Q and A

Ask Anne… Question: My six month old baby has the stomach flu. Her doctor says she needs to stop breastfeeding and drink Gatorade or Pedialyte until the nausea and diarrhea stop. The problem is that she wants to nurse even more now than she did before she got sick. She doesn’t understand why she can’t nurse to sleep like she …

Ask Anne… Question: I’m concerned about my nine month old baby nursing to sleep and during the night because I’m afraid that the milk will pool in her mouth and cause cavities and gum disease. It seems like such a natural thing to me to nurse to her sleep. Does breastfeeding cause cavities? Answer: There is no evidence that breastfeeding during …

Ask Anne… Question: is it normal to get headaches  while nursing? I didn’t have this problem when I was breastfeeding my daughter eight years ago. Answer: Headaches while nursing are an uncommon, but not abnormal occurrence. Headaches like migraines, which are caused by sensitivity to hormones, are usually less severe and occur less frequently during lactation. There are two basic types …

Ask Anne… Question: I have a darling three and a half week old baby boy and we have a problem that has me stumped. At least once a day he vomits after nursing He will seem to be content and then get extremely fussy and agitated, and then he  vomits  – in great quantity, it looks like around 4 oz …

Ask Anne… Question: I’m exclusively nursing my 5 month old baby. Is it safe to whiten my teeth? Answer:  Teeth whiteners are made of carbamide peroxide, which is a formulation of hydrogen peroxide – made of water with an extra oxygen atom. When you use any type of dental whitener, it’s recommended that you avoid getting excess amounts of the product …

Ask Anne… Question: My five year old recently had a case of chicken pox that made him miserable for two weeks. My one year old baby caught it from her big brother, but it’s only been a week and the spots are already disappearing. I’m not complaining, just wondering if the antibodies in my breast milk are helping her have …

Ask Anne… I’m a vegetarian, and I’m considering become a vegan. What effect will that have on breastfeeding? Answer: Overall, diets that include more fruits and vegetables and less fat are healthier than those containing lots of meat and sugar, and moms who make a conscious choice to become vegetarians or vegans are more likely to be health conscious than …

Ask Anne… Answer: There is no evidence to show that tattooing has any adverse effects on breastfeeding. Tattoos are created with a tool that uses a needle to inject colored dye into the top layer of skin. The ink does not transfer into the milk because the molecules are too big to get into the blood stream. Since tattooing is a procedure that …