Mothering Corner

Jazzmint asked if the top I was wearing above was a nursing blouse, well, it’s not! It’s a long flowery blouse which I pair up with leggings or jeans.

Before I gave birth to Justin, I was worried about nursing in public as I hadn’t seen many mothers doing so. That’s why I bought a few nursing blouse in ready when I was pregnant. Most of the nursing blouses I bought are from Motherneeds, Moms In Minds, The Baby Loft, and Mothers En Vogue.

My favourite ones are those from Mothers En Vogue. Here are a few pieces of the nursing tops I bought from them:

Tops from Mothers En Vogue

But after Isabelle came along, I didn’t buy much. I began to shop for clothes which can be worn as nursing tops. Most of the time, I will buy some tops with a big V opening in front, like the one shown below:

Top with deep V cut

Then, I will pair the top with a tube or tube bra, like this:

So, when I want to nurse, I’ll just lift up the tube inside, without having to lift up the top. It’s really more convenient than some of the nursing tops I have. You can give it a try! BTW, even if you are not nursing, this see-through lacy blouse will also look hot with a tube bra, won’t it?

But if you are good at sewing, why not making your own nursing tops? Too bad I’m not good at this, I’d rather shop!

I have lost counts of how many mommies asking me this question … “Should I quit breastfeeding?”

Actually, I have no right to tell them what to do, but just providing my support. Deep down inside, I don’t want them to quit breastfeeding so soon. I know it’s not easy to get started, and it’s even worse if they are not equipped with breastfeeding knowledge and support from family. I had been through it, so I truly understand.

But what keeps me going on is this … “I want to give my baby the best, within my ability!”

Breastfeeding is something which I think I can do and to make me feel like a better mother. I’m not saying that mothers who choose not to breastfeed are not doing a good job, but it’s my personal choice of being a mother whole-heartedly by choosing to breastfeed.

My baby girl is already 10 months old, and she may be supplemented with formula milk when she’s one years old. I have no idea when she will wean off, but I really have no regrets going through the hardship initially, and didn’t QUIT breastfeeding so soon.

Unless you are good at hand express, or only want to nurse directly without expressing, I’ll suggest pregnant mother who has intention to breastfeed invest in a set of good breast pump first before baby is out.

You won’t need the breast pump that soon if your baby is able to latch on well as soon as possible. If you prefer to equalize your milk production to your baby’s demand, then try not to pump for the first 6 weeks. However, if you are badly engorged, you need to empty the breasts, as sometimes newborn babies can take that much milk. The more you empty your breast, the more milk your body will produce! That’s why you need a breast pump!

I have only tried out 2 types of breast pumps. My first pump is Avent ISIS. It’s a manual pump, and I bought it after reading some good reviews about the pump. I bought the traveling set which comes with a cooler bag and cool pads. I don’t like the cool pads as they can only keep my milk cool for 6 hours, so I hardly used that bag and the cool pads. I bought Colebag cooler bag and ice bricks instead, and they can last for 12 hours, which is more practical when I was working for more than 10 hours last time.

As for the pump, I could get letdown easily with it. Maybe it’s the suction of the pump which is very confortable and manage to relax my mind to trigger letdown faster. The pump is also designed to imitate baby’s suckling. However, it’s hard for me to get spare parts here in Ipoh and the only service office of Avent is in Sri Hatamas KL. When my old pump was worn off and yellowish due to prolong sterilizing, I bought a new set before giving birth to Isabelle.

Then, out of the blue, I went shopping a few days before Isabelle popped and bought Medela Mini Electric. Ok, it’s was an impulsive buy, but I have never regret about it! Since I prefer to nurse and pump at the same time, Medela Mini Electric is superb! My hand is less tiring and I don’t have many parts to be washed and assembled too!

Anyway, there are still a few more brands in the market which I haven’t tried out. So, happy breast pump shopping!

I know you can read about breastfeeding benefits from A to Z easily on the internet or other resources. For example, you can read up from sites like Baby Center or others. What I’m going to blog about it’s from my point of view. Here goes…

The goodness of breastfeeding by Shoppingmum:

• Holding my baby close to me, where I can smell her hair.
• Knowing that I’m contributing to every pound she gained before 6 months old. (After that, started taking solid)
• She’s healthy, and hardly get sick because of my antibodies.
• I don’t have to get up and make formula milk at night, all I need to do is lift up my pajamas.
• Hubby supports breastfeeding due to the point above! LOL! He can sleep like a pig…
• It’s easy when we are traveling as I don’t have to bring bottles, formula, worry about sterilizing the stuffs like that. Justin doesn’t required his milk feed that often now.
• Save money on formula and paed’s consultation fees! But I used lots of disposable breastpads…
• I don’t have to worry about natural disaster one day and my baby will be starving as she can have unlimited milk supply from me. ( I know this sounds negative…)
• I have excuses not to do the housework as I’ve been busy breastfeeding… LOL!
• I can blog while nursing as I only need one hand to support my baby and the other hand to type at the same time!
• I got back in shape like a piece of cake and still eat like a pig! LOL!
• I got bigger cup size!!!!
• I feel like I’m a complete mother…

Before I know anything about breastfeeding, I have always puzzled how baby is going to suck when they have teeth? Won’t they bite? Yes, they do, initially, but there are ways to stopping it.

Justin was easier. When he started teething at 5 months old and biting me while nursing, I’d detach him, and told him sternly that he was not allowed to do so. After a few times, he got the message, and stopped. But he would bite his own thumb as he sucked his thumb to sleep.

As for Isabelle, she doesn’t have thumb sucking habit. I’m her pacifier, and she sucks on demand, sometimes just won’t let go when she sleeps. Yes, if you see my post being posted in the middle of the night, it’s very likely that it’s typed single-handedly as I was breastfeeding Isabelle who just wouldn’t let go!

Yes, I know it’s my fault of creating her sucking to sleep habit. I’ve read so much about training baby to sleep, let them cry and learn how to sleep by themselves, but the method just won’t work and I gave up! I couldn’t bear my babies crying too long, so I’ve putting myself in hot pot and being a pacifier now! LOL!

Ok, back to teething. No matter how many times I told Isabelle, or likely pat her cheeks asking her not to bite, she will do it accidentally when she’s sleep. Imagine me finish blogging at 2am, climbing up to bed to catch up with some sleep but Isabelle’s crying to suckle, and I let her nurse while trying to snooze off. But before I could see “zhou gong”, I was awaken by a sharp pain! Where? My nipple! Ouch! It’s so painful! Most of the time, Isabelle was almost asleep, and I knew she’s not doing it on purpose.

Once, it was so bad, I got a cut from her teeth. It took a week to heal, and whenever I nurse or pump on that side, I’d be biting on my lips and holding back my tears. It’s really really really painful. The cut was infected and there was a small blister. I poked the blister by myself and I almost screamed in agony!

Ok, enough of pain and back to joyful writing….

It will be over, not teething, but this being a pacifier state! She’ll wean off when she’s ready, so for the time being, I got to “tahan” a bit.

Ever since I’ve started to spend more time at home, I seldom pump to stock up. I prefer to nurse Isabelle directly. At the same time, I stopped nurse and pump simultaneously too as she’s very ke poh with the pump now!

Thus, demand and supply has been equalized and I haven’t suffer from engorgement for a long time. The milk is there, but just enough for her. I got to increase my milk production as I’m going away for a few days to Bali, and looking at the stock in the fridge which is about 20oz now, it’s impossible for Isabelle to be fully on EBM without supplementing. I have mentally prepared to supplement her with goat’s milk, but I feel like trying my best to increase the stock within my ability.

I know the main obstacle in increasing milk production is STRESS. So, I have to relax myself as much as possible.

Here’s my plan:

1. Resume nurse and pump: This is gonna be tougher now as she’s bigger and stronger and more curious than ever! I’ll have to bring this back to cheat my body that I’m nursing for 2 and to produce more milk.
2. Eat and Drink: I’ve always been eating well. But sometimes, I delay my lunch as I’m busy with the kids. I got to eat well to reserve my energy for producing milk! And drink lots of water too.
3. Tea: This is not ordinary tea, but tea which will increase milk production. I got to drink some of it now.
4. Saving up the breast: This might not work for everyone!!! I may try to feed Isabelle on one breast at night to purposely make the other one engorged and empty the breast the next morning to stock up the milk. But I’m afraid it’ll make the other breast becomes lazy and reduce production too, so I’ll try it out for a few days and see what’s the outcome.
5. Drink papaya soup: My soup recipe is boiling green papaya (with skin), white fungus and sugar for 30 mintes, and then just drink the soup as often as possible. You can add fish into it if you want, but I prefer leong sui style.

So, I got to go buy green papaya now!

What every mom wish for is a healthy baby in their arms, and better still if she’s a healthy little baby that sleeps through the night as soon as possible. I was not that lucky. I have 2 wonderful kids that treat me like a pacifier at night!

I think the way westerners put their babies to sleep is totally different from Asian. I read so much about training babies to sleep, but I didn’t put it into practice. I think that sleep deprivation is part of motherhood, and it’s not going to be forever. I need my sleep too, and I know how bad it is if I’ve been sleep deprived for a long time. But if you want me to put sleep as more important that nursing my baby at night, I just can’t do it. Anyway, I don’t have anyone to help me with this too!

My SIL is lucky. She can sleep through the night while her mum or nanny can take care of her baby for her. All she needs to do is express her milk and they will feed her baby at night. She breastfeeds her baby exclusively, and can still catch up if her precious sleep.

On the other hand, I’ve always known that I have no one to help out. So, since I’ve made my mind to breastfeed my babies exclusive, I got to do it by myself. I joked to my hubby that I can’t remember when was the last time I slept through the night, and I don’t think I know how to do that now!
Just now, I met with an ex-colleague while shopping at Jusco. She breastfed her 2 older kids, and now still breastfeeding her 1 year old. She told me her baby is yet to sleep through the night, and I truely understand how it feels. Both of us are putting our kids above of our beauty sleep in our list. Ha! She asked when will I be weaning off Isabelle, and I said I’ll let Isabelle decide. I was forced to wean off Justin due to complicated pregnancy (I planned to breastfeeding throughout pregnancy at first) so I don’t want to stress her out. If she’s not ready and needs her comfort nursing so frequent at night, I’ll tune in with her.

Yes, I know I can supplement her with stuffy formula milk at night to make her sleep through, or give her a pacifier, or feed water only, but I didn’t do any of those. Not now and not ever.

How to determine if baby is getting enough breastmilk? Not by measuring how many of oz of milk baby takes in a day as breastfed babies who nurse directly feed on demand, and it’s impossible to measure the milk volume from mommy’s breasts. Thus, as long as the newborn baby is having 5 - 8 very wet nappies or 5 - 8 poo poo per day, she’s getting enough milk. This means that we monitor the output, but not the input of breastmilk.

My 2 babies pee and poo a lot during the first month. Justin poo after every feed! I didn’t have a confinement lady nor a maid and was taking care of him all by myself. Being a first time mom, I felt so helpless, frustrated, and extremely tired! Hubby’s traveling most of the time, so I had to do everything by myself. Luckily, I managed to keep my insanity, and didn’t have severe postnatal depression!

But as baby grows older, the number of poo gets lesser too. After Justin was 3 months old, he only poo about once a week!!! The longest record is 11 days. No, it’s not constipation, but 100% absorption of breastmilk. But he still wet his diapers and nappies. However, after starting solid, he had poo poo about everyday. On the other hand Isabelle didn’t show this pattern before she started solid and still poo everyday, so it depends on individual baby.

Breastfed babies poo poo is yellowish and watery. So, I only use wet wipes or wet cotton balls to clean my newborn babies. After they’re older, I’ll wash them at the sink directly, unless it’s night time when the water is colder. You can be sure of using lots of wet wipers!

I got this tips from Bebeshop about making wet tissues by DIY. I haven’t tried it though as I don’t use much nowadays. So, you can try out and let me know the outcomes ya?

Making your own baby wipes will not only save money, but you will know for sure that no harsh or harmful chemicals are touching your baby’s bottom.

Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: 15 minutes

Here’s How:

1. Cut the roll of paper towels in half with a knife and remove the inner cardboard core.

2. Mix liquid ingredients in container.

3. Place the paper towels in the container with the cut side facing downward.

4. Secure lid tightly and allow to sit until all liquid is absorbed into the paper towels

5. Turn the container upside-down and allow to sit for 10 minutes.

6. Open container and ’start’ the roll by pulling a towel from the inside of the roll.

7. Wipes are now ready to use.

Tips:

Save the other half of the roll for use next time you make wipes.

Make sure the container is closed tightly after each use to prevent drying out.

When your baby is older and his skin is less sensitive, you can add about a teaspoon of rubbing alcohol to the mix.

What You Need:

Round plastic container, wash and clean

Thick, strong roll of white paper towels

Sharp knife to cut paper towel roll in half

Liquid ingredients:

2 cups water that has been boiled and cooled to room temperature

2 Tablespoons baby shampoo or body wash

1 Tablespoon baby oil

Most mothers around me who failed breastfeeding will tell me that they don’t have enough milk for their babies, and they have to feed them with formula milk. But have you ever thought why the cows, cats, dogs, mice, apes and all the other mammal species don’t have NOT ENOUGH MILK problem, but just human, the Homo Sapiens are having it?

Before formula milk was introduced, we human breastfeeding our young too. That’s how we survive throughout these millions of years. That’s what I embedded in my mind when I started breastfeeding, and told myself not to give up, no matter how hard it may be. If our ancestors can do it without all these info on the internet, and poor medical environment, why I can a modern human being do it? I was very fanatic, I compared myself with animals. LOL! If other mammals can do it, why can’t I? See, I’m soooooo crazy!

The truth is, once the baby’s out from a mother, she has to latch on the within the first hour to stimulate the mother’s milk production. Those who can’t breastfeeding their babies will have to express the milk. Anyway, it’s only COLOSTRUM in the first few days, and real milk will only come in few days later. Colostrum is filled with antibodies, which help babies to fight off infections. It’s more on quality than quantity. If you express, it’s really not much. Unless baby is too weak to suckle, like premature babies, it’s better to just nurse baby directly.

If no bottle or pacifier is being introduced to baby, baby should be feeding on demand by mommy’s breasts. Just alternate the breast for each feeding, or it baby is feeding well, try to offer the other side after she finishes nursing on the first breast. On subsequent feeding, start with the second breasts. Don’t detach baby before she finishes, unless she’s fallen asleep and not sucking. Breast milk comes in two contain, the foremilk which is more on water and sugar, and hindmilk, the one which is full in fat and more fulfilling. As long as baby is taking in both foremilk and hindmilk, she’s feeding well. So, you have to make sure that baby’s nursing long enough on one breast to get both foremilk and hindmilk, before offering the second breast. So, let’s get back the problem of not having enough milk for baby.

You see, our milk production is based on supply and demand. The more baby nurses, the more milk you’ll be having. The thing is, not every mother has the determination and will to breastfeed her baby. Some just gave up when the baby becomes very attached and nurses frequently at night. They feel like breastfeeding is too demanding, and would like to take more rest than being a milk bank to the baby. I’ve been through the process twice, so I know how it feels. But remember, we’re not going to breastfeed our babies forever. It’s only tough for the first few months, and things will get better once baby’s feeding pattern develops, and learns how to sleep for longer hours.

Another thing is, hormone prolactin which produces milk only works at night. Thus, night feedings are very important to ensure sufficient milk supply to baby. When baby suckles at the breast, the nerves system at the nipple will send messages to mother’s pituatary gland and release hormone oxytocin which delivers milk from the breast to baby. You may feel a stingy sensation where milk will be gushing out into baby’s mouth too. This is called let down, where milk will come out automatically.

Our breasts will never be out of milk. The more baby suckles, the more milk our bodies will produce. That’s why it’s called supply and demand. So, forget those sayings of NOT Enough Milk, ok.