1. Seek advice, tips and information from an expert Lactation Consultant
During your maternity leave, before you start collecting your breast milk
Everytime you encounter any concern regarding yourself or your baby’s condition
Everytime you have any question
Everytime you are faced with a stumbling block to breastfeeding
Before you decide to quit breastfeeding
"There is always a way.”
2. Be determined to breastfeed exclusively without a drop of infant formula.
Cow’s milk is for a calf; human mother’s milk is for infants/children. The contents of cow’s milk are just right/exact for what’s needed by a calf –high in protein – good for 4 legged-animal to stand immediately after it is born, whereas a baby takes less than to more than a year to stand and walk. This heavy protein is too heavy for a baby’s kidneys, which is why baby gets constipated and too much protein may affect the baby’s/person’s posture and walk.
On the other hand, a human mother’s milk is just right/exact and complete for baby’s needs. Mother’s milk contains more for the brain development. We are rational beings. Do you actually believe that cow’s milk can really make your child smart? If there are any ingredient claimed to do so, they’re synthetic chemicals. The contents and even the supply of a mother’s milk is really right for the needs of her baby as her baby grows every month and every year.
Moreover, all milk formula contains, and are contaminated with:
1. Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormones (RBGH)
2. Antibiotics
3. Preservatives
4. Pesticides and other chemicals in cow’s feed
If your mind is set that “breast milk or no food for my baby (during the first 6 months)”, then you will find all the time, means and ways to express your breast milk.
3. Invest on Breastfeeding Paraphernalia
Use every time you express your breast milk at home, at work, or anywhere you go without your baby. See “Breastfeeding Guide/Paraphernalia” at www.bosombuddy.org
4. Express and save as much breast milk as you can before returning to work
During your maternity leave, as soon as you feel alright from the child delivery, start expressing and saving your breast milk.
This may be done:
1. When you wake-up in the morning and your breast/s are big due to the long hours that baby slept and not breastfeed.
2. During the day when baby sleeps long and your breasts are full of milk
3. In a cradle hold sitting position, while breastfeeding on one breast, express milk from the other breast. You will notice that while baby sucks from one breast, your other breast gets stimulated, breast milk comes out and it is easier and faster to express and collect breast milk. When you change position, again, express milk from the other side. You may either use a battery-operated or electric breast pump that will only require one (1) hand, or better still, manual hand expression – you’ll just need to hold a wide-mouth sanitized/sterilized glass or bottle to catch your milk. Remember too to place a cloth on the baby to avoid wetting the baby with your breast milk. Although breast milk is good for baby’s skin, it will destruct and irritate the baby during breastfeeding.
Don’t be discouraged if you collect only 1oz or 2oz at a time. This is because you are breastfeeding your baby most of the time and baby is very efficient in sucking your milk. Save them anyway because when added up, sum-up to a bigger digit.
5. Pack home-cooked food and drinks that are healthy and will increase breast milk supply. Everything a mother eats and drinks goes into and affects mother’s breast milk and supply. When you pack home-cooked meals, you know the ingredients so you are more assured of:
- Taking-in healthy foods and drinks to make your breast milk healthier for your baby
- Taking-in foods that increase breast milk supply
- You won’t have to go out and buy food, so you save time and may divide lunch or break hour for eating and expressing breast milk
- When you have taken-in food and water before you express, you’ll have more breast milk to express than when you are hungry.
See: Breastfeeding Guide/Food & Drinks, Breastfeeding Guide/How To Increase Breastmilk Supply, and Stay Healthy/Foods We Recommend and Foods We Discourage and Vegan Recipes at www.bosombuddy.org
6. Express breast milk at the work place
Express breast milk at the work place at least 2 to 3x a day:
- When you arrive early and you don’t have any rush pending work
- Divide lunch hour for eating and for milk expression
- Before you leave the work place
- Or whenever your schedule allows you, like before going to a meeting or after a meeting
When going on field or official business outside the office for long hours like the whole day or even overnight, find-out if there is a refrigerator/freezer you can use and always bring your insulated bag, dry ice and other breastfeeding paraphernalia with you. (I was able to express and store my milk while I had 4 days of overnight shoot for TV Commercial, whole week of planning sessions at hotels, and out-of-town trips)
7. Directly breastfeed your child every time you are at home/with your child
Every time you are at home or with your child, directly breastfeed your child. You will not only save the stored milk for consumption when you are not around, but you will also increase your breast milk supply because the more you breastfeed, the more your breast will get stimulated to produce more milk.
8. Express breast milk at home
Express breast milk from one breast while breastfeeding from the other side. This may be done in sitting cradle hold position and in lying-on-side position. Just make sure you place a cloth covering on baby’s body so milk won’t splash at baby. Express breast milk when you wake-up in the morning and your breast feels full. If you are leaving, this milk may be left at room temperature and cup-fed to your baby when baby wakes-up. But if you are not leaving, store in the freezer if you are trying to save a lot of breast milk. Express breast milk when baby/child hasn’t breastfed from you for long hours – because of sleeping, stimulated with play, full with solid foods. Express breast milk when you reach home and find baby still full from solid foods or breast milk.
9. Cup-Feeding by the Caregiver
Negative effects of bottle-feeding:
1. Nipple Confusion the nipples of feeding bottles have holes and pour- out milk easily so baby doesn’t have to exert too much effort in suckling. Baby might opt for the easier choice and might reject your breast. The suckling is the best form of jaw exercise for baby’s speech development. And suckling from the breast will not damage baby’s teeth and gums nor the shape of baby’s lips.
2. Cause Colic bottle has space for air, which may cause even a breast milk-fed yet bottle fed baby to have colic
3. Ruin Child’s Teeth the rubber or silicon material of feeding bottles’ nipples can ruin child’s teeth and gums
4.Deform Shape of Lips bottle-fed child’s lips will go outward
5. Wasted Breastmilk if baby doesn’t consume all the breast milk in the feeding bottle, tendency is for the left-over breast milk to get spoiled because it already has baby’s saliva and has been exposed. So, the caregiver will just throw away your hard-expressed ounces of breast milk.
So in cup-feeding, you avoid nipple confusion, colic, deformation of lips, damaging child’s teeth and you can control the amount of breast milk given to the baby. (See how to cup-feed in “Breastfeeding Techniques”)
10. Caregiver to log breast milk consumption
Ask the caregiver to log or list down how much of your breast milk was drank by your baby every cup feeding and then total it. Try to meet/express as much amount of breast milk as consumed by your child during the day. Most probably you won’t meet the amount at the office. So you’ll have to express milk at night or in the morning when you are at home, or catch-up on weekends.
11. Limit leaving the baby
As much as possible, limit leaving the baby or try to bring the baby along when you can. This way, you save the stored breast milk for consumption when you are at the office or have other important schedules.
12. More Solid Foods
When your child is already 6 months or when baby is ready for solid foods, instruct the caregiver to give more indigenous food than breast milk. The breast milk may just be used as a drink before feeding solid food, as a protective lining to baby’s stomach, and after meal, as a drink to digest food. The breast milk may also be given either before baby goes to sleep or when baby wakes-up from a long sleep.
13. Lying on side Position at Night
Breastfeed in a lying-on-side position at night:
- Tired working mother can sleep as she breastfeeds the baby and you are sure that baby is safely lying on the bed by your side.
- Baby can sleep peacefully and cry less, because baby feels secure with mother’s warm presence and baby easily gets breastfed after a few calls
- The father can sleep too because baby cries less or not cry at all
- The skin-to-skin bonding will also stimulate breast milk to increase
Note: It is not true that baby will die/drown with mother’s breast milk when breastfeeding is done in a lying position.
Words of Caution:
- Make sure baby is protected by both parents so that baby won’t fall-off the bed. Better yet, sleep using a mattress on the floor
- Have back supports for both mother and child to avoid backache and wrong position that will pull the nipple and cause it to crack
For some time now, Nathan has been staring at us with wide eyes whenever we eat in front of him. Many times, he'd grab the spoon or the glass and bring it towards his mouth. So, with the go signal from his pedia, we decided not to wait until he was exactly 6months before introducing solids.
Next on his menu... sayote! Hopefully, we can get him to eat veggies easily.
We found an extremely big caterpillar (aka Chubby) in the garden the other day. It blended perfectly with Lola's plants that you had to take a good look before you could find it. 
