Blog
Breastfeeding Essentials
Food For Thought
Sunday, July 31, 2011
by Janelle Sorensen, Chief Communications Officer, Healthy Child Healthy World
I did nothing to prepare for breastfeeding my first child. Zero. I figured, it’s such a natural act, there can’t be that much to it. Boy was I wrong.
I would have failed entirely in the very first few hours had it not been for an extremely supportive nurse (something many moms don’t have). And I only lasted four months because I became very ill and was on medication that made it unsafe for my daughter to breastfeed. I dried up. I was devastated.
Later, I learned that I should have pumped and dumped the milk to keep producing. I also learned that if I would have simply let my daughter start to suckle regularly, there would have been a good chance that my milk would have come back in. Sad.
I know many moms out there have their own breastfeeding stories and obstacles that perhaps they did or did not overcome. Let’s share them this week - in honor of World Breastfeeding Week. The more we talk about our experiences, the more we can empower new moms and future moms.
And, speaking of empowering moms for successful breastfeeding, I’d like to share some awesome videos highlighting breastfeeding essentials from expert, Shari Criso, MSN, RN, CNM, IBCLC. (All those letters represent a whole lotta expertise!)
Shari Criso’s Breastfeeding Essentials
Breastfeeding Essentials from Joe Criso on Vimeo.
Shari’s Tips for Pumping at Work
Pumping at Work from Joe Criso on Vimeo.
Shari’s Daughters Share the Four Signs Your Baby Is Getting Enough Milk (This is so cute and funny!)
Out of the Mouths of Babes! from Joe Criso on Vimeo.
Shari is not only an amazing resource for expecting moms, she is also one of our 2011 Mom on a Mission nominees - here’s what Emily Dickey, who nominated her, had to say:
Although Shari has been a medical expert for 21 years, her mission started when she personally struggled to breastfeed her babies as a new mom. She followed the same advice she had been preaching from what she was taught in medical school and as a Hospital nurse. Shari had a turning point in her career and her life when she realized if she was struggling this much as an "expert," it is no wonder our breastfeeding rates in America are among the lowest in the world. She realized most medical professionals a new parent encounters receive little to no formal education on teaching a new mother how to successfully breastfeed, and in fact, they often receive and pass along a lot of inaccurate information that creates a lot of avoidable issues with breastfeeding, including unnecessary low milk supply. Believing there had to be a better way, Shari dedicated her life to discovering an easier way to teach parents to succeed, and after years of additional study, practice, and revisions, she did!
Congratulations on your nomination, Shari!
Learn more! Join us on Facebook on Wednesday August 3rd for our all day breastfeeding chat! We’ll be posting questions & tips throughout the day, as well as encouraging everyone to share their own stories and advice. Shari will be joining us here and there, too!
Note: Each year, we invite our community to help us identify exceptional moms working in their communities to create a healthier environment for children. We get so many wonderful submissions, we’ve started a blog series to feature the inspirational stories of our nominees. Stay tuned for the announcement of our 2011 "Mom on a Mission" winner in September who will receive a $5,000 grant from Lifetime Television to continue her work and will be honored at a Healthy Child event.
Posted by Janelle Sorensen on 08/08/2011 at 01:37 PM
Lucia - Kudos for conquering mastitis! It can be soooo painful!
Anne - If mastitis is not addressed in one of the videos above (I think it is briefly in the first one), be sure to visit Shari’s site. It’s amazing and has tons of helpful information!
Ashlee - THANKS for taking the time to share the details of your experience! It’s a really inspirational story and I hope it helps all the moms who visit this blog in the years to come!
Christiane - YES!! It is about you and your son and no one else :-)
Go mamas!!
Posted by Christiane McCracken on 08/07/2011 at 03:22 PM
I have one son who is about to turn two. I am still breastfeeding and when I tell other people sometimes I get a little embarassed since its not the norm to breastfeed for so long. I have to remind myself that this is for me and for my son and the time we spend cuddling, laughing and nourishing him will not last forever and I should take advantage of it as long as I can.
Posted by Ashlee on 08/06/2011 at 11:11 PM
I’m the mom of my 3rd child in 4 years and didn’t even know there was a breastfeeding week! My first child was a 31 weeker and I pumped the majority of the 34 days he was in the NICU but was too stressed and worried to really continue with it when he was d/c’d. He has a CP diagnosis and they were talking about brain surgery at one point. He is now thriving, I’m happy to report.
So with my second child I was determined to BF and have that experience I didn’t get the first time around. I fell into PP depression and being torn between ‘quitting’ and wanting to breastfeed just fed into all of my emotions and I had given up twice by the time he was 8 weeks and finally ‘quit’ soon after. I use the word quit because I really felt like a big fat loser who quit and couldn’t provide the best nutrition for her child.
So when I became pregnant with our third when our second was only 4 months (first was 3.3 years), I was going to try again and was actually prepared for how tough it can be - cluster feeds and growth spurts good God! I had great inspiration from my best friend and I am so proud to say I’m still BF my 10 week old, making it work with a 4 year old and 15 month old running around and I’ve never felt prouder of myself. I wish I had been able to see through how hard the first 6-8 weeks can be with my first two but I can’t change that and I’m doing it now.
I found an amazing resource in kellymom.com that offers great sound advice without putting pressure on mom - we already put enough on ourself as is. Everytime I start to struggle, I turn to this website and get a second, third, or fourth wind! It’s taken me 3 kids, but I’ve finally got the hang of this but I struggled A LOT. I struggled so much along the way so any mom that is reading this that is having a hard time…I promise, it gets better and it’s not going to be wonderful and amazing every feeding of every day but hang in. You are doing an amazing job and giving your baby an amazing gift!! YOU CAN DO IT!
Posted by Anne Hallam on 08/06/2011 at 08:51 AM
Love your videos - a must watch for all new mums I believe.
Do you talke about when a mum gets mastitus and is prescribed anti-biotics forcing the mum to stop breast feeding and turning to the bottle.
Q: How do you avoid getting this?
I think expressing milk for later and how much to take and when to do this.
And talking about the colostrum - repeating this for 1st time new young mums would be very helpful.
AnneHallam
My baby days are past - Had two children and was determined to breast feed both of them - only because I was an aupair and the mother in Switzerland was a wonderful mentor explaining to me how important it all was and how to look after the breasts making sure I showered regularly. And checked the smell of my breasts before attaching the baby. I would wash my breast before feeding as there was often a sour smell.
Posted by Betsy (Eco-novice) on 08/03/2011 at 07:07 AM
I would love to check out this book - sounds like an awesome resource. So glad you are celebrating World Breastfeeding Week over here—I just posted about nursing a toddler on my blog. Hope to join you on FB today.
Posted by Lucia on 08/01/2011 at 09:00 AM
I am happy to share my breastfeeding experience. With my first child I was nervous despite reading everything about it. I ended up with mastitis (breast infection) but I still persisted until 13 months and he was a premature baby!
With my second child I was very much into the routine and enjoyed it tremendously I breastfeed over 2 years. If you are considering breastfeeding do it for your child’s health and most of all for the bond- it was magical!
Learn more about my journey @ http://disciplineandchildren.com.
More comments:
Get Answers
View All
Read and Learn
It's the trusted guidebook for the Next Generation of Parenting "...that every single parent needs to read..."
PICK UP A COPY
Now In Paperback!
Archives by Month
What We Read
Posted by How to beat depression on 03/26/2012 at 05:21 AM
Hi Janelle,
Breastfeeding is natural and a great way to bond with your baby. I have the impression that it’s getting more ‘hip’ to breastfeed. And that’s a really good thing.
Kind regards
Tasha Smith
Depression treatment reviewer