When should a mother avoid breastfeeding?

"Health professionals agree that human milk provides the most complete form of nutrition for infants, including premature and sick newborns. However, there are rare exceptions when human milk is not recommended. Under certain circumstances, a physician will need to make a case-by-case assessment to determine whether a woman's environmental exposure or her own medical condition warrants her to interrupt or stop breastfeeding."


Read More: http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/disease/

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Breastfeeding and Vitamin D Supplementation

"While breastfeeding is the recommended method of infant feeding and provides infants with necessary nutrients and immune factors, breast milk alone does not provide infants with an adequate intake of vitamin D. Most breastfed infants are able to synthesize additional vitamin D through routine sunlight exposure. However, published reports of cases of vitamin D deficiency rickets among breastfed infants in the Unitied States caused researchers to take another look at whether all breastfed infants were getting adequate vitamin D."


Read More: http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/recommendations/vitamin_D.htm

Source: CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Breastfeeding and plugged milk ducts

It happened 4 years ago, but I still remember how painful it was to have plugged milk ducts. It happened to me frequently (sometimes as often as every other day) and I didn't know what caused it. In addition to the pain and discomfort, I also felt very frustrated thinking I should give up and just get used to it. As much as I looked for answers I didn't find one that satisfied me and offered a simple solution for the problem. Although many online forums and blogs offered suggestions on how to address the problem, all solutions I found were only temporary and the problem soon returned. After a long search for a solution I finally found a wonderful breastfeeding class at "Bright Beginnings and Beyond" in Redondo Beach, CA where I learned the proper 'latching' technique. From that point forward my daughter's breast feeding sessions became painless and only our most enjoyable and intimate moment (it was an amazing feeling!).

One day in the beginning of one of the breastfeeding classes as I was getting ready to start, one of the consultants approached me and asked why I was wearing a underwired bra. At first I didn't understand her question. She then proceeded to explain that it is generally not recommended for a nursing mother to wear an underwired bra because they have a tendency to cause PLUGGED DUCTS!!!!! Who would have thought it? Definitely, not me .

After that day, I never put them on again and never got a plugged duct again !

Educational Toy

Which of your child's educational toys is the one that first comes to mind?

The first one that comes to my mind is a very cute caterpillar that my daughter has had since she was 2 years old. It's from LeapFrog and named Alphabet Pal. It has 26 colorful legs, each one representing one letter of the alphabet and it has 4 different learning modes: letter, sound of the letters, colors and music. It is very educational and my daughter learned the sound of each letter on her own just playing with this toy.