Eventually it comes to all breastfeeding relationships, the time to wean. The journey begins with introducing solids to your baby.

The safest, and most healthy way to introduce food to your baby is to wait until they are at least 6 months old, and showing signs of being physiologically ready for food.

You can then begin offering them soft, chewable finger foods to test out. Babies don’t need pureed food, as all it teaches them, is how to “drink” thick mush. Finger foods, are a much safer and healthier approach, as they teach your child to eat.

A good resource to learn how to wean your baby from breastfeeding to solid food is available here

A recent experience of mine, has prompted me to encourage breastfeeding Mums with latch problems, to have their child checked for a tongue tie.

A tongue tie, is when the frenulum (piece of skin under the tongue) restricts the tongue from protruding from the mouth. It can be tight, and require medical assistance, or slight, which is simply a cosmetic issue, and won’t affect the child in breastfeeding, or speech.

Tongue ties can affect breastfeeding, by preventing the suction required to get a decent attachment. Depending on the severity of the tie, it can usually be corrected by compensating for your baby’s position on the breast.

Severe ties can be corrected by a simple operation. If identified at birth, they are often “snipped’ by a doctor.

If your child has been diagnosed with a tongue tie, it’s worth while getting advice from a qualified lactation consultant. Most latch issues can be overcome with positioning, and patience.

Tongue tied babies CAN be breastfed!

The hormonal changes in pregnancy can cause nipple sensitivity,  and discomfort. This  can make breastfeeding challenging to say the least. There is little you can do about the sensitivity, but there are some strategies to undertake, to minimise discomfort.

1. Seek the advice of a qualified LACTATION CONSULTANT - your GP, is not necesarily the best source of nursing advice, a lactation consultant, is a trained professional specialist.
2. Insist on good positioning and attachment. Poor attachment will exacerbate any discomfort, and only lead to frustration on both yours and your bub’s part.
3. Feed after a warm shower, anecdotally, the warm water is very soothing, and can alleviate the sensitivity.
4. If cold or heat packs provide relief, use them!
5. Set up nursing ground rules, and don’t allow chomping, or talking whilst nursing. A simple “Nurse Gently”  and removal of the the nipple if your bub is feeding less than gently will soon get the message across.

If you intend to tandem nurse, or your older child has simply not weaned yet, then perservering, through the challenging timesis still providing you both with so many benefits.  Nursing ought not to be a negative experience, and if it’s getting you down, the best thing you can do, is seek the advice of a professional lactation consultant.

 Hypertension is often cited as a reason to induce a birth, and many mothers ferverently seek out ways to maintain healthy blood pressure especially towards the end of their pregnancy.

In addition to diet, and lifestyle changes (High Protein Diets, such as the Brewer Diet, have been shown to help maintain blood pressure) It is now recognised that breastfeeding will also reduce maternal blood pressure.

Methods: Sixty-six primiparae with normal deliveries were consecutively recruited. Blood pressure was measured at −5, 10, 30, and 60 minutes in connection with a morning breastfeed. Thirty-three women continued to measure blood pressure before and after breastfeeding for 25 weeks.

Results: Blood pressure fell significantly in response to breastfeeding 2 days after birth. The fall in systolic and diastolic blood pressure amounted to 8.8 (SD = 11.00) and 7.7 (SD = 9.3) mm Hg, respectively. During the 25-week follow-up period a significant fall of basal blood pressure (systolic, df = 3, F = 7.843, p < 0.001; diastolic, df = 3, F = 5.453, p = 0.002) was observed. The total fall in systolic and diastolic blood pressure amounted to a mean of 15 (SD = 10.4) mm Hg and 10 (SD = 9.7) mm Hg, respectively. In addition, blood pressure fell significantly in response to individual breastfeeding sessions during the entire observation period.

Conclusions: In conclusion, both systolic and diastolic blood pressures fall during a breastfeeding session, and pre-breastfeeding blood pressure decreases during at least the first 6 months of a breastfeeding period in a homelike environment. This study lends further support to the health-promoting effects of breastfeeding.

 W. Jonas, E. Nissen, A.-B. Ransjo-Arvidson, I. Wiklund, P. Henriksson, K. Uvnas-Moberg. Breastfeeding Medicine. June 1, 2008, 3(2): 103-109. doi:10.1089/bfm.2007.0031.

So another reason to continue to nurse your child is to help maintain a healthy blood pressure throughout your pregnancy.

How encouraging it is to see a post disdainfully critical of the media’s response to Salma Hayek’s continued breastfeeding.

Even more encouraging Salma’s extended nursing! What a wonderful role model she sets for new mothers to breastfeed their children.

Unfortunately, what is not encouraging is the general attitude towards extended nursing - with unfounded theories on over dependent children being bandied around.

As the mother of a breast fed 16month old, anecdotally I can assure any potential nursing mother that the last thing my son is over dependent on his mother - infact, he is a secure, confident and assertive young man

Congratulations Salma Hayek on giving your child the best nutrition available on earth And inadvertently becoming an inspirational role model for nursing mothers!

Types of Baby Slings

There are many types of baby slings, that will make nursing easy - the best styles for breastfeeding, are obviously the ones that allow you to carry your child on the front.

Ask Dr Sears has a resource page on how to wear various types of baby slings here

Wrap

A wrap style sling, is simply a long piece of fabric, that you tie in certain ways to carry your baby. Wraps are generally made from natural fabrics, with a light weave, making them comfortable and breathable. There are stretchy style wraps, and woven style wraps.

There are many different types of ties for wraps, and some are best for newborns, others better for toddlers. Wraps offer a lot of flexibility in terms of how you carry your baby.

Some examples of wraps are the Mobi Wrap, Hug a Bub, and Bali Breeze.

Pouch

Pouch type slings, put simply are a loop of fabric, doubled over to form a pouch. They come in a range of sizes, and it’s important to get one that fits comfortably, and safely around your baby.

They’re not adjustable, but they’re easy to get on and off.

A well fitted pouch sling lets you nurse comfortably and discretely.

Ring Sling

A ring sling, is a piece of woven fabric threaded between two rings, making a ‘pouch’ to carry your baby in.  Some ringslings are padded on the shoulders, and along one edge ‘the rails’. You fasten a ring sling by putting it over one shoulder, and adjusting the fabric through the rings.

Getting a good fit with a ring sling is important, and how you wear it determines it’s comfort.

The tail of a ringsling can be used to cover you if you wished to nurse discretely.

Wearing your baby in a baby sling, is a bonus for the nursing mum. Here’s why:

1. Baby Slings encourage skin to skin contact, which in turn helps stimulate your breastmilk supply
2. Babies in slings settle easier close to Mom’s heartbeat. Happy Baby, Happy Mumma!
3. Constant access to the breast ensures that your baby recieves the optimum amount of breastmilk to grow.
4. Constant access to the breast means less chance of infection such as mastitis.
5. Wearing your baby in a sling allows you to do other things, like housework.
6. Wearing your baby in a sling lets your baby experience the world from your point of view.
7. If you are shy, slinging your baby lets you discretely nurse.
8. If you have a toddler, and are not tandem nursing, wearing your younger child in a sling can limit jealousy.

There are many types of slings available for you to carry your baby in, and each one has it’s advantages.

Breastfeeding whilst you’re pregnant is definitely possible, but it does come with unique challenges. Take heart, you might be one of those lucky moms who breeze through it. At some point, it is likely you’ll experience a little discomfort, and possibly pain. There is a little to be done about it, so read on.

Physical Discomfort:

Nipple Pain - early nipple tenderness in pregnancy is very common, and there’s little you  can do about it. Ensuring you have good attachment with your older child, will lessen the pain. Other strategies you may find useful is cool packs, warm packs, and lanolin ointment.

That said, the pain is hormonal, and part of growing a new baby - generally it subsides by the 12th week. But in the meantime, local heat and cool will provide relief.

Morning Sickness: It’s fair to say, that when you can’t stomach food, nursing an insistent child is the last thing you’ll probably want to do. Some strategies, might be, nursing lying down, where you can both get a little rest.

Try and ensure your nutrition is good - eat well, small meals and often. Keeping your fluids up has been said to help too.

Anecdotally, breastfeeding has been said to relieve morning sickness. So you might be in for a bonus!

Emotional Challenges.

You may find yourself frustrated, overwhelmed, and even angry with your older child - this is normal. But it helps to communicate your feelings to an understanding listener. If this isn’t your partner or family, arrange a consultation with a qualified Lactation Consultant.

Remember your child is still young, and still learning too - being angry doesn’t help them, nor you. Addressing your feelings and talking them over with a sympathetic ear is the best approach.

Breastmilk, in a healthy mother, is made on a supply and demand basis - that is, the more the baby drinks, the more milk the mother will produce.

Many mothers are WRONGLY told that they have low supply issues. Low supply can only truly be diagnosed by an expert, and this is generally NOT a GP. A qualified Lactation consultant will be able to help you out with Low Supply diagnosis, using tools like Sucking Charts, and diaries.

Simply feeling empty, or not being able to express, are poor indicators of breast milk supply.

If you have truly been diagnosed with low supply, there are several things you can attempt to do to build your supply. In addition to prescription remedies.

1. Feed frequently, and don’t limit access to the breast. A baby sling might assist you with this, and feeding throughout the night.
2. Herbs that can be used are Fenugreek, Blessed Thistle, and Alfalfa
3. Expressing/Pumping may help
4. Rest rest rest, and  take good care of Mom!
5. Don’t use bottles, dummies or pacifiers
6. DON’T supplement with formula. (This will only decrease your supply further)

More information on supply, and what constitutes as low supply can be found here

Rarely a baby is born with either a full set of teeth, or a few “prenatal teeth” and many people believe that this will hinder the breastfeeding relationship.

However, if the baby is correctly attached, the teeth oughtn’t to make contact with the nipple ,as the tongue will cover the lower teeth, preventing the baby from biting, and the upper teeth can’t do too much damage. The main problem, with upper teeth might be the scraping discomfort on newly sensitive nipples.

This can be soothed with lanolin ointment - such as Lansinoh.

Prenatal teeth usually fall out when the first “proper” childhood teeth come through, sometime around 2 years of age in most children (Although, I have heard of children not losing prenatal teeth until 5 years of age)