AboutSally Wendkos Olds Expertise What do you want to know about breastfeeding? I can tell you what`s good
for the baby, what`s good for the mother -- and the father, how it`s
related to a woman`s sexuality, how working moms can nurse, how to
overcome obstacles, and lots more. As the author of THE COMPLETE BOOK OF
BREASTFEEDING and author or coauthor of 8 other books and more than 200
articles about child and adult development, I can offer sound, sensible
advice on breastfeeding, child care and family issues.
Experience I nursed my 3 daughters and am the grandmother of 5 breastfed children. My book THE COMPLETE BOOK OF BREASTFEEDING (written in consultation with pediatrician Marvin S. Eiger, M.D.) was first published in 1972, and in 1999 came out in an updated 3rd Edition by Workman Publishing & Bantam Books. It is now a classic, with over 2 million copies in print. I am now revising this book for a fourth edition, consulting with pediatrician Laura M. Marks, M.D. This new edition will be published September 2009. I welcome any and all suggestions for the new edition.
I coauthored college textbooks A CHILD'S WORLD: INFANCY THROUGH ADOLESCENCE, and HUMAN DEVELOPMENT; both are leading texts in their fields and have been read by 2 million students. I am the coauthor of HELPING YOUR CHILD FIND VALUES TO LIVE BY and RAISING A HYPERACTIVE CHILD, and author of THE WORKING PARENTS' SURVIVAL GUIDE & THE ETERNAL GARDEN: SEASONS OF OUR SEXUALITY. My newest book, A BALCONY IN NEPAL: GLIMPSES OF A HIMALAYAN VILLAGE, published in 2002, tells the story of the way of life in a remote village in Nepal, where all the women breastfeed! My book, SUPER GRANNY: COOL PROJECTS, ACTIVITIES, AND OTHER GREAT STUFF TO DO WITH YOUR GRANDKIDS, will be published March 2009.
I speak often to professional, parent and general audiences and make many radio and TV appearances.
Credentials
I received my B.A. in English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania, where I minored in Psychology, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and graduated summa cum laude.
Other points of interest
I have received national awards for my writing, and am a former president of the American Society of Journalists & Authors. I am listed in the World Who's Who of Women, International Authors & Writers Who's Who, and Contemporary Authors, and am a member of several professional and civic organizations. I believe: that all parents are working parents; that parents employed outside the home need special support; that mothers' well-being is crucial to their children's welfare; and that the family is the best institution in the world and the one for which we are least prepared. My thrills come when parents or kids tell me they were helped by my writing or speaking or just understanding.
To find out more about me, go to
Expert: Sally Wendkos Olds Date: 6/17/2008 Subject: 7 mths basically is done with nursing
Question My baby was always fussy while nursing. She didn't gain enough weight at her 6 mths check-up and the Dr said I should start her on solids. She basically doesn't want to nurse anymore and only latches to sleep at night. She sleeps through the night and I work (pump 2x a day). I've noticed when I pump at work now I can only get 1-2 oz for both sides. Any help suggestions on what I can do to make my baby nurse again. She's fine with the bottle and solids; just not with me.
Answer Dear Paula,
First, congratulations for giving your daughter the best start in life by breastfeeding her!
Some babies never want to stop nursing and some, like your daughter, wean themselves at about her age. It sounds as if that's what's going on here. Since she's so used to bottles and solids, she may have made up her mind and you may not be able to get her back on the breast. But I am attaching some suggestions from my book (see below), and maybe some of them may help.
Good luck!
Sally
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Sally Wendkos Olds
Author, THE COMPLETE BOOK OF BREASTFEEDING: Eiger & Olds, 3rd edition 1999, published by Workman Publishing & Bantam Books, and available in most public libraries, bookstores & La Leche League chapters. Now in revision for a fourth edition, with Laura M. Marks, M.D.
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The Older Nursing Baby
Sometimes in the first few weeks after birth, but more often between four and ten months of age, a baby will nurse a couple of minutes, then arch his back and cry. Nothing the mother can do will induce him to go back, and yet it’s obvious that he wants something. What’s wrong? And what can you do about it? As with so many other child-rearing issues, you have to look closely at your own baby and see what is going on in his life. The following suggestions have worked in some situations.
When an Older Baby Refuses the Breast
• Has your baby turned against the taste of your milk? It may have changed because of a cream you’re using on your breasts, a new food you’re eating, a new medicine you’re taking, a new strenuous exercise program you’ve begun, a developing infection in your breast, or because you are pregnant. Explore these possibilities, one by one. Keep a log of what you eat and what your baby’s reaction is, so that you can identify and eliminate an offending food. Schedule nursing sessions before exercise sessions, as suggested in Chapter 8. If you feel a lump in your breast, first treat it as a clogged duct; if it has not healed in three days, see your obstetrician.
• Is she teething? If her gums are tender from the pressure of new teeth coming in, it may hurt her to nurse. If she bit you, she may have been startled by your cry of pain and be afraid to nurse again.
• Is he wildly hungry? If he can’t seem to wait for the milk to let down, try picking him up about fifteen minutes before you would ordinarily feed him, or express a little milk first to give your let-down a chance to work.
• Does she have a cold? She may be having trouble breathing through her nose. Use a vaporizer in the room where she sleeps or ask your doctor whether nose drops would help.
• Does he have thrush? This mouth infection, described earlier, can make nursing painful. If you suspect it, treat it immediately, first to relieve your baby and also since the infection can spread to you.
• Does she have an earache? If so, she may find nursing painful.
• Is your baby consistently refusing only one breast? If so, see your own doctor, since this may signal a medical problem that should be explored.
• Are you under tension? If you’re going through a particularly difficult time emotionally, your feelings may be coming across to your baby, who in turn becomes too upset to nurse. Make a conscious effort to forget about your cares, at least while you’re nursing. You’ll enjoy these oases in your life and your baby may be calmer, too. See the suggestions to help you relax in the box on page 192.
• If you want to continue nursing, don’t substitute bottle-feeding for the times you would ordinarily nurse. Doing that may make the problem worse. Chances are that this “nursing strike” may last only a day or two, and your baby will then go back to being an eager nurser.
• If your baby has begun to eat solid foods, increase her portions of these for a few days to tide her over. If she has been eating large amounts of solids, however, this may be causing the problem. She may be too full of food to be interested in nursing.
• Express or pump your milk and give it to him in an eyedropper, a teaspoon, or a cup until he resumes taking the breast.
• Keep offering your breast. The most effective time to do this is to pick him up while he’s asleep or very sleepy; he won’t remember to reject the breast, and once he’s back in the routine of nursing, he may decide it’s pretty good, after all.
• Vary your nursing positions. Your baby might prefer one you haven’t used yet.
• Nurse in motion—in a rocking chair or walking around.
If none of the possible reasons listed in the box on page 308 to explain why your baby might be refusing your breast seem to apply to your situation, if none of the suggested remedies work, if after a week she’s still refusing to nurse, and if she’s more than six months old, she may be signaling her readiness to be weaned. While some children want to nurse long after their mothers had thought they would, others surprise and disappoint a mother by wanting to give up the breast earlier than she wants to herself. For suggestions on making the weaning process as comfortable as possible, with the least amount of emotional upset for mother and baby, see Chapter 18.
