breastfeeding – Page 5

Self-weaned, finally?

Adj. 1. weaned – freed of dependence on something especially (for mammals) mother’s milk. Source: weaned

I’ve always wanted Ayex to have a self-directed weaning from breastfeeding. Yes, I’ve been feeding her with my own milk for 3 years now. And although my parents and in-laws are already telling me to train her to wean ( because she’s becoming hard-headed and impatient as they say), I did not because secretly, I don’t want our special bonding to be over.

But like other breastfeeding-working moms out there, I too get tired. Specially now that I am 4 months pregnant with our second child, my body goes through a lot of changes again, and sometimes, breastfeeding can be really tiresome.

One time, as I was getting diaper supplies, my friend/supplier told me a story how her eldest child just gave up feeding from the bottle. Her child is 4-5yo. She told the teacher to tell her kid that she should no longer drink her milk from the bottle because she’ll get tooth decay. Instead, she should start drinking her milk from the glass. From this, I got an idea of telling Ayex’s teacher about her still breastfeeding. Ayex stopped feeding from the bottle after she turned two and drinks her occasional milk from the glass when I’m at work. At night she feeds from me.

Hubby told me over chat yesterday that he was able to ask Teacher Jade to tell Ayex that she should stop getting milk from me. Instead, she can drink milk from the glass. After dinner, hubby asked Ayex what did Teacher Jade told her about drinking her milk. My little girl narrated to me what her teacher told her. We told her that if she asks for mommy’s milk, we’ll tell her teacher the next day that she still breastfeed to which responded with constant No.

I had my usual short tv-time and I waited for her to ask for milk. She did not. At bedtime, she said Mommy, dede. I reminded her what we’ll say to her teacher the next day and offered that I’ll just pat her back to put her to sleep. She agreed. After a few minutes, she’s already fast asleep. She woke up twice in the middle of the night to pee. After peeing, she goes to back to sleep without asking for milk.

Yes, I did not breastfeed her the whole day and the whole night yesterday until this morning. And although I don’t want to jinx this, I hope that she is really ready to finally wean. Not because I want our special bonding to be over but I really need a rest. I know I will be breastfeeding again once our little one comes out in June 2010. What a bitter-sweet reality of motherhood!

Lactation and Antiobiotics

As I mentioned in the blog I posted earlier, I was sick the past two days and is still as I write this. I visited the clinic near our office about three times just today and saw two different doctors. Scary huh? The pain is still there. I can feel it as I type now. It’s starting again. I really don’t like getting sick. I hate it even more when the doctor starts telling me that I should start taking antibiotics.

As most of you know, I’m still breastfeeding Ayex, who is now 2 years and 3 months old. And we, breastfeeding moms, know that antibiotics or some of its amount are transferred to the milk, which may not be good for the baby. This is my dilemma every time I will get sick. I compromise with my attending physician if they can give me something else as I cannot stop breastfeeding Ayex because she still refuses formula milk until now. I am very fortunate that there are some antibiotics that are safe for babies or that by the time I will taking them, I feel better.

I hope I will get better with the medication my doctors gave me today and that I will not have to take the antibiotics.

Update on the BPA issue and Avent

Remember my previous post where I learned about the BPA issue? If you haven’t read it, go here first.

I got that statement from Avent’s US site. It somehow gave me a relief but seeing blog about the BPA issue here and there gave me the need to research some more. I received a feedback that the answer I took from the US site is based on a 2005 study and that there were recent developments on the issue dated January 2008. I’m not panicking but as a mom, I need to know if I’m really putting my little angel in danger. So I researched some more and found this:

What is Bisphenol-A, and what are the issues surrounding BPA?

Philips AVENT is aware of media reports focusing on Bisphenol A (BPA) and polycarbonate. We would like to help our customers better understand why Philips AVENT, as well as other companies, use these materials.

Polycarbonates are used in thousands of consumer products such as reusable food containers, lifesaving medical devices and sport safety equipment. Manufacturers of such products, including baby bottles, rely upon polycarbonates because they prevent cracking, shattering and other hazards that can lead to injuries. The key concern for parents is whether leaching from polycarbonate bottles causes harm.

The effects of leached BPA have been studied extensively by regulatory agencies, including the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Various governing bodies have found as follows:

In January 2008, the FDA reconfirmed its long standing view regarding the safety of polycarbonate for food contact, including baby feeding bottles. The FDA has indicated that it actively reviews the safety of BPA and recently completed a review of available data obtained from animal studies, and migration studies. Based on the results of the migration studies conducted by FDA chemists, the FDA determined that the “dietary exposure to BPA is orders of magnitude below the levels known to cause toxic effects in animals.”
International regulatory agencies responsible for consumer protection, including the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the UK Food Standards Agency, the German Federal Institute of Risk Assessment, and the Japanese Ministry of Health have all studied the use of BPA and concluded that it can be used in the manufacture of baby bottles.

Philips AVENT is committed to meeting or exceeding the standards set by the FDA and all other acknowledged authorities around the world. All plastics used in Philips AVENT products are FDA-approved and recognized as “safe for food contact application.” Philips AVENT Bottles are also independently tested in accordance with and comply with the latest European Standard for Drinking Equipment for Children-EN14350: 2004 which looks specifically at the acceptable daily intake of BPA for children. By looking to these acknowledged authorities, Philips AVENT will continue to deliver the best products to customers.

Our bottles have been and will continue to be used by millions of healthy babies in over 70 countries worldwide.

April 17 2008

Source: http://www.avent.com/uk/en/learn_more_faq_bottle_feeding.php

I hope this also reassures other moms in the world who use Avent for their babies just like it did to me.