Have you ever wondered why it seems like breastfeeding was more successful and came more naturally to women hundreds of years ago compared to our current generation? The answer may boil down to feeding patterns. Historian Jacqueline H. Wolf studied the history of breastfeeding in the US to learn about when breastfeeding stopped being the norm and successful breastfeeding became the exception. She says...read more.

When I was a new mom, the most common question I was asked about my new baby was "How is he sleeping? Is he sleeping through the night?" It always felt like there was a measuring stick being held up to him - and me - judging whether we were achieving parenthood's first big milestone of sleeping through the night. (Which by the way, is a very modern western ideal.) My baby was nursing every few hours and I didn't really mind…except I started to feel like there was something wrong, or at least I wished I could respond to the constant questioning with the answer people wanted to hear. With my subsequent three babies, I learned to side step the question by answering with...read more.

Low milk supply is the most common reason women report weaning sooner than they'd hoped. (The second most common reason is pain.) There are entire books and countless medical journal articles devoted to the topic. In this article, we will scratch the surface of the topic and look at the aspects of milk production that are most relevant to the women I work with. When I was first trained in the field of lactation in 2011, we were taught that most of these cases were "perceived" low milk supply. This is a polite way to say that many women think their milk supply is low when really...read more.

Every new mom has heard of dreaded "nipple confusion" - where a baby gets a bottle and then begins to have difficulty breastfeeding. In reality, there is a lot more going on than confusion over nipples. And babies can begin to experience difficulty transitioning between breast and bottle at any age, not just during the newborn period. Here are 5 tips to help the breastfed baby go back and forth between breast and bottle, and receive nutrition from a bottle in a nurturing, healthy way. Keep in mind, it is best to wait to introduce bottles until baby is 4-8 weeks old, after breastfeeding is established and going well unless a lactation consultant has recommended starting earlier. After this point, if mother will be returning to work eventually, someone else (such as daddy) should offer baby...read more.

Perhaps the most important tip for pumping is to have a setup that allows you to do other things you enjoy (like snuggling your baby) or need to do (like commuting) while you pump. In order for this to happen, you absolutely need a hands free bra. Otherwise, you'll find yourself skipping or shortening pump sessions due to the inconvenience of having to be tied to a machine and holding your flanges for extended periods...read more.