Breastfeeding Moms Unite » Breastfeeding Infants

Craigslist Removes Mother’s Ad Offering Free Breast Milk

Melodie — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 01:40:47 +0000

A Vancouver woman, Becca Shears, was recently kicked off Craigslist for offering breast milk to mothers unable to breastfeed. She put it on for free and someone saw it and flagged it as unethical. She tried posting it three more times and it was flagged within minutes.

Now she is offering her breast milk for sale on Kijiji at $1.50 ounce, which is just enough to cover the costs of pumping, sterile storage and shipping.

Becca is a surrogate mother of twins due in the next 4-6 weeks. Her breast milk will go to them for the first month and after that she wants to provide it to a parent in need.

Health Canada and U.S. health officials caution moms against buying or swapping breast milk on-line, and while I agree some semblance of screening needs to be done, can we not start treating grown adults as people who are capable of making their own decisions?

If I couldn’t breast feed my baby I would still want her to have breast milk, and it would be a blessing to find a generous woman offering hers for free or even for the price Becca is now asking. I would talk to my donor in depth about her health background and I would request notes from her doctors to validate it. If this woman is already a surrogate, surely the parents of the children she is carrying have already done their own due diligence. This woman would expect the same from any other interested parties. And if she didn’t, I wouldn’t accept milk from her.

Breast milk is the best source of nutrition for an infant, followed by donor milk, then milk from a milk bank, and then formula. If you can’t offer your child the very best then why not second best? Why do officials make it so difficult for women to do what they feel is best for their kids. We don’t need a license to parent, but we need the health authority breathing down our backs if we want to share our breast milk?

Mothers across the country share breast milk, mostly behind closed doors, but it happens. Nelson, B.C. mother, Camara Cassin, has been relying on the generosity of other mothers to provide breast milk for her 15 month old daughter who suffers from Krabbe Leukodystrophy, which is a rare, degenerative brain disorder. Milk banks charge $2 ounce for breast milk. But the cost isn’t the only barrier to moms. Priority goes to babies in neo-natal intensive care units. All other moms, even the ones with sick babies need to wait in line. So this gift that Ms. Shears wants to bestow upon a needy family is one of the best gifts a person could ever give. I hope she finds a family to give it to. A part of me thinks she probably already has.

What Everyone Needs To Know About Infant Formula Ingredients

Melodie — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 05:08:19 +0000

It is a fact that infant formula can and has saved lives. But to say that formula is “just as good as,” or has equal benefits to, or is a safe alternative to breast milk is highly erroneous, and I think, dangerous.

A couple weeks ago I wrote a post called Understanding Nutritonism and The Problem With Infant Formula. In it I listed a few of the ingredients listed on a can of Similac formula (which were derived from another post). Even though some of them were pretty gross (a lot of oils, sugars and genetically modified organisms, [GMOs]), I only listed the food ingredients to help illustrate why nutrients need to be added to formula, but also to show that to be “nutritious,” scientifically-engineered nutrients have to be added. But would you only choose to take vitamins and drink water in place of real food? How can that ever replicate anything that comes from nature?

Since that post I wanted to learn more. I remembered from reading the Appendix in Ann Sinnotts’ Breastfeeding Older Children for my book review that it covers everything you ever didn’t want to know about infant formula. The rest of this post comes from the information in her book, including the direct quotes.

Did you know that breast milk substitutes are categorized as food and therefore do not fall under the same stringent regulations as applied to pharmaceuticals, even though they are both managed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)? According the the requirements from the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, which infant formula falls under, “all manufacturers of infant formula muct begin with safe food ingredients, which are either generally recognized as safe (whose ‘generally’ is that?) or approved as food additives for use in infant formula.” The FDA does not monitor what ingredients are generally recognized as safe.

As scientists attempt to replicate human breast milk as closely as possible, the concoctions they prepare become more and more questionable and complex.

Lactose, fructose, glucose, maltodextrose, carbohydrate (corn maltodextrin, modified corn starch ,corn syrup solids), protein (whey, casein, soy protein isolate), fat (soy oil, coconut oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, palm or olein oil*) – Usually sourced from GMO’s – vitamins, folic acid, pantothentic acid, calcium, minerals, phosphorus, iodine, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, and other nutrients, such as rice starch, dietary fibre and amino acids, as well as nucleotides, which is something scientists have been disagreeing about their efficacy on immune system development for 15 years.

Hm. Okay, any big surprises? There is lots of sugar because in order to modify cow milk the protein and mineral content must be reduced and the carbohydrate content must be increased, and this is done by adding sugars. Protein and fat are obviously important, but what about their sources? So much more could be said but let’s move on to one of the newer additives.

“Following the research that showed positive cognitive effects of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) docosahexaeonic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (ARA) found in breast milk, nutrition-scientists came up with the latest novel ingrediets: LC-PUFAs manufactured fromplant sources. These LC-PUFAs contain triglycerides not found in human milk and are thus structurally different to the LC-PUFAs in human milk. The DHA in infant formula is extracted from fermented microalgae, Cryptecoiunium cohnii, and ARA is extracted from soil fungus, Mortierelle alpina.” These are new to the food chain, therfore the long term effects of these ingredients are not known. In addition, the extracting method is concerning. Hexane, a petroleum-refining by-product solvent is used to extract the oil. It is also a known neurotoxin and air pollutant.

There have already been studies done on the plant based LC-PUFAs and concerns are continually raised, both on its efficacy and side effects. In addition, there is the ethics. For instance, why, if there are known concerns, does its addition to certain formulas raise the price of that formula?

There is more. Marsha Walker, an executive member of NABA (National Association of Breastfeeding Advocacy) has produced a fully referenced assembly of scientific studies that show a cocktail of chemicals in infant formula, such as:

Aluminum, silicone, cadmium, MSG, phytoestrogens, GMO soybeans, phosphate, phthalates and Bisphenol-A.

Water is a major ingredient, and if it is contaminated by micro-organisms, “a formula fed child is up to 25 times more likely to die as a result of diarrhea, than is a breastfed child.” Even in developed countries water can be contaminated. Chlorine by-products, arsenic, solvents, insecticides and weed killers are common. As an example of this, in a town close to where I live, a boil-water-advisory comes up usually twice or three times a year.

The manufacturing process of formula can cause bacterial contamination. There are dates of recalls going back some 20 years that are posted on NABA’s website. Additionally, there is always room for human error. I remember a couple years after my first daughter was born hearing about a recall because metal fragments were found in a can of formula. Factory workers can add too much or forget to add important ingredients. Labelling can be erroneous. One would think these things should never occur, but they do, and there are countless examples that I am choosing not to share just because I don’t want to overwhelm you.

This information is not readily available unless you work hard to seek it out, but I think that once you know it’s important to share it so others may benefit. I chose to write this for any parent who may be unaware of the full implications of formula feeding. Education is power and everyone deserves the ability to make an informed choice. If you are interested in learning any more, I encourage you to get a copy of Ann Sinnott’s book. This is where I got the information and it is largely referenced and comes with much more detail. If you choose not to get her book but still want to know more, I encourage you to do your own research.

If this has been helpful to you please share it so it may be helpful to others. Any feedback is also welcome. Thank you.

Smelly Babies, Scented Babies

Melodie — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 05:36:09 +0000

I just learned some interesting things about baby poop and I thought I would share them with you.

Did you know that most scented baby powders and lotions came on the market right around the time that formula feeding became more common? It was supposedly designed to mask the smell of formula fed baby poops! I wonder how they marketed that! (Wish I could read the fine print!)

Did you know that part of the reason breastfed baby poops don’t smell unpleasant is because your breast milk is designed to work in conjunction with your baby’s digestive system and intestinal bacteria? (Source: The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, 8th edition) Nature knows that the more attractive we find our babies, the more we want to be around them, and the more we want to be around them the better they grow and thrive. Of course that makes sense!

If your breastfed baby’s diaper does smell more unpleasant than usual it might be a sign that something is wrong. Perhaps they have a minor food allergy. Maybe they are getting too much fore milk or hind milk (which isn’t bad – this is just an indicator that your breast milk consistency is still working itself out). Or maybe nothing is wrong at all and you just ate a lot more garlic at dinner than you thought you did! The bottom line is that unless your baby is visibly uncomfortable there is no reason for you to worry.

The history of scented baby products and company desire to perfume our babies and mask their natural smells got me thinking about that new full page ad in Woman’s Day for Summer’s Eve douche. Have you heard about this? it basically says we should make our vaginas smell like lily of the valley in order to get that raise at work that we so deserve. Feminism at its finest, no? I just read a couple of angry posts about this ad at Sustainable Mothering – Should You Perfume Your Vagina to Get Ahead at Work? Let’ Summer’s Eve Know What You Think, and Owning Pink- Want A Raise? Wash Your Vagina. After reading them I couldn’t help but compare them to what I’d learned about the emergence of scented baby products around the time of formula usage increased.

Baby products may have come on the scene in a big way around that time, but is this what we think about when we wash our babies? Do we think about what we are doing when we wash ourselves with soaps for that matter? For most of us I think it is unlikely. Oh sure after a workout we might be purposely trying to wash the sweat out of our armpits but the rest of the time, why are we using soap? To wash ourselves right? Well, no, not really. Warm water on a washcloth is really all we need. It may not be all we want considering we live in the society we do and we are so used to making our bodies smell “clean” but it is all we need. And it is all our babies need to. Formula fed or not.

What do you think? Is this a fair comparison? Please share your thoughts!

It Doesn’t Matter How Big They Get

Melodie — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 04:39:46 +0000

Welcome to The Breastfeeding Cafe Carnival!

This post was written as part of The Breastfeeding Cafe’s Carnival. For more info on the Breastfeeding Cafe, go to www.breastfeedingcafe.wordpress.com. For more info on the Carnival or if you want to participate, contact Claire at clindstrom2 {at} gmail {dot} com. Today’s post is Wordless Wednesday: Breastfeeding Photos! Please read the other blogs in today’s carnival listed below and check back for more posts July 18th through the 31st!

“It doesn’t matter how big they get. When they’re in your lap nursing they’re still your baby.” (St. Loius Smart Mama as left in comment section of Questions For You About Nursing Your Toddler.

1 day old.

14 months old.

24 months old.

39 months old.

She’s still my baby.

Here are more post by the Breastfeeding Cafe Carnival participants! Check back because more will be added throughout the day.

Emily @ Baby Dickey—Wordless Wednesday: breastfeeding
Timbra @ Bosoms and Babes—Firsts Wordless Wednesday: Carnival Day
Kimberly @ Monkey Tales Mama Thoughts—Wordless Wednesday: Breastfeeding Photos
Melodie @ Breastfeeding Moms Unite!—Breastfeeding a Toddler: It Doesn’t Matter How Big They Get
Sara @ The Covered Wagon—Wordless Wednesday
Renee @ Just the 5 of us!—Favorite Breastfeeding Photos
BoobiesNBabies @ Num In Mind—Wordless Wednesday: DD2 Breastfeeding Photos
Lauren @ Hobo Mama—Wordless Wednesday: Breastfeeding by the waterfall
Whitney @ According To Waddlebug: The (Un)Balancing Act of Motherhood—Wordless Wednesday: Breastfeeding Goober Pie
Shary @ Mama Fish—Wordless Wednesday: Favorite Breastfeeding Photos
Anne @ Dou-la-la—Wordless Wednesday: Breastfeeding Cafe
Lexi @ Life As A Mommy—Boob Love
Claire @ The Adventures of Lactating Girl—Not Really Wordless Wednesday: First Breastfeeding Photo
Natasha @ Natural Urban Mama—Wordless Wednesday: My Fave Breastfeeding Pics
Kaitlin Rose @ Bring Birth Home—Wordless Wednesday – Family Nursing
And of course Breastfeeding Cafe’s Blog today is a slide show of 122 breastfeeding photos!—Maintaining Breastfeeding While Separated from One’s Baby—Often Known in the USA as Gainful Employment

Have You Ever Wanted To Nurse Someone Else’s Baby?

Melodie — Mon, 31 May 2010 05:30:01 +0000

Most breastfeeding moms at one time or another have heard a baby cry who wasn’t their own and felt their milk let down. This is kind of what I’m talking about today, but not exactly. Nor am I talking about nursing someone else’s child for money or because you’ve struck up a deal with someone whose child you will nurse when they are away or sick or in some other way unable to breastfeed their own child (cross nursing).

Today I am wondering if you have ever held someone else’s baby or toddler in your arms and wished you could nurse them.

I have.

I haven’t, but I have.

I think it’s comparable to hearing a baby cry and seeing that the mother isn’t responding to him. In your head you are shouting, “Nurse your baby, nurse your baby!” but the mom doesn’t pick up on your telepathy so you try sending her a different message, “If you aren’t going to nurse that baby I will!” In the end you have to move away because being around that poor baby is breaking your heart. It’s not about thinking the mom is neglectful or bad or having a perverse desire to breastfeed a baby not your own, it’s about caring that a child is really upset and wishing you could help.

Doing family daycare I get my share of upset little kids. Who miss their mommy or feel heartbroken because another child pushed them or took away a toy, or for whatever reason just need to cry. And not just cry out of frustration the way most kids do throughout the day for some reason or another, but cry those big alligator tears of toddler sadness that just break your heart. So you wrap them in your arms and rock them and tell them it’s okay and offer to read a story to calm them down. And your heart warms and melts like butter for these little souls, and you know if it was your own child you’d just nurse them. You feel that same hormonal instinct rise up but instead of doing the unthinkable you just give them one last tight hug and send them on their way.

You wonder if anyone else has ever felt like this, because of course you are in a rare position of being around lots of other people’s children all day long. Some other moms are too though. They may get a chance to be around nieces or nephews or a friend’s baby. So you wonder, do they get these feelings too? I’m guessing it might be something to do with the hormones that cause let down. Not only do our bodies respond to a baby’s cries by making milk, the hormones oxytocin and prolactin, the ones responsible for the rush of good feelings and relaxation during breastfeeding, are signaling us to want to feel good and relax. And it feels good when a baby stops crying, doesn’t it? You feel good and you feel more relaxed. So is it weird to feel this way or is this just a product of our maternal biology?

What do you think?

Madonna and Child-Like Paintings Are Obscene Too?

Melodie — Wed, 26 May 2010 04:28:41 +0000

I was surprised when I heard Glenda’s story of not being supported by her Church family around her breastfeeding her infant daughter (with a nursing cover no less!), but I am usually never surprised when I hear about Facebook removing yet another breastfeeding photo or art piece. But I did come close when Kate Hansen sent me the details of Facebook’s removal of her three “Madonna and Child Series” portraits. It made me wonder, would Facebook remove a classic Madonna nursing baby Jesus painting? Have they? Do they really consider Mother Mary obscene? How far are they willing to go with these inane policies?

Kate Hansen is a British Columbia artist who after the birth of her son in 2007 was inspired by her own experience of childbirth and motherhood to create art. By 2008, after the birth of her daughter she had also determined that she would accompany a series of mother and child portraits, “The Madonna and Child Series,” with the mother’s birth story.

"Gladys and Elizabeth" by Kate Hansen

Her portraits are done with conte crayon and accented with a gold leaf halo. They were made with reference to portraits of the Virgin Mary with child from the 15th century, as well as an early 20th century revival of the practice by such artists as William Adolphe Bouguereau. She got the idea for the patterned design inside the “Gladys and Elizabeth” portrait from cutting paper snowflakes with her son.

"Krista and Colum" by Kate Hansen

Three of her portraits are of mothers breastfeeding their children. Kate wanted to capture the joy, awe and reverence that surrounds a breastfeeding mother by depicting them in the same fashion as the Mother Mary portraits of the 15th century. Due to the purity and innocence that comes through in her work, it was surprising to her and many others when Facebook removed these works.

"Krizstina and Finbar" by Kate Hansen

Of course, I’m not really surprised by any breastfeeding photos or artwork that Facebook takes down anymore. A woman could be wearing a baby completely covered by a nursing shawl and just say she’s breastfeeding and get her photo taken down and I wouldn’t be a tad bit surprised, but I digress.

She says:

I posted one of them on a figurative artists group on facebook, and was surprised to see that it had been removed on March 27th, 2010. I had already posted two more portraits, and I went ahead and reposted the one in question, thinking it must have been a glitch. My new artwork was removed on March 28th, and then on March 29th the re-posted portrait was removed as well. I reposted all three in a row, as a kind of experiment, and then I received the following letter in by email:

Hello,

You posted an item that violated our Terms of Use, and this item has been removed. Among other things, content that is hateful, threatening, or obscene is not allowed, nor is content that attacks an individual or group. Continued misuse of Facebook’s features could result in your account being disabled.

If you have any questions or concerns, you can contact us at warning@facebook.com from your login email address.

The Facebook Team

These actions have resulted in a number of guest features on radio talk shows as well as newspaper interviews and articles all over the country, as well as another deletion. Facebook deleted her again on May 13th after telling the Toronto Star it had been an accident! All this press has a lot of people talking about Kate Hansen’s work. Some people are discussing art censorship while others are discussing breastfeeding. More specifically they’re discussing breastfeeding in public.

Kate Hansen: Artist - Gallery Shot

Kate’s feels that “the treatment of my breastfeeding subject matter by facebook is indicative of the very high expectations that society holds for mothers. Mothers are expected to breastfeed, every health organization tells us it’s the best choice, yet images of women breastfeeding are treated with hostility and distain. Women are treated badly when breastfeeding in public. The result is an impossible ideal of motherhood that no mother could possibly meet.”

This got me thinking. She’s right about the impossible ideal of motherhood that no mother could possibly meet. It’s almost right up there with trying to meet the ideals of the Virgin Mother herself, which she admits that in the birth stories, she wanted to draw some parallels between our own ideals of what a mother should be, and the cultural ideal of motherhood, symbolized by the Virgin Mary. She wanted “simultaneously to honour motherhood, in all the glory of its imperfection,” and this to me, brings the whole story, her beautiful idealistic artwork, and Facebook’s ridiculous obscenity policies, full circle.

Except Facebook doesn’t even want us mothers to be like The Virgin. Unless we’re wearing sexy garters and have lots of cleavage coming out of a lacy bra. C’mon Facebook! I mean seriously!!!

Images courtesy of Kate Hansen. Information based on artist’s statement and personal communication.

For more information and to see some more wonderful art, please see the Kate Hansen Art website.

When To Send Your Nursling on an Overnight

Melodie — Mon, 03 May 2010 04:20:10 +0000

My youngest daughter who just turned three, spent her first night without me this weekend. My husband and I just celebrated our fifth anniversary and wanted to have an overnight without the kids so my mom watched both of them. It has been a long time coming, and my youngest has been ready for quite awhile. That being said, it only went okay. I don’t think first nights without mommy, no matter what the age, are easy for any child. Especially when they bed share. Especially when they breastfeed.

The first time my oldest daughter had an overnight, she was 10 months. It didn’t go well at all. In retrospect, it was way too early for her, and as a first time mom I didn’t fully take into consideration the things that I should have. She didn’t have another overnight until she was 2 1/2 and I was in labour with my second baby. That one was much more successful.

Is there a “right” age for a breastfed child to spend an overnight without its mother?

I think it depends on each child, but if this is something you have been wondering about there are some factors I think you should consider.

Your child’s age. Call me an extremist, but I don’t think a newborn should be away from his or her parents overnight except under extreme circumstances i.e., hospitalization. Babies need to be close to their mothers at all times to promote a healthy attachment.

The first six months of exclusive breastfeeding is also a time you might want to consider staying home. Especially if you are providing night time breastfeedings, going away for more than one night can affect your milk supply as well as lead to painful engorgement, which in turn can lead to mastitis. Once your child is eating solids and is used to being away from you for longer periods of time, you can expect a more successful overnight.

Does your child sleep through the night? If she does then you’ll likely feel more comfortable leaving her. But if she isn’t in her own bed or doesn’t get her regular bedtime routine (or it’s given by someone else) things might not go as well as planned. Babies like familiarity just like the rest of us.

How much does your child breastfeed at night? When considering leaving your child overnight with someone, the less, the better.

Will your baby take a bottle? If you are a pumping mom your nursling will be used to taking a bottle. But is your baby used to taking a bottle from the caregiver you are leaving him or her with? Maybe you pump milk for your child during the day but then nurse through the night. Maybe you breastfeed during the day but let your partner bottle feed your baby at night. It will likely be easier to leave your child, knowing that your milk is available to him, but you also need to know your child and whether or not he will take it from the person you are leaving him with.

Your caregiver. Is your baby familiar with the caregiver? Is she comfortable with the caregiver? Is your child easily comforted by this person? Is your caregiver capable of administering to the needs and wants of your child? Does she know how much breast milk your child consumes from a bottle per feed? (it will be different – less – from the amount a formula fed baby drinks). And most importantly, are you comfortable leaving your child with this person?

Your child’s temperament. My daughter used to wake up ten times a night so basically I didn’t sleep for two years solid. Which is why, at 10 months into motherhood, I needed a break. So my husband and I took her into the city where my mom lived and chose to stay in a nearby hotel. I put her down at 8:00 and then left, only to return at 11:00 to nurse her back to sleep. The next morning I called my mom at 7:30 and drove over there to nurse her again. I didn’t get much extra sleep, I was too exhausted to really enjoy a night out with my husband, my daughter woke up every hour on the hour like she did at home, and my mom didn’t get any sleep either. It was a complete wasted effort and I felt guilty about it to boot. So if your child wakes up a lot during the night, cries inconsolably without a boob in its mouth, or presents any other difficult challenges, you might want to consider staying home so you don’t wind up traumatizing your child, your caregiver, or yourself.

Your needs and comfort level. Do you really want to have an overnight without your child or are you being pressured? Is it really that hard to say no to your partner or your girlfriends? Or to your enthusiastic, well meaning in-laws? Do you have to go on this business trip? Can your needs for “me time” be met during the day by having your partner or a friend watch you child for a few hours during nap time?

You know your child better than anyone else, so only you will know if your nursling is ready to have an overnight without you. I know families who have had their infants stay with grandparents while the parents went to Las Vegas for the weekend, and I know families whose six year old has never slept outside the family bed.

At what age did your breastfed child have their first overnight? How did it go? If your child has never had an overnight away from you, why? What are your thoughts on this subject? I’d love to hear from you!