I had heard of the Nestle boycott a few years ago.  I learned more about it at the CAPPA Lactation Education Training this weekend.  It made me want to learn more and join in the boycott.  So you can imagine my joy when in my Google Reader there were some blog posts about a week long boycott coming up!

I talked to my 3 boys about why people have been boycotting Nestle for decades.  They were a bit overwhelmed to choose to boycott it totally, but got excited about the Nestle Halloween Boycott.   Though they thought a week was doable as well.

I didn’t think we really used any Nestle pr0ducts until I saw this list on Crunchy Domestic Goddess.   No more Hot Pockets or Arrowhead water.  The water may be the hard one for us.  But for a week we can do it for sure!

Please join in on the week long boycott, or at least the Halloween boycott!  That is completely doable.

In honor of my Lactation Education training weekend, here is a lovely breastfeeding story.

The Princess and the Chick Pea

Here is the deal, some nurses are AWESOME, they know tons about breastfeeding, have great tips and can offer wonderful support.

Some nurses, don’t know much at all.  Breastfeeding maybe scares them a little, because they can’t see how much the baby is getting.

Ideally moms will educate themselves about breastfeeding before they have their baby.  They will know about the size of their baby’s belly.

Even if they are educated sometimes nurses scare moms into giving a bottle, when it really isn’t necessary.  Mom can express milk and finger feed it to the baby.  Mom may just need some latch help.  Ask to see the lactation consultant if you are having problems in the hospital.  Don’t rely on the nurses advice to be accurate.

I had a student who told me about her birth, she said it went great, but the nurse she had after was trying to tell her to give the baby a bottle.  She finally asked for a new nurse who was more supportive of breastfeeding.  She got one and she is so glad she asked for a new nurse.  ASK for a new nurse if you are not getting along with the one you have!

2 Amazing breastfeeding facts:

There are holes along the digestive tract of every newborn baby.  This allows the antibodies from the colostrum to easily enter the baby.  With 2 weeks of exclusive breastfeeding, these holes close up on their own.  If a baby doesn’t get breastmilk in these first 2 weeks the holes NEVER close.  This can lead to gut issues later in life.  The first 2 weeks of life are a critical period.  Even if you only breastfeed for 2 weeks, it is important and SO helpful for your baby!

1 ounce of formula will damage the babies gut and it takes 2-4 weeks of exclusive nursing for the gut to heal itself after 1 ounce of formula.

A BYU/Harvard/Stanford team of microbiologists have identified the molecule that is the key to immunity getting to the baby through breastmilk. 

This article explains in detail how even years before a women is pregnant cells that produce antibodies are circulating in a moms system, waiting for when mom starts to lactate and then they go to her mammary glands. 

I am not a huge science person, so I didn’t understand everything, but I think it is so amazing they figured this out.  The human body is amazing and to me birth and nursing are the spectacular show that demonstrate just how wonderful bodies are!

I must admit, I normally pay little attention to the stars, except for their births and breastfeeding.  I know Angelina was hoping for a VBAC with her twins.  She didn’t get that, I was sad for her.  BUT, I love that there is a picture of her breastfeeding on the cover of W magazine.  That is great!

A Breastfeeding Olympics would be just my style!

2008 Breastfeeding Challenge
Or, as it is known in the Philippines; The Breastfeeding Olympics

What: A fun event to challenge geographic areas to see who can get
the most babies breastfeeding at one time. The winners are determined
by a percentage of birthrate.

When: October 11, 2008

Time: 11:00 am your time

Why: To celebrate breastfeeding, to educate the general public, to
develop peer support, and to just have fun!

Location/Site: Anywhere you can get 2 or more moms together. Some
sites are in someone’s home. Other sites are in hospitals. Sites can
be in a park, at a clinic, at City Hall, on the Capitol grounds, in a
football stadium, at a theater, at a community pool, at a local
restaurant, at a mall, at a health fair, at a baby store, at a
maternity store, at the library – anywhere you want to gather to have
a nurse-in. If your site is in a public location, be sure to get
permission to use it as a site.

How the Challenge Got Started: In 2001, the Quintessence Foundation
in British Columbia sponsored the first event. That year, there were
856 babies in 26 sites in B.C. Last year, there were 5,383 babies in
230 sites across Canada and the U.S. This year, the event will be an
international effort.

Join this Worldwide Event. Sign up for a site today. Invite all the
breastfeeding moms you know and have them invite all their friends.
Tell them to get to the event about 15 minutes early to get
registered and find a spot. Only those latched on at 11:00 am can be
counted in the results!

For more information and to sign up for a site:
Go to http://www.babyfriendly.ca/challenge/. This site includes a
place to sign up, handouts for moms, and press releases, etc. for
organizers.

-Kristi

This tragedy breaks my heart.  Three babies have now died from tainted formula and over 6000 have been made sick from it. 

This mother of a 2 month old said, “Doctors said I better not feed her powdered milk,” Xinhua quoted a “tearful” Wang as saying.

“In the past few days, I fed her fresh milk bought from a neighbor who raises a cow but once I left home I did not know what to do.”

So from what I can tell in the article, she is giving the baby water. 

We need the Chinese Cop Hero from the earthquake, to breastfeed the babies whose mothers are afraid to give them formula. 

It is definitely a huge benefit of breastfeeding, you know what they are ingesting. 

My prayers go out to the families and babies who are affected by this tragedy.

This is a Canadian Clinic, but benefits women everywhere from the research they do and the videos they make and so much else.  If you can help out, or want to learn more, visit their website!