LLLC Blog feed

Is your breastmilk reflective of what you eat?

Milky Way — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 15:25:01 +0000

If, as the saying goes, “you are what you eat” is your breastmilk also a reflection of what you eat? The answer is a qualified "No". The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (2010, page 124) says “You don’t need a perfect diet to keep your milk nutritious. Your milk is made from your blood.

Words of Wisdom on Nursing Words

Milky Way — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 16:37:19 +0000

Nursing past the first year is recommended by both health professionals and organizations, as well as by experienced breastfeeding moms who know firsthand the many benefits, both physical and emotional, for mother and baby.

Starting Solids

Milky Way — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 22:28:03 +0000

Our breastfeeding tip today comes from our favourite book, The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (8th edition, 2010).

read more

Airplane Hold

Milky Way — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 19:26:18 +0000

Try the "airplane hold" on a well-fed, but fussy baby who needs to kick and have the pressure taken off of his/her tummy.

Thank you Joan for sharing this great tip.

Tuesday Tip

Milky Way — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 13:28:48 +0000

Hold your new baby a lot.

Little Bun

DonnaCookson Martin — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 02:41:22 +0000

Youngest sister did not spend New Year’s Eve celebrating in Times Square. Instead she was doing her celebrating in a delivery room in Guelph, Ontario. She had just witnessed the safe and peaceful, if slightly early birth of her first grandchild. The arrival of “Little Bun” had been eagerly anticipated ever since the big family wedding last summer when the groom’s sister, my niece Ruth, arrived from Ontario displaying a noticeably protruding baby bump.

New Year’s Resolutions

Milky Way — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 18:03:59 +0000

This time of year seems to spur many people to make resolutions, and many of those resolutions involve food and eating.

Mothering journey

Milky Way — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 15:57:09 +0000

Mothering can be a lonely journey. Only another mother knows the exhaustion of late night feedings, the concern over an unexplained fever or rash, the heart-wrenching fears of a mother love so great that it consumes every fibre of our being.

Making Milk

Milky Way — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 20:31:47 +0000

Did you know that one of the main reasons women stop breastfeeding is because they feel they aren’t making enough milk? Anyone who has struggled with milk supply or a slow-gaining baby knows how worrying and frustrating that experience is. Yet many pregnant women are not aware of the factors that can influence their ability to make milk and their baby’s ability to get the milk they produced.

For example:

What in the world is World Breastfeeding Week?

Milky Way — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 02:46:19 +0000

20 years ago, the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) launched its first World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) campaign. WABA is a global network of individuals & organizations concerned with the protection, promotion & support of breastfeeding worldwide. WABA action is based on statements of the Innocenti Declaration, the Ten Links for Nurturing the Future and the Global Strategy for Infant & Young Child Feeding. WABA has consultative status with UNICEF & with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC).

What to tell the Grandparents

Milky Way — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 15:09:07 +0000

At La Leche League meetings, mothers often talk about the challenges of responding to comments or advice from grandparents.

“My mom doesn’t understand why my baby seems to be always breastfeeding,” one mother will say. “She bottlefed me and says I did just fine on a four-hour schedule.”

“My mother-in-law says my daughter should be sleeping through the night by now,” comments another. “She says if I’d start the baby on solid foods she’s sleep longer.

This Old House of Mine

DonnaCookson Martin — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 16:18:38 +0000

My last child, the youngest of five, leaves for university in a few short weeks. All of my children will be adults. Although they still need and appreciate having parents, things are different now. They are out on their own, making their own decisions, raising their own families, living their lives according to their own desires, goals and values.

The work of feeding babies

Milky Way — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 15:00:40 +0000

In my backyard, I have 2 robin nests with babies. The one nest that I can most easily see from my kitchen window has 3 baby birds, who are looking pretty old now and I suspect they'll be flying away from the nest soon.

I was feeling sorry for that poor mama robin; it looks like all she does is feed those babies. Flying away to find food, then flying back into my apple tree to feed 3 rapidly growing and very noisy mouths. Then I realized that this is probably what nursing looks like to non-nursers. When our babies are very little, we ARE constantly feeding them.

Grandma Goes to School

DonnaCookson Martin — Wed, 23 May 2012 19:39:21 +0000

“Hi, Grandma. Bye, Grandma!” Abbey, aged 11, whizzes past me on her bike. It’s a sun-kissed Monday morning in May, and both of us are on our way to school. Abbey is biking through the neighbourhood to her century-old brick school where she is in Grade 6 with – horrors! – her first male teacher.

Time Magazine cover - Are You Mom Enough?

Milky Way — Fri, 18 May 2012 15:02:53 +0000

One day I was standing at the sink, washing dishes. I heard the screech-screech-screech of a chair being pushed across the kitchen floor by my three-year-old daughter. No, she wasn’t bringing the chair over so she could help me with the dishes. She wanted to nurse, and noticing that I was busy, decided she could help herself.

That was the one and only time I nursed a child standing on a chair.

Earth Day and Breastfeeding

Milky Way — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 20:15:33 +0000

Q: What is the one thing ONLY mothers can do to help reduce landfill waste, preserve valued energy, and help prevent deforestation?

A: Produce breast milk to feed their children.

As people from around the globe commemorate "Earth Day," human milk remains the ultimate natural renewable resource and perhaps the most overlooked way of helping to create a healthier planet.

Great-Uncle Bob

DonnaCookson Martin — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 05:43:05 +0000

The Lougheed community hall is filled to capacity and beyond – over three hundred people which is about one hundred more than the official village population. More chairs are brought out and placed at the ends of rows. Still there are knots of men standing at the back.

People are hot in their heaviest winter coats. There are whispers and low murmurs, but mostly there is silence.

What one study tells us about breastfeeding support

Milky Way — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 18:18:13 +0000

The National Post published an article on March 14 that described a study about how the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines around breastfeeding, and the way the medical community communicates those guidelines, influences the breastfeeding decisions of mothers.

The Rugby Player and the Bottle

Milky Way — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 06:08:44 +0000

After an article was posted on a Canadian web news site yesterday some people have expressed outrage at the idea that LLL New Zealand recommended not using a photo that showed a well-known Maori rugby player feeding his baby with a bottle. The image was intended to be part of an anti-smoking campaign, and the government agency responsible for the campaign consulted with various community groups, as usual.

Thank You, Queen Elizabeth

DonnaCookson Martin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:40:03 +0000

Mum and I were alone that bone-chilling December evening, curled up on a lumpy, pull-down couch in a strange hotel room in New York City. I was eight years old, and it was my first time in New York, and Mum’s first time, too. In fact it was the first time either of us had ever been out of Alberta, the first time we’d been on a plane. We’d left behind Dad, Grannie, my two-month-old baby sister and everyone we knew and loved. We couldn’t even use the phone on the desk beside us to call them because there was no telephone at home on the farm.

Facebook and Breastfeeding Photos

Milky Way — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:56:45 +0000

Even if you’re not on Facebook, you may have heard about this: a mother, proud of her breastfeeding relationship with her baby, posts a photo of her nursing baby on her Facebook profile. Her friends are posting photos of their babies doing all kinds of adorable things, and she thinks nothing of adding a shot of her little one breastfeeding.

The Other Baby

DonnaCookson Martin — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 04:50:39 +0000

No one remembers the other baby – no one but me. No one even knew she existed except Greg and me and the doctor.

All the attention, all the concern focused on Elizabeth. Our Elizabeth had just reached her first birthday. She had been a happy, healthy newborn. She latched on to my nipple the minute she found it. She was, after all, the fourth child of a La Leche League Leader. She knew what she was doing. She was a bright, healthy, beautiful little girl, getting ready to walk and talk.

Being "extravagantly affectionate"

Milky Way — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:01:46 +0000

Extravagant Affection

When my children were babies, they spent most of their time in my arms (or in a wrap or carrier that kept them close to me). That’s where they liked to be, and I liked keeping them happy.

But I got lots of criticism. People told me I was spoiling them, that it wasn’t good for babies to be held and cuddled so much, that babies needed to be left to cry. It was at my LLLC Group meeting that I got support to follow my heart, though, and I kept right on carrying my babies.

Ashlyn's First Christmas

DonnaCookson Martin — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 04:33:12 +0000

It is Christmas Eve and the whole family is gathering for the traditional Chinese food supper at Grandma Donna’s. Four uncles, three aunts, even Great-Grandma Martin and Great-Granddad Cookson, all supervised by one-and-only cousin Abbey, aged 11, all brimming with excitement and expectation. And then – the star of the occasion, baby Ashlyn, just two days under eight weeks old, rides triumphantly in her car seat through the door.

Awaiting grandbaby's arrival

DonnaCookson Martin — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:24:59 +0000

My Dear Son attended a La Leche League Series Meeting last Thursday evening. But he wasn’t in my arms. I wasn’t even there. He held another woman’s hand as he walked through the door. I didn’t learn that he and his lovely, eight-months-pregnant wife had been there until he mentioned it casually on the phone the next day.

“There were a whole bunch of pregnant women there,” he observed. “But I was the only father.”

Crying and Breastfeeding

Milky Way — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:47:02 +0000

Babies cry. They cry because it’s the only way they have to let us know that they are unhappy or hurt or scared or lonely. Or hungry, of course, but crying is considered a late sign of hunger – usually the baby gives other indications first, such as sucking on his hands or fingers, searching for the breast if he’s being held, or breathing quickly and moving around restlessly if he’s not.

When cows make breastmilk!

Milky Way — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 19:22:58 +0000

When cows make breastmilk may seem like it belongs in the same category of sayings as “when pigs fly” but it is a step closer to reality due to the work of some Chinese scientists. When this news was released a few months ago I read it, laughed and moved on, but the idea of “humanized cow’s milk” keeps coming back to my mind.

Welcome to Grandma Drama

DonnaCookson Martin — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 05:55:24 +0000

It’s Halloween. The elevators in my Edmonton apartment building are locked, and no goblins have knocked at my door.

It’s almost midnight, and I am doing a final dance with my e-mail before curling up with my bedtime book.

The message chimes through so innocently.

“We’re at the hospital now,” writes son Jay. “Serena is having a few contractions. No dilation. Membranes still intact. They’ll start the induction in the morning. I’ll keep in touch.”

What Babies Know About Breastfeeding

Milky Way — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 03:10:05 +0000

Many years ago, a mother called me for help with her baby who was about 24 hours old and still hadn’t breastfed. She had tried repeatedly – with help from her midwife – to get the baby to latch on, but her little daughter would just turn away, her mouth firmly closed. When I visited her at home, I was equally unsuccessful.

Grandma's thoughts as she waits for grandbaby's arrival

Milky Way — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:41:01 +0000

“There were a whole bunch of pregnant women there,” he observed.

Lunch Club

Milky Way — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 13:37:31 +0000

Here is an idea that's been working really well in Ottawa -a lunch club. Maybe you'll want to do something similar...

We started it last spring, took a break for the summer and have just re-started it. It's quite easy and great fun.

There are 4 of us (plus children) who get together regularly every couple weeks. We meet in a home that has a large kitchen with a family room off it where the children can play.

When baby is exposed to a germ.

Milky Way — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:07:12 +0000

Summer activities are winding up. Coats are coming out of closets. It’s getting dark at dinner time and we are spending more time indoors. I cannot imagine living without the change of seasons. Every fall (and spring) I love the changes in day length. But fall often seems to mean that someone in the family will catch a cold!

Middle of the First Year

Milky Way — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 13:20:52 +0000

La Leche League philosophy underpins everything that LLL does. This philosophy is drawn from 10 statements about mothering and breastfeeding. They’re not meant to be rules – rather, they form a general framework about what LLL believes. There are many ways to interpret each statement, and you will see LLL philosophy take a different shape in each person who embraces it.

I’m exploring the 10 concepts that underpin LLL philosophy in this space.

La Leche League, starting solid foods & Vitamin D

Milky Way — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 03:14:16 +0000

Rather than write our own blog this week we are going to connect you to the blog of the Vitamin D Council, a US non-profit that speaks on the topic of Vitamin D. A few weeks ago their blogger made an inaccurate statement about La Leche League’s philosophy regarding when babies will start eating complementary foods. After much discussion Dr Cannell, their founder and blogger, requested La Leche League write a statement that he would post on his site to counteract his previous comments.

Supportive community

Milky Way — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 14:32:50 +0000

A few weeks ago I had my oldest three grandchildren sleep over at my house. (The youngest, Keagan, still nurses frequently through the night so sleeping over doesn’t work as well for him.) This was four-year-old Xavier’s very first sleepover, and he was pretty excited by the whole thing.

The Superior Infant Food

Milky Way — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 21:06:45 +0000

I’m exploring the 10 concepts that underpin LLL philosophy in this space.

Traveling with baby

Milky Way — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 13:00:28 +0000

I used to travel with my daughter between Vancouver and Montreal several times a year. My surprise for you this time is that a new baby is much more portable than she seems. With a little planning, a vacation by air is not out of the question in the baby’s first summer. Here are my accumulated tips that helped make flying easier for us.

Don’t get on when they are pre-boarding people travelling with small children. You’re going to be sitting on the plane for hours as it is.

What if breastfeeding had no benefits?

Milky Way — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 15:19:40 +0000

The best thing about being a co-author of the Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (8^th Edition) was getting to work with Diane Wiessinger and Diana West. They are two amazing women who care passionately about helping mothers breastfeed.

Diane Wiessinger is known in the breastfeeding community for writing an essay a few years ago that pointed out something that seems incredibly obvious now: breastfeeding is normal. We are mammals, and this is how mammals feed their babies.

Toddler words for Nursing

Milky Way — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 15:28:27 +0000

I was swimming with my three-year-old grandson, Xavier, when he stared at my chest and asked “Do you have murr?” Not everyone would recognize the word “murr” but it’s a familiar one in our family – that’s Xavier’s word for breastfeeding and breastmilk. He was sorry to hear that I didn’t have murr anymore, but reassured me that “it’s okay, Mom has lots.”

Once your nursing baby has become a verbal toddler, you may find he or she develops her own words for breastfeeding.

Summer time breastfeeding

Milky Way — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 15:41:36 +0000

My first three daughters were born in the winter. What a pleasant difference when my last baby was born in April. I hardly worried about whether she was wearing enough clothes to stay warm. I never had to push her tiny uncooperative hands down the sleeves of a snowsuit. But there’s always something for a mom to worry about. She was still fully breastfeeding when it got hot in the summer and I wondered, did she need extra water?

I read in The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding that babies never need supplemental water.

An Intense Need

Milky Way — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 06:56:37 +0000

I’m exploring the 10 concepts that underpin LLL philosophy in this space.

What normal babies do

Milky Way — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 14:26:48 +0000

You’ve seen the babies on TV. They sit around quietly, looking adorable, then the actress playing the mother says “oh, it’s naptime” and whisks the baby away. A minute or so later, the actress is back and the show continues. Or you’ve read a book that promises babies will sleep, eat and play on a nice, predictable schedule.

Then you get a real baby.

As a La Leche League Leader, I get quite a few calls from mothers who are worried that they don’t have enough milk, or that there is something wrong with their milk. Why?

A Surprising Amount

Milky Way — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 18:22:28 +0000

Like many moms, once I found La Leche League, I kept on attending La Leche League meetings. I liked borrowing their library books and I liked hearing the stories people told. I was learning new things. And things kept surprising me.

The surprises I like best are the ones that make sense when I give it more thought. Here is one that had me puzzled right from the start: breastfed babies consume less breastmilk than formula fed babies drink formula. Huh? I couldn’t make sense of that without more information.

Alert and Active Childbirth

Milky Way — Mon, 30 May 2011 06:01:26 +0000

I’m exploring the 10 concepts that underpin LLL philosophy in this space.

Why does my baby want to nurse so often?

Milky Way — Fri, 27 May 2011 13:23:27 +0000

As a Leader, I get asked that question a lot. Many mothers have been told “your baby should nurse eight to 12 times a day” – or every two to three hours – and they start to get worried if the baby wants to nurse more often than that.

They worry that:

Finding La Leche League Canada

Milky Way — Tue, 17 May 2011 13:36:56 +0000

I think I was a lot like many new moms. I read a lot while I was pregnant but I had never seen anyone nurse her baby. I read about La Leche League but I didn’t know there were meetings nearby. LLL was so famous that it seemed more like a legend than something I would find in my little town.

A few things surprised me when I got to breastfeed for real.

Early and Often

Milky Way — Tue, 10 May 2011 16:09:31 +0000

My first La Leche League meeting

Milky Way — Wed, 04 May 2011 13:52:40 +0000

Just a few weeks after my first baby was born, I got up the courage to go to a La Leche League meeting. Why did I go? Because I had a problem. In the hospital, they’d taught me to breastfeed in one position, and while it worked, it was increasingly awkward as my baby, Matthew, grew bigger. Nursing was going okay, but I wanted to be able to sit on a bench in the mall and feed my baby in a more relaxed, comfortable position. Every time I tried to latch him on that way, he’d just cry, like he didn’t know what I was trying to do.

Sharing Bathtime

Milky Way — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 03:22:46 +0000

I had my first baby in February in Montreal and I can tell you the whole house was freezing. She cried when I bathed her in the kitchen and even when I turned up the heat in the bathroom. I didn’t want bath time to be a bad experience, so I thought about what I could do to make it better.

Mothering through Breastfeeding

Milky Way — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 13:02:14 +0000

La Leche League (LLL) was created to provide mother-to-mother breastfeeding support. In fact, LLL Canada’s mission is:

To encourage, promote and provide mother-to-mother breastfeeding support and educational opportunities as an important contribution to the health of children, families and society.

This is why every LLL Leader has been a breastfeeding mother herself. We do not provide medical information, and we’re not licensed professionals. We’re trained volunteers who draw from referenced LLL materials and our own experiences.

Welcome to The Milky Way

Milky Way — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 12:48:31 +0000

Welcome to La Leche League Canada's blog. We plan to share our thoughts about La Leche League and breastfeeding and how both of these have shaped our own mothering experiences. There are as many ways to be a mother as there are mothers and we hope you will find here things that resonate with you or get you thinking about your own mothering choices. We look forward to hearing your thoughts. Subscribe to our LLLC Blog feed to be notified of new posts!