Masochistic Mommy

By breastfeeding her baby, a mother is giving life. She is literally keeping her child alive through the power of her body. However, what if the mother's life is in danger? Surely being faced with a breast tumour would excuse a mother from breastfeeding duties? To this mother, it was a matter of priorities, and she prioritised her baby. This is Amanda's story. “ I'll put it out there...and own it. In America, we are not a breastfeeding society. We know the research has proven breast milk to be superior over formula, but still the idea of breastfeeding gives a lot of people the heebie jeebies. While I was pregnant I was bombarded with stories about how difficult and painful breastfeeding was , and how a lot of people tried but never even made it out of the starting gate. At the same time, everyone and their dog would ask me if I planned on breastfeeding. Some people would ask multiple times.  My answer was always the same, "I'm going to try, but if it doesn't wo...

Is there any sight cuter than a baby blissfully dozing in dreamland? YES! A baby blissfully dozing in dreamland IN A WALKER!! When I found my son doing it, I wondered whether this was a common phenomena. So I enquired on The Alpha Parent Facebook group. The result? Welcome to the...   ' Babies Asleep in Walkers Hall of Fame! ' Neil: Cameron: Brynn: Clyde: Morgan: Anon: Anon: Jaxton: Anon: Anon: Jaycee: Jaycee again She's a veteran sleep-walker (see what I did there?) Ethan: Kyla: Azure: Sofia: Anon: Isabel: Elija: Harlow: Ender: Fergus: Archer: Anon: Owen: Clara: Garrett: Garrett Take 2: Ryan: Samuel: Maliyah Maddox Adele: Kylexa: Ethan: Do you have a photo of your sleeping cherub in a walker, jumparoo, bouncer, or activity center? Do you have a sense of humour? If so, email me and you could star in the Hall of Fame!

As I wrote in the article: ' 15 Tricks of Formula Companies ', getting health professionals on side is a common strategy of formula companies. New mothers understandably carry the assumption that health professionals have significant expertise in the areas they counsel, and that health professionals always have the baby’s best interests at heart. However the reality is that a baby’s interests, and indeed a mother's interests, are often misplaced by commercial interests when a health professional has been corrupted by formula companies. Cera is a mother who experienced this first hand. When Cera became pregnant with twins, the sabotaging remarks of her family were the least of her worries... “My name is Cera (pronounced Sarah). I am 22 years old and proud mom to beautiful twins. I was blessed to have a boy and a girl. They are happy, bouncy, smiling bundles of joy and my husband and I couldn't be happier. It however didn't start out that way... Unsupportive Family My...

Most of us think of tongue-tie as a situation we find ourselves in when we are too excited to speak. In fact, tongue-tie is the non-medical term for a relatively common physical condition that limits a baby's use of it's tongue – and, if left undiagnosed, can be the final nail in the coffin of your breastfeeding relationship. Tongue-tie occurs when the thin piece of skin under the baby's tongue (the lingual frenulum) is abnormally short and may restrict the movement of the tongue tip. This can interfere with the baby's ability to suckle efficiently at the breast, leading to nipple pain and trauma, poor breastmilk intake and a decrease in milk supply over time. Diagnosis is only the first hurdle however. The decision to release a tongue-tie often depends on a doctor's personal belief about the possible impact on feeding. Currently, doctors are divided in opinion, which leads to a lottery of patchy treatment for breastfeeding mothers. Emma drew the short straw in this...