Everything you need to know about feeding your baby for the first year. Whether your breastfeeding, bottle feeding, or doing a combination of the two, I have the information to help you.
This is my go-to method for discreet breastfeeding. It’s called the two shirt method, because it involves two shirts. It allows you to keep most of your body covered. That being said, there is absolutely no reason you NEED to stay covered while breastfeeding. It can just be more comfortable.
Even if you’ve read your breast pump manual thoroughly, you may find conflicting information about how often to replace your pump parts. This is because everyone uses their pumps differently. Someone who is exclusively pumping will need to replace parts much more frequently than someone who just pumps when they want to go out for date night and want to give their baby a bottle.
That being said, there are some general rules of thumb that you can follow. If you ever notice a change in output for seemingly no reason, checking parts is one of the first things you can do.
Gut health has become very popular, so it’s not surprising to see formula companies changing recipes to try and improve the gut microbiome. One way companies are achieving this is using prebiotics and probiotics in their formula.
The gut microbiome is a relatively new area of study and we don’t have an “ideal” gut bacteria profile yet. Companies are comparing the gut bacteria of breastfed babies to those of formula fed babies, with breastfed being the standard. By adding in prebiotics and probiotics commonly found in breastmilk, the goal is to create a similar microbiome in formula fed infants.
Not having enough milk for your baby is a top concern of many breastfeeding parents. Because of this, there is a whole market for galactagogues, or lactogenic foods, that claim to help boost milk supply. Do they really work?
Until recently, most of our evidence was anecdotal, based on claims people were making with very little science to support it. At best, there were some theories on how these foods *may* work. At worst, claims were completely unsubstantiated.
With plant based eating becoming more popular, it’s no surprise that parents are looking for plant based formula. Whether you are vegan, vegetarian, or just trying to avoid animal products, there are several options available to you.
I may be a bit biased, but I think that every parent could benefit from working with a pediatric nutritionist. Most pediatricians get very minimal training in nutrition and often don’t have the time to answer questions in depth. Dietitians, however, specialize in just feeding and often our appointments are longer, giving us more time to focus on any area of concerns you may have.
One of the first thing many breastfeeding courses will mention is to make sure that your baby has a deep latch. But how do you know if your baby has a shallow latch or a deep latch? And if the latch is shallow, how can you fix it?
Due to the formula shortage, the FDA created an expedited approval pathway for international formulas. This means that we are now seeing some formulas from other countries on our shelves.
One major concern with the importation of international formula was that the mixing instructions can be different. Always check your can of formula for the correct mixing instructions. Many of the labels have mixing instructions in ml. For easy conversion, 1 ounce is about 30 ml. 2 ounces is about 60 ml.
Figuring out which formula to choose can be extremely stressful (ignoring the shortage at hand), but choosing a formula for a baby with a milk protein allergy is even more complicated. Balancing out which formula will be best for your baby while also keeping in mind the rising costs of formula as they get more specialized is challenging, to say the least.
