Monday night at our Birthing Class, our teacher, Rebecca brought up breastfeeding. Seeing as though we are birthing with a Midwife at a Birthing Center, everyone is very pro breastfeeding (we are taking a class on Saturday) But, I didn’t know much about it. A few of the soon-to-be Mom‘s and Rebecca began talking about Dairy and how it is most important to cut it out of your diet by week 36 if you intend on breastfeeding. They were talking about allergins and digestion. I tried to follow along and then went home to research it.
I have done quite a bit of reading this week on the topic and really feel like there is not only so much to learn about becoming a parent, but also of the different nutrition and guidelines that different doctors and research put out there.
I also know in fitness most diets/ or menus really cut out a lot of the dairy products anyway for numerous reasons.
A very huge support and go to place for breastfeeding across the world is La Leche League. I found an article about Dairy consumption and breastfeeding. I am not a huge fan of dairy to begin with, I mean, I put milk in my cereal and once in awhile will dip a cookie in it. I eat yogurt once in awhile and have some cheese here and there…but over all Dairy isn’t my number 1 consumption anyway. I have begun at 33 weeks to cut dairy out of my diet.
Cow’s milk contains a protein that baby’s can’t digest which results in upset stomach, diarrhea (often with blood in it), gagging, bloating, lack of appetite, itchy bumps on skin and skin rashes. This also leads to lactose intolerance and allergies along with colic.
My body naturally produces all the milk, with all the human nutrients and varying flavors (based on what I eat) that my baby needs. So, why would I replace it with another animal’s milk or enzymes. My baby can get accustomed to all sorts of food and flavors, hopefully eliminating a picky eater later on.
I found this paragraph on bring-joy.com, it left an impression.
A baby calf goes from about 90 pounds to several hundred in two years or less. A human is born around 8 pounds and grows to 100-200 pounds in eighteen years. Our growth rate is much slower…
The point is, if after reading the medical and scientific literature about the negative effects (an understatement in my opinion!) of dairy consumption, you are still hesitant to stop giving your child cow’s milk (for fear of stunting their growth, rotting their bones due to calcium deficiency, and other unwarranted fears), if nothing else, think of the mixed up, faulty logic of it all. I suppose if we could read the minds of cows, they might be thinking, “Geez, those humans are sure confused! Is their milk somehow deficient that they feel the need to steal our milk to feed their young?”
Of course when you begin researching so many things come up which then send you in circles (which is why I never read the pregnancy books when I became pregnant). There are so many do’s and don’t’s and expert advice and mommy advice and columns and chat boards…it really can drive you mad. I think as Mom’s we need to read what we can and figure out what we think is important and implement it, regardless of other people’s opinions.
This is the first bit of knowledge in awhile that makes sense to me though. It seems as simple as, if your body makes it..why not use your own instead of something that is meant for a different type of animal? (which has a bit to do with my views on natural child birth as well) Obviously this little man has been growing inside of me for the past 32 weeks. He has been connected directly to my intake over all this time, so just because he comes “outside” why should that change?
So my conclusions, I will breastfeed as long as possible (obviously not when he is 15 )…eventually pump so he can have it in a glass or bottle when he is a bit too big to be full on attached…and keep dairy out of my diet.
resources
http://bring-joy.com/2009/07/08/breastfeeding-cows-milk-and-the-lies-people-tell/ http://www.lalecheleague.org/nb/nbjulaug98p100.html http://www.justmommies.com/babies/dairy-elimination-diet-for-breastfeeding-moms http://www.babycenter.com/0_breast-milk-interactions-chart_8788.bc http://www.babyzone.com/baby/breastfeeding/foods-to-avoid-while-breastfeeding_87457 http://www.breastfeeding-problems.com/foods-to-avoid-while-breastfeeding.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/dairy-free-dairy-6-reason_b_558876.htmlRelated articles
- Florida first: a nonprofit human milk depot to collect breastmilk donations from lactating women. (familysurvivalprotocol.com)
- Sari’s Story – Breastfeeding Support in Indonesia (lifeloveandlivingwithboys.wordpress.com)
- 365: 21.02.13 #52 Breastfeeding 12 months on (ghostwritermummy.co.uk)
- Milk and Dairy Give Teens Acne, New PETA Billboard Says (news.softpedia.com)
- Breastmilk is Superfood for Babies (naturemoms.com)
- Another reason to avoid dairy? (stronghealthycommunity.wordpress.com)
- Breastfeeding can boost child’s brain (trinidadexpress.com)
- 4 Creative Ways to Use Your Breast Milk (thebump.com)
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Intentionally and incrementally. Most families who live this way did not leap from conventional to adventurous overnight. They built remote work capacity, paid down debt, tested longer trips, and had increasingly honest conversations about what they actually want from their lives. The leap feels bigger from outside than from inside.
Different for every family. For some it is long-term travel. For others it is weekend adventures close to home. What connects them is intentionality about how time is spent and a preference for experiences over accumulation. The version that fits your family is the right one.
By finding stability within the adventure rather than treating them as opposites. Routines, rituals, and family rhythms travel with you. Familiar foods, bedtime routines, and predictable family dynamics provide stability even when the location changes. Kids need consistency in relationships more than consistency in geography.
That people are fundamentally similar across cultures in what they want for their families. That comfort zone is a smaller circle than it feels from inside. That the things worth having in life require effort and discomfort to get. And that time together doing hard interesting things is the most reliable source of family closeness.
By getting clear on why you made the choices you made and returning to that clarity when the outside noise gets loud. Most families living unconventionally describe an initial period of explaining themselves that gradually gives way to just living the life. The explaining becomes less necessary as the results become visible.
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I remember the crazy media fuss around that last picture you posted. But on another note, I had no idea about the ill-effects of cow’s milk. Maybe I should stop consuming so much dairy in my daily diet. Thanks for the heads up 🙂
I think that there are ill-effects with everything these days, just do your research and make choices based on you 🙂