Ask Anne… Question: I am still breastfeeding my eleven month old who nurses several times a day, but she isn’t interested in eating solid foods.  I love breastfeeding her, and it seems like the natural thing to do rather than force her to eat several meals a day.  I want to know if it is okay to breastfeed her and only …

Ask Anne… Answer:  In a word, “yes”.  A five month old baby doesn’t need any food besides breast milk. Baby food is  less nutritious than breast milk, so you are  substituting an inferior food for a superior one. Even if your baby was six  months or older, two jars of food with cereal is way too much. The baby food …

Ask Anne… Question: My baby just went for her two month checkup. I am exclusively breastfeeding her, and she is healthy and gaining weight well. My pediatrician told me to give her Vitamin D drops every day, and I’m wondering if that’s necessary. Why would she need anything besides my breast milk? Answer:  Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin produced by …

I always planned to nurse my babies, but I secretly worried that I wouldn’t have enough milk because of my breast size.  They did get a bit bigger during my pregnancy (AA to B cup), but it seemed impossible that my small breasts would be able to produce enough milk to feed a baby. It was a big relief to me to discover …

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 …

I have been Exclusively Pumping (EP) for 32 months at the end of September. My story in a nutshell is my daughter was born 6 weeks premature, she was in NICU for 2 weeks but she developed oral aversions due to being intubated. I tried to breastfeed but she would scream if anything touched her mouth so I started pumping …

Ask Anne… Question:  How long does it take for food I eat to get into my breast milk? If I have chicken, rice and a salad for dinner, then when would I expect to have that show up in my milk? Answer:  I can’t tell you exactly how long it takes for the food you eat to affect your breast milk, because there are so many variables involved, including how often you nurse, the type of food you eat, and your individual body chemistry and metabolism. An average (and this is only an …

Ask Anne… Question: I plan to breastfeed exclusively for six weeks. However, I plan to go back to work after my six weeks are up, so I want to pump and put my breast milk into a bottle only. I’m not sure how to introduce the bottle to my infant, and don’t know how long I should wait before I …