The Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog

Have a story to tell?

I love posting personal breastfeeding stories on this blog, and would like to publish more.  So, consider this your invitation to be a guest blogger and share your story of overcoming a breastfeeding challenge.  I'm particularly interested in experiences such as:

• tandem nursing
• induced lactation
• adoptive nursing
• relactation
• breastfeeding multiples
• breastfeeding after breast reduction or augmentation
• breastfeeding babies with health or developmental issues

If you've got a story to share, send me an email describing your story.  There's no deadline, and the length should be no longer than 500 words. 

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Nursing in a Hot Sling.

A few months ago I invited Meg, our local babywearing expert, to the breastfeeding support group I run to teach us how to nurse babies while carrying them in slings.  Meg runs babywearing workshops at a local store called A Child's Garden and runs a local online group of babywearers.

Here's her explanation of how to nurse in a Hot Sling, with a little 'help' from her daughter Aviva.  You're going to have to excuse my filming.  Not the best quality, but I hope you'll get the idea.

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Breastfeeding and the law.

A few months ago Mothering Magazine had an excellent article on breastfeeding in public and the law, written by Jake Marcus.  The cover of that edition is to the left, with Emily Gillette on the cover.  Mothering has put that article up on their website, so you can check it out even if you're not a subscriber.

The topic of nursing in public and the law is one that confuses a lot of people.  I thought that Jake explained very clearly why laws protecting the right to breastfeed in public are needed:

There are no laws in the US forbidding breastfeeding outside of the home, and only two states in which laws place any limitation on the way in which public breastfeeding may be done. However, in the absence of a law establishing and protecting the right, a woman who breastfeeds in a public accommodation—a privately owned place open to the public, such as a restaurant or shopping mall—might lawfully be asked to leave, either by the owner or in accordance with the owner's instructions...

A basic maxim of American law is that a right without a remedy is no right at all. In plain terms, this means that although you may have a "right" to do anything not otherwise forbidden by law, if you do not also have a legal protection against someone interfering with that right, your ability to exercise it may be limited.

Mothering is also making available a cut-and-fold pocket guide to breastfeeding in public in the U.S., including notes on the TSA policies regarding bringing breastmilk on board airplanes. 

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The 12th Carnival of Breastfeeding: A book for everyone on your list.

Welcome to the twelfth Carnival of Breastfeeding! This month, in time for the holidays, we're bringing you reviews of breastfeeding/parenting books and videos.

If you're in the market for other breastfeeding products, check out past posts on best gifts for nursing moms, and breastfeeding gifts you'd bring to a baby shower. 

I started out this post with the intention of writing about one video, but I had too hard a time narrowing it down.  So here is my shopping list for many of the moms on your list.  Be sure to check out the posts from other bloggers below (updated throughout the day)!

For the pregnant mom:  In the past I've recommended The Nursing Mother's Companion, and I still love it, but there is a new edition of Dr. Jack Newman's The Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers, and I'm a big fan.  Both books are comprehensive.  The Nursing Mother's Companion is better organized for quick reference, but Jack Newman's book has more interesting editorial content.  For the mom who wants her breastfeeding information with a dose of humor, check out Andi Silverman's Mama Knows Breast, which I just reviewed. 

For the working/pumping mom:  No surprise here that I love The Milk Memos, by Cate Colburn Smith and Andrea Serrette.  You can see my review here.  This book is a wonderful mixture of practical advice and personal accounts of working and pumping.  Psst...look for a podcast and give away related to this book soon. 

For the stay-at-home mom:  For the mom who gets asked "what do you do all day?" or "when are you going back to work?" I'd recommend What Mothers Do, Especially when it Looks like Nothing by Naomi Stadlen.

For the crunchy breastfeeding mom:  The Nursing Mother's Herbal, by Sheila Humphrey, is an excellent guide to herbs and breastfeeding.  It includes information on herbs for low milk supply, thrush, and a whole host of other breastfeeding problems.  It also discusses great home remedies for different breastfeeding problems, and gives a nice overview of complementary and alternative therapies.

For kids:  Mama's Milk, by Michael Elsohn Ross, is a wonderful and simple picture book which shows different mammals, including humans, nursing their young.  You can read my review here.  It looks like a Spanish version is due out soon.  I'm still hoping for a board book version.

For the La Leche League Leader:  La Leche League celebrated its 50th anniversary this year, and to commemorate the event the organization published The Revolutionaries Wore Pearls.  This book chronicles the history of LLL and its founders, and is presented like a scrapbook, with newspaper clippings and family pictures.  It's fun reading that makes you grateful to be parenting today.  I'll post a more detailed review soon.

For the lactation consultant:  There is a new DVD out which I think will revolutionize the world of breastfeeding:  Baby-Led Breastfeeding, by Dr. Christina Smillie and Kittie Frantz.  It shows baby after baby sliding down the mother's chest and self attaching.  Many of the babies filmed have had significant latch problems.  I'd love to be able to post a clip.  Another new publication which your lactation consultant would love is Supporting Sucking Skills in Breastfeeding Infants.  I just got my copy and so far it's great.

Finally, for your snarky mom friend:  Hatched: The Big Push from Pregnancy to Motherhood, is one of the funniest books I've seen in a long time.  It features little posed fake chicks with hilarious captions.  One picture shows a playground scene, with two groups of moms.  The caption says, "Ramona felt like it was high school all over again.  The cool moms, a.k.a. the Breast-Feeders, staked out their territory near the swings.  The outcasts, a.k.a. the Similac Sisters, were relegated to the sandbox."  Everyone gets skewered here, so it's a gift for a friend with a good sense of humor.  And be sure that the gift recipient is a parent - no one else could fully understand.

Check out these posts from other carnival contributors (updated through the day):

• The International Breastfeeding Symbol Blog reviews The Baby Book and Unconditional Parenting
• Hobo Mama reviews Our Babies, Ourselves (one of my favorites!)
• Mama Knows Breast reviews bOObs: A Guide to Your Girls
• Breastfeeding Mums reviews many books, including The Breastfeeding Cafe
• On School Street reviews Blindsided by a Diaper: 30 Men and Women Reveal How Parenthood Changes a Relationship
• Tales of Life with a Girl on the Go reviews the children's book The Best Gifts
• James and the Giant Moose reviews Having Faith
• The True Face of Birth reviews Mama Knows Breast
• Breastfeeding 1-2-3 reviews Baby Matters: What your Doctor May Not Tell you about Caring for your Baby
• Crunchy Domestic Goddess reviews the video What Babies Want

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A day at work at Mothering.

Here's a wonderful slideshow of a day at work at Mothering, featuring several breastfeeding moms and babies.

Seeing the older kids playing reminded me of going to my friend Anna's parents' workplace - also a magazine - after school.  We used to hang out for the afternoon, reading on the bean bag chairs, snacking, and playing on the shag carpet.  Can you tell that this was the '70s?  Her mother was the children's book editor and had piles and piles of advance copies which we could read.  It just hit me recently how special that was, and how rare it must be today. 

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Thankful.

Here's one thing I'm thankful for:  our farm share.  We're members of an incredible farm which not only supplies us with fresh organic vegetables, eggs, flowers, and other produce for much of the year, but in the last five years has provided over 900,000 pounds of food to the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.

The farm just closed for the year a few weeks ago (just ahead of a snowstorm this week, actually), but here are some pictures from this summer.

We go weekly in the summer to pick up our share, pick vegetables and flowers, and feed the chickens.  I've learned to plan meals around the produce that we get from the farm, and my husband has stocked our freezer with pesto from the basil he and my son picked. 

Many of the items for sale are marked with the distance the item traveled (i.e. our eggs might be labeled "10 miles"  because they came from a farm 10 miles away), and there are usually cookies and 'pedal powered' corn muffins for sale.  All summer we have bouquets like the one shown here.

This week the shareroom was turned into a Thanksgiving store, and I stood in line to buy organic cranberries, squash, and fifteen (yes, fifteen) farm-made pie crusts (0 miles) which we'll use for pies and quiches this winter.  We'll be thankful for the farm this winter every time we take one out of the oven.  Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

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Book review and interview: Mama Knows Breast

Since starting this blog I've been fortunate to get to know Andi Silverman, whose book, Mama Knows Breast was published a few months ago.  Below are my thoughts about the book, as well as a mini-interview with her.

There are lots of reference books out there about breastfeeding.  Not enough to fill a bookshelf, but enough to make a good crash if they all fall off your nightstand at once.  Not that I would know.

So, what sets Andi Silverman's Mama Knows Breast apart from the stand-bys like the Womanly Art of Breastfeeding and The Nursing Mother's Companion? 

Mama Knows Breast is witty, concise, and down to earth.  It takes a pop culture approach to breastfeeding, consistent with the spirit the publisher, Quirk Books, whose motto is Irreverence + Reference = Irreference.  Breastfeeding, and parenting in general, is such natural territory for humor, that it's surprising that most books pass up the opportunity.  We are, after all, talking about poop, gas, and leaking breastmilk. 

When I read a breastfeeding reference book I'm primarily concerned with two things: the accuracy and scope of the information, and the the ease of use - meaning how easy it is to find information on nipple pain at 2:00 am.  I found the information to be solid, and for a small book Andi has covered the bases.  It's not encyclopedic, like The Nursing Mother's Companion, and you won't find much on topics like extended nursing, but it covers the bases.   And since there are so many good online resources available, it's probably enough to get most mothers started.  It's simply presented, with a good index, so it passes the ease of use test, too.

Mama Knows Breast is a great book for a mother who wants to know the basics, presented in a fun and non-threatening manner.  It may be particularly good as a shower gift for a pregnant friend who is feeling a bit squeamish about breastfeeding, since the illustrations are so attractive and the tone is so hip and down-to-earth.  It's not a book for the mom who needs to know everything about breastfeeding - you know, the mom who writes down every feeding (L or R?) for months and months, or for the committed attachment parenting mother. 

There was one section of Mama Knows Breast that made me a bit uncomfortable.  One is a section in which Andi lists the ten best and ten worst things about breastfeeding.  Some of the things she lists, such as sleep deprivation, are not necessarily breastfeeding problems (I know formula feeding moms who don't get much sleep either) or have solutions.  However, I also know that more information is usually better, and that preparing mothers for things that can be hard is far better than pretending they don't exist.

Here is a quick interview with Andi on her book:

Why did you devote a whole chapter to sex and relaxation?  Actually, I really just want to know why you included the sex part.

Before we have kids our breasts are part of our sexuality.  We buy sexy bras.  We see advertisements of half-dressed models all over the place.  So it can be hard to make that psychological shift from form to function.  Breastfeeding is a whole new way of looking at your breasts.

Post-weaning breast obsession.

I know that there are worse problems to have, but my son is a little preoccupied with my breasts (a.k.a 'the mi-mi's). 

He weaned quite a while ago with no protest, after some pretty darn extended nursing, but he still tries to cop a feel pretty regularly.  It's usually when we're snuggling, and he kind of tries to hold one breast between his hands.  Sometimes he smushes his face up against it.

Sometimes I joke around and say 'want to nurse?'  He'll say yes with a silly grin, and I'll pretend to lift up my shirt.  Then he'll say "THAT'S DISGUSTING!" and run away.

What have I done?

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The Motherwear Pledge: What have you done in 2007 to support breastfeeding?

Back in January many of us signed the Motherwear Pledge - a list of things which we can do to support breastfeeding.  Roughly 1,000 of you signed up to do three of the ten things below, and I've been keeping track through a poll (may take a few seconds to load). 

I know that many of you have done three of the things below, and some have done more.  Many of you came up with your own ideas for supporting breastfeeding, too.  So I thought I'd check up on how it's going and also record my progress so far.  Tell us what you've done in the comment section!

Say something supportive to a woman you see nursing in public. I got this one done in January at a restaurant (see the comments section of this post for the story).

Thank someone who is/was an important source of support to you during breastfeeding. Haven't done this lately.

Check that your pediatrician is using the new growth charts which use breastfed babies' growth as the norm.  I did this once but I don't think that I got the right answer.  Will check again next week at flu shot appointment.

Help a woman who is having breastfeeding difficulty.  Did this one many times at breastfeeding clinics and support groups.

Make a donation of any size to an organization that promotes breastfeeding. We donated to my local breastfeeding coalition.

Print out the International Symbol of Breastfeeding and post it somewhere public.  We'll be posting stickers with the symbol at local businesses soon. 

Talk to at least one pregnant woman, or a woman who hasn't had children yet, about the benefits of breastfeeding. Have done this one many times at breastfeeding classes.

Learn what your state's laws have to say about breastfeeding in public, pumping at work, and breastfeeding and jury duty.  Unfortunately that one's easy for me; they say nada.  We're trying to change that.

It you have breastfed, take about 1% of the money you saved by not buying formula (about $15 per child) and buy or do something for yourself to celebrate your success. Oh yeah.

Sign an e-petition or send an email or letter to your representatives on an issue related to breastfeeding or maternal/child health.  I've sent several emails and letters on nursing in public legislation in my state.

So even though it's the holidays and things are crazy, take a few seconds to see if you've done any of these things.  You may be surprised at how much you've accomplished! 

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Motherwear's winter line is here.

Winter is my favorite clothes season.  I love layers and cozy sweaters.  So moving from California to New England was just the excuse reason I needed to expand my wardrobe a bit. 

Motherwear's new winter line is just out.  There are more bamboo and other eco-friendly items than ever. 

I saw some of the photos in this catalog at the photo shoot I visited a back in September.  I've since had a chance to email with Vida and Karla, the models, and will share their breastfeeding stories soon.

My picks for this season are shown here.  To the left is the Holly Berry cardigan set, a cotton cable knit sweater which comes with a separate black nursing tank.  On the right is the Artisan's Top, made with bamboo fabric.  And below are the Perfect Cut dress, which has a matching baby outfit, and a the Bamboo Cross-Wrap camisole.

To check out  the winter line, you can shop the website, browse the online catalog (which shows the pages of the catalog you'd get in the mail), or order a free catalog.  Check out the promotions page for current special offers.

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