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Expressing Breast Milk

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Learning to express milk manually can be trickier than it sounds.

To express milk manually, gently massage to start the milk moving down the ducts.  Work evenly around the breast, stroking repeatedly downward toward the areola. Starting about halfway up the breast, run your thumb firmly down.  As it reaches the edge of the areola, press in and up and the milk will squirt from the nipple.  Repeat all the way around the breast. Do not squeeze the nipple as this will close the ducts, nor continue expressing until you think the breast is empty.   Stop when  the milk starts coming in drips rather than jets.

For more information go to: Breastfeeding.com

Reasons for Using a Breast Pump

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If you choose to breastfeed, you may also need to pump your breasts sometimes. This article from BabyCenter.com gives lots of information on using a breast pump. Here are the main topics covered.

See more at: BabyCenter.com on using a breast pump

Help for Using a Breast Pump

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Breast-feeding is a commitment — and your efforts are worthwhile. If you’re pumping, follow simple tips for maintaining your milk supply, from pumping often to drinking plenty of fluids.

By Mayo Clinic staff

Breast-feeding is based on supply and demand. The more you breast-feed your baby — or pump while you’re away from your baby — the more milk your breasts will produce. Consider seven tips for pumping success.

1. Relax

Stress can hinder your body’s natural ability to release breast milk. Find a quiet place to pump. It might help to massage your breasts or use warm compresses. You might want to think about your baby, look at a picture of your baby or listen to relaxing music.

2. Pump often

The more you pump, the more milk you’ll produce — especially if you’re using a high-quality pump. If you’re working full time, try to pump for 15 minutes every few hours during the workday. If you can, pump both breasts simultaneously. A double breast pump helps stimulate milk production while reducing pumping time by half.

3. When you’re with your baby, breast-feed on demand

The more you breast-feed your baby when you’re together, the greater your supply will be when you pump. Depending on your schedule, try more-frequent evening, early morning or weekend feedings. If you have a predictable schedule, you might ask your baby’s caregivers to avoid feeding your baby during the last hour of care — so that you can breast-feed your baby as soon as you arrive.

Raising Your Spirited Child

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by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka

In her book, Raising Your Spirited Child, Mary Sheedy Kurcinka, has a number of different tools to evaluate your child. The following are just excerpts from her book. If these are interesting to you, I encourage you to buy her book.

You can purchase the book from Amazon.com

 

Evaluating your child’s temperament

Evaluating the parents’ temperaments

The Introvert/Extrovert Survey

Evaluating Intensity

Evaluating Persistence

 

 

Fun and Funny Kids

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All of us know we feel better when we are laughing than when we are angry, sad, or even just dutiful. Scientists, sociologists, psychologists, and comedians study laughter and humor. They have made some fascinating discoveries.

Dr. Lawrence J. Cohen-a psychologist who specializes in children’s play-says, “A sense of humor offers huge advantages in life. It’s one of the best ways people have figured out to cope with things that are difficult.” Some of the advantages of being able to laugh easily are the ability to build strong friendships, being well-liked by peers, managing frustration, diffusing conflict, and less depression. A good sense of humor is also linked to intelligence, self-esteem, creativity, and problem solving.

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