Articles

Nearly all nursing mothers worry at one time or another about whether their babies are getting enough milk. Since we can’t measure breast milk intake the way we can formula intake, it is easy to be insecure about the adequacy of our milk supplies. The “perception” of insufficient breast milk production is the most common reason mothers give for weaning …

Advantages to baby Advantages to mother Advantages to the family Advantages to society   With nearly 79% of women in the United States currently choosing to breastfeed their infants  (as opposed to around 20% in the seventies), it is obvious that the majority of women are aware of the many benefits of breastfeeding. When asked why they chose to nurse …

Some mothers nurse several babies and never experience plugged ducts or mastitis (breast infection), while others have recurrent episodes. There are many reasons for these problems to occur, but treatment is essentially the same: rest, apply heat, breastfeed often on the affected side,  and use antibiotics only when medically necessary. A plugged, or clogged, duct is a sore, tender lump …

  The question “When will my baby start sleeping through the night?” is one that I dread the most. Like most health professionals, I like questions that have easy answers, and this one doesn’t. I do have opinions about how to handle sleep problems, based on my experience with nursing six children, and over 35 years of helping nursing moms. What …

Sore nipples are one of the most common reasons new mothers give for discontinuing breastfeeding, often during the first week of nursing. This is quite unfortunate, for nipple soreness is almost always a short-term problem, and can usually be corrected in a matter of days. Breastfeeding isn’t supposed to hurt, but the fact of the matter is that most mothers …

There are many situations in which a mother may need to pump milk from her breasts. Some are short term – for example, occasional separations; mother on medication incompatible with breastfeeding;  breast engorgement; severe nipple soreness; or increasing milk supply. Some are long term:  a premature or hospitalized infant, or regular separations such as those encountered with returning to work …

Mothers are often told to wake their newborn for feedings every two hours, and there is a very good reason for this. Newborns are notorious for sleeping through feedings, and it is easy to assume that a sleepy baby is a full, satisfied baby. This is not always the case with newborns (I define newborns as babies two weeks old …

Breast fullness is a normal part of lactation which nearly all women experience when their milk ‘comes in’ 2 – 5 days after birth. This feeling of fullness, which may be accompanied by a feeling of heaviness, tenderness, and warmth, is caused by swelling of the breast tissue as blood, lymphatic fluid, and milk collect in the ducts as the …