Postpartum weight loss can be a bit tricky, especially when you are breastfeeding. While breastfeeding burns about 300-500 calories a day, this is not a time to limit your calories, as dropping below 1,500 calories a day has the potential to decrease a mother's milk supply. What this means is that a breastfeeding mother needs to net at least 1,500 calories a day, therefore she should aim to eat about 2,000 calories per day to keep a robust milk supply. Now, when a mother eats these calories, as well as the type of food she eats can make a difference in how those calories are used and burned throughout the day. My dear friend, Keegan Sheridan, is a naturopathic doctor and author of a fantastic blog at KeeganSheridan.com. Here is her most recent article about weight loss and eating breakfast for dinner.
Chest/Breastfeeding
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.
Chest/Breastfeeding, Pumping
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.
Bottle Feeding, Pumping
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.
Chest/Breastfeeding
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!