Milk Production Cookie Recipe #2

Ingredients:

2 Eggs
1/2 cup Unsweetened Applesauce
1 cup Flaxseed Meal
1-1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 cup Melted Butter
2 cups Agave Nectar
3/4 cup Crushed Walnuts
2 cups Chocolate Chips
3/4 cup Raisins
4 tablespoons Water
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt
4 tablespoons Brewer's Yeast
3 cups Oats

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a bowl mix flaxseed meal and water until thoroughly mixed.
3. In another bowl mix flour, baking soda, salt, and brewer's yeast.
4. In another bowl mix butter and ONE cup of the Agave Nectar.
5. Add eggs to the nectar mix, stirring well after each one.
6. Add vanilla, stir.
7. Add the nectar blend to the flax and mix well.
8. Pour the nectar/flax blend into the large bowl of flour.
9. Mix in walnuts, chocolate chips, raisins, and oats.
10. After blending well, add applesauce and the last cup of the Agave Nectar.
11. Scoop onto sheets and press down lightly with a fork.
12. Bake for 13-14 minutes.

How to Safely Use and Prepare Infant Formula

I am all for breastfeeding! But I will never judge a mother for using formula. After my son was born, we were having trouble breastfeeding in the beginning. He lost over 10% of his body weight at 2 days old, which was a red flag for the pediatrician. He also had jaundice. I would start each feeding by nursing him, then give him formula afterward. My milk did not come in until almost day 5, so from day two to day 5 he was getting formula after each nursing session. Once he regained his weight, we eliminated the formula feedings down to one bottle before bedtime every night. By the time he was three months old, bottles were completely eliminated (formula and breast milk, by his choice) and from three to six months he was exclusively breastfed.

Here I will discuss the proper safety that should be considered when preparing formula for your child.

1. Safe Handling

• Formula is easily contaminated in the collection and manufacturing processes. Powdered formula is very susceptible to this. Liquid, pre mixed formula is the more sterile option. 
• Enterobacter sakazakii is microorganism that can be found in powdered infant formula.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends mixing powdered formula with water that is at least 158 degrees F to kill this microorganism. Must be cooled to body temperature before giving to your baby.
• Once formula is mixed it is only good for 24 hours. Keep it refrigerated until ready to use.  Do not leave the reconstituted formula out at room temperature for a long period of time.
• Avoid saving left over formula. Throw away the unfinished formula. 
• Use the exact amount of water recommended to mix formula. Do not dilute the formula to make it last longer, this can actually cause harm to your baby.
• Make sure bottles and nipples are cleaned and sanitized thoroughly. When selecting bottles choose those that are BPA free.   

    2.   Responsive Feeding

• Regardless of what is in the bottles (formula or breast milk) a baby is more likely to be overfed when bottles are used. 
• Follow the baby's feeding ques and allow the baby to pace the feeding. 
• Be sure to burp the baby after feedings.

     3.   Be Aware of Other Feeding Issues Associated with Formula

• Gastroesophegeal  reflux (GER/GERD). During the first 2 months, 20% of infants spit up more than 4x per day.
• Babies who are exclusively breastfed spit up less than babies who were breastfed and being supplemented with formula.
• Colic- Remember rule of 3: If the baby has 3 hours of crying, 3 days of the week, for 3 months, it is considered colic. Soy formula is not a solution to this. There is no treatment for colic.

For more information about safe formula handling from manufacturers you may use, please click here.
Information provided by the Healthy Children Project, Inc.

Got Milk? Milk Production Cookies!!

When my son was a few days old, I was given a Breastfeeding Cookie Cookbook. These cookies were always amazing and I did notice a difference in my milk supply. So I figured I would share these recipes with you. There are many recipes, so I will just post one at a time, once a week.


Ingredients:
1-1/2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1-3/4 Cups Oats
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt
3/4 Cup Almond Butter or Peanut Butter
1/2 Cup Butter, softened
1 Cup Flaxseed Meal
3 Tablespoons Brewer's Yeast
1/3 Cup Water
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
2 teaspoons Vanilla
2 Large Eggs
2 Cups (12oz) Chocolate Chips
1 Cup Chopped Nuts of your choice


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl.
3. In a large bowl, beat almond butter/peanut butter, butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, brewer's yeast, flaxseed meal, and water until creamy.
4. Mix in eggs in with the creamy mixture and gradually beat in the flour mixture.
5. Mix in nuts and chocolate chips.
6. Add oats slowly, mixing along the way.
7. Place balls of dough onto greased baking sheet.
8. Press down each ball lightly with a fork.
9. Bake for 12 minutes.

Reaching For Your Goals!

This post is more of an encouraging kind of post rather than a post with information about breastfeeding.

In my personal experience, I have learned that setting goals has actually helped me to be successful at breastfeeding.

After my son was born, I decided to breastfeed for six weeks and strictly pump to have my husband help out and be involved with our son's feeding time. I had learned that by six weeks, the breast milk supply would be well established. By the time six weeks rolled around, I realized I didn't want to pump. I wanted to keep breastfeeding our son. I set my goal higher to six months. With each goal that I met, I gained more confidence. Today our son is 10 months old and my current goal is to keep breastfeeding him until he is a year old. By the time he is a year old, I hope to have him weaned enough to where he will nurse in the morning when we wake up, before nap times, and before bed time. And to have him fully weaned by 18 months.

It all starts with "I want to try to breastfeed..." that alone is an awesome goal to set! When you try, at least you are giving your baby their "first vaccination" through the nutrition of the colostrum. This first stage of milk provides that first bit of antibodies that breast milk is known for.

When a new mother is provided with enough resources to keep encouraging her to reach her goals then she will achieve her goals and may even set the bar higher.

So set those goals mommies! And reach for them!

A Baby's 9 Instinctive Stages After Birth

I attended a course to get my Certified Lactation Counselor certification. One of the topics we learned about were the baby's instincts. It was such an amazing topic that I thought I would share because I feel it is something every mother who intends to breastfeed should know.

For those of you who have breastfed, did you ever let your precious newborn find their way to your breast naturally? Or did the nurse wrap your baby up and help "screw" the baby onto your nipple? In my case, I had the most beautiful delivery experience. Both my husband and I had the awesome privilege of pulling (yes, pulling) out our son at the very end of the delivery. I got my first tearful, happy minute with my son before they took him away to record all of his vitals and do all of the necessary procedures. Then he was handed back to me maybe 10 minutes later wrapped up and the nurse helped me to attach my son.

Is it possible for the baby to instinctively find their way to the breast without any intervention? It most certainly is. They go through 9 stages within an hour after birth.

• Stage One: The Birth Cry
• We all know this stage! This is that moment we all wait for when our precious little babies first arrive in the world. The distinctive cry is what brings us mothers to tears and makes us forget all the pain we just had to endure.

• Stage Two: Relaxation
• During this stage the birth cry has stopped and the baby is usually skin-to-skin with the mother covered with a warm towel or blanket. The baby makes no mouth movements and their hands are relaxed.  

• Stage Three: Awakening
•  Within 3 minutes after birth, the baby will start to make some movements. These movements can range from head and shoulder movement, opening their eyes, and even moving their mouths.

• Stage Four: Activity
• At this stage mouth movements and sucking movements can be observed. The rooting reflex becomes more obvious. Rooting is when the baby will turn their head toward the stimulus when their lip or cheek is touched. During this reflex they make sucking movements with their mouth. This stage occurs 8 minutes after birth.

• Stage Five: Rest
• At any point during this process the baby will take rest periods. Instinctively finding their way to the breast can be exhausting! It is important that you let the baby rest. Do not interrupt this process, or it can start all the way back down to Stage Two.

• Stage Six: Crawling
• Yes, you read it right. A newborn has the ability to crawl to the breast. I have seen it and it is astounding. It is not a continuous crawl like we observe with our much older babies, but they use their little legs and arms to "shimmy" up to the breast. This stage occurs about 35 minutes after birth.

• Stage Seven: Familiarization
• This stage can take a while. Sometimes up to 20 minutes or longer. Once the baby approaches the breast they familiarize themselves with it by licking the nipple and even massaging the breast. This stage is optimal for milk production. Licking the nipple stimulates the hormone called Prolactin, which produces the milk. Massaging the breast stimulates the hormone oxytocin, which releases milk.

• Stage Eight: Suckling
• This is the moment where the baby actually learns to self-attach themselves to the breast and suckle their first meal. The moment when the baby latches and starts suckling usually occurs within the first hour after birth. When a mother has had anesthesia it may take longer for the baby to get to this stage.

• Stage Nine: Sleep
• Once the baby has finished their first meal, they fall fast asleep. This can occur 1.5-2 hours after birth.

One hour of uninterrupted skin-to-skin with the mother and baby can have many benefits to the baby.

• The baby's heart rate and body temperature are regulated with skin-to-skin contact.

• Because of this early breastfeeding initiation, milk supply can be improved.

• As a benefit to the mother, this early initiation of breastfeeding can help the baby to learn a proper latch. Which can save the mother from painful nipples.  

Some healthcare professionals may claim that this is hard to do with a newborn because they have certain procedures they need to follow with the newborn. The teacher of my certification course brought up two good points.

• They can quickly take the baby immediately after the birth and do the assessments (which should take no longer than 5 minutes) and immediately give the baby back to the mother to initiate the skin-to-skin and let the baby go through the 9 stages without any interruptions.
• Most of the assessments can be done while the baby is skin-to-skin with the mother. Assessing heart rate and other vitals, the heel stick, and other assessments. The only thing that cannot be assessed is the weight.

I wish I had the actual video that I saw during my class, but luckily the program I took the course through gives me an option to purchase the DVD. Once I purchase it, I will gladly post it on my blog just to show you how amazing this is.  The only thing that comes sort of close is this video here.

If you would like to learn more about these stages check out this page. This is the same organization I took the certification course with. Information on The Magical Hour.

World Breastfeeding Week and The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative

What is the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI)?

•  The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative encourages hospitals and birthing centers to develop policies and implement practices that support mothers in their choice to breastfeed. These hospitals are recognized for implementing the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. These hospitals apply for and receive a certificate of intent from Baby-Friendly USA.

What are the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding?

1. Maintain a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health care staff. 
2. Train all health care staff in skills necessary to implement this policy.
3. Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding.
4. Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within 1 hour after birth.
5. Show mothers how to breastfeed and how to maintain lactation, even if they are separated from their infants.
6. Give infants no food or drink other than breastmilk, unless medically indicated.
7. Practice "rooming in"- allow mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day.
8. Encourage unrestricted breastfeeding.
9. Give no pacifiers or artificial nipples to breastfeeding infants.
10. Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups, and refer mothers to them on discharge from the hospital or clinic.

**The BFHI promotes the early initiation of breastfeeding. A study conducted by Edmonds found that 16% of deaths could be prevented if all infants were breastfed from day 1 and 22% of neonatal deaths could be averted if breastfeeding were started in the first hour.

For more information on the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative and lists of Baby Friendly Hospitals click here.

All of this information on the BFHI brings me to World Breastfeeding Week 2012.

This week is the 20th World Breastfeeding Week by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA). 20 years ago the very first World Breastfeeding Week was about the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative. The focus is to look back on the years and contemplate what has happened and why in terms of breastfeeding.

The World Breastfeeding Week 2012 objectives are as follows:

1. To recall what has happened in the past 20 years on infant and young child feeding.
2. Te celebrate successes and achievements nationally, regionally and globally and showcase national work at global level.
3. To assess the status of implementation of the Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF).
4. To call for action to bridge the remaining gaps in policy and programmes on breastfeeding and IYCF.
5. To draw public attention on the state of policy and programmes on breastfeeding and IYCF.

To learn more about World Breastfeeding Week click here

Suck on This! Information Everyone Should Know About Breastfeeding

What do you know about breastfeeding? "It's good for the baby", but how exactly is it good?
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) reviewed pediatric outcomes of breastfed babies versus formula fed babies.

Formula fed babies are at a greater risk for developing:

• Acute otitis media (Ear Infections)
• Non-specific gastroenteritis
• Lower Respiratory Tract Infections
• Atopic Dermatitis (eg. Eczema- signs of allergies)
• Asthma
• Obesity- White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity Report to the President: Obesity is 22% lower among children who are breastfed.
• Type 1 and 2 diabetes
• Childhood leukemia
• Necrotizing enteritis (NEC)
• Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)- Formula can cause babies to fall into deep sleep which makes the SIDS risk higher.
• Babies who are breastfed also have less diarrhea

**Did you know that breastfeeding also has benefits for the mother?

AHRQ's conclusions for mothers benefits:

• Women who do not breastfeed are at greater risk of breast cancer. 
• For every 12 months of breastfeeding, chances of breast cancer are decreased by 4.3%
• For every birth, chances of breast cancer are also decreased by 7%

• Women who do not breastfeed are at greater risk of ovarian cancer
• Breastfeeding for 18 months significantly reduced risk
• For every month of breastfeeding the risk is reduced by 2%

• Women who do not breastfeed are at a greater risk of Type 2 Diabetes
• Women that had gestational diabetes during their pregnancy and that breastfeed their baby are at lower risk of developing postpartum diabetes.
• For each additional year of breastfeeding Type 2 Diabetes is decreased by 15%
• Women who do not breastfeed are at a greater risk of myocardial infarction and aspects of metabolic syndrome.
• Women who breastfeed for a year or more are 10-15% less likely to develop cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and high cholesterol.
• Women who do not breastfeed are at a greater risk of having postpartum depression 

With all of these percentages, wouldn't it seem that if breastfeeding were more prevalent in this country, we would have healthier generations?

The Breastie Guru

For many years, I was always an animal lover. My goal in life was to have a career with animals. My areas of interest were animal behavior and animal husbandry. I pursued a college degree in Zoology and wanted to transfer from my local state college to the University of Florida. My plan was to transfer after I had earned my Associate's Degree. But does anything in life ever go according to plan? Not always!

In the middle of my final year of the local state college, my high school sweetheart decided to join the military. At this time we had been together for almost five years, so we knew we wanted to get married. I had to prepare myself for a whole new life! After he proposed, we had 11 weeks to plan a wedding, 9 weeks to finish my final classes for my AA degree, and plan for a move all the way from the sunny beaches of Florida to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. We said our "I do's" in December and moved to Colorado shortly after Christmas.

Shortly after we got settled in, we decided to try to start a family. In February, I read the word "pregnant" on the pregnancy test! I decided to put my school/career plans on hold until after the baby was born. Towards the end of my pregnancy, I was always asked the same question at the beginning of my doctor appointments. "Do you intend to breastfeed or formula feed your baby?" I didn't know much about breastfeeding. All I knew was that it was good for the baby and my husband and his siblings were all breastfed babies. So, I said that I wanted to try. I did not read about it or attend the classes because I was still not 100% sure that I would be successful at it.

After 12 hours of active labor, an occurrence of my water breaking at Denny's (No Lie!!), and 3 (Yes, 3!!) hours of pushing we welcomed our baby boy into the world with loving arms. We initiated breastfeeding within the first hour after his birth and he latched right away! I knew then that I was going to commit to this. I loved the bond my son and I developed. I set a goal to breastfeed him for the whole first year.

After many latch issues and some plugged ducts we mastered breastfeeding. And now my son is 10 months old and going strong. I plan to start the weaning process around his first birthday.

When I had friends asking me about breastfeeding, I realized that I really enjoyed spreading the knowledge based off of what I had learned and based off of my experiences. It dawned on me that I should consider becoming a Lactation Consultant. I am now attending a school to help me prepare for the IBCLE exam. I am majoring in Maternal Child Health: Lactation Consulting. I have also earned a certificate as a Certified Lactation Counselor.