Breastfeeding & Nutrition
Motherhood
Breastfeeding & Nutrition
March 03, 2016
Bananas are a great food for little ones. They have a soft texture and natural sweetness that babies love. Ripe bananas are easy to digest and provide needed energy for growing bodies.
We also eat a lot of eggs in our house. When my son was introduced to solids we started with egg yolks and waited to introduce the whole egg with whites. The yolks are where the most beneficial nutrients are found. They are stocked with B vitamins, healthy fats, choline, and the harder to obtain fat-soluble vitamins A & D.
Once we introduced egg whites, these healthy flourless banana pancakes were a hit! They include only 3-ingredients and are super simple to make.
Eggs contain an easily absorbable form of iron, a nutrient that babies start to require more of around the time solids are introduced. If the eggs are pasture raised they also contain the powerful fat needed for babies brains, DHA.
Ingredients
1.5 bananas *should be quite ripe with brown spots
2 large eggs
1/8 teaspoon
Motherhood
Breastfeeding & Nutrition
March 02, 2016
Happy IBCLC Day! The International Board of Certified Lactation Consultants Day falls on the first Wednesday of March. And it’s a great day to recognize those that helped you to reach your breastfeeding goals.
With that in mind today, I wanted to share many of the ways that IBCLCs love to help empower you to meet your personal breastfeeding goals.
We are there to help you even before your little one arrives.
Taking a prenatal breastfeeding class with an IBCLC is a great way to get off on the right breastfeeding foot. Not only will it help you feel more confident right from the start but also can provide you the tools to recognize any issues you might have so you can get the support you need right away.
We aren’t just here for you when the baby is brand new.
Getting ready to go back to work? Thinking of starting solids? We love to help mamas and babies throughout the entire feeding journey.
We love to support moms and babies not only in times of joy but also
Motherhood
Breastfeeding & Nutrition
February 18, 2016
When my little one was ready for solid foods I decided to use the baby-led weaning approach. In this method finger foods are introduced right from the start and purees are skipped altogether. It was a fantastic fit for my family and I believe it really helped our son establish healthy eating habits. He’s almost 2 years old now and has a fantastic appetite with an impressively adventurous palate. Here are some reasons that we love about baby-led weaning.
Experiencing & exploring foods
Babies love the opportunity to interact with food! If spoon-feeding, there are still some approaches from baby-led weaning that help engage baby in mealtime. Babies often spit out puree and try to grab it with their hands. That's because they're curious and want to be involved, but parents are usually quick to wipe it up or scoop it back into baby's mouth. Try putting a small spoonful of puree on your baby’s tray for them to touch & taste on their own before you begin feeding - and again
Motherhood
Breastfeeding & Nutrition
February 11, 2016
One of the most frequently asked questions from my clients and members of our instagram support forum is “How can I increase my milk supply?” It’s a valid concern considering one of the top three reasons mothers wean is they are concerned about milk supply (1). Today I’m here to give you three easy ways to ensure your milk production will meet baby’s needs!
Ensure efficient breast emptying
Breastmilk is made on a supply-demand chain. Think about a store inventory. If an item is popular, and being regularly removed from the shelves each day, the item will continually be in stock. If the item sits and sits and no one buys it, pretty soon it will be discontinued. The same is true for milk production! The more is removed, the more is made. Sometimes women put their baby to breast frequently, but they are not attached well enough or alert enough to remove milk efficiently. Some great things to look for during latch include
Motherhood
Breastfeeding & Nutrition
November 18, 2015
A pressure cooker isn’t necessary, but it does cook your beans faster. I start with dried beans because they taste better and cost a lot less than canned. But (confession), I totally used pre-cut butternut squash for this recipe. I don’t mind passive cooking time, such as putting beans in water to soak at breakfast time or overnight, but like to save time on cooking prep when I can.
Please feel free to improvise with whatever veggies or grains you have on hand. Roasting the veggies in the oven makes them super sweet. My kids have sweet tooths, and both liked this stew.
Ingredients
2 cups of dried black beans
2 sprigs of fresh epazote,
Motherhood
Breastfeeding & Nutrition
November 05, 2015
I was overwhelmed when it was time to start my baby boy Rio on solid foods. He had been breastfed exclusively and had never been sick or had an issues-great sleeper, never had a diaper rash, no skin issues, not even a cold. I was nervous that things would change once I started him on solids. My pediatrician recommended we start him on cereal. I asked if I could do just vegetables and fruits instead and he said that was perfectly fine. I just felt more comfortable giving him real, whole foods that we eat. I really liked the idea of baby-led weaning and I knew that I wanted to follow philosophy for the most part. One of my main goals with Rio is that he is able to enjoy variety of healthy foods. I personally think the key to this is exposure. When I started feeding Rio solid foods at 7 months, I only gave him vegetables and healthy fats for the entire first month (avocado, coconut, sweet potato, carrot, broccoli, asparagus, spinach, cauliflower, zucchini, etc.). After a month I introduced
Motherhood
Breastfeeding & Nutrition
October 27, 2015
Here you are -- you finally think you have this breastfeeding thing down. No more sore nipples, baby is gaining weight, sleeping in longer stretches, and you’re finally starting to feel like your old self again. Then suddenly you have a drop in your milk supply in what seems like overnight. This sudden change isn’t uncommon to nursing mothers, but it can cause momentary panic in a new mom and leave you wondering why this is happening. Many things can cause a once robust milk supply to drop. It could be that you went back to work and are now separated from your baby for longer stretches during the day, perhaps you had an illness, have had recent stress in your life, return of your menstrual cycle, or just plain haven’t been taking good care of yourself. Whatever the reason for this drop, there are things you can do to increase your milk supply and bring it back up to the level it once was.
Can you increase your milk supply after it decreases?
Motherhood
Breastfeeding & Nutrition
October 13, 2015
As a Registered Nurse and Certified Lactation Specialist, I frequently get called for consultations. I hear lots of worries from Moms trying to soothe their infants!
Why won’t my baby feed? Is my baby in pain? What am I doing wrong?
Sometimes mothers may find their baby’s behavior puzzling or worrisome.
However, I’ve found that the majority of issues resolve when we use research-based practices and keep things consistent. Everybody knows when Mom isn’t happy, nobody’s happy! Ergobaby knows that a Mom isn’t happy if her baby isn’t! Today I want to share with you my Top 2 ‘Must-Dos’ with Ergobaby products: frequent skin-to-skin contact and proper positioning.
Frequent skin-to-skin
Motherhood
Breastfeeding & Nutrition
August 01, 2015
In honor of World Breastfeeding Week, National Breastfeeding Month and Black Breastfeeding Week, we reached out to our community to get breastfeeding tips. There are many amazing resources and support communities out there (both online and in person), and we invite you to get the support you need. In addition, we wanted to share some tips and advice from moms in our community
Motherhood
Breastfeeding & Nutrition
July 30, 2015
Breastfeeding a baby is hard work. With all the unrealistic portrayals of breastfeeding in the media and in parenting books, many new moms find themselves completely unprepared for the sheer quantity of time it takes to feed these little babies. For breastfeeding to work, those first few weeks (er… months) it really starts to feel like all you are doing is feeding the baby. Many mothers begin to feel overwhelmed. I remember firsthand, that my little Dragon Baby was a particularly enthusiastic nurser. I didn’t leave the house for weeks on end…. I couldn’t find time between feedings. When I finally figured out how to nurse in the Ergobaby baby carrier, I felt like a breastfeeding master. It was so discreet, nobody even knew what I was doing. I’d be walking the aisles at Costco sipping on some soda, baby strapped to my boobs… no one batted an eye. People would come poke their head into my carrier and