Why no one breastfeeds anymore...

 

     I happen to have "liked" many parenting, breast feeding and birth pages on Facebook.  One thing I have noticed about ALL of them is that despite posting daily about normal behavior in babies, especially breastfed ones, about how to successfully breastfeed, and more,  at least once a day and sometimes as much as every hour a mom asks the page a question that baffles me. 


"My baby wants to eat every hour or two at night and I need sleep. Why is she doing this and how can I stop it"


"My baby is using me as a pacifier. What can I do?"


"My baby nurses once a day and I give him LOTS of solids and water and juice and bottles of formula while I am at work. My supply seems to be dwindling, how can I get it back up?"


"My baby is 2 days old and not acting satisfied after nursing, so, I let him nurse for a minute and then give him a bottle of formula. How can I get him to nurse more?"


These are just some of the questions I have seen and they all can let me know a few things about modern society that help me to know exactly why hardly anyone breastfeeds or why they quit early if they do.


 We are under the impression that a baby should eat quickly and remain satisfied for hours after a feed(like the modern formula fed counterpart), we believe that babies should go to sleep immediately once placed in a crib and should sleep soundly for most of the night(8 hours is good, but 12 hours is best), we believe that sucking beyond feeding and for comfort is for pacifiers only because breast aren't pacifiers(even though pacifiers ARE breast substitutes for when the breast isn't available to be suckled), we are under the impression that breastmilk isn't supply and demand and should turn on and off like like a faucet(even doctors and nurses don't seem to get this one).....


Then, you add in the fact that "breastfeeding is a private thing reserved for mom and baby alone and hidden from view of the world.", that daddies "absolutely CANNOT ever, ever bond with baby unless he gets to bottle feed at least a million times.", that " breasts are sexual ONLY and only for your husband to touch because a baby touching them is child porn and exposing he child to sex.", that "breastfeeding is GROSS and that formula is WAY easier and full of SO MANY vitamins and minerals that breastmilk doesn't have"., and "everyone and their mom and sister and grandma and best friends and dog had formula and are JUST FINE even though they all have breast cancer, hypertension, strokes, diabetes, asthma....and so on." .....


Every ad you see has a bottle fed baby, every show you watch has a bottle fed baby, every family you see in town is bottle feeding their baby in public, every doll you own has a bottle, every book you read has a bottle fed baby...


Your mom keeps telling you that baby isn't satisfied if he wants to eat every 2 hours and you should formula feed, your grandma thinks it's gross and tells you to formula feed, your hubby doesn't want you to nurse in front of ANYONE and wants you to formula feed, the doc thinks baby is a little lighter than average and wants you to formula feed, your best friends baby was formula fed and slept all night from day one(she also allowed baby to scream until it passed out from day one)...


So...If you have believed these things, saw these things, heard these things and were told these things....


It's no wonder we all quit. How could you not? It's just failure waiting to happen and IF, IF you happened to nurse beyond the first day, week, month or year...you deserve a standing ovation.  Think of everything you overcame. The obstacles are MANY. The help is few.


How can we counteract ALL this that is SO against breastfeeding? Can you think of some ways?

Gallery Of Extended Rear Facing Kids (Our Attempt At Making ERF The Norm)

Extended Rear Facing, meaning longer than one year old IS safer (http://themominformed.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-much-proof-do-you-need-and-how-much.html)


As of right now, the law here in the US states that you must keep your child rear facing until at LEAST One year old AND 20lbs. It does not say that you cannot rear face past One and past 20lbs. There is NO law that says they HAVE to turn forward at age one or 20lbs. That means the at One year old AND 20lbs, you child is at the BARE MINIMUM age and weight that they can be turned, it in no way means they must be turned. In fact, the AAP says that it is best if you can keep them until age 2 at the very least. 


Despite this, I still see TOO many parents turning kids early, or at one because they think it is the law, or because they think their kid under age one is "too long"/"too big" to rear face any longer. So, I wanted to create this posting to show OLDER and BIGGER kids rear facing and prove to the world that MOST kids CAN comfortably rear face way longer than everyone seems to think.


If you would like to add your child or know someone that would like to add theirs, please send the pictures and all info about the child's height, torso length, weight, age and carseat make/model/brand if possible to themominformed@gmail.com . 

Lorelei (10 months, 20lbs, 29 inches) and Eliza (3 years, 28lbs and 36 inches) 

rocking the Graco My Ride 65.~Nyssa

Morgan at 18 months old 24lbs 33in RF in a Graco MyRide

A few days after her second birthday. She is 30lbs 36in tall and still RF in the Graco MyRide

Riley Marie, 19 months!

Nathan, age 30 months, 30 lbs and 32 inches tall, 

rearfacing in a 2007 model Britax Boulevard

The next two pictures Nathan is 3 years 7 months, 38 lbs and 38 inches, 

Naomi is 13 months, 20 lbs and 28 inches, both rear facing in Radian XTSLs. 

Nathan is now 5 and forward facing, but Naomi is nearly 3 and 

still rearfacing as is her 1 year old sister Natalie

2.5 year old, Andrew, RFing in his Graco MyRide 65, 

enjoying a drink after playing hard at the park! 

He was 26.5 lbs in this picture, 34 inches tall. 

He's still rear-facing now at 28lbs and 36 inches tall. :)

Here's Grant! He's just over 12 months and 

just over 20lbs with NO plans to turn around! 

Pictured here loving his Diono Radian and all of its legroom!

Lyrik, 19 months old, in a my ride 65.  

The other seat is a britax frontier 85 

5 point harness for my 5 1/2 year old

Here are my RF pictures, my son stayed RF until he was 3yo and 35lb
and 37 inches long,
The picture at the Orange car show how you can have RF children in an
extremely small car, it is a Kia Rio, Plenty of room for mom and dad
too, he is 2.5 years old and 30lb there, the last picture he is
2years 9 months old and 32lb, the first picture he is 1year 4 months
old and probably 26lb

River is 2 years 8 months and 26 lbs and still rear-facing. 

She wears 3T clothes so she is pretty tall. 

Seth is 5 yrs 4 months and in a 5-point harness. 

He is 35lbs and wears 5T clothes so he is smaller. ;)

Justis RF at age 4. He is now 4 yrs 5 mos old and still RF

 3yr old, 32lbs, and 5 month old 17 lbs. RFing in Radians

Parenting Series: TTC

Yesterday's post was about what to do before you stat trying to conceive. Today's post is all about TTC(trying to conceive).




First things first if you paid attention to yesterdays post and followed every tip in it, you would know about charting and how your body works already. If not, let's get down to business shall we? 


THE most important step in TTC: CHARTING!!!!! I suggest buying the book "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" if you prefer to not buy a book, try their online site: "tcoyf", or try online tools for charting on sites like, "Fertility Flower", "The Birthing Site" or "Just Mommies".


This will all help you to know not only the best time for doing the BD(baby dance), but, how to recognize when ovulation is about to occur, when it has passed or when it doesn't happen at all. Keeping track of everything from menstrual cycle beginning, end, length, frequency, timing of sex, cervix position, basal temp and more can help eliminate guess work for you and the doctor and can signal potential problems along the way.


We'll start with the basics:


The first day of your period (Not spotting, but, the first day you bleed red blood) is Day 1 of your cycle. You will start counting from there. Mark this on the chart and mark every day, plus the flow on the chart (heavy, medium, light). 


Mark the consistency of your cervical fluid (Dry, Sticky, Creamy, Wet, Slippery/egg white)


Mark cervix position and how it feels(low/closed, mid/partial, high/open)


What is your basal temp(before you move, walk, talk, drink or get out of bed, take your temp at the exact same time in the exact same location(mouth, vaginal, rectal) and do this consistently to find your basal temp pattern)  Your temp should stay pretty consistent until just before and during ovulation. Your temp should dip slightly followed by a rise just before ovulation occurs and continuing until ovulation is over and your period is about to start(unless you are pregnant, it should stay elevated).


You should note when sex occurs.


All of this combined can help you to better understand your body and when the best time is to conceive. 


Another important thing to remember is to relax and not get too caught up in the process and make it clinical. Know that it can take months to years to become pregnant even if you are following everything. Don't give up or stress out. 


I hear tell that Mucinex is helpful in causing a women's body to create more EWCM(egg white cervical mucus) which is THE most fertile cervical fluid.


Do NOT use any lubricants or saliva in the vaginal area when TTC, those are both caustic environments to sperm. You CAN use "Pre-Seed" or actual egg white (although that grosses me out to even type that.) 


Like I also said in the last post, already be taking prenatal vitamins(make sure they contain at least 400mcg Folic Acid or more) and live as though you are already pregnant. No smoking, alcohol, drugs or foods that aren't allowed. Get fit or be trying if you are overweight, start eating healthier.


Having regular sex is the best way to get pregnant right away. Couples often try to time everything perfectly for ovulation but do not have sex when they think they are not ovulating. It is true that sex that is not within the time of ovulation will not result in pregnancy. However, because women do not always ovulate when they think they will, having sex three times a week will help a woman to cover her bases, so to speak, and not miss an opportunity to get pregnant.


 There are also potential ways to up your chances of having a certain sex baby. Now, it doesn't up it a lot and isn't guaranteed, but, it also doesn't hurt to try. In fact, this method when performed correctly has a 75% success rate. LOL Intercourse -Timed Gender Selection – In the 1970s, two doctors released two different books offering directions on how to conceive a baby with the gender of your choice. In 1971, Dr. Landrum Shettles and David Rorvik wrote “How to Choose the Sex of Your Baby,” and revealed that sperm with male (Y) chromosomes move faster than sperm with X (female) chromosomes but do not live as long.

To conceive a boy, have intercourse on the day of ovulation or one day after. To conceive a girl, have sex two to four days prior to ovulation.

Use any number of methods, such as:

• tracking your natural fertility signs such as: basal body temperature, your cervical mucus, and your cervical position

• using an ovulation predictor kit

• using an ovulation tracker/calculator

Shettles offers other tips for tipping the scales when it comes to conceiving a baby boy, too.

• Have sex in a position that encourages deep penetration to deposit the weaker “boy” sperm closer to the cervix

• When a woman orgasms, it changes the pH level in the vagina to be more alkaline, an environment where the Y-chromosome sperm thrive

• Create an alkaline or acidic environment for the sperm by douching with a special solution prior to intercourse

• The prospective father-to-be should drink coffee prior to intercourse

It is also said that man on top positions, keeping hips elevated and remaining in a lying down position for 30 mins or more after sex will also increase your chances of conceiving. 

I think that about covers it. Have fun baby making. :)