Blogging for Babies, Breastfeeding and Mothers

Many of you have probably heard about Facebook removing some breastfeeding photos from their website and actually threatening to close one mother's account because of her photos.

"The move has launched protests by Facebook members and pro-breast-feeding groups. Facebook officials told The Washington Post they are not against breast-feeding and refer to it as "beautiful," but photos that show nipples violate its terms-of-use policy." See full article http://tech.yahoo.com/news/nf/20081229/tc_nf/63768

The Facebook group "Breastfeeding Babies" is trying to post at least 2009 photos before New Year's Day. We welcome you to post your photos. If you are a member of Facebook, go to "Breastfeeding Babies," scroll down and upload your phots. The more the merrier. If you are not a member and prefer not to join, email your photos to debbie@thenewbornbaby.com and I will add them. Spread the word and let's see if we can reach our goal.

As we learn more about the human baby, we are sometimes surprised about the natural reflexes and instincts and their purposes. For years scientists thought that the stepping reflex was something left over from evolution. Now we know that the stepping reflex actually helps the baby find her way to the breast. Babies that are born to mothers that received no meds during labor can "crawl" to the breast and latch with little or no help from mom. Babies have the ability to do this for at least 12 months. If your baby doesn't crawl to the breast and latch by herself for her first feed, give her the opportunity on her next feeds.

Read more about "breast crawl."

Babies are born to breastfeed; mothers give birth to love and nurture with their own milk.

Are you struggling to produce enough milk for your baby? Are you going back to work and don't have enough milk stored up so you can relax and not stress out? Many mothers find themselves in these situations. There is a lot of information circulating the web about breastfeeding and milk supply, but which sources can you trust? The field of lactation is ever changing as more researchers take an indepth look at how breasts work and what drives milk production.

For years we have relied on herbal galactogoques as a simple way of increasing milk supply. It works for some, but not for all. Domperidone is a medication used for gastric reflux that as a side effect raises the level of prolactin thus increasing milk production for some women. But quess what works incredibly well: Hand expression.

Yes, good old simple hand expression-removing milk from the breasts mannually with just your hands, not a pump. Removing milk this way uses positive pressure instead of negative pressure like a pump. I have seen a mother's milk supply go from drops in one breast to producing 8 ounces a day from that same breast. That is a huge return on investment! Dr. Tina Smillie has also seen significant increases in milk supply through hand expression.

Moral of the story? If you want to increase your milk supply, hand express as frequently as you can and watch the results.

Learn how to hand express.