Chest/Breastfeeding
Robin Kaplan
Breastfeeding the Older Baby - What to Expect ...

Wondering what breastfeeding/chestfeeding look like when your baby is 6-9 months? As our little ones continue to grow physically {begin to roll over, sit up, crawl} and developmentally {sleep longer stretches at night and interact more with the world around them}, we notice the impact of these changes on their feeding patterns.

Breastfeeding the Older Baby - What to Expect at 6-9 months
Chest/Breastfeeding, Pumping
Robin Kaplan
Help! My baby won’t take a bottle!

So your breastfed baby is refusing bottles.  Isn’t the typical concern that a breastfeeding/chestfeeding baby may prefer bottles over nursing and not the other way around?  While breastfeeding refusal can happen as well, any type of feeding rejection is your baby’s way of communicating that something is feeling challenging.  So let’s dive into some of the reasons why a nursing baby rejects the bottle and some tips to remedy a bottle feeding aversion.  

Help! My baby won’t take a bottle!
Bottle Feeding, Pumping
Robin Kaplan
Bottle Feeding the Breastfed Baby FAQs

Did you know that lactation consultants not only help with breastfeeding, but can also help with bottle feeding?  It’s true! We are here to offer guidance with all aspects of feeding (introducing solids, as well!) and know a ton about bottles and how to balance them with breastfeeding.

Bottle Feeding the Breastfed Baby FAQs
Chest/Breastfeeding
Robin Kaplan
How Long Does My Breast Milk Stay Fresh?

Breast milk storage guidelines can be incredibly complicated to decipher.  With each pump company and breastfeeding website having its own storage and handling recommendations, how's a mother to know which one to follow?  Plus, throw in whether the baby is full-term, pre-term, healthy, or in the NICU, and we have quite a confusing situation.

After delving into our lactation consultant guidelines for human milk storage, I think I have the definitive list for you….at least for this year!

Functional Nutrition

Giving Up Gluten for Breastfeeding Moms

Written by Stacy Spensley

The last thing you want to hear as a breastfeeding mom is that you can't eat something. You probably want to eat everything! You're legitimately eating for two right now.

But if your baby is showing symptoms of a reaction to something in your diet, you're also probably willing to do anything to make it better. Dietary changes are tough, especially on top of being a new mom, but here are some tips that can help make the process easier.

While there are several common foods that can prompt an elimination diet, today we'll start with gluten. It's a bit of a buzzword nowadays, but it's more than a weight loss trend. Gluten can be tough on your baby's tummy.

 

Was it Something I Ate? Food Sensitivities in the Breastfed Baby: Part 3

By Lindsey Hurd, MS, RD, LDN, IBCLC and Owner, Angel Food Lactation & Nutrition, LLC

Last month we probed a little deeper into understanding how mom’s gut influences baby, what causes an unhappy digestive system, and what we can do about it.  From leaky gut syndrome to food sensitivities in baby, maternal dietary modifications have become the first line of defense, despite the inevitable difficulties one may face when narrowing the focus of problem foods. A mom’s diet during pregnancy and during lactation is often a hot topic among anyone close enough to ask questions about her experience… even someone in the checkout line at Target! From your Aunt Sally to your Grandpa Joe, everyone seems to have an opinion about what a mom should and shouldn’t eat.

Was it Something I Ate? Food Sensitivities in the Breastfed Baby: Part 2

By Lindsey Hurd, MS, RD, LDN, IBCLC and Owner, Angel Food Lactation & Nutrition, LLC

Last month, we talked about the prevalence of food allergies, how a baby’s immune system is established, and how maternal immunity plays a role.  This month, we are diving a little deeper into understanding how mom’s gut influences baby, what causes an unhappy digestive system, and what we can do about it.  

Was it Something I Ate? Food Sensitivities in the Breastfed Baby

Witten by Lindsey Hurd, MS, RD, LDN, IBCLC, and Owner of Angel Food Lactation & Nutrition, LLC

From a gassy gut to red inflamed skin, breastfeeding moms often question the influence of their diet on behavior and symptoms in their little one. There’s no denying the influx of food sensitivities and allergies in children and adults, but what about the smallest members of our society? In my practice, I see many families who have infants showing signs of food intolerance, often times leading to symptoms such as eczema, bloody stools, sleeplessness, reflux, digestive discomfort from gassiness, abdominal pressure, and the infamous mucus-filled stool. “Is it something I ate?” mom asks. “Is it a virus or bacterial infection?” “Where did this come from? She was fine a week ago!” The world of food sensitivities is vast and perplexing, yet we are beginning to find our way as we learn more and more from our families each day. Over the next few months, I will be sharing a little insight into theories of why we are seeing this influx, how babies receive components of mom’s diet in her milk, and what we can do about it. 

How Going Gluten-Free Saved Our Family

As parents, we believe that our children are perfect.  Yes, they can be little monsters every once in a while, but it is a tough pill to swallow when we find out that our child may have some challenges that need to be addressed. 

My sweet little Ben was born after a long, arduous labor.  We had our share of breastfeeding challenges in the beginning, but after 2 weeks we had mastered our latch and I was flowing with breastmilk.  His massive amounts of spit-up were somewhat concerning to me, but he was gaining weight, so his pediatrician was not concerned.  When Ben was 6 weeks old, I went to a local breastfeeding support group to find out why he was so fussy, gassy, and constantly puking.  The lactation consultant recommended that I remove dairy from my diet, which I did haphazardly, to no avail (obviously!)