BREASTFEEDING
This is meant to make you ask WHY and question what you have always been told. I used to be on the OPPOSITE side of this debate but I recently started questioning more and more and doing MY OWN research into this.. which is what I challenge you to do as well!
Please don't just take what I say to do, research, look it up and ask your TRUSTED healthcare providers. The opinions on this are WIDESPREAD even in the holistic community.
But I go back to... why do we assume we are born deficient? Why do we assume breastmilk is MISSING something? My conclusion is that it isn't...
So what might cause you to have a low 1,25D?
• Not enough sun
• Sunscreen
• Gut dysbiosis
•Magnesium deficiency (medications, stress, processed foods all deplete magnesium)
• Not eating enough fat or taking cholesterol
meds. You need fat for hormone D production.
• Glyphosate (pesticide). It interrupts the P450 cytochrome pathway which is a necessary step for D.
So what can you do? Get outside. Fat soluble vitamin rich foods (yes this means animal foods). It's just
not possible without them. Your body needs them for so many reasons. But also animal sources of vitamin A contain preformed Vitamin A and not provitamin A which makes the body do more work to convert it to retinol. Grassfed eggs, butter, beef, liver, grassfed dairy, Salmon, sardines, etc. Magnesium... magnesium lotion, oil, Epsom salt baths, supplementation
-Be super mindful of stress. Are you working at a job that is terribly stressful? This can make a big difference! If you can't change the situation, you must change the way your body is perceiving this stress. Mindset work.
It is NEVER just one thing. ❤️
As always, this is not medical advice. Speak with your healthcare provider before changing anything. This is meant to be educational.
In the hospital they usually tell moms to try to breastfeed every 2-3 hours. Wake baby to nurse every 2-3 hours. That way you can make sure to nourish baby and bring in a good milk supply.
Unfortunately this isn’t exactly how it works🙄 this visual was shared in a post from a friend that I shared a couple years ago and it’s incredibly accurate.
It’s basic math that they use in the hospital to give you the “ideal” feeding schedule. This “ideal schedule” equals about 8-12 nursing sessions in 24 hours which means baby would only have to nurse every 2-3 hours.
This is their way of saying that baby needs to eat often, but this isn’t exactly how it works for mom and baby in real life. Which can cause a mom to really struggle when her baby wants to nurse more often than every 2-3 hours! Nothing like setting new moms up to fail🤦♀️
Because they push this so heavily, I’ve noticed that parents seem to think breastfeeding is going to be super simple and perfectly spaced out feedings like the cereal picture. It also makes it look as though all feedings should be the same size so they should be nursing for the same amount of time each time. Which also is NOT accurate.
THIS IS NOT THE REALITY. In reality, baby will have big/long feeds sometimes. Or little/short feeds. Or feeding sessions while they are still mostly asleep. Or feeding sessions that aren’t so great. Or anything in between! They are not guaranteed to sleep better just because their feedings are all spaced out perfectly and done for the same length of time.
Instead of watching the clock and timing sessions, let baby lead! Watch for feeding cues from your little one and go from there😊
I also wanted to say that I love the blueberries portion of this visual. It shows more of a reality for how nursing sessions go. Some are bigger. Some are smaller. Sometimes there’s a longer amount of time in between. And in counting the berries, there are STILL the correct number of nursing sessions for the day.
Amazing, right?! Our bodies and our babies know what they are doing. Let them lead💙💚
Words by: Ariel Kaye
Image by: @breastfeeding.dietitian
#breastfeeding#feedingondemand
It's National Breastfeeding Month 🤱
Let's talk about breastfeeding & toxins. Deep breath.
FIRST: this information is NOT intended to scare anyone, it's being shared to educate.
SECOND: We know that breastmilk contains a lot of beneficial antibodies, enzymes, and vitamins. Breastmilk is the best and most ideal food for nursing infants AND there are many women, who, for many reasons cannot breastfeed, so understanding & compassion are imperative here.
THIRD: What we ALSO know is that breastmilk, because of its high protein and fat content, can also carry a lot of fat-soluble toxins that have been linked to negative health outcomes.
Specifically:
- Bisphenols (BPA and its replacements)
- flame retardant chemicals
- perchlorate
- perfluorinated chemicals
- phthalates
- polyvinylchloride
- heavy metals (cadmium, lead, and mercury are leading offenders)
We know this to be true AND breastfeeding is still the best option for those that are able to.
If you're working with a preconception or pregnant client/patient base, encourage them to minimize exposures to toxic compounds ideally prior to conception, but also throughout pregnancy and breastfeeding.
If you're someone who's actively breastfeeding, keep at it! Don't let this information stop you!
The only way out of this conundrum is to have better regulations for the chemicals in the marketplace - if chemicals that are known or suspected of being harmful are able to be passed to nursing infants, they should not be permitted in everyday consumer products.
This is always a tricky conversation to have because we don't want folks to feel scared to do one of the most natural things the body does, but we also want people to be outraged enough that they help push for better regulation, or at the very least, vote with their dollars by choosing less-toxic products.
What are your thoughts? Are you working with breastfeeding clients on toxin avoidance (with minimal stress and no judgement)?