I’ve had a ton of DM’s from fellow moms asking about breastfeeding and I want to share these with all of you since they may help y’all as well. You can AS-Q me anything as well click here and just shoot me a message!
For this question, I always taste my breastmilk or smell it before giving a bottle to my child for safety reasons. But I have always been safe with storing my breastmilk and always follow guidelines. And as I’ve said in the conversation, if it’s been in the fridge for too long before freezing and you do that with most pumped milk, always always check first! There are different pieces of information on the internet and I guess you do you. Taste your breastmilk when it’s freshly pumped and when you’re about to serve it to your child, it should be somehow the same taste – the smell may change to a metallic smell and sometimes taste (almost like blood), that’s more often than not normal.
After birth, I did have massive hair fall problems – so massive that even everyone around
me took notice. I also researched that breastfeeding may also be a factor to such hair fall since we lose so much nutrients in our body to provide our milk (which is why we should eat healthier too). As I advised, I rarely use shampoo (even before I was pregnant), and I use a narrow tooth comb to spread my hair’s natural oils up until my ends. I also suggest using this specific hot oil conditioner from Mother Nurture. It helped me a lot not to just stop my hair fall altogether, but it also helped me gain back some luscious locks!
Lack of calcium also affects hair loss which we also need more of when pregnant. To pregnant women or those who have been pregnant, I know you know how brutal those middle of the night cramps are! And more often than not our gynecologists prescribe us some calcium and then when we give birth we either stop taking it or simply also because we stopped getting check-up from our OBs. Guilty as charged.
Mommy #1 has requested to remain anonymous for this blog. She was asking about how I got my son to sleep through the night. This question was the inspiration for my previous blog: 15 Ways to Get Your Breastfed Baby to Sleep Through Night (As Early as 6 Months!) My son wakes up at midnight and he dream feeds for a maximum of 5 minutes and that’s it. The second issue of this mama is that baby doesn’t want to take a bottle even if its breastmilk. My first answer to that is maybe he doesn’t like the bottle and I do suggest trying a bottle that is more like a boob, there are tons of bottles now that really do promote breastfeeding to avoid nipple confusion or preference. My second piece of advice and ask someone else for help and feed him the bottle. My son pulls on me especially when he knows he can just easily feed from me and can smell me. It’s a challenge to feed him a bottle so I have my husband give him the bottle.
Mommy #2 also requested to be anonymous. This is a very controversial question and even answer. Most say that you shouldn’t drink at all when breastfeeding or like what I suggested, just one glass. Its also been said that a glass of alcohol after two hours can be out of your system (after 2 hours). I would take this bit of advice with a grain of salt and go by what you believe. In this mom’s case, she drank well more than one glass. I suggested that if she wasn’t comfortable breastfeeding her baby, she can just pump the milk and use it for other things such as a milk bath. You can even use it for small rashes, dry skin, and etc (the list goes on and on).
Another common question I get even from people who aren’t moms and are just really curious: for extended breastfeeding, or when baby grows his teeth out, is it painful, or does it hurt when baby sucks? No* (asterisk). There are moments when my son tends to bite and there may be other kids who bite a lot – but it takes communication whether verbal or nonverbal between the mother and baby. Other moms go through this and think, okay, he’s biting it’s the end for breastfeeding. It’s all in your decision-making, but it doesn’t have to be. Before I became a mom I thought breastfeeding a baby that could already stand up was just straight-up weird. But now that I’m on the other side of the tracks its nothing but normal, and it seems to me all the other people who think its weird along with my old self are the ones who are abnormal to think it’s unnatural. And if you read labels on formula boxes, it says breastmilk is still the best for babies up to two years and beyond.
This is one of the more practical advice that can be used as I’ve been asked any other advice you have up your sleeve? This app “Baby Daybook” has done me wonders and I still use it to this very day. I believe I’ve mentioned it before, I used this app in the beginning to track breastfeeding, record pumping sessions, time outside to get some vitamin D from the sun and fresh air, tummy time, and the list goes on (this app does a ton!). The one feature I have been consistent in using is the sleep timer since I really have to record my son’s sleep since its also where I base his mood from. He absolutely needs a 2-hour nap daily and if he doesn’t he goes berserk the whole day!
I’ve never really followed the two-hour interval for breastfeeding. I’ve always breastfed on demand; its best for baby, for your milk supply, and your sanity too. Especially being a boy mom, boys are hungry like 24/7 (even full-grown men are) so I just feed him anytime he wants to feed instead of my eardrums shattering from all the crying, haha! But kidding aside, breastfeed on demand!
Thankful for all the moms who trust me even if I am in no way a professional, all I have is experience and my willingness to help and share to all (not just moms)! Also really grateful they allowed me to share our private conversations for the purpose of this blog. Don’t hesitate to hit me up and follow me on instagram for more. As always, hope these snippets helped!
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