When visiting a new mother and baby there should be a rule. A principle that is common knowledge within the community and which no one questions and everyone respects. Don’t ask to hold the baby.
UUp at the crack of dawn to try and get the timing of the baby’s nap to coincide with the plane taking off. But she, like a pet dog, knows there is something big afoot. She would rather walk around than eat breakfast.
At Sydney Airport: First send in handsome son-in-law to check-in counter. We get a big smile from airline lady and get assigned seats with lots of extra empty seats around us. Cool! Then when we hit the queue for border control with the little one in the lead, a nice official tickles her chin and hurries us […]
Just lately I’ve had a question from a couple of mothers through email and Facebook asking me what to do as their babies are now 6 months old and they are still exclusively falling asleep at the breast.
A paediatrician to one of them told her to stop this, and the other was told that ‘feed, play, sleep’ was some kind of gold standard to work towards as early as possible.
It’s perfectly okay for babies to continue falling asleep at the breast if you are both happy with it. There is nothing essential about separate sleeping and nothing biologically important […]
OOh no, Christmas is coming! Too much food and drink, Jingle Bells, presents under the tree. And lots of unsettled, howling babies. Most babies loath Christmas. Too many turkeys (like old dear Uncle Tom), parties, noise and excitement with mother’s attention sadly diverted towards feeding everyone and what to buy Auntie Susan.
New babies have emerged from a calm, dark womb where on a particularly interesting day, they will see the umbilical cord floating past. To a foetus that’s a big day!
At birth they are suddenly ejected into a busy world of lights, faces, and strange objects; of sounds and noise; […]
A few useful tips about introducing babies and toddlers to the wonderful world of water play and swimming.
II went through an interesting 2 weeks with Lara recently.
Nighttime just wasn’t fun. She would fall asleep, no problem, but then throughout the night she’d be unsettled, feeding almost every hour (sometimes every half hour) and fussing between feeds. She was also waking at around 1am to roll around, play with the blinds, bang her dummy against the wall and generally try and get the party started. It was exhausting. Out of 10, I would rate it about a 1 on the fun scale.
It was something of a comfort that at the same time a friend of mine was going through the exact same thing […]
“II am a breastfeeding, first time mum of a lovely and funny 7 1/2 month old. Cameron is teething like crazy (yet to get any chompers but all the signs are there) and we have been breastfeeding like crazy at night. I’m very interested in what is known about breastmilk as an analgesic but haven’t been able to find very much information on it. I was hoping you may be interested in sharing some on your blog some time.
Thanks for your science based and heartfelt based approach to baby rearing! We love it!!!”
What an interesting question! Particularly as I […]
II’ve had a question about the article that appeared in the ‘The Australian’ recently about the ‘build-up of chemicals in breastmilk’.
It comes from a report from Grandjean et al in the Environmental Science & Technology Journal on August 20th. See this reference for the press-release. It also contains the reference for the original article.
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/…/breastfeeding-may-expose-inf…/
Prof Philippe Grandjean is a world expert on the issue of industrial toxins in our environment. After a lifetime of work in the field in 2013 he published a book on the subject :“Only One Chance, How Environmental Pollution […]
When I was pregnant, I was confident that I was going to breastfeed my baby, and looked forward to having that relationship her (or him!) However, despite my training as a midwife and growing up in a household where the subject was discussed regularly at the dinner-table, I wasn't fully prepared for what lay ahead. Now, nearly 8 months on from that first feed after she was born I can look back and reflect on 5 things that I have learnt on my journey...
Gems from ILCA 2015 (No.1)
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As it is World Breastfeeding Week I think I should relate a gem from the International Lactation Consultants Association conference held last week in Washington DC.
Unencumbered by culture, societal and peer pressure, how long does biology tell us to breastfeed our young?
It seems reasonable to compare the timing of weaning in non-human primates, but as they have different lifespans, growth rates and times to mature we need to look at this […]
