I'm so happy I stumbled upon Alicia Simpson's, “Boost Your Breast Milk." Her book gave me a deeper understanding of what I already felt as a nursing mom. It's a quick-read packed with natural remedies and anatomical benefits.
Here are eight points that really resonated with me...
1. Suckling Is An Essential Part Of Oral Development
Suckling (not sucking) takes a lot of effort and is directly linked to speech, chewing, tongue mobility and overall oral development. In order to properly draw out milk, baby uses muscles that strengthen their jaw, head and neck.
2. Night Milk Is Different From Day Milk
I didn’t realize the influence our body clocks had on breastmilk. Our hormones change throughout the day. Thus, night milk consists of a different set up hormones and missing out can off set baby's natural cycle.
3. Breast Milk Supports Baby’s Systems
Babies need help regulating their immature systems. I don’t know about you, but I get super hot at night. And nursing specifically helps babies’ regulate their body temperature.
4. Introducing Solids Can Decrease Milk Production
When baby is fed food, they may skip nursing — which tells the body to produce less milk.
Therefore foods should be used to “compliment breastmilk not replace it.” Yes, fruits and vegetables are healthy -- but no solids can replace what our bodies make specifically for their developing systems.
5. Growth Spurts Lead To Frequent Feedings
Every time our daughter hit a growth spurt her feedings seemed endless. I knew her constant suckling drained me and I never realized how exhausting growing was for her.
6. Breastfed Babies Are Rarely Overfed
This was my first time reading this bold statement and I thought it was interesting.
7. Menstruation Decreases Milk Supply
I never paid attention to the correlation between breast milk and my menses. According to Simpson, babies tend to nurse more frequently because our milk supply decreases when a wombman menstruates.
8. Stress Decreases Milk Supply
I know stress attacks us internally, I was surprised to learn that it can impact our milk.
In the end, "Boost your Breastmilk" was super affirming and confidence boosting. If you're interested, you can preview a copy here, and/or borrow it from your local library.
Which breastfeeding benefit resonated with you? What other maternity books are you reading? Need to schedule a one-on-one? Use code: HEART2HEART.
Until next time...
Love The Journey,
