Ways to Go About Increasing Milk Supply

If you notice that your little one is not gaining weight, or always seems hungry (and not just during a growth spurt), talk to your pediatrician and/or your lactation consultant to make sure that you don’t need to actively try increasing milk supply.  Based on their findings, and your particular situation, there are different avenues that they might recommend for increasing milk supply.

Many mothers swear by Mother’s Milk Tea and attribute their increasing milk supply to that.  Personally, it did not work for me, but I know many success stories where it did.  Based on your situation, lactation consultants may be able to recommend certain ingredients be added to the tea to help you specifically reach your increasing milk supply goal.

You may find that your doctor or lactation consultant may recommend pumping after one or more feedings throughout the day to initiate increasing milk supply.  I began by pumping after every feeding and found that it was too much for me to maintain.  In order for me to get enough sleep at night (and during the day when I could steal a nap), I settled on trying to pump once a day on top of my normal feedings.  I used my Medela Pump In Style Advanced Breast Pump.  It did work towards increasing milk supply, but I found that it wasn’t enough.

Ultimately I discovered that while I had put in the effort for increasing milk supply, for whatever reason I was not able to make enough for my growing daughter.  I did have to supplement with formula and be okay with that.  I gave my baby as much breast milk as I could make, and I had the peace of mind of knowing that she did receive some great nutrition because of that.  If that becomes your situation, not increasing milk supply enough to avoid supplementation, don’t berate yourself.  The only thing that matters is that your baby is healthy and their pediatrician is happy with his or her progress.

Increasing Milk Supply Can be Challenging, But Worth the Effort

How to increase breast milk supply:

The first thing to determine is whether your supply is really low or not.…

How Breastfeeding Moms Can Increase Milk Supply:

Most new moms know that breastfeeding isn’t as easy as it looks. Add a low milk supply into the mix and you’ve got a recipe for a stressed-out mama.…

You may have heard parents refer to the practice of swaddling a baby, and you may be wondering how to swaddle a baby correctly.  While you are in the hospital during the recovery from birth, ask one of the nurses to show you how to swaddle a baby to keep them from breaking the swaddle and interrupting both theirs and your sleep.  My husband and I found that some nurses preferred to swaddle one way and others another.  You will find a technique for how to swaddle a babythat works best for you.  But also keep in mind that every baby is different and may want to be swaddled a little differently.

How to Swaddle a Baby: Tips and Benefits

Practicing how to swaddle a baby correctly can help prevent SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) because it helps baby sleep in a more stable condition.  It can also soothe and comfort a baby because it imitates being confined and cozy inside their mother’s womb.

Some babies like to be swaddled with their hands very close to their mouth.  Doing so allows them easy access to suck on their hands and feel their hands on their face, adding to their sense of security.  You may or may not want to learn how to swaddle a baby in this fashion based on whether or not you want your baby to have access to his or her hands.

Babies are not allowed to have loose blankets in their cribs until they are older and it’s considered safe.  However, it is important that babies remain warm throughout his or her naptime and bedtime if he or she is going to have a restful sleep.  Learning how to swaddle a baby will give them the extra warmth they need to sleep soundly, improving both their quality of sleep and yours.

As our baby got older, she regularly began breaking out of her swaddle.  We knew how to swaddle a baby, but it just didn’t seem to work anymore because all of the receiving blankets we found were too short for her growing body.  There is a Halo sleepsack designed with a built in swaddle available for those infants that continually break out of their receiving blanket swaddle, but still want the comfort of being wrapped in one.  We started using this item too late with our daughter for her to take to it properly.  She was used to being able to break out of her swaddle and did not enjoy being velcroed in.  However, we started using this product much earlier with our second daughter and she absolutely loves it.  If it’s an item you want your child to use, I would recommend beginning to use it much earlier than we did (we started trying at about 3 months).  Learning how to swaddle a baby is important, but so is deciding what type of swaddle you want your baby to use.

Discover How to Swaddle a Baby that Works for You!

Learn more about how to swaddle a baby and other parenting tips.

Wrap Your Baby Right: Fit Pregnancy

While this happens to coincide with prime swaddling time it’s safe to wrap your baby as long as the hips can move and bend experts agree. The arms should be snug but not the legs says pediatrician Harvey Karp M. D. creator of The.…

Bundle Up How to Swaddle Your Baby in 7 Easy Steps Babble blog

Babble blog Bundle Up How to Swaddle Your Baby in 7 Easy Steps. Babble blog I had my kids really swaddled says Tyson. I figured if it was good enough for the baby Jesus it was good enough for them. If you’re looking to swaddle your own newborn Bried shares a 7-step tutorial along with other swaddling tips every new and more.…

Copyright 2012 Kates Mom

1.  Do your best to limit mommy guilt.  You will have it, of that I can almost guarantee.  But don’t berate yourself or think that you are less of a mother.  You have chosen the care for your child with thought.  Always stay on top of that to ensure that your child is well-cared for, but as long as your child is happy, healthy and enjoys their surroundings, you have done your job.

2.  Schedule in some time just for your and your little one.  It may not happen every day, life gets hectic and between work, errands, feeding, bathing, etc. you may not have the chance to go for a walk around the block or spend some time at the park.  But make sure you do enough so that you and your child have those moments that are just about you.

3.  Set aside some time just for you.  You may want to spend every waking moment with your child when not at work, but you will quickly burn out and you’re not doing you or your child any favors.  Spend an hour getting a pedicure, read a book – even if only in 15 minute increments, work out.  Your spouse or significant other should have some alone time with your child too, so take advantage of it!

4.  Make sure to save some time every week to catch up with a friend.  It may not happen in person, and it definitely won’t happen as often as you might like, but keep those connections strong.  You need to talk to people who know you as more than a mom, and who can help give you perspective on days when your patience is wearing thin.

5.  Know that your going back to work may be hard at first for your child, however in the end, you are the one who will feel it the most.  I travel for my job and while I spend every night at home, I may get home after she goes to bed and leave before she wakes up.  I can go 36 hours without seeing her and she is fine with it; it’s me who feels the guilt.  But I’ve learned to make up for it on other days and to call before bed (when she was really little my husband would put me on speaker and I would sing her to sleep).  It’s the effort and the feeling of love that they crave, not a set number of hours spent with you per day.

Visit here for more helpful tips.

Develop a Routine to Help with Getting Baby to Sleep

You may read that babies cannot develop a routine until around 6 months of age, but we began a routine with our daughter around 6 weeks and I wish we had started sooner.

Getting baby to sleep can be difficult, but developing a routine definitely helped.  First we bathed her, put her pajamas and then her halo sleepsack.  I would rock her and feed her, give her a MAM pacifier and put her in her crib.  White noise always seemed to help so we let her sleep with her baby music on as well as a humidifier.

Teething, Congestion and Ear Infections Can Change Getting Baby to Sleep

Curve balls are thrown at parents all the time.  If your baby is acting fussy or is having a hard time breathing, it could be related to teething, congestion and ear infections.  Whenever my daughter was experiencing any of the above, all of our previous bed time routines went out the window.  Call your doctor if you think your baby has an ear infection or congestion as they will be able to help you make your baby feel better.  Teething tends to come in spurts and usually after a few days, things would go back to normal.

Find out more about getting baby to sleep and other helpful hints for parents.

Getting Baby to Sleep is Different for Each Baby, Find What Works for Yours!

Bath Time Can be Nerve-wrecking!

Since my husband and I had not experienced infant bath time, my mother-in-law came over “supervised” our daughter’s first bath since she had plenty of experience giving them.  Our daughter didn’t particularly love being in her little basin, and seemed to get cold a little quickly, but we made it through our first attempt.

After a time or two in the hospital basin we took home, we switched bath time over to her infant/toddler tub.  The tub was equipped with a hammock for her to kind of lay in.  Bath time went from being something she had to do to something she loved to do!  We didn’t have to worry about her slipping in or bumping her head because she was supported by the hammock, and she got to splash around in the water.  She treated it like her own little spa.

Bath Time Can be Fun!

Once we gained confidence in our bath time abilities and made it through several nights, giving her the bath became a breeze.  We set her little tub up in our kitchen sink.  It was easier with two people, especially in the beginning.  Our daughter tended to find bath time the perfect time to poop, and constantly needed a change of water.  Just be sure to double check the temperature.  I trusted one of the ducks that changes color in too hot water to let me know if it was too hot.  One day it didn’t work right the water was too warm for her (I like warmer water and didn’t notice that it was too hot for her, but it was was).  We began using a thermometer to make sure that her bath time water temperature was just where it should be, giving us extra peace of mind.

Now that she is older, she has transitioned into the “big” bath tub, although we do sometimes put her in the infant/toddler one since it’s easier to wash her hair in it.  For the first time or two, have someone with you that has given an infant a bath before to help guide you.  You will most likely be nervous, and their presence may help you feel more confident.

Find out more about bath time and other baby firsts you will experience.

Bath Time is a Great Chance for Family Bonding!

Your Baby May Be Ready for Solid Food Before You Are Ready to Give it to Him/Her

My daughter has always been a very good eater.  Put it in front of her and she gobbles it up.  Doesn’t matter if it’s breast milk, formula, baby cereal or any variety of solid food, it’s all gone pretty quickly.

She’s a quick study.  She’s very observant and anytime my husband, myself or any other person watching her would eat, she would stare, try to mimic the eating motions and cry when refused her own portion.

When her doctor said it was okay, we started giving her solid food.  I couldn’t cut the pieces small enough and hovered as she took her first bites.  She was much more ready to eat solid food than I was ready to give it to her.

Eating Solid Food Made Her More Full!

One great up side to her eating solid food was that she felt full longer and finally began sleeping through the night.  She loves being able to feed herself and we are able to pull her up to the table and have her eat right beside us.

When out at restaurants our daughter has her own meal.  It’s great to watch her grow up, but she doesn’t feel old enough to be so independent.  Where did my little baby go?

Her solid food choices continue to expand every day.  I still cut her food up smaller than it needs to be and I hover far more than I probably will with our second child, but it’s a process and she gets to have her independence while I get the peace of mind that she is okay.

Find out more about solid food and other changes that your baby will go through.

Advancing to Solid Food Is Both Scary and Fun!

My daughter just started sleeping through the night, boy do I feel like we just won the lottery!  It took 10 months to get to this point!  By all accounts, she should have started sleeping through the night long ago, but it just seemed like she was hungry, so I kept getting up to feed her.

My husband and I got it to the point where she would drink a full bottle right before bed (somewhere between 6 and 8 ounces), and then she would get up once, maybe twice a night to eat.  She never fussed and drank her bottle down and went right back to sleep, hence my belief that she was hungry and not trying to work me over.  According to her doctor, I was naïve.

She rarely drinks formula during the day (but gets plenty of water so I don’t worry about her liquid intake) and has been eating mostly “people” food for a couple of months now.  When I took Kate for her 9 month appointment I again asked, “when do babies sleep through the night”.  I was told that once she starts eating so much table food, there is no reason for her to be getting up to eat during the night.  I was promised that within a week or two of me letting her cry it out at night, she would learn to sleep.  I waited until the weekend to start our little experiment and hoped for the best.

When Can I Stop Asking, “When Do Babies Sleep Through the Night”?

The first night she cried at 1am and I went into her room, soothed her by rubbing her back and giving her a pacifier (I highly recommend the MAM pacifier) and left.  She cried.  I waited 5 minutes and repeated the process.  I did pick her up to try and soothe her better, put her back in her crib and waited.  She cried.  I waited 10 minutes, and repeated the process.  We did this for about an hour and a half, and then she fell asleep out of exhaustion and she was out until morning.

Not bad I thought.  The next night was better.  I probably only had 45-50 minutes of soothing.  And the next night I didn’t hear a peep.  She had finally slept through the night!

Now she wakes every couple of nights, mostly because she can’t find her pacifier and needs a little help (and sometimes a quick hug).  But I feel like we passed a significant milestone.  You’ll get there too!  It feels like it is never going to happen, and it is awful listening to your baby cry (I definitely recommend going back in to check; I know some parents who will not go back in and that would make me too nervous, plus I wanted my daughter to know that I would come when she needed me, but that I meant business about her sleeping), but it does.  Thank goodness!

Pretty Soon You Too Can Stop Asking, “When Do Babies Sleep Through the Night?”

For me an electric pump was the only way to go.  I was heading back to work after my maternity leave and was not going to have much time to spend pumping.  I needed my breast pump to be efficient, which is also why I opted for the double pump.  Emptying each breast individually takes twice the time; time I did not have.

Varying pump speeds was a great feature.  Sometimes, especially in the beginning or when I’d been pumping more frequently, my breasts became sore.  Being able to adjust the speeds down when sore or faster when not allowed me to remain comfortable.  And as a bonus, the faster the speed, the faster I was able to evacuate the milk and get on with my next task, so I liked that flexibility.

I also didn’t want my pumping bag to be too conspicuous.  I travel frequently for my job and work with varying age groups.  While I didn’t need my bag to look like a purse, I did want all of the parts to properly fit in it.  I did not want my bag to scream, “this lady is breastfeeding”.  I looked for a pump that would blend in with my other personal belongings.

Click here to read more about the top features to look for in a breast pump.

To view all my mother and baby product reviews click here.

Is the high chair easily portable? For us, we needed to be able to pack it in the car and head off to the office or on a trip. Some high chairs are more compact than others, and we definitely needed one that could quickly fold and not take up too much car space. By the same token, we needed one that could effortlessly be moved around the house. Most of the time we feed her in the kitchen or dining area, but we do occasionally move to the living room for snack time. Having built-in wheels is essential to make moving it as easy as possible.

Some high chairs are designed to not only perform as a high chair, but as a booster seat as well. If you can remove the top part of the high chair, you are able strap it to a chair at a table. Being able to do this function serves two purposes. First it allows the chair to grow with your child by becoming a booster seat. Second you are able to travel with just the top part if you don’t want to bring the whole high chair with you. Genius!

The overall look of the chair is important. No one wants an eye-sore in their home, especially one that will be a permanent fixture in your kitchen or dining area for years to come. Do you want to purchase a gender specific or gender neutral high chair? They are designed with different colors and patterns giving you plenty of options.

Click here to read more about what to consider when purchasing a high chair.

Portable crib mattresses tend to be thinner than a regular mattress and smaller in overall size.  It is not meant to take the place of a child’s regular nighttime mattress.  Instead, having this mattress can make traveling with a child easier and more comfortable.  Children sometimes have a hard time away from home and their normal routine.  Add to it sleeping on a harder than normal surface and your child’s away from home experience could be less than pleasant.  That’s where a portable crib mattress can help.

When purchasing a portable crib mattress it is important to know that not all of them are created equal.  Parents have options.  There are different mattress thicknesses, styles (firm, extra firm) and levels of durability.

There are portable crib mattresses that are 1” thick and some that are 3” thick.  Determine how high your pack n’ play is and how many inches you would be willing to pad the bottom further.

To read more about selecting a portable crib mattress click here.