Question

Hi, my name is JA and I gave birth to my son, on August 27th.  I am finding that I prefer to pump and bottle feed as opposed to traditional breast feeding.  He is a big boy already and at two weeks is taking 4 oz every 3 hours.  I am barely keeping up with him.  I am wondering if I am not pumping enough or if my milk is not totally in or if it will ever come in.  I would appreciate any advice you might have. 

New mom, 

JA

Hi JA,

JA, congratulations, you seem to be doing well with your new son.  You are not alone in your preference to pump and bottle feed.  How fortunate that we live in a time where there are so many choices. You will be able to let others help feed your baby so you can rest and pump.

Without question, mother’s milk is the best form of nutrition for your baby. So keep up with the pumping.  Here are some tips that may help.

First, your milk is in by now.  The number of times you pump is more important right now than the amount you get from each time you pump. Frequent and effective pumping is important to establish abundant milk production in the first few weeks after birth.  Completely emptying each breast during pumping will prevent “Feedback Inhibitor of Lactation (FIL)”.  FIL tells the mammary glands to decrease milk production. FIL is the reason mothers who don’t pump frequently enough begin to have milk supply problems.

Also, completely emptying the breast helps to develop richer, higher fat content milk that is more satisfying to babies.  The hind milk, the milk that is pumped out last, is the richest, so keep pumping completely each session.

Here’s the hard part.  Right now you cannot afford to skip night feedings.  I always dislike giving new moms that piece of news, as I am sympathetic to how tired you are.  Try to nap during pumping at night and day if you can. But pump 2 to 3 times each night.  A schedule similar to 10PM, 1AM, and 4AM should keep you milk supply up.

There is a list of 10 Ways to Increase Breast Milk Supply on our website that gives important suggestions to help maintain and even increase milk supply.

So, pump, pump, pump, empty each breast fully, and be confident that you can produce enough milk for your baby. 

Moms, send us your questions, we will be happy to answer. 

Breast wishes in feeding your baby,

Momma Toni

I certainly understand PETA’s new campaign against Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream regarding the use of mother’s breast milk in their ice cream instead of cow’s milk. Those poor cows must be really tired. However, I do believe that this would be the end of Ben and Jerry’s. And I nor my thighs can possibly handle this idea – there is nothing better than Chunky Monkey. It would end the wonderful tastes of Ben and Jerry’s by putting them out of business. First, ask yourself would I eat this ice cream, if they used mothers for their breast milk. Most people would not, especially men – oh, how funny they are when asked in public if they would drink breast milk – it is quite entertaining. The other problem is that mothers have so many problems feeding one tiny baby. Keeping up with the millions of gallons of ice cream that would need to be made each month would be absolutely impossible. Well, even if Ben and Jerry’s doesn’t stop using cow’s milk and begin using mother’s milk, I thought it would be fun to give you a recipe for your own breast milk ice cream. Actually, this may be a great little first ice cream treat if your baby is a little older and on solids.

Breastmilk Ice Cream

1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon sugar
4 cups crushed ice
4 tablespoons salt
2 quart size Zip-loc bags
1 gallon size Zip-loc freezer bag
a hand towel or gloves to keep fingers from freezing as well!

Mix the milk, vanilla and sugar together in one of the quart size bags. Seal tightly, allowing as little air to remain in the bag as possible. Too much air left inside may force the bag open during shaking. Place this bag inside the other quart size bag, again leaving as little air inside as possible and sealing well. By double-bagging, the risk of salt and ice leaking into the ice cream is minimized. Put the two bags inside the gallon size bag and fill the bag with ice, then sprinkle salt on top. Again let all the air escape and seal the bag. Wrap the bag in the towel or put your gloves on, and shake and massage the bag, making sure the ice surrounds the cream mixture. Five to eight minutes is adequate time for the mixture to freeze into ice cream.

& Giving Voice to Breast Pumping and Breast Feeding ‘Round the World

Politicians, WIC moms, teachers, and police women breast pump and breastfeed their babies.  Moms of every income, ethnicity, and religion breast pump and breastfeed for the same basic motivations.

Mothers have the need to feed (their babies). Breast milk is the most natural and once established, the easiest food source.  Palin, a mother of five, has brought a new light to this all important method of feeding her babies, based on the level of media attention she receives.

Many notable and noble women have spoken out about breastmilk. Sarah Palin did not bring attention to breastmilk all by herself. Celebs bring attention to the breastmilk cause, and some celebs use this status to give rise to change for the benefit of all mothers. Susan Sarandon, Tori Amos, Cindy Crawford, Catherine Zeta-Jones, are just a few of the mothers to spread positive images and messages about feeding their babies with breastmilk.

In the prior two generations, babies were fed cow’s milk and formula.  In the last decade, breastmilk has regained its importance and value to mothers for their babies.

The 70% of new mothers now opt to breastfeed their newborns. Sadly, only 35% are still giving their baby breastmilk by 6 months. There are many reasons for this dramatic drop. Breastfeeding, although it is a natural process, can be challenging. Precious little information is made available to mothers before or following birthing. The grandmothers and mothers of the new moms, if they live nearby, may not have breast feeding experience.

Social factors play a huge role in successful breastfeeding.  Even in this modern age, society is not highly tolerant of breastfeeding. Still, today, mothers must breastfeed their baby in public bathrooms to avoid criticism.  Few people would eat in a public bathroom, so why should a mother feed her precious infant in a public bathroom.

Breast pumping and breastfeeding awareness through media will create greater acceptance of this natural practice for feeding babies. So, please Sarah Palin, help mothers of the world. Give voice to this critically important issue of women feeding their babies with breastmilk, the most natural and most available source of food for mothers to feed their babies with, ‘round the globe.

Wow! What a LONG week. We have lived here in Baton Rouge for well over a decade and have prepared for many hurricanes and there was nothing new with this hurricane. As a matter of fact, in the past, we were always lucky to just perhaps feel the winds and get some heavy rains from past hurricanes. However, Gustav got Baton Rouge and the surrounding areas pretty good. Though it was not a very strong storm (just a Category 3), it blew trees down like no one in Baton Rouge had ever seen before and caused more power outages than any catastrophe that Entergy Utilities had ever experienced.

Enduring a week of power outage, living on a small generator and a tiny ac window unit was difficult enough with two young kids, but trying to continue to run an international website business was one of the biggest challenges that I have ever had. Our poor postal workers were working in a pitch black office with flashlights accepting packages through a broken door wrapped in “CAUTION” tape.

It has been a very interesting situation, but one that makes you thank God for the wonderful people in the world. Kindness and teamwork just flourish at times like this – people giving and helping beyond anything that anyone would ever see in any given day.

We attempted to keep everything going as well as possible during this situation, however, if you find that you attempted to get in touch with us and were not successful, please try again. Things have pretty much gotten back to normal now, and we feel confident that we can get all answers to any questions that any mom might have.

Thanks for your patience and many prayers from so many that have help Louisiana get through another one.