Yogurt for babies

Yogurt is a great snack and addition to a baby's diet.  You can start introducing yogurt after 6 months of age.  My little one loves it!  However, it's best to pay attention to the labels.  Some yogurts are packed full of sugar!

Always check the labels.  Gestational diabetes caused me to check all my labels so I am very used to it.  Watch out for aspartame.  It's very sneaky!  The package will say "light" or "sugar free" and aspartame is lurking in the ingredients. 

There's a lot of controversy about aspartame.  Personally, the endocrinologist told me not to ingest it during pregnancy.  She said that it was not healthy for my developing baby.  If it's not okay for an unborn baby, then I'd assume it's not okay for a growing baby.  I encourage you to do some research and make the decision for yourself. 

My husband and I eat Yoplait, but if you check the label it has 25 grams of sugar!

Stonyfield's YoBaby has only 12 grams of sugar.  It's also made with whole milk that is best for growing babies.

I recommend the brand Stonyfield.  They have yogurts called YoBaby, YoToddler, and YoKids.  Please visit their website for more information.  Fortunately, my community is organic friendly so my local grocery store carries Stonyfield.  If you cannot find it at your local store, you may want to try a health foods store.

Weaning & Your Emotions

Breastfeeding creates such a beautiful bond between a mother and baby.  It’s a natural process that provides the best nourishment for a growing child.  Sometimes it’s not always easy and many mothers want to give up.  When weaning starts, and we come to the end, it can sometimes be emotional for us as mothers. 

I am encouraging of my daughter to grow and become independent.  I love watching her through all the stages of crawling, pulling herself up, and soon walking.  I want to guide her through these exciting stages.  It’s interesting and sad to think about ending this special era of breastfeeding.

I’ve recently read this excerpt from the book What to expect: The Toddler Years and I think it’s very helpful regarding weaning and your emotions:

 

If you wait until your son decides he’s ready to graduate to a more grown-up source of liquid nourishment, you may have a very long wait ahead.  Though some babies and toddlers cut back on or discontinue breastfeeding on their own, usually near the end of the first year, others never do.  If you are ready to wean, then you should initiate the weaning process yourself. This is, after all, a two-way partnership and either party can end it at any time.

Watching a child move from one stage of development to another is always a bittersweet experience – filling you at once with pride (how grown up he is!) and with melancholy (he’ll never be a baby again!).  Some rites of passage evoke more mixed feelings than do others.  For many women, weaning their children from the breast is one of those.

Breastfeeding is an undeniably gratifying experience, but breastfeeding indefinitely because you’re not ready to give it up isn’t fair.  If your toddler wants to move on, follow his lead.  Don’t take his rejection of your breast personally.  He isn’t rejecting you, he’s rejecting the babyhood he’s outgrown, and taking another step toward independence.  As unsettling as that may be for you, it’s a step he must take. 

It’s likely that at first you will miss the physical closeness to your toddler that nursing provided.  But if you think about it, there are a host of other activities (hugging, cuddling, playing together, reading together before bed, and so on) that reproduce that closeness.  Enjoy those more frequently instead. 

Because the sadness you’re feeling may be intensified by the haywire hormonal changes that weaning can trigger, you should consider weaning gradually over a period of weeks or even months.  Give both your body and your mind plenty of time to recover and they eventually will.

Nursing Strike... Ouch!

A few weeks ago, my baby went on her first nursing strike.  It was an emotional and yet puzzling experience.  I found this article on BabyCenter.com that answered all of my questions. Please see below for some helpful information from the article:

What is a nursing strike?

A baby who refuses to breastfeed (and is not in the process of being weaned) is said to be on a "nursing strike." A nursing strike is your baby's way of telling you that something's wrong. And it'll probably take a little detective work to figure out the problem.

What causes it?

Here are some reasons your baby may go on a nursing strike:

• Mouth pain from teething, a cold sore, or an infection (such as thrush)
• An ear infection, which may cause pressure or pain while nursing
• A cold or stuffy nose, which can make breathing difficult while nursing
• Reduced milk supply or a slow letdown
• A major disruption in your baby's nursing routine or schedule
• If your teething baby has bitten you and your reaction startled him, he may be afraid to nurse after that.
• A change in soap or other toiletry that causes you to smell different to your baby
• A change in the taste of your milk, caused by a vitamin or drug or by hormonal changes (from pregnancy or your period, for example)

What can I do?

A nursing strike can be tricky for even the most dedicated breastfeeding mother. With patience and support, though, you can get through it.

A nursing strike usually lasts between two and five days, but it can go on longer.  While you continue to encourage your baby to nurse, you'll need to pump (or express your milk by hand) every few hours, or about as often as your baby had been nursing. This will help keep up your milk supply, prevent plugged ducts and engorgement, and provide your baby with the milk he needs. You can offer the expressed milk in a sippy cup, a bottle, a spoon, an eyedropper, or a feeding syringe.

Here are some ways to overcome a nursing strike:

• Try nursing when your baby is very sleepy. Many babies who refuse to nurse when they're awake will breastfeed when they're sleepy.
• Visit your baby's doctor to rule out medical causes (such as an ear infection or thrush) and seek feeding advice.
• Vary your nursing position. (Your baby may be more comfortable in one position than another.)
• Nurse in motion. Some babies are more likely to nurse when you rock or walk them than when you're sitting or standing still.
• Nurse in an environment that's free from distractions. It's common for a 6- to 9-month-old to go on a nursing strike as he becomes more aware of the world. Babies this age are easily distracted and often prefer to "snack" at the breast instead of settling down for a meal. Try nursing in a dimly lit, quiet room, away from the sound of the radio or television.
• Give your baby lots of skin-to-skin contact (try nursing without a shirt on or in a warm bath). A sling or carrier can help keep your baby close between nursing attempts.

It's easy to jump to the conclusion that a baby who doesn't want to nurse is weaning himself. But it's unlikely that a baby under a year old who has been successfully breastfeeding is ready to give up nursing. (An older baby may cut back in reaction to a new pregnancy, though.)