Breastfeeding can be a very rewarding yet challenging experience for many new mothers. In the early days with your baby, it is important to look after yourself to help establish successful breastfeeding. After all, you are the most important person to your baby at this time, so it makes sense to take care of you! 

1. Don’t be superwoman – accept all offers of help and food that come your way.
2. The housework can wait and it is much more important to catch up on sleep and rest while you can.
3. If you can afford it, hire a cleaner or ask a relative to help out with the cleaning for the first few weeks. This will give you time to catch up on missed sleep during the day.
4. Eat a well balanced diet including plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, carbohydrates, protein and calcium to give you extra energy while breastfeeding.
5. Drink plenty of fluids to make sure you stay hydrated while breastfeeding. It’s a good idea to have a glass of water every time you feed and try to avoid too much alcohol and caffeine.
6. Take some time out – a short walk around the block or an occasional short break away from your baby will help recharge your batteries and give you more energy to care for your baby.
7. Build a support network that can help encourage and support you while you are breastfeeding. You might like to join a mother’s group or have a relative you can turn to for advice.
8. Regular gentle exercise will help you feel better about yourself and is good for your health too. Why not join a postnatal exercise class, which is also great for meeting other mums.
9. Spend time with your partner everyday, even if it is just a quick cup of tea. Your partner’s support and encouragement is crucial at this time.
10. Reward yourself for making a commitment to breastfeed. You might like to have a facial, take a long bath or buy a new outfit. If you look good, you feel good and just think of all the money you are saving by not having to buy formula!

gillygirl :: May.29.2007 :: breastfeeding support :: No Comments »

Yes it’s true - breastfeeding does affect your mind in weird ways! Apparently the feelings of indecisiveness, vagueness and the general ‘not with it’ feeling are the combination of hormones and emotional factors.

It’s thought to be nature’s way of focussing mum’s attention on her new baby and to put other distractions aside. So now you have an excuse for feeling this way!

gillygirl :: May.26.2007 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

A pilot $30 million program will give QLD new mums the chance to have a visit from a midwife, nurse or other child health professional to give them advice about caring for their new born baby.

Visits in the first 10 days of the newborn’s life will allow parents to seek reassurance on feeding, sleep and behaviour issues and talk them through with a health professional.

I think this is fantastic news for QLD mums and will be a great support particularly for all those breastfeeding questions and problems that mums have in the early days! Hopefully the other states will follow soon.  Definitely a much needed resource.

gillygirl :: May.21.2007 :: breastfeeding support :: No Comments »

It seems mums can feel a lot of guilt particularly when it comes to breastfeeding. Many feel guilty if they can’t breastfeed or if it doesn’t work out for them. Alternatively women feel pressure to stop breastfeeding after 12 months and can feel uncomfortable about extended breastfeeding.

It seems there is a lot of guilt and pressure on whatever mums try to do! Have you experience guilt or pressure while breastfeeding? How did you overcome it?

gillygirl :: May.19.2007 :: Uncategorized :: 1 Comment »

You may remember from a previous blog about how many states still haven’t taken up the new World Health Organisation (WHO) baby growth charts. The old charts date from the 70s and are favoured to the growth of formula fed babies and can make a breastfeeding mum worry unneccesarily that her baby is underweight.

The new charts have a more realistic weight range that is more suitable for breastfed babies. Check out the link here to the new WHO Baby Growth Charts

gillygirl :: May.15.2007 :: Baby Growth Charts :: No Comments »

Mum Knows Breast is currently running a great competition (see our welcome page for more info) and all you need to is become a member and post a blog here about your best breastfeeding advice or tip for new mums.

Looking forward to lots of great advice on the blog soon! My best advice would have to be - prepare for sore nipples initially and stock up on the Lansinoh nipple cream which is heaven for sore nipples. It will get you through the early weeks before your nipples toughen up.

Share the word to all your friends and help other mums with your words of wisdom.

gillygirl :: May.11.2007 :: breastfeeding stories :: 2 Comments »

Here’s an interesting excerpt from an article that appeared in the Canberra Times yesterday by Jane Bruce. What do you think?

Australian mothers are forced to wean their babies off breast milk too early because workplaces are not "breastfeeding-friendly", a public inquiry has been told.

Federal guidelines recommend that infants be fed only breast milk until they are six months old, but national figures show only about 32 per cent are exclusively breastfed.

Women’s Electoral Lobby representative Natasha Pollock said women were not breastfeeding or were weaning early because their workplaces did not provide privacy, they struggled to find child care close to work or bosses believed having infants at work lowered productivity.

The lobby on Monday called on the government to provide universal paid maternity leave and make sure employers provided feeding-friendly workplaces.

For the full story click here

gillygirl :: May.08.2007 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

Now my personal opinion is that breast is best, but what is with all the conflicting information that mums are getting lately!

Breast is best, but it doesn’t protect against breast cancer, or childhood obesity, or athsma or eczma - argh!

Put simply, I believe that breast milk is the food that nature created for babies - it has everything in it that they need, and in fact is tailored for your own baby.

So while all the research in the world can continue, would you please stop confusing these poor mothers!

madmadmummy :: May.07.2007 :: Uncategorized :: 2 Comments »

An article in today’s Sunday Mail discusses the new growth charts that have more realistic goal weights for breastfed babies. Apparently the previous charts were made in the 70s when most baby were formula fed which today has led to some mums being advised to top up their otherwise healthy and thriving breastfed babies with formula. In some cases this has led to the overfeeding of babies to conform with the charts.

The Australian Breastfeeding Association is asking that the new  charts be adopted Australia wide. 

gillygirl :: May.05.2007 :: Baby Growth Charts :: No Comments »

I was interviewed for Mum Knows Breast on Radio Adelaide this morning and also ABC Radio! There’s a lot of support out there for helping breastfeeding mums, so hopefully we’ll soon be seeing a lot of new faces here. I am also going to be on ABC Bunbury WA on monday morning on the breakfast show - so listen out for me!

At first it was nerve-wracking but then exciting to talk about a great support network for breastfeeding mums! Look forward to lots of discussion on the forums and meeting everyone on their mumspace.

See you there.

gillygirl :: May.03.2007 :: Uncategorized :: 2 Comments »