Gorgeous

I can't get over how beautiful this picture is:



Spotted via: Historic Photos & Prints of Breastfeeding on Facebook

What is Your Code Word for Nursing?

We go by "Baby Snacks" in our house (as opposed to "Noms" which means solid food). We started out with "Boob", as in "He wants a Boob" or "You, my child, are a Boob fiend".

The trouble with "Boob", however apt it is, is that eventually nursing babies turn into older nursing babies, even nursing toddlers. We let a "Boob" slip out every now and then (literally and figuratively!), but we try to stick to "Baby Snacks", in hopes that Rhys will pick up the term when he's old enough to ask to nurse. Imagine a toddler out and about for the day, clammoring for "Booooooobbbbbbb!!!!", and I think it is pretty easy to see the appeal of a code word.

A quick purusal of the internet shows code words such as: "Nursies", "Snuggle" and "Side" (as in "the other side").

Do you use a code word for breastfeeding? What is it?

Breastfeeding: Good For Babies & Their Sleepy Mamas

The idea that a bottle of formula can make a baby sleep longer is bandied about pretty regularly. New parents, the notoriously sleep-deprived, might easily find themselves lured into trying formula by the promise of a few extra hours of shut-eye. More accurately: I've met new parents who'd have sold their souls for a few extra minutes of shut-eye, which is why the myth that formula feeding can provide that sleep is so damaging.

A study publishied in the November, 2010 issue of Pediatrics lays this myth to rest, once and for all. The study found no measureable difference between breastfeeding mothers, formula feeding mothers and mothers who fed by both breast and bottle in terms of actual recorded minutes of sleep or in self-reported sleep quality or fatigue.

The study cited the possibility that breastfeeding mothers may wake less fully during night feeds (no lights to turn on or bottles to prepare in the kitchen!) and that they may return to sleep more quickly after (or even during) feedings due to the relaxing hormone soup their bodies release during nursing.

So, the next time a well-meaning advisor tells you that formula will help your baby sleep longer, you can smile, nod and know better.



Cited:
Infant Feeding Methods and Maternal Sleep and Daytime Functioning
Pediatrics, Nov 2010; doi:10.1542/peds.2010-1269d

Meyers-y Monday

For your viewing pleasure: my 7 month old baby boy, Rhys (nicknamed "Meyers")