Nothing has had the ability to turn me away from thinking like a scientist more than being a mom. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. I tend to be way too analytical. I do copious research into topics before making decisions. (I told the pediatrician at Gwen's 2 month appointment on Monday about all of the reading I've been doing about instilling healthy sleep habits in your children. After I listed off a couple of books she told me I really need to stop reading.) I have found that I am now much more willing to cling to anecdotal data.
I took a supplements class last year. I have had a few people ask me if there are any supplements to increase their breast milk supply. The answer is that there is no good data. Part of the reason is that the major supplement that many women use and swear by would put no money into the pockets of pharmaceutical companies, so they do not have a vested interest in running the trials to determine if Fenugreek increases milk production. But, since there are no positive trials, I would never recommend that a mother take Fenugreek. I would also recommend women away from Mother's Milk Tea (a blend of Fenugreek, Blessed Thistle, Marshmallow Root, Fennel, etc). I WOULD recommend Metoclopramide (Reglan). Reglan is used for GI issues (I used it for delayed gastric emptying during pregnancy), but a common side effect is increased lactation. It is, in fact, very effective.
Last week my milk supply tanked. I was stressed and dehydrated, and not even making enough milk to feed Gwen during the day, let alone extra to store up for a rainy day. Thankfully, I had been stockpiling some milk, so I was able to thaw one bottle a day to feed to her while I increased my fluid intakes and focused on me for a couple of days (I bought a magazine, took a nap, and spent the afternoon with some girlfriends). Not only did I focus on me, but I scoured the internet to determine what people recommend for a low milk supply. And what did I find? Fenugreek. Not all of my scientific sensibilities went out the window. I went to Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database to determine the efficacy and safety of fenugreek (both rated as insufficient evidence to rate). But I also realized that women have been using this spice for thousands of years for this very purpose, and the studies likely will not come since all that matters for many studies to take place is the bottom line. So I went to Whole Foods, bought a bottle of Fenugreek, and have faithfully been taking it for a few days now. I don't know which intervention increased my milk supply, but I went from not making enough milk to feed my child to pumping about 9 or 10 extra ounces yesterday. I still would not recommend that others take it, but I am going to continue my fenugreek regimen myself.
For Gwenie's sleep, I have been focusing mainly on two different books. Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby, and The No-Cry Sleep Solution. I appreciate each for different reasons. Healthy Sleep Habits was written by a doctor who does sleep research for a living. He has invested years into studying and understanding sleep. I learned quite a bit from reading his book. The No-Cry Sleep Solution was written by a breastfeeding, co-sleeping mom who was dissatisfied with the "cry it out" advice that she was receiving from everyone. She spent, in her own words, "months" researching sleep and developing her system. She had about 60 women test out her theories on their children (as opposed to several thousand studied for Healthy Sleep Habits). But I like her theories better. I don't want to make Gwen cry it out. So I am willing to try the advice of the non-expert, who uses stories of the 60 women to support her case, before I jump into following the expert advice, supported by statistics.
I have also decided to give up dairy. My sweet little cherub is lying on my lap as I write this crying in pain. Many babies have trouble pooping and cry when they do so. But most grow out of it by this point. Gwen is over 9 weeks old and not only cries when she poops, but every single time she is gassy. She is generally a happy baby, but she will suddenly burst into a miserable sob fest, followed within about 5 minutes with lots of gas passing and pooping. She has had 4 bouts of gas today, each time crying like the world is going to end (and crying like she is in pain), and the gas sometimes wakes her from naps and during the night, resulting me in rocking her for about 20-30 minutes until the gas finally finishes passing. As soon as she has pooped or passed all of her gas, she falls asleep, exhausted, with salt lines, from the dried tears, down the sides of her face. I can handle fussy crying. I can handle "I'm bored" crying. But I can't handle the crying she does when she is in pain. I have done quite a bit of reading about food intolerance in breast feeding. While many women attribute it to problems in their children, it is a very small percentage of babies that actually have reactions to the things that their mommies eat. But what if my baby is a part of that small percentage? The odds say she's not, but I can't stand by and do nothing (I have already been trying simethicone, but it does not seem to be helping). So I have picked the most common culprit, dairy, and am giving it up. I have heard encouraging stories about it helping in other people's kids, so I am hoping it will help in mine. I have read that it can take 2-3 weeks to get the dairy completely out of your system and to see results in your child. I realize in those 2-3 weeks things may resolve themselves on their own, so any results that I might see could possibly be attributed to a maturing of Gwen's GI tract. But I have to do something, and so I am willing to hold on to the hope that the ideas that I have heard from others will hold true for my daughter too.
I took a supplements class last year. I have had a few people ask me if there are any supplements to increase their breast milk supply. The answer is that there is no good data. Part of the reason is that the major supplement that many women use and swear by would put no money into the pockets of pharmaceutical companies, so they do not have a vested interest in running the trials to determine if Fenugreek increases milk production. But, since there are no positive trials, I would never recommend that a mother take Fenugreek. I would also recommend women away from Mother's Milk Tea (a blend of Fenugreek, Blessed Thistle, Marshmallow Root, Fennel, etc). I WOULD recommend Metoclopramide (Reglan). Reglan is used for GI issues (I used it for delayed gastric emptying during pregnancy), but a common side effect is increased lactation. It is, in fact, very effective.
Last week my milk supply tanked. I was stressed and dehydrated, and not even making enough milk to feed Gwen during the day, let alone extra to store up for a rainy day. Thankfully, I had been stockpiling some milk, so I was able to thaw one bottle a day to feed to her while I increased my fluid intakes and focused on me for a couple of days (I bought a magazine, took a nap, and spent the afternoon with some girlfriends). Not only did I focus on me, but I scoured the internet to determine what people recommend for a low milk supply. And what did I find? Fenugreek. Not all of my scientific sensibilities went out the window. I went to Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database to determine the efficacy and safety of fenugreek (both rated as insufficient evidence to rate). But I also realized that women have been using this spice for thousands of years for this very purpose, and the studies likely will not come since all that matters for many studies to take place is the bottom line. So I went to Whole Foods, bought a bottle of Fenugreek, and have faithfully been taking it for a few days now. I don't know which intervention increased my milk supply, but I went from not making enough milk to feed my child to pumping about 9 or 10 extra ounces yesterday. I still would not recommend that others take it, but I am going to continue my fenugreek regimen myself.
For Gwenie's sleep, I have been focusing mainly on two different books. Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby, and The No-Cry Sleep Solution. I appreciate each for different reasons. Healthy Sleep Habits was written by a doctor who does sleep research for a living. He has invested years into studying and understanding sleep. I learned quite a bit from reading his book. The No-Cry Sleep Solution was written by a breastfeeding, co-sleeping mom who was dissatisfied with the "cry it out" advice that she was receiving from everyone. She spent, in her own words, "months" researching sleep and developing her system. She had about 60 women test out her theories on their children (as opposed to several thousand studied for Healthy Sleep Habits). But I like her theories better. I don't want to make Gwen cry it out. So I am willing to try the advice of the non-expert, who uses stories of the 60 women to support her case, before I jump into following the expert advice, supported by statistics.
I have also decided to give up dairy. My sweet little cherub is lying on my lap as I write this crying in pain. Many babies have trouble pooping and cry when they do so. But most grow out of it by this point. Gwen is over 9 weeks old and not only cries when she poops, but every single time she is gassy. She is generally a happy baby, but she will suddenly burst into a miserable sob fest, followed within about 5 minutes with lots of gas passing and pooping. She has had 4 bouts of gas today, each time crying like the world is going to end (and crying like she is in pain), and the gas sometimes wakes her from naps and during the night, resulting me in rocking her for about 20-30 minutes until the gas finally finishes passing. As soon as she has pooped or passed all of her gas, she falls asleep, exhausted, with salt lines, from the dried tears, down the sides of her face. I can handle fussy crying. I can handle "I'm bored" crying. But I can't handle the crying she does when she is in pain. I have done quite a bit of reading about food intolerance in breast feeding. While many women attribute it to problems in their children, it is a very small percentage of babies that actually have reactions to the things that their mommies eat. But what if my baby is a part of that small percentage? The odds say she's not, but I can't stand by and do nothing (I have already been trying simethicone, but it does not seem to be helping). So I have picked the most common culprit, dairy, and am giving it up. I have heard encouraging stories about it helping in other people's kids, so I am hoping it will help in mine. I have read that it can take 2-3 weeks to get the dairy completely out of your system and to see results in your child. I realize in those 2-3 weeks things may resolve themselves on their own, so any results that I might see could possibly be attributed to a maturing of Gwen's GI tract. But I have to do something, and so I am willing to hold on to the hope that the ideas that I have heard from others will hold true for my daughter too.
No comments:
Post a Comment