Posts by hotharmony

I drank organic red raspberry leaf tea to help me regulate my periods before becoming pregnant.  It's a great tea for any general women type issues and is full of vitamins and minerals.

I want to second the KellyMom.com site, unfortunatly in this country the pediatricians and doctors don't get much education when it comes to breastmilk most of their nutritional education comes from formula companies.  If you encounter any problems they also have a great directory on their site for lactation consultants.

The comment on the doctor not wanting her to diet while breastfeeding is also been disproved.  Once upon a time they used to think it would release toxins into your milk, that is not true.

Good luck, it's one of the greatest gifts you can give your baby.

Wow that is amazing Congratulations!!!!

The AAP says no food are to be introduced besides formula or breastmilk before 6 months of age and Breastmilk/Forumula should make up over half of their calorie intake until they are one.

Signs that indicate baby is developmentally ready for solids include:

* Baby can sit up well without support.
* Baby has lost the tongue-thrust reflex and does not automatically push solids out of his mouth with his tongue.
* Baby is ready and willing to chew.
* Baby is developing a “pincer” grasp, where he picks up food or other objects between thumb and forefinger. Using the fingers and scraping the food into the palm of the hand (palmar grasp) does not substitute for pincer grasp development.
* Baby is eager to participate in mealtime and may try to grab food and put it in his mouth.

Breastmilk/Forumula are specially formulated to have the right balance of fat and proteirn for the growing brains of little ones.  They need a lot and a lot of calories.

Most food isn't calorie dense enough to provide babies with the proper nutrition. This is a great chat to let you know how many calories per ounce are in many common foods that are fed to babieshttp://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/ba byfoodcalories.html

I agree you could and probably should gain more.  There has been numerous studies that show a correlation between how much and what a mother eats during pregnancy and pre-eclampsia and low birth weight babies.

In addition to increasing your calories to around 2400 I would suggest following the Brewers Pregnancy Diet and focusing on eating 100 grams of protein a day or more.

6 months is often a time with lots of waking.  They are learning all kinds of new milestones, teething and becoming more aware of their own bodies.  I would say to read "no cry sleep solution"  and remember that this too shall pass.

It's so great you have made it this far!

I would just mention that breast milk or formula should be the main source of nutrition for you LO for the first year of life according to the AAP.  So I would definatly not do away with the bottle and nursing at the same time that way you can continue to provide the most complete nutrition for the first year.

"Infants weaned before 12 months of age should not receive cow's milk but should receive iron-fortified infant formula."

http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/cont ent/full/pediatrics;115/2/496#SEC6

I would suggest first changing the membranes on your pump and seeing if that will make a difference in your pumping output.  That would be the easiest and quickest way to increase your supply.

If that doesn't work you can take fenugreek, you will want to take 4 620mg pills 4 times a day, and start drinking mothers milk tea.  And if you really want to increase your pump output I would switch to a double electric pump.

Then I would remember that your baby should only need 19-30oz a day for the whole days worth of milk.  In most cases if your sick you will still be able to nurse, and if you don't want to nurse you will still need to express milk to avoid plugged ducts.

As far as the advice for extended feeders, my LO is about the same age as yours but he has teeth and has only bit me once.  When he did I pulled him very close so smoosh his face into my breast and block his breathing forcing him to open his mouth to breath.  Once he let go I placed him down, he got very upset but once he calmed down a little I put him back to the breast and he hasn't done it since.

He has tried a few times, it's never when he is really hungry it's when he is just comfort nursing.

Babies can not nurse and bit at the same time so just watch her and if she slows down and looks like she is getting distracted try to end the nursing session.

I can't give you any advice as far as nursing in from of relatives or people who are uncofortable with nursing because I nurse everywhere and believe that the only way that breastfeeding is going to become comon place is if people get used to seeing it happen.  No one would say anything to you if you got out a bottle to feed your baby and that's a totally forein not natural object.

It took me 2 years of "not trying" and a little trying to get preggo after stopping the pill.  I was on for 9 years before that.

1800 is not enought calories to eat when you are pregnant!!!

You should add 300 to your burn meter not your eat meter.  You should be eating closer to 2000-2300 a day.

Pregnancy is not the time to try to lose weight, you should be focusing on eating high protein at least 100 grams a day and a low fat and proccessed food diet.  With lots of fruits and vegtables.

Please reconsider how many calories you are eating a day.

YAY for you breastfeeding you little babe, it's truely the best thing for you and the baby.

Breatfeeding in public might seem like a lot but I suggest practicing in front of a miror at home try some different positions and differnt top options to see what works best and makes you feel most comfortable.  Remember that you can see more boob than anyone else can on the outside.

I second getting a nice ring sling, you can also go to your local Le leche league meeting and those wonderful women can help you with hands on positioning and so forth.

Good luck and remember it gets easier as the baby gets bigger.

I feed them to my dogs, they love them and it helps make shiny coats.

Make sure you get a ton of protein at least 80grams a day and lots of water.  Often dehydration will get confused for hunger.

3 days post partum!!! GET OFF THE SCALE!

No one should be on the scale until at lest 3 weeks or more post partum and you should start dieting (if your breastfeeding) until at least 6-8 weeks depending how your nursing relationship is going.

Enjoy your new baby, you earned it.

Dr. Sears has a great book on getting your baby to sleep.  There is also this cool video about it on BabyCenter, http://www.babycenter.com/2_baby-sleep-the-se ars-method_1487508.bc.