that over the years we have perhaps been evangelical about breastfeeding because at that time, it was needed,” said Mrs Fox. “Now we don’t believe that that is the right approach.
“Most women want to breastfeed and most stop before they want to because of external pressures such as a lack of support. We...
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The Return of Wet Nursing. →
“The social pressures, the moral pressures on mothers, in the name of these so-called health benefits is to a degree that is absurd,” says Linda Blum, the author of a book on the ideology of breastfeeding. “Mothers feel tremendous guilt.”
Many women, for medical reasons, find breastfeeding impossible- period. That was the case for one woman, a gynecologist living in ...
“Don’t be so quick to judge. We never have enough information to judge someone...”
– Joyce Meyer (via newheight)
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Why Breastfeeding is Like Abortion for Feminism. →
Feminism has achieved so much, but we have lost a lot along the way. The battles of feminism and those of abortion and breastfeeding are tainted with women trying to validate and define their own identities and worth. In the 21st Century, can we not find some level ground of respect? Wouldn’t treating other women with respect, who hold opposite viewpoints, demonstrate an accomplishment for...
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Heart & Encouragement For the Mommas with Bottles. →
I think back to the times when I was told that this bonding would not happen as long as he fed from a bottle. I remember the comments about how nothing could compare to the bond between a child & nursing mother & I wonder why I take that phrase so personally. How two years later, those thoughts still sting me because I love my baby, too & I think we’re pretty okay together. I...
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Feeding Tube Awareness! →
I know this all sounds scary. I am not going to lie to you. Tube feeding isn’t an easy road to take, it is a last resort. We tried like hell to get him to eat before and after the tube. However, as it became very clear that medical reasons were going to require tube feeding for a longer period of time, we embraced it as another way to eat. I am just so thankful that the technology exists...
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The Great Breastfeeding Photo Debate. →
…no matter how many times women post pictures of themselves breastfeeding on Facebook, and no matter how many protests are staged outside Facebook’s worldwide offices, nothing substantial is likely to change. So, what do I think about all the drama over breastfeeding censorship? I think it sucks. But I also think it’s time to move on.
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Do Breastfed Babies REALLY "Grow Up to Be Less... →
This Finnish prospective cohort study investigated whether breastfeeding compared to non-breastfeeding was associated with lower hostility in adulthood.
While the research featured some laudable methods, such as assessing participants multiple times over a long study period, its results are somewhat unclear. The difference between the average hostility scores was reported as being just...
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Foremilk vs Hindmilk: The Unnecessary Controversy →
Foremilk vs. hindmilk seems to be quite a popular topic among breastfeeding mothers. If I switch the baby too soon to the other breast, will he get the hindmilk? How do I ensure that my baby is getting all of the fatty milk that he needs? Sometimes I feel like too much breastfeeding information can add stress to a new mom. And this is why…
All breastmilk, whether it is 1 minute into the ...
