SubscribeAuthor: angelawhit
Free Pattern to Sew Your Own Nursing Cover
Nursing covers are not for everyone, but if a cover helps you feel more comfortable breastfeeding in public, you might be glad to find these instructions to sew your own “Bebe au Lait”-style nursing cover. Heather at Sleek Mama created these detailed pattern instructions and sewed two stylish covers for just $8!
Materials:
• 1 yard of fabric
• D rings. They are the rings that you can adjust your strap with. They are in the shape of a D, hence the… More »
Fun Shirts to Celebrate IBCLC Day!
Happy IBCLC Day to all the lactation consultants that help breastfeeding mothers and babies worldwide! To celebrate, I share some fun breastfeeding advocacy t-shirts available on CafePress (I have no affiliation with any of these sellers. You can click on each image for product information). Enjoy!
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Passing Down the Breastfeeding Knowledge
This morning, my 1.5-year-old found a doll of her 7-year-old sister’s. She didn’t want to give it up, and I told my older daughter that I would not intervene because the doll was not being hurt and there was no reason not to let her sister play with it. My older daughter knew she couldn’t grab the doll out of her sister’s hands, so she had to get creative. She applied the attachment parenting techniques that I have used in… More »
Tell Me about The Joys of Breastfeeding
For the Carnival of Breastfeeding in February, contributors shared how they overcame obstacles to breastfeeding. For the March Carnival of Breastfeeding, let’s show the other side — “The Joys of Breastfeeding.”
While breastfeeding sometimes gets off to a rocky start, it can be such a joy once mother and baby get the hang of it. Write a post about what you like best about breastfeeding and email me your submission by March 15, 2010, for consideration for the blog carnival… More »
Haiti Breastfeeding Tents
I recently heard from a woman involved in the relief efforts in Haiti. Susannah Masur, the Communications Officer for the organization Action Against Hunger, writes how the organization currently supports breastfeeding in Haiti:
My organization, Action Against Hunger, has set up makeshift tents in battered neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince to provide mothers and their infants with a safe environment for breastfeeding, as well as medical, nutritional, and psychological support.
She shared the link to a UNICEF video on the baby tents. The video… More »
Celebrate IBCLC Day on March 3, 2010
The 9th annual IBCLC Day will be celebrated on Wednesday, March 3, 2010. The day recognizes the important role that International Board Certified Lactation Consults play in supporting breastfeeding mothers and babies. The year 2010 marks the 25th anniversary of the International Lactation Consultant Association (ILCA) and the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners (IBCLE) and hence the lactation consultant profession with the theme “IBCLCs: Experience You Can Trust.”
ILCA offers free downloadable items, some of which are available to everyone… More »
LLL USA World Breastfeeding Week Theme 2010
In support of the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) World Breastfeeding Week 2010 theme, the La Leche League USA World Breastfeeding Week theme is “Breastfeeding The Baby Friendly Way.”
While World Breastfeeding Week is officially August 1 – August 7, 2010, LLL USA celebrates its fundraising and awareness campaign from May 1 – September 30, 2010. In keeping with the theme, LLL USA’s World Breastfeeding Week Celebration’s 2010 focus will be:
~ Revitalize activities within health systems, and among healthcare… More »
The Importance of a Babymoon
Welcome to the February Carnival of Breastfeeding! This month contributors talk about overcoming breastfeeding challenges. Check out the round-up of links at the end of this post, but first, I make the argument that a babymoon is invaluable in helping mothers overcome breastfeeding challenges.
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/yohutch/ / CC BY-SA 2.0
Wikipedia defines “babymoon” as “a period of time that parents spend bonding with a recently-born baby.” It goes on to explain that nearly 15 years ago the term babymoon was coined… More »
Upcoming Breastfeeding Book Releases
Several interesting breastfeeding books are scheduled to come out in 2010! Here’s a sampling of what to watch out for in the coming months.
Breastfeeding: Methods, Benefits to the Infant and Mother, and Difficulties (Pregnancy and Infants: Medical, Psychological and Social Issues) ~ Wilma G. Nueland (Editor)
Due out in March 30, 2010, this book appears to be a medical textbook on breastfeeding. The medical community could certainly use more breastfeeding education!
The Better Way to Breastfeed by Robin Elise Weiss
Due out July… More »
The Golden Age
I have said it before and I will say it again: there is something to love about every age and stage in my own life and my children’s lives. That being said, my favorite kid age and stage is 18 to 21 months. I know not everyone feels that way — I wouldn’t expect them to — but for me and my kids, it’s the golden age. I love this age.
My daughter turned 19 months old yesterday and l am… More »
A Site to Buy and Sell Human Breast Milk
What should women do if they have extra expressed breast milk? One option is to donate the milk to a non-profit milk bank of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America. If that is not possible, some women choose to take advantage of the MilkShare site for informal milk donation.
But what about making some money from the milk? Women have been trying to sell their breast milk on Craigslist and eBay. So it was bound to happen eventually…. More »
Dr. Hale to Launch InfantRisk Center
Pregnant women, mothers, and their physicians soon will have a new resource for up-to-date, evidence-based answers to their questions about using specific medications during pregnancy or lactation. Tom Hale, Ph.D., expert on perinatal pharmacology and author of Medications and Mother’s Milk, has announced the development of the InfantRisk Center, a national call center associated with Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Amarillo and Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health.
The InfantRisk Center has the following objectives:
* Provide the largest source… More »
Valentine’s Day Play Dough Recipe
Every year I look for alternatives to store-bought character valentines with candy attached. The kids get plenty of candy at the class parties and it’s fun to come up with an inexpensive and creative alternative. One year my girls and I cut out white hearts and dipped them in a shallow bowl of straw-blown bubbles mixed with red food coloring for beautiful bubble-spotted valentines. Another year we bought stock-paper bookmarks at a craft store and tied on strings for practical… More »
Sibling Revelry
The other night I hauled out my copy of Siblings Without Rivalry: How to Help Your Children Live Together So You Can Live Too. I have yet to manage to finish the book, but the squabbles between my 7-year-old and my 5-year-old lately have motivated me to get back to it.
This afternoon, my 5-year-old and 1-year-old fell asleep in the car on the way home from our outing at the arboretum. I took both girls up to bed and thought… More »
How You Overcame Challenges
For the February Carnival of Breastfeeding, write a post that tells how you overcame a breastfeeding challenge. Did you experience a lack of family support, deal with mastitis, or have a baby in the NICU? Email me your post by February 15, 2010, for consideration for the blog carnival on February 22, 2010.
As a reminder, here are the guidelines that will increase the chances a post will be selected for inclusion in the carnival:
– A well-written, grammatically correct post
– Thoughtful… More »
Mothers Who Lie
I’ll let you in on a little secret. All three of my children “slept through the night” at three months of age! For real! I’m not lying! Except, then they didn’t. Inevitably my 3-month-old would cut her first tooth, get a cold, or just plain decide it was nice to have her mama comfort her back to sleep in the night. So can I say in all honesty that my children slept through the night at three months of age?… More »
Celebrity Breastfeeding Pictures
I always appreciate seeing pictures of celebrities who breastfeed their babies (and toddlers!) in public or show up at an event to support breastfeeding. This photo gallery features eight women who by their very celebrity promote breastfeeding.
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World Breastfeeding Week 2010 Theme
The World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) announced its theme for World Breastfeeding Week 2010, scheduled to take place August 1-7, 2010: “Just 10 Steps! Breastfeeding the Baby-Friendly Way.”
By focusing on the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, this theme recognizes the vital role that health care facilities play in the establishment of breastfeeding. The joint WHO/UNICEF statement outlines the Ten Steps as follows:
Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding
Every facility providing maternity services and care for newborn infants should:
1. Have a… More »
Breast Milk Donation Backlash in Haiti
The Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA) reportedly has been asked to retract its urgent call for breast milk donations for premature infants in Haiti. The Emergency Nutrition Network (ENN) says the donations contradict best practices for babies in emergencies and the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) said the donations create an “unfeasible and unsafe intervention” due to problems of transportation, screening, supply and storage, according to the MSNBC article “Call for Donations of Breast Milk… More »
Update re Breast Milk Donations for Haiti
The decision to make an urgent call for breast milk donations in the wake of the earthquake disaster in Haiti is controversial in the breastfeeding activist community. I think everyone can agree that donations of artificial baby milk are not helpful and that everything possible should be done to promote breastfeeding by mothers in Haiti. Breastfeeding is the long-term, life-saving method of infant feeding in a disaster.
Some, however, argue that at best the donations of breast milk are symbolic… More »
