Transcript: Breastfeeding Benefits Past One Year
The Boob Group
“Breast Feeding Benefits Past One year”
Please be advised, this transcription was performed from a company independent of New Mommy Media, LLC. As such, translation was required which may alter the accuracy of the transcription.
[00:00:00]
[Theme Song/Intro]
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz : Well, the world health organization recommends exclusive breast feeding for 6 months and up to 2years with complementary foods. Many women and healthprofessionals are unclear about the benefits of breast feeding a child past one year. I’m Rose deVigne Jackiewicz,a lactation consultant atthe outpatient clinic at The Kaiser Permanente in San Diego, California. Today we will be discussing the benefits ofbreastfeeding a child past one year. This is the Boob Group, Episode 3.
[Theme Song/Music]
Robin Kaplan : Welcome to the boob group broadcasting from the birth education center of San Diego. I’m your host Robin Kaplan. I’m also a certified lactation consultant and owner of the San Diego Breast Feeding Center. The boob group is your online support group for all things related to breast feeding. Visit our website at https://www.theboobgroup.comfor more information on how you can become part of our show. You can join our conversation by following us on Facebook, twitter and Googleplus. You can also sendus comment and suggestions to the contact link on our website or call the Boob Group hotline at619-866-4775. Today we are joined by our expert,Rose deVigne Jackicwiezand three fabulous breastfeeding moms here in the studio. Ladieswill you introduce yourselves?
Norene Ybarra : Sure, hello I am Norene Ybarra. I am 36 years. I am teaching writing at university level. I have one child and he is 51 weeks in a week. I will see if I’m going to continue doing this thing after this episode.
Lashaan Everett : I am Lashaan Everett. I am 29 years. I am a registered nurse, instituted nurse, midwife. I have one child Eliot and he is 17 months.
Veronica Grajeda : I am Veronica Grajeda. I am 33 years old .I am a school administrator and I have one daughter who is 13 months and I am still breast feeding her.
[Theme Song]
[Featured Segment: Ask The Experts]
Robin Kaplan : Before we get started by today’s topic here is a question you all had for one of our experts.
Karen : Hi Boob Group, this is Karen and I am calling from Colorado. My daughter is 4 months old and I am exclusively breast feeding her. I just got back to work part time about two weeks ago and she has been refusing to drink breast milk from the bottle which is causing a lot of stress. I have been listening to your episode about baby’s refuse the bottle. I went and smelt my refrigerated breast milk and I think I have to accept the case one of your panelists was describing. Can the lactation consultant recommend how to feed my milk? Can I do this at work? Any advice will be really appreciated, thank you so much.
Robin Kaplan : Hi, Karen thank you so much for your call. There are actually many reasons why your milk may smell sour. First when your storing milk in sometimes the breast milk storage bags can let in smell from the freezer which make your milk smell less than desirable. Try storing in tight glass containers and sees if this help. Also store your milk in the back of the freezer rather than in the door so that the milk doesn’t froze as the freezer door stays open. Another reason that your milk may smell sour is they may be actually excess lipase in your breast milk. Lipase is a beneficial enzyme found in breast milk that helps to break down yourmilk fat. If your breast milk has excess Lipase,the longer the milk is stored the stronger the smell becomes. The milk is totally safe for your baby to consume but some babies may reject the milk because of its strong scent and change in flavor. To break the cycle at the excess Lipase, you can sculpt your milk after you express it, so that u can store it and use it at a later day. I have known few moms who have actually kept a bottle of warmer in their office when they return to work. Once they pump their milk, they place it in an open glass jar. Then they place this jar in a bottle warmer and sculpt the milk. Then they pour the milk into a plastic breast milk storage bag or a plastic bottle since the glass jar may actually break when it’s quickly cold and then they take the milk in the bag or the bottle and they put either into an ice bag or directly into the freezer. There is a great resource online which can be found on a blog called “Simply Rebecca” which discusses the sculpting milk to get rid of excess Lipase. Also, for more detailed explanation of excess Lipase you can check outKelly Mom’s article“my express breast milk doesn’t smell fresh.” Hopefully that helps Karen thanks for your call.
Robin Kaplan : Today on the Boob Group we are discussing the multiplebenefits of breastfeeding a child past one year. Our expert Rose deVigne Jackiewiczhas been an International Board Certified lactation consultant since 1984 and runs the outpatient lactation clinic at Kaiser Permanente at San Diego, California. Rose welcome to the show and thanks for joining us.
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz : Thank you for having me here.
Robin Kaplan : Sure. So rose can you tell us what are some nutritional benefits of nursing a baby older than one year?
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz : Well, there is manynutritional benefits. In fact it’s the myth that mother’s milk becomes less nutritious after a year. Very often, I have a mom ask me about winning a year because she’s been told that there are no benefits. That one mother said why is your benefits at 11 months but suddenly thereare no benefits for 12? What changes in that month?Mother’s continues to provide substantial amount of nutrition. Breast milk was never designed to be the exclusive feeding method for a baby after 6 to 8 months of life. Complimentary foods is expected but the immunities in mothers milk actually have been found to increase after a year and even two years and when baby becomes to wean the is like the body is preparing the baby for other foods and going to day care and being exposed. So, actually the infection fighting properties increase in mother’s milk but it is a complete, you know, as far as vitamins and minerals and things like that,mother’s milk has everything in it even after a year it’s not just in the first 6 months of life.
Robin Kaplan : What would you say the emotionalbenefits are as well for mom and for baby?
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz :I asked a group of women the other day what are the benefits of nursing long term because I said “I’m going to be here talking to some other mothers” and they said “Well you are right there.” If she, if your little one falls gets hurt, if they are sick, lot of studies have found that breastfeeding babies are when they’re nursedlonger there are actually much more emotionallysound and you actually have more outgoing toddlers, more socially aware and they begin to be more curious. They are not clingychildren. And that’s a myththat if you breast feed long term you are gonna have a very winey clingingchild and its actually the exact opposite in most situations.
Robin Kaplan : That’s really interesting . Have you noticed that ladies with nursing your children that are at least almost a year or over a year?
Veronica Grajeda : Today is a matter of fact - my daughter has been under the weather for few days and she has been wanting to nurse quite a bit and it’s amazing. She is 13 months.I sort of after a year had this thing,“Okay, we will just see where she goes? We will see how it works. We will see if we stop.”and we didn’t stop and we haven’t stopped yet but I think it sort of goes and it ebbs and flows and right now we are in a major flow where she is,her body is telling heryou need to nurse and luckily my body is fine with that. And I think that its providing a kind of entire body is whatever to make her feel better but also its super comforting to her like,just being held and being close and its comforting me too because I want to take care of her and make everything better.
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz : Toddlerhood is a really tough time because they are what is I mean, a number ofone word what toddlers are hearing is no don’t touch that, don’t touch that. You know, they want to explore and they want to do things and mom is kind of that anger if they go out and explore their environment and suddenly get and they know they can always come back to mom. So it’s a very special relationship between mom and baby during that time and happens to be more outgoing and not less outgoing.
Robin Kaplan: Yeah, I think that is what a lot of women’s fears are is that you know, when we hear that we are spoiling our child and we’re making them too dependent on us as parents but they are dependent on us any way. And they are for many, many, many years past Hollywood but the fact that I have read that as well that many children who do breast feed for an extended period of time, longer than the six months, longer than a year and sometimes longer than two, they are the ones that are more outgoing and more self-confidentwhich is again kind of breaks that myth of that not being the case. Lashaan, what do you notice with your son?
Lashaan Everrett : Well, I only have him to compare but he is all over the place and he definitely is very confident and very busy. I never was really sure when I was first started breast feeding how long I would go for but I honestly have no intensions of stopping any time soon because I mean, for him more so now it’s just more of a comfort thing and to be able to provide him that is fabulous and it gets us time to just bond and cuddle butyeah, like I said, I definitely feel that he is very outgoing. He is very busy.
[00:10:02]
Norene Ybarra : I am,I want to speak to the emotional benefits for a mother. I just started working parttime and I am getting emotional now. I don’t know if it’s also coming at the time wherehe is on the verge of walking and I understand they’re clingy and they feed more when they are walking. During thattransition I am nervous.I’m leaving him with my parents and they are learning to take care of him more often and unfortunately it’s the clingy time. And so, that time where I breast feed him before and I leave and I breast feed him as soon as I get there is great for both of us and so that I can remind myself this needs to happen. This is what we want to happen and so in the same way that he is going through this phase and you know, attached to me and clinging to me because he is about to be independent and learning to walk, I am like, okay, I’m doing this thing and going back to work is a challenge in itself. So, working part time is really good to me to remind myself “Oh! Yeah, get over yourself, he needs you.” So, make this work don’t forget to breathe and relax it’s gonna work out you know keep on doing that. So, I have to remember the benefits of that so that we grow and go through this transition and all the rest of them had to happen together.
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz : I think there is also a misunderstanding in the how an older child or the toddler nurses. I have asked over the past few months, we’ll talk about it with some of these. What do you think when you think of an 18 month older or a 2 year old nursing? And somebody immediately goes, well,don’t babies nurse like for every 2 to 3 hours? And so, they’re thinking of a new born who nurses every 2 or 3 hours and they’re going “Wow, 2 year old is nursing every 2 to 3 hours. It’s a total different nursing, you know, at that point. And some toddlers may nurse several times a day. Some may only nurse once or twice a day. So, it’s nothing like a new born or even a 6 month old. They are eating breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks with you at the dinner table. So, it’s a total different type of experience and so I think for that reason when they thinking that these babies are, these toddlers are nursing every 2 hours, well of course you are gonna be real clingy. No, it’s the exact opposite.
Lashaan Everrett : Absolutely, and I think also like Veronica was saying when we have a sick child who, they may not be eating much otherwise, I mean think about more sick the last thing I wanna do is sit down and have some big dinner. And so at that point the baby might be nursing more frequently than she would have if she was feeling betterbut at least then you know that you are providing her with some nutrition, you are providing her with electrolyte, you are providing her with not only cuddles but also to make sure that she is hydrated which is something that which is really hard to hydrate a child with a cup or bottle sometimes. If they are not feeling so well but, we’re breast feeding and that’s comfort part as well. So, it’s a great for when your kids are sick.
Veronica Gradeja : That was one of the things that I saw as being a plus too some where I read about breast milk filling the nutritional gap your toddler has and so even on the days when she is not sick I feel like this is the perfect liquid that my body is made for her to I know what she eats and some days she has a huge appetite and some days she just really doesn’t. And so I feel like this is something I am doing for her to make sure that she is getting everything that she needs when she doesn’t always want to eat. So, I like that aspect of it too.
Robin Kaplan : Alright, when we come back, we will discuss the health benefits for the mom who nurses longer than a year as well as ways to deal with possible criticisms. We’ll be right back!
[Theme Song]
Robin Kaplan : Alright, We are back and we would like to now kind of talk about what are the benefits for the mom who breastfeeds the baby past a year old and also ways to deal with possible criticisms? So, Rosewhat have you found in your research or in your training about what are the health benefits for not only the baby but also for the mom who breastfeeds past a year?
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz : There is actually many benefits and this is an area that lot of people don’t think about because they only think that we are thinking only about the baby but extended nursing you know, longer nursing can actually help to delay their return of fertility in some women by suppressing ovulation. That’s not saying breast feeding will prevent pregnancy but in many situations in fact, breast feeding has probably been the largest birth control method worldwide just simply because worldwide women nurse their babies exclusively for long periods of time and it prevents from ovulating. Studies are showing that it reduces the incidents of breast cancer, ovary cancer, many of the reproductive cancers that are much less. Breast feeding protects women against osteoporosis. So, that instead of having weaker bones you actually can have stronger bones. Mother’s that have diabetes they find that they require less insulin because their body seems to work better during the lactation phase. Women do have a tendency to lose weightmore. You can use 250 to 500 calories a day just making milk when you are nursing longer whereas the bottle fed mom is gonna have to swim 30 minutes or up and down the steps for an hour to lose those calories. You can just sit, relax and nurse your baby. Something that caught on my eye on the internet that breast feeding does have side effects. I had to click on that site to check out what were they talking about? It was a women’s story about her history of low self-esteem. She had a cesarean, she breastfed her first son and she breast fed her second she said in the long run she ended up having a much higher self-esteem because of what she was able to do. We do know that there are some of the studies that have shown that teens breast feed their babies actually have higher self-esteem because of what you are able to do and women have said “Wow! My body has not only given birth to this babies but I have grown this baby I am making milk.” I have read about a situation that a family several years ago was stuck in the snow. She was breast feeding mom and so her kids, she actually nursed both the kids and was able to keep them alive in the snow storm and got stuck in the car because of the situation. So, that’s gotta make you feel good as a mom because who else could do that. Moms are super moms of what they can do.
[00:16:36]
Robin Kaplan : So, ladies we do wanna talk a little bit about criticisms that kind of come around especially in United States while breast feeding your baby for over a year and because two of you have breastfed your children past one year and then we also have Norene who is considering what’s gonna happen after next week, have you received criticism from other people? Have you been questioned why you would wanna continue breastfeeding your babies over a year old?
Norene Ybarra : I feel like a lot of the times whenever it comes up on conversation I will get that “Oh! Are you still breast feeding or Oh! But he has teeth.” Well clearly he has teeth but the content is,
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz : You were like “Yes, I know”
Norene Ybarra : I mean I just tell them that you know the breast milk changes to meet the baby’s needs and it doesn’t stop being nutritious after a year. One of my favorite things to do after I come home from working a 12 hour overnight shift is to be able to call in bed with my little one and cuddle and play and feed him and have that bonding time and I mean I feel like I wouldn’t be able to get that as much may be if I were just strictly bottle feeding.
Veronica Gradeja : I haven’t got over a criticism but I do get people asking me when I am gonna stop or so I kind of take that to mean that they think that I should stop maybe that’s just my own defenses. But I don’t have any answer. I just say I planned to continue until one of us is tired of it. So, yeah I don’t even wanna take it in a negative way. It’s just until one of us decides that it’s time to finish.
Lashaan Everett : I get those questions already and I get those questions and its always interesting that, I mean, the next time I should ask “Why do you ask?” I am gonna ask next time, sometimes there has been times it says when breakfast is ready or we haven’t decided and stuffs and so it’s really nice to have that support you know, from whether it’s your husband or your mother in law or your mother whatever your decision is.
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz : There is definitely criticisms in the United States. There is a lot of judgment around breast feeding. One, should we do it or should we not, how long? The people that have these opinions, many of them are adamant about it. But I find that a lot of the people that have these judgments or these opinions, it’s based on not having the accurate information. And society in general in our culture does not have the best or the most accurate information, the most up to date information of breast feeding. And I think if everyone is armed with those facts we would see a total different picture because if you go to some other culture breast feeding is norm where you can sit on the beach topless and toddler comes up and nurse it’s no big deal. Breasts in our society are sexual objects and if it’s a tiny little baby it’s Okay but if it is somebody who is running around talking and can smile with teeth and eat food with a spoon and a fork well, then they should not be doing that.
Norene Ybarra : At least my kid does not smile with teeth. [Laughs]
[00:19:47]
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz : I don’t know if you saw, there was a T-shirtthat said, still breast feeding, still none of your business. And so I think different ways of handling criticisms, science is on your side. There is a lot of information and lot of research that says breastfeeding the older child has so many more benefits. The world opinion is on your side. The world health organization recommends mother’s breast feed up to 3 years. And you can always blame it on your doctor, you can always say “My doctor says its best for me.” It’s better for your health and then let your child show the naysayersby proving that he is a well-adjusted happy healthy baby.
Lashaan Everrett : Rose, do you feel that pregnancy impacts your recommendation for breast feeding moms to breastfeed past a year?
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz : Is a yes and no answer ok? (Laughs)
Robin Kaplan: Absolutely yes, that’s what I like about this show. I want the yes and no.
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz : Worldwide women, the fact they are nursing longer but worldwide many women nurse through pregnancy. In our society I do find that many women are encouraged to quit. I just talked to a mom recently who was just told she needed to quit and she was told the reason for this is because the nutrition of U.S pregnant women, the nutrition of your growing baby and the nutrition of the toddler. We can fix all of that. We can make sure you are getting adequate nutrition for the pregnancy, for the growing baby and for the toddler. Many women don’t stop breast feeding and they just don’t bother to tell the doctor. [Laughs]
Lashaan Everrett : Are they potential risks?
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz : Yes, there are. If a women has a high risk pregnancy, if she has had previous pre term labors, she is more at risk for pre-term labors and the hormones of pregnancy I mean, the hormones of lactation oxytocin which causes the milk to eject or led down that also causes contractions. So, if a women and I get this call frequently you know should I quit and if she is healthy, normal, no complications from previous pregnancies, no risk factors with this pregnancy then she probably doesn’t need to. But if she has had history of problems, if she is carrying twins, if she’s gotta placenta that’s low and she is very high risk for pre-term then may be, she might need to quit because we don’t want this baby to be born early. Women who do continue to nurse throughout pregnancy, many of them go on to do, what we call tender nurse which again most pediatricians and obstetricians don’t know that they are doing it because they have already been told to quit and it’s just easier not to tell them. But I think we need to let them know because I want the physicians to know this is happening more often, it is very common and this is very normal.
Lashaan Everrett : Do you feel that there’s a cut off point for breastfeeding? I mean, I guess that kind of gets into a personal type of opinion on that. But, can a mom breastfeed for too long? You can open it up not only to Rose but….
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz : That is a great question, I know when I had my second one. I was a brand new lactation consultant and I remember saying to my husband you know what “I’ve never nursed longer than a year and a half.” Well unfortunately, my second one decided to wanna nurse and she only nursed a few weeks and I was what I ever refer it to as a closet bottle feeder. Well, when I had my last one who is now 18 years and I don’t always publicize this because people look at me funny as in she breastfed till 4. Scientific research done by Dr. Dutt Wyler you know shows that 2.5 to 7 years is what nursing children have been designed to do but it is a very personal decision. I think 2 to 3 years is very normal and common. Our culture plays a role you know what culture you live in that will play a big role. But yes it is a personal decision. Would I nurse a 7 year old? I don’t know, probably not in my society but was I happy nursing my 4 year old? Absolutely, and the benefits were beyond you know,the belief she had sinus issues and when we went within 3 months she tripled her infections. So, I would have gladly gone back to breastfeeding. So, I think that one feeding, one snack a day that she did, you know, for the last 2 years really helped to keep her more healthy. So, but I think again if moms knew the benefits to the child, the benefits to them and that it is normal to do this, more women would do it. We do have a hard time when our husbands look at us funny or mother in laws look at us funny, your strangers go “you are doing that?” I breastfed you know, my daughter was 2 years we were at Disney Land and I was on a tramp and I had, did people look? I am sure they did. Did I care? No, I didn’t because my daughter was tired, she had fallen and she needed comforting.
[00:24:59]
Robin Kaplan : So, how about you guys? Do you think that there is a point, especially when a mom has breastfed for too long?
Norene Ybarra : I feel like such a personal issue I would never wanna associate a number because they think it’s different for every family and especially for every child. I don’t have a number in mind for myself. I am just gonna keep doing it for as long as we both want to and I mean, I guess if I had to put a number I would say around 3 or 4.
Robin Kaplan : For yourself?
Norene Ybarra : For myself and then I think maybe I would probably be done. But, I mean he is, like I said that is something that we share together and it’s more of like a snack and comfort thing now so I mean, it doesn’t really interfere with my life at all so why stop?
Lashaan Everrett: Everybody does a research about things so I knew that worldwide 4 is the most common age. It only makes sense because usually what we do is to socialize. So, the reason why everybody else were, breastfeeds until the age is 4 because that is when universally everybody starts school. So, then you wean then because now you are in a different social environment and the children make decisions and so forth and so if I am a stay-at-home mom or if I am a mom and I decide I am going to breastfeed up until 4 years because that’s until like they move on to their next major socialization phase. That only makes sense and it’s kind of the answer that I want to give people. Interestingly, before I became a mom I would always say I am always a kind of person like why do you ask? And by the way kind of be more forth right about those things and as a mom I would become a little more reserved about those responses and so, but, I do wanna tell you the reactions, you’re universally 4 years old. That’s the more common age in the world when they ask you know, when are you gonna stop. But like I said, I am just comfortable knowing that I have the support of my husband that like when the husband you know, when the kid decides like there are these soft roles we make but we know those soft roles like Oh! Yeah then they sap and then we just kept on going. And so, I think it’s really important to listen to the people who are involved in that relationship when you make a change and so if the kid says keep on, that’s what we are doing and that’s what we are doing.
Robin Kaplan : Yeah.
Veronica Gradeja : I think it depends a lot on your social circles, your culture. My husband’s family is from Bolivia and so he and my mother in law are like “Go for it, take it, take it as far as you can take it.” It’s really great to have them supporting us and, but I am a part of this broader culture that we live in our community and so I do feel like the whole thing I mentioned about kind of not really liking to breastfeed in public and Rose you mentioned how you don’t tell people often how you breastfeed until four and it kind of makes me sad because I think you know, if everyone else in the world is doing it until 4, maybe everyone else here is doing until 4 and we just, we are all too ashamed or maybe we would kind of be, if I would be a little more brave about it, I would find a different circle of people that I am not so different from. Yeah, I don’t have a number either. I think, I will go with your number since we’re in this circle [Laughs].
Robin Kaplan: I think what’s exciting about talking about the benefits one of the things my husband is most proud of is my baby has never been sick. My husband and I were both very sick growing up. We both had Asthma allergies, eczema, Hepatitis, all kinds of things. And knowing that our child so far isn’t allergic to anything and I don’t know even the age when they get allergic to things. Being a parent it is stressful enough, my child has never been sick. So, I don’t know what it’s gonna be like when he gets sick and like you said Rose if I just keep on doing it, he is not gonna get sick and I can’t like my body losing weight so if that is the way it’s gonna be so I can be as fabulous as I and work till may be 7.
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz : That’s one of things that some of the researchers are showingis if you have family history of allergies Asthma breastfeeding can make an impact on that. The other thing I wanted to mention is some women that have nursed for a longer have accused to doing it for selfish reasons. Have you ever tried to force it to your child to nurse? [Laughs] So, if that child doesn’t wanna nurse, he is not gonna nurse and so you have mother led weaning and baby led weaning. If the child does not wanna nurse you cannot make him nurse. So for the mom to be accused of doing it for her selfish reasons and that’s not true because if the child doesn’t want to, he doesn’t want to. The other issue is we don’t see some of the same comments. If you see a one year old or 2 year old sitting in a restaurant taking a bottle, do you? So I think that’s kind of not fair, so to speak. So, if I am gonna be criticized for breastfeeding in public in a restaurant for a 1 or 2 year old isn’t rightly so I can complain at the mom two tables over is bottle feeding in public. So, I mean you don’t hear the same comments regarding the bottle feeding because in our society bottle feeding is the norm and it should be the other way around, breast feeding should be the norm.
[00:30:25]
Robin Kaplan : Absolutely.
Veronica Gradeja: Or if you want to give your child medicine and you know breast milk is the best medicine and the best preventative measure I will say, if you were to give your child medicine no one would say anything but if you are giving your child breast milk people are kind of get a little testy about that.
Robin Kaplan : Well, thank you so much Rose for offering your insight into the benefits for breast feeding past one year.
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz : You are very welcome, thank you so much.
[Theme Song]
[Featured Segment: Breastfeeding Tips For The Working mom]
Robin Kaplan : Before we wrap things up here is Wendy Wrighttalking about breast feeding tips for the working mom.
Wendy Wright : Hi, Boob Group listeners I am Wendy Wright, an international board certified lactation consultant and the owner of lactation navigation in Colorado, California. I am here to answer some of your most common questions about returning to work as a breast feeding mother such as, what are the roles for milk storage? Milk storage is the difficult concept. We pump during the day and then we need store our milk in order to provide it the next day for infants. Let me summarize the general guidelines for milk storage. Room temperature milk can be stored for up to 10 hours at room temperature. Milk is very; very stable. If you know you are going to be near a refrigerator, if you have refrigeration available of course that’s a better alternative than room temperature. However, sometimes on the work sight if refrigeration is not available, may be you forgot to ice pack that day, I just want you to know that will be stable for up to 10 hours so you would not have to throw it away throughout the day as you pump. I also would like to let you know that in the refrigerator, milk can be kept up to 8 days. Again if we know we are going to freeze it soon let’s get in the freezer right away. But if you find a bottle of milk in your refrigerator that is 3 or 4 days old feel 100% sure that you can actually feed that to your baby. Room temperature 10 hours and refrigeration 8 days and then you can freezer up to 3 or 4 months. So, keep in mind we avoid storing our milk in the door of the freezer and try to have it back in the center where the temperature varies less and where it is colder. Again 3 to 4 months, all bags should be labeled with the date of pumping and exactly you will know the date when the milk will get expired. Containers to be used for milk storage can be plastic or glass. They can be hard sided to soft sided, well sitting tops or the freezer milk bags are excellent offered by many different brands. It’s best to freeze milk flat in the bottom of your freezer and then you can stand it up like a deck of cards and will take a lot less space in each of your freezer or refrigerator areas. In order to warm milk, simply hot or warm it under running water, swirl gently to combine the low fat and the high fat milk and remember never use a microwave on breast milk. The last thing I would like to mention is the storage schedule that you can work in to your daily pumping routine. For example, Sunday night pour milk out of the freezer and store it overnight for baby to drink on Monday when you are not together. Monday pump milk to provide to the baby on Tuesday by simply refrigerating overnight. Tuesday’s milk that is pumped feeds the baby on Wednesday. Wednesday’s milk feeds baby on Thursday. Thursday’s milk feeds baby on Friday. And then Friday’s milk is brought home packaged and frozen to breast feed all weekend directly from breast and then again on Sunday night you take your oldest milk out of your freezer and provide it to your baby on Monday morning. This way the baby is only receiving frozen milk once a week, fresh is best if at all possible and we’re not only rotating our refrigerator but our freezer supply. Also need to mention that once milk is stored inthe freezer, it can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours and must be consumed within 24 hours otherwise should be discarded. I hope you found that helpful. Thank you so much for listening. Visit https://https://www.lactationnav.com for more great information about my business lactation navigation and be sure to listen to the Boob Group for fantastic conversations about breastfeeding and breastfeeding support.
[Theme Song]
Robin Kaplan : Thank you to all of our listeners. I hope you all visit our website https://www.theboobgroup.com and our Facebook page to offer your story describing your experience with breastfeeding your child past infancy. If you have any questions about today’s show or the topics we discussed, call our boob group hotline at 619-866-4775 and will answer your questions on our upcoming episode. If you have a breast feeding topic you would like to suggest we’d love to hear it. Simply visit our website at https://www.theboobgroup.com and send us an email through the contact link. Coming up next week we will be discussing partial breast feeding when supplements other than breast milk are needed. Thank you for listening to the Boob Group- Because Mothers Know Breasts.
[Disclaimer]
This is been a New Mommy Media production, information and material contained in this episode are presented for educational purposes only. Suggestions and opinions expressed in this episode are not necessarily those of New Mommy Media and should not be considered facts. For such information in which areas are related to be accurate it is not intended to replace or substitute for professional, Medical or advisor care and should not be used for diagnosing or treating house care problem or disease or prescribing any medications. If you have questions or concerns regarding your physical or mental health or the health of your baby please receive assistance from a qualified health care provider.
[00:36:21] End Of Audio
Episode Transcript
The Boob Group
“Breast Feeding Benefits Past One year”
Please be advised, this transcription was performed from a company independent of New Mommy Media, LLC. As such, translation was required which may alter the accuracy of the transcription.
[00:00:00]
[Theme Song/Intro]
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz : Well, the world health organization recommends exclusive breast feeding for 6 months and up to 2years with complementary foods. Many women and healthprofessionals are unclear about the benefits of breast feeding a child past one year. I’m Rose deVigne Jackiewicz,a lactation consultant atthe outpatient clinic at The Kaiser Permanente in San Diego, California. Today we will be discussing the benefits ofbreastfeeding a child past one year. This is the Boob Group, Episode 3.
[Theme Song/Music]
Robin Kaplan : Welcome to the boob group broadcasting from the birth education center of San Diego. I’m your host Robin Kaplan. I’m also a certified lactation consultant and owner of the San Diego Breast Feeding Center. The boob group is your online support group for all things related to breast feeding. Visit our website at https://www.theboobgroup.comfor more information on how you can become part of our show. You can join our conversation by following us on Facebook, twitter and Googleplus. You can also sendus comment and suggestions to the contact link on our website or call the Boob Group hotline at619-866-4775. Today we are joined by our expert,Rose deVigne Jackicwiezand three fabulous breastfeeding moms here in the studio. Ladieswill you introduce yourselves?
Norene Ybarra : Sure, hello I am Norene Ybarra. I am 36 years. I am teaching writing at university level. I have one child and he is 51 weeks in a week. I will see if I’m going to continue doing this thing after this episode.
Lashaan Everett : I am Lashaan Everett. I am 29 years. I am a registered nurse, instituted nurse, midwife. I have one child Eliot and he is 17 months.
Veronica Grajeda : I am Veronica Grajeda. I am 33 years old .I am a school administrator and I have one daughter who is 13 months and I am still breast feeding her.
[Theme Song]
[Featured Segment: Ask The Experts]
Robin Kaplan : Before we get started by today’s topic here is a question you all had for one of our experts.
Karen : Hi Boob Group, this is Karen and I am calling from Colorado. My daughter is 4 months old and I am exclusively breast feeding her. I just got back to work part time about two weeks ago and she has been refusing to drink breast milk from the bottle which is causing a lot of stress. I have been listening to your episode about baby’s refuse the bottle. I went and smelt my refrigerated breast milk and I think I have to accept the case one of your panelists was describing. Can the lactation consultant recommend how to feed my milk? Can I do this at work? Any advice will be really appreciated, thank you so much.
Robin Kaplan : Hi, Karen thank you so much for your call. There are actually many reasons why your milk may smell sour. First when your storing milk in sometimes the breast milk storage bags can let in smell from the freezer which make your milk smell less than desirable. Try storing in tight glass containers and sees if this help. Also store your milk in the back of the freezer rather than in the door so that the milk doesn’t froze as the freezer door stays open. Another reason that your milk may smell sour is they may be actually excess lipase in your breast milk. Lipase is a beneficial enzyme found in breast milk that helps to break down yourmilk fat. If your breast milk has excess Lipase,the longer the milk is stored the stronger the smell becomes. The milk is totally safe for your baby to consume but some babies may reject the milk because of its strong scent and change in flavor. To break the cycle at the excess Lipase, you can sculpt your milk after you express it, so that u can store it and use it at a later day. I have known few moms who have actually kept a bottle of warmer in their office when they return to work. Once they pump their milk, they place it in an open glass jar. Then they place this jar in a bottle warmer and sculpt the milk. Then they pour the milk into a plastic breast milk storage bag or a plastic bottle since the glass jar may actually break when it’s quickly cold and then they take the milk in the bag or the bottle and they put either into an ice bag or directly into the freezer. There is a great resource online which can be found on a blog called “Simply Rebecca” which discusses the sculpting milk to get rid of excess Lipase. Also, for more detailed explanation of excess Lipase you can check outKelly Mom’s article“my express breast milk doesn’t smell fresh.” Hopefully that helps Karen thanks for your call.
Robin Kaplan : Today on the Boob Group we are discussing the multiplebenefits of breastfeeding a child past one year. Our expert Rose deVigne Jackiewiczhas been an International Board Certified lactation consultant since 1984 and runs the outpatient lactation clinic at Kaiser Permanente at San Diego, California. Rose welcome to the show and thanks for joining us.
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz : Thank you for having me here.
Robin Kaplan : Sure. So rose can you tell us what are some nutritional benefits of nursing a baby older than one year?
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz : Well, there is manynutritional benefits. In fact it’s the myth that mother’s milk becomes less nutritious after a year. Very often, I have a mom ask me about winning a year because she’s been told that there are no benefits. That one mother said why is your benefits at 11 months but suddenly thereare no benefits for 12? What changes in that month?Mother’s continues to provide substantial amount of nutrition. Breast milk was never designed to be the exclusive feeding method for a baby after 6 to 8 months of life. Complimentary foods is expected but the immunities in mothers milk actually have been found to increase after a year and even two years and when baby becomes to wean the is like the body is preparing the baby for other foods and going to day care and being exposed. So, actually the infection fighting properties increase in mother’s milk but it is a complete, you know, as far as vitamins and minerals and things like that,mother’s milk has everything in it even after a year it’s not just in the first 6 months of life.
Robin Kaplan : What would you say the emotionalbenefits are as well for mom and for baby?
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz :I asked a group of women the other day what are the benefits of nursing long term because I said “I’m going to be here talking to some other mothers” and they said “Well you are right there.” If she, if your little one falls gets hurt, if they are sick, lot of studies have found that breastfeeding babies are when they’re nursedlonger there are actually much more emotionallysound and you actually have more outgoing toddlers, more socially aware and they begin to be more curious. They are not clingychildren. And that’s a myththat if you breast feed long term you are gonna have a very winey clingingchild and its actually the exact opposite in most situations.
Robin Kaplan : That’s really interesting . Have you noticed that ladies with nursing your children that are at least almost a year or over a year?
Veronica Grajeda : Today is a matter of fact - my daughter has been under the weather for few days and she has been wanting to nurse quite a bit and it’s amazing. She is 13 months.I sort of after a year had this thing,“Okay, we will just see where she goes? We will see how it works. We will see if we stop.”and we didn’t stop and we haven’t stopped yet but I think it sort of goes and it ebbs and flows and right now we are in a major flow where she is,her body is telling heryou need to nurse and luckily my body is fine with that. And I think that its providing a kind of entire body is whatever to make her feel better but also its super comforting to her like,just being held and being close and its comforting me too because I want to take care of her and make everything better.
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz : Toddlerhood is a really tough time because they are what is I mean, a number ofone word what toddlers are hearing is no don’t touch that, don’t touch that. You know, they want to explore and they want to do things and mom is kind of that anger if they go out and explore their environment and suddenly get and they know they can always come back to mom. So it’s a very special relationship between mom and baby during that time and happens to be more outgoing and not less outgoing.
Robin Kaplan: Yeah, I think that is what a lot of women’s fears are is that you know, when we hear that we are spoiling our child and we’re making them too dependent on us as parents but they are dependent on us any way. And they are for many, many, many years past Hollywood but the fact that I have read that as well that many children who do breast feed for an extended period of time, longer than the six months, longer than a year and sometimes longer than two, they are the ones that are more outgoing and more self-confidentwhich is again kind of breaks that myth of that not being the case. Lashaan, what do you notice with your son?
Lashaan Everrett : Well, I only have him to compare but he is all over the place and he definitely is very confident and very busy. I never was really sure when I was first started breast feeding how long I would go for but I honestly have no intensions of stopping any time soon because I mean, for him more so now it’s just more of a comfort thing and to be able to provide him that is fabulous and it gets us time to just bond and cuddle butyeah, like I said, I definitely feel that he is very outgoing. He is very busy.
[00:10:02]
Norene Ybarra : I am,I want to speak to the emotional benefits for a mother. I just started working parttime and I am getting emotional now. I don’t know if it’s also coming at the time wherehe is on the verge of walking and I understand they’re clingy and they feed more when they are walking. During thattransition I am nervous.I’m leaving him with my parents and they are learning to take care of him more often and unfortunately it’s the clingy time. And so, that time where I breast feed him before and I leave and I breast feed him as soon as I get there is great for both of us and so that I can remind myself this needs to happen. This is what we want to happen and so in the same way that he is going through this phase and you know, attached to me and clinging to me because he is about to be independent and learning to walk, I am like, okay, I’m doing this thing and going back to work is a challenge in itself. So, working part time is really good to me to remind myself “Oh! Yeah, get over yourself, he needs you.” So, make this work don’t forget to breathe and relax it’s gonna work out you know keep on doing that. So, I have to remember the benefits of that so that we grow and go through this transition and all the rest of them had to happen together.
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz : I think there is also a misunderstanding in the how an older child or the toddler nurses. I have asked over the past few months, we’ll talk about it with some of these. What do you think when you think of an 18 month older or a 2 year old nursing? And somebody immediately goes, well,don’t babies nurse like for every 2 to 3 hours? And so, they’re thinking of a new born who nurses every 2 or 3 hours and they’re going “Wow, 2 year old is nursing every 2 to 3 hours. It’s a total different nursing, you know, at that point. And some toddlers may nurse several times a day. Some may only nurse once or twice a day. So, it’s nothing like a new born or even a 6 month old. They are eating breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks with you at the dinner table. So, it’s a total different type of experience and so I think for that reason when they thinking that these babies are, these toddlers are nursing every 2 hours, well of course you are gonna be real clingy. No, it’s the exact opposite.
Lashaan Everrett : Absolutely, and I think also like Veronica was saying when we have a sick child who, they may not be eating much otherwise, I mean think about more sick the last thing I wanna do is sit down and have some big dinner. And so at that point the baby might be nursing more frequently than she would have if she was feeling betterbut at least then you know that you are providing her with some nutrition, you are providing her with electrolyte, you are providing her with not only cuddles but also to make sure that she is hydrated which is something that which is really hard to hydrate a child with a cup or bottle sometimes. If they are not feeling so well but, we’re breast feeding and that’s comfort part as well. So, it’s a great for when your kids are sick.
Veronica Gradeja : That was one of the things that I saw as being a plus too some where I read about breast milk filling the nutritional gap your toddler has and so even on the days when she is not sick I feel like this is the perfect liquid that my body is made for her to I know what she eats and some days she has a huge appetite and some days she just really doesn’t. And so I feel like this is something I am doing for her to make sure that she is getting everything that she needs when she doesn’t always want to eat. So, I like that aspect of it too.
Robin Kaplan : Alright, when we come back, we will discuss the health benefits for the mom who nurses longer than a year as well as ways to deal with possible criticisms. We’ll be right back!
[Theme Song]
Robin Kaplan : Alright, We are back and we would like to now kind of talk about what are the benefits for the mom who breastfeeds the baby past a year old and also ways to deal with possible criticisms? So, Rosewhat have you found in your research or in your training about what are the health benefits for not only the baby but also for the mom who breastfeeds past a year?
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz : There is actually many benefits and this is an area that lot of people don’t think about because they only think that we are thinking only about the baby but extended nursing you know, longer nursing can actually help to delay their return of fertility in some women by suppressing ovulation. That’s not saying breast feeding will prevent pregnancy but in many situations in fact, breast feeding has probably been the largest birth control method worldwide just simply because worldwide women nurse their babies exclusively for long periods of time and it prevents from ovulating. Studies are showing that it reduces the incidents of breast cancer, ovary cancer, many of the reproductive cancers that are much less. Breast feeding protects women against osteoporosis. So, that instead of having weaker bones you actually can have stronger bones. Mother’s that have diabetes they find that they require less insulin because their body seems to work better during the lactation phase. Women do have a tendency to lose weightmore. You can use 250 to 500 calories a day just making milk when you are nursing longer whereas the bottle fed mom is gonna have to swim 30 minutes or up and down the steps for an hour to lose those calories. You can just sit, relax and nurse your baby. Something that caught on my eye on the internet that breast feeding does have side effects. I had to click on that site to check out what were they talking about? It was a women’s story about her history of low self-esteem. She had a cesarean, she breastfed her first son and she breast fed her second she said in the long run she ended up having a much higher self-esteem because of what she was able to do. We do know that there are some of the studies that have shown that teens breast feed their babies actually have higher self-esteem because of what you are able to do and women have said “Wow! My body has not only given birth to this babies but I have grown this baby I am making milk.” I have read about a situation that a family several years ago was stuck in the snow. She was breast feeding mom and so her kids, she actually nursed both the kids and was able to keep them alive in the snow storm and got stuck in the car because of the situation. So, that’s gotta make you feel good as a mom because who else could do that. Moms are super moms of what they can do.
[00:16:36]
Robin Kaplan : So, ladies we do wanna talk a little bit about criticisms that kind of come around especially in United States while breast feeding your baby for over a year and because two of you have breastfed your children past one year and then we also have Norene who is considering what’s gonna happen after next week, have you received criticism from other people? Have you been questioned why you would wanna continue breastfeeding your babies over a year old?
Norene Ybarra : I feel like a lot of the times whenever it comes up on conversation I will get that “Oh! Are you still breast feeding or Oh! But he has teeth.” Well clearly he has teeth but the content is,
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz : You were like “Yes, I know”
Norene Ybarra : I mean I just tell them that you know the breast milk changes to meet the baby’s needs and it doesn’t stop being nutritious after a year. One of my favorite things to do after I come home from working a 12 hour overnight shift is to be able to call in bed with my little one and cuddle and play and feed him and have that bonding time and I mean I feel like I wouldn’t be able to get that as much may be if I were just strictly bottle feeding.
Veronica Gradeja : I haven’t got over a criticism but I do get people asking me when I am gonna stop or so I kind of take that to mean that they think that I should stop maybe that’s just my own defenses. But I don’t have any answer. I just say I planned to continue until one of us is tired of it. So, yeah I don’t even wanna take it in a negative way. It’s just until one of us decides that it’s time to finish.
Lashaan Everett : I get those questions already and I get those questions and its always interesting that, I mean, the next time I should ask “Why do you ask?” I am gonna ask next time, sometimes there has been times it says when breakfast is ready or we haven’t decided and stuffs and so it’s really nice to have that support you know, from whether it’s your husband or your mother in law or your mother whatever your decision is.
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz : There is definitely criticisms in the United States. There is a lot of judgment around breast feeding. One, should we do it or should we not, how long? The people that have these opinions, many of them are adamant about it. But I find that a lot of the people that have these judgments or these opinions, it’s based on not having the accurate information. And society in general in our culture does not have the best or the most accurate information, the most up to date information of breast feeding. And I think if everyone is armed with those facts we would see a total different picture because if you go to some other culture breast feeding is norm where you can sit on the beach topless and toddler comes up and nurse it’s no big deal. Breasts in our society are sexual objects and if it’s a tiny little baby it’s Okay but if it is somebody who is running around talking and can smile with teeth and eat food with a spoon and a fork well, then they should not be doing that.
Norene Ybarra : At least my kid does not smile with teeth. [Laughs]
[00:19:47]
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz : I don’t know if you saw, there was a T-shirtthat said, still breast feeding, still none of your business. And so I think different ways of handling criticisms, science is on your side. There is a lot of information and lot of research that says breastfeeding the older child has so many more benefits. The world opinion is on your side. The world health organization recommends mother’s breast feed up to 3 years. And you can always blame it on your doctor, you can always say “My doctor says its best for me.” It’s better for your health and then let your child show the naysayersby proving that he is a well-adjusted happy healthy baby.
Lashaan Everrett : Rose, do you feel that pregnancy impacts your recommendation for breast feeding moms to breastfeed past a year?
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz : Is a yes and no answer ok? (Laughs)
Robin Kaplan: Absolutely yes, that’s what I like about this show. I want the yes and no.
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz : Worldwide women, the fact they are nursing longer but worldwide many women nurse through pregnancy. In our society I do find that many women are encouraged to quit. I just talked to a mom recently who was just told she needed to quit and she was told the reason for this is because the nutrition of U.S pregnant women, the nutrition of your growing baby and the nutrition of the toddler. We can fix all of that. We can make sure you are getting adequate nutrition for the pregnancy, for the growing baby and for the toddler. Many women don’t stop breast feeding and they just don’t bother to tell the doctor. [Laughs]
Lashaan Everrett : Are they potential risks?
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz : Yes, there are. If a women has a high risk pregnancy, if she has had previous pre term labors, she is more at risk for pre-term labors and the hormones of pregnancy I mean, the hormones of lactation oxytocin which causes the milk to eject or led down that also causes contractions. So, if a women and I get this call frequently you know should I quit and if she is healthy, normal, no complications from previous pregnancies, no risk factors with this pregnancy then she probably doesn’t need to. But if she has had history of problems, if she is carrying twins, if she’s gotta placenta that’s low and she is very high risk for pre-term then may be, she might need to quit because we don’t want this baby to be born early. Women who do continue to nurse throughout pregnancy, many of them go on to do, what we call tender nurse which again most pediatricians and obstetricians don’t know that they are doing it because they have already been told to quit and it’s just easier not to tell them. But I think we need to let them know because I want the physicians to know this is happening more often, it is very common and this is very normal.
Lashaan Everrett : Do you feel that there’s a cut off point for breastfeeding? I mean, I guess that kind of gets into a personal type of opinion on that. But, can a mom breastfeed for too long? You can open it up not only to Rose but….
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz : That is a great question, I know when I had my second one. I was a brand new lactation consultant and I remember saying to my husband you know what “I’ve never nursed longer than a year and a half.” Well unfortunately, my second one decided to wanna nurse and she only nursed a few weeks and I was what I ever refer it to as a closet bottle feeder. Well, when I had my last one who is now 18 years and I don’t always publicize this because people look at me funny as in she breastfed till 4. Scientific research done by Dr. Dutt Wyler you know shows that 2.5 to 7 years is what nursing children have been designed to do but it is a very personal decision. I think 2 to 3 years is very normal and common. Our culture plays a role you know what culture you live in that will play a big role. But yes it is a personal decision. Would I nurse a 7 year old? I don’t know, probably not in my society but was I happy nursing my 4 year old? Absolutely, and the benefits were beyond you know,the belief she had sinus issues and when we went within 3 months she tripled her infections. So, I would have gladly gone back to breastfeeding. So, I think that one feeding, one snack a day that she did, you know, for the last 2 years really helped to keep her more healthy. So, but I think again if moms knew the benefits to the child, the benefits to them and that it is normal to do this, more women would do it. We do have a hard time when our husbands look at us funny or mother in laws look at us funny, your strangers go “you are doing that?” I breastfed you know, my daughter was 2 years we were at Disney Land and I was on a tramp and I had, did people look? I am sure they did. Did I care? No, I didn’t because my daughter was tired, she had fallen and she needed comforting.
[00:24:59]
Robin Kaplan : So, how about you guys? Do you think that there is a point, especially when a mom has breastfed for too long?
Norene Ybarra : I feel like such a personal issue I would never wanna associate a number because they think it’s different for every family and especially for every child. I don’t have a number in mind for myself. I am just gonna keep doing it for as long as we both want to and I mean, I guess if I had to put a number I would say around 3 or 4.
Robin Kaplan : For yourself?
Norene Ybarra : For myself and then I think maybe I would probably be done. But, I mean he is, like I said that is something that we share together and it’s more of like a snack and comfort thing now so I mean, it doesn’t really interfere with my life at all so why stop?
Lashaan Everrett: Everybody does a research about things so I knew that worldwide 4 is the most common age. It only makes sense because usually what we do is to socialize. So, the reason why everybody else were, breastfeeds until the age is 4 because that is when universally everybody starts school. So, then you wean then because now you are in a different social environment and the children make decisions and so forth and so if I am a stay-at-home mom or if I am a mom and I decide I am going to breastfeed up until 4 years because that’s until like they move on to their next major socialization phase. That only makes sense and it’s kind of the answer that I want to give people. Interestingly, before I became a mom I would always say I am always a kind of person like why do you ask? And by the way kind of be more forth right about those things and as a mom I would become a little more reserved about those responses and so, but, I do wanna tell you the reactions, you’re universally 4 years old. That’s the more common age in the world when they ask you know, when are you gonna stop. But like I said, I am just comfortable knowing that I have the support of my husband that like when the husband you know, when the kid decides like there are these soft roles we make but we know those soft roles like Oh! Yeah then they sap and then we just kept on going. And so, I think it’s really important to listen to the people who are involved in that relationship when you make a change and so if the kid says keep on, that’s what we are doing and that’s what we are doing.
Robin Kaplan : Yeah.
Veronica Gradeja : I think it depends a lot on your social circles, your culture. My husband’s family is from Bolivia and so he and my mother in law are like “Go for it, take it, take it as far as you can take it.” It’s really great to have them supporting us and, but I am a part of this broader culture that we live in our community and so I do feel like the whole thing I mentioned about kind of not really liking to breastfeed in public and Rose you mentioned how you don’t tell people often how you breastfeed until four and it kind of makes me sad because I think you know, if everyone else in the world is doing it until 4, maybe everyone else here is doing until 4 and we just, we are all too ashamed or maybe we would kind of be, if I would be a little more brave about it, I would find a different circle of people that I am not so different from. Yeah, I don’t have a number either. I think, I will go with your number since we’re in this circle [Laughs].
Robin Kaplan: I think what’s exciting about talking about the benefits one of the things my husband is most proud of is my baby has never been sick. My husband and I were both very sick growing up. We both had Asthma allergies, eczema, Hepatitis, all kinds of things. And knowing that our child so far isn’t allergic to anything and I don’t know even the age when they get allergic to things. Being a parent it is stressful enough, my child has never been sick. So, I don’t know what it’s gonna be like when he gets sick and like you said Rose if I just keep on doing it, he is not gonna get sick and I can’t like my body losing weight so if that is the way it’s gonna be so I can be as fabulous as I and work till may be 7.
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz : That’s one of things that some of the researchers are showingis if you have family history of allergies Asthma breastfeeding can make an impact on that. The other thing I wanted to mention is some women that have nursed for a longer have accused to doing it for selfish reasons. Have you ever tried to force it to your child to nurse? [Laughs] So, if that child doesn’t wanna nurse, he is not gonna nurse and so you have mother led weaning and baby led weaning. If the child does not wanna nurse you cannot make him nurse. So for the mom to be accused of doing it for her selfish reasons and that’s not true because if the child doesn’t want to, he doesn’t want to. The other issue is we don’t see some of the same comments. If you see a one year old or 2 year old sitting in a restaurant taking a bottle, do you? So I think that’s kind of not fair, so to speak. So, if I am gonna be criticized for breastfeeding in public in a restaurant for a 1 or 2 year old isn’t rightly so I can complain at the mom two tables over is bottle feeding in public. So, I mean you don’t hear the same comments regarding the bottle feeding because in our society bottle feeding is the norm and it should be the other way around, breast feeding should be the norm.
[00:30:25]
Robin Kaplan : Absolutely.
Veronica Gradeja: Or if you want to give your child medicine and you know breast milk is the best medicine and the best preventative measure I will say, if you were to give your child medicine no one would say anything but if you are giving your child breast milk people are kind of get a little testy about that.
Robin Kaplan : Well, thank you so much Rose for offering your insight into the benefits for breast feeding past one year.
Rose deVigne Jackiewicz : You are very welcome, thank you so much.
[Theme Song]
[Featured Segment: Breastfeeding Tips For The Working mom]
Robin Kaplan : Before we wrap things up here is Wendy Wrighttalking about breast feeding tips for the working mom.
Wendy Wright : Hi, Boob Group listeners I am Wendy Wright, an international board certified lactation consultant and the owner of lactation navigation in Colorado, California. I am here to answer some of your most common questions about returning to work as a breast feeding mother such as, what are the roles for milk storage? Milk storage is the difficult concept. We pump during the day and then we need store our milk in order to provide it the next day for infants. Let me summarize the general guidelines for milk storage. Room temperature milk can be stored for up to 10 hours at room temperature. Milk is very; very stable. If you know you are going to be near a refrigerator, if you have refrigeration available of course that’s a better alternative than room temperature. However, sometimes on the work sight if refrigeration is not available, may be you forgot to ice pack that day, I just want you to know that will be stable for up to 10 hours so you would not have to throw it away throughout the day as you pump. I also would like to let you know that in the refrigerator, milk can be kept up to 8 days. Again if we know we are going to freeze it soon let’s get in the freezer right away. But if you find a bottle of milk in your refrigerator that is 3 or 4 days old feel 100% sure that you can actually feed that to your baby. Room temperature 10 hours and refrigeration 8 days and then you can freezer up to 3 or 4 months. So, keep in mind we avoid storing our milk in the door of the freezer and try to have it back in the center where the temperature varies less and where it is colder. Again 3 to 4 months, all bags should be labeled with the date of pumping and exactly you will know the date when the milk will get expired. Containers to be used for milk storage can be plastic or glass. They can be hard sided to soft sided, well sitting tops or the freezer milk bags are excellent offered by many different brands. It’s best to freeze milk flat in the bottom of your freezer and then you can stand it up like a deck of cards and will take a lot less space in each of your freezer or refrigerator areas. In order to warm milk, simply hot or warm it under running water, swirl gently to combine the low fat and the high fat milk and remember never use a microwave on breast milk. The last thing I would like to mention is the storage schedule that you can work in to your daily pumping routine. For example, Sunday night pour milk out of the freezer and store it overnight for baby to drink on Monday when you are not together. Monday pump milk to provide to the baby on Tuesday by simply refrigerating overnight. Tuesday’s milk that is pumped feeds the baby on Wednesday. Wednesday’s milk feeds baby on Thursday. Thursday’s milk feeds baby on Friday. And then Friday’s milk is brought home packaged and frozen to breast feed all weekend directly from breast and then again on Sunday night you take your oldest milk out of your freezer and provide it to your baby on Monday morning. This way the baby is only receiving frozen milk once a week, fresh is best if at all possible and we’re not only rotating our refrigerator but our freezer supply. Also need to mention that once milk is stored inthe freezer, it can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours and must be consumed within 24 hours otherwise should be discarded. I hope you found that helpful. Thank you so much for listening. Visit https://https://www.lactationnav.com for more great information about my business lactation navigation and be sure to listen to the Boob Group for fantastic conversations about breastfeeding and breastfeeding support.
[Theme Song]
Robin Kaplan : Thank you to all of our listeners. I hope you all visit our website https://www.theboobgroup.com and our Facebook page to offer your story describing your experience with breastfeeding your child past infancy. If you have any questions about today’s show or the topics we discussed, call our boob group hotline at 619-866-4775 and will answer your questions on our upcoming episode. If you have a breast feeding topic you would like to suggest we’d love to hear it. Simply visit our website at https://www.theboobgroup.com and send us an email through the contact link. Coming up next week we will be discussing partial breast feeding when supplements other than breast milk are needed. Thank you for listening to the Boob Group- Because Mothers Know Breasts.
[Disclaimer]
This is been a New Mommy Media production, information and material contained in this episode are presented for educational purposes only. Suggestions and opinions expressed in this episode are not necessarily those of New Mommy Media and should not be considered facts. For such information in which areas are related to be accurate it is not intended to replace or substitute for professional, Medical or advisor care and should not be used for diagnosing or treating house care problem or disease or prescribing any medications. If you have questions or concerns regarding your physical or mental health or the health of your baby please receive assistance from a qualified health care provider.
[00:36:21] End Of Audio
