Tag Archives: breastfeeding

Oatmeal Pancakes: A Simple Way To Increase Milk Supply

I’ve written before about how eating oatmeal can boost a breastfeeding mother’s milk supply. Because I plan to breastfeed for a long time and want to keep my milk supply up, I’m always on the lookout for recipes that include oatmeal. The other morning, I was really jonesin’ for some pancakes. As I searched around on the internet for a pancake recipe, I was delighted to find that many recipes included oatmeal. After comparing several recipes and tweaking them to fit personal taste (and the ingredients I happened to have on hand), this is the recipe I came up with: … Continue reading →

Oatmeal: A Simple Way To Increase Milk Supply

At a recent meeting with a group of young, breastfeeding mothers, I learned that oatmeal is supposed to boost milk supply. While it is not scientifically proven, many mothers report an increase in milk production after eating oatmeal, or products containing oatmeal. I’ve never had a problem with too little milk; in fact, the only “problem” I’ve had is too much milk. I’ve always counted myself lucky that supply was never an issue, because I have a strong desire to breastfeed well past my daughter’s first birthday. Although I’ve never had a problem with too little milk, I want to … Continue reading →

History Across The Curriculum

In previous posts I mentioned how I try to get as much “across the curriculum” learning out of a subject as I can. Why have separate reading, history, art, writing, and science projects when you can take one subject you’re studying and make it work for all areas? This is being frugal with your time and kids can really immerse themselves in the topic at hand rather than having their minds jump from one completely different subject to another. Another positive aspect of taking one topic and applying as many assignments to it as possible is that you can often … Continue reading →

Returning Fertility While Breastfeeding

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When you’re trying to get pregnant, the sight of your menstrual period can be disappointing, even devastating sometimes. But for mothers who breastfeed and are beginning to think about getting pregnant again, a period is a welcome sign of returning fertility. A few women ovulate before their period returns, and that is why people will always warn you to use birth control while nursing if you don’t want to get pregnant, but for most the first period indicates that ovulation is on its way. It’s not very often a woman wishes for her period, but this is definitely one of … Continue reading →

Solutions: Excess Lipase And Sour Breast Milk

Upon discovering that my properly-stored breast milk consistently tasted sour, I talked with other moms and did research to try to solve the mystery of what was making it taste so bad. I discovered that the likely cause was an excess of lipase. Lipase is an enzyme contained in breast milk that breaks fats down into individual fatty acids. Lipase is part of why breast milk is so easily digestible for babies. It’s good that we have lipase in our breast milk. However, too much lipase results in fat being broken down too quickly. (The fat in milk is apparently … Continue reading →

The Disneyfication of the Olympics

Thousands of people around the world cram into their local roads, to contribute to the joyous roar of the crowd as a runner pounds past, bearing a flickering flame above their heads. Athletes become celebrities, grinning at the world first from a podium amidst a colorful snowstorm of confetti, then from orange cereal boxes under the fluorescent glow of the grocery store. Today the Olympics are synonymous with fanfare. I’m sure we’ll be seeing plenty tonight at the opening ceremony in Vancouver. What few people know is that before the 1960 Winter Olympics, and Walt Disney’s involvement in them, the … Continue reading →

Two Front Teeth

All of the fussing, it turns out, wasn’t for nothing. My son just recently cut two front teeth and his parents are very excited about it. We’re quite thrilled that our little boy could cut through something tough with his nature-given mouth-knives. (As I’m writing this he’s flashing his shiny new teeth at me now and smiling big.) Despite all of the pain, the crying, and the fevers (which, I’m told, teething can actually cause) our son’s teeth have made it out of the gums and into the world. They are now a part of what becomes a daily exercise … Continue reading →

Baby: To Schedule, Or Not To Schedule?

My husband and I never considered putting our baby on a schedule while I was pregnant, and we didn’t think about it after she was born. When we thought she was hungry, I nursed her, and when she seemed tired, we let her sleep. I thought that was what most parents did, but as we talked to more and more new parents, we realized it’s very common for parents to get their babies on a regular schedule almost immediately. I admit that there were some days when I wondered if I was hurting our daughter by having a “go-with-the-flow” attitude. … Continue reading →

There’s Blood In My Daughter’s Poop?

We first noticed that our daughter’s poop looked a little strange when she was two months old. It had taken on sort of a purplish hue. We took her to her pediatrician to test it, and discovered it contained blood. I immediately eliminated dairy and soy from my diet, which helped at first, but the blood came back. Then I did block feeding to correct a possible foremilk/hindmilk imbalance, which helped at first, but the blood came back. Then I tried Dr. Sears’ Elimination Diet. Everything I tried seemed to work at first, but the blood always came back. She … Continue reading →

Chubby Babies: Cute or Dangerous?

My daughter was a chunk as a baby. And by chunk, I mean move over Butterball, there’s a new big bird in town. Just look at her: (Count the rolls: My daughter at 6 months.) Much of her girth can be attributed to the fact that during the first six months of her life she was connected to my breasts 24/7. (She was connected 18/7 until she was about 16 months old.) My little plumpy was an eating machine… and she had the figure to prove it. At six months she was in the 95th percentile for weight. (I thought … Continue reading →