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Expert: - 5/11/2006


Question
My 5 month old has begun to eat baby food.  The Dr. said we can feed her 3 times a day with the food, and she loves it. But i am still breastfeeding. i pump 3 times a day at work. he siad we should cut back her bottles during the day since she is addign the food.  What do i do on the weekends to keep my supply up so i can still feed her at night and pump enough during the week to giver her the bottles while i am at work.  I want to continue breast feeding as long as possible at least a year. I made it through mastitis, a yeast infection from the antibiotics  for the mastitis in my breasts and i love her snuggling up against me at night to nurse. i am not ready to quit. Help!! what should i do to offer her solids and continue our nursing relationship.

Answer
Dear Jennifer:

First, congratulations for giving your baby the best start in life by breastfeeding her!

I would suggest that you ask your doctor whether there is any particular reason she/he suggests giving your baby solid foods three times a day at this age.  (The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breastfeeding for six months.) If not, my pediatrician coauthor and I would suggest that if you want to keep up your good supply of breast milk, that you cut the solid foods back to once a day for the next few weeks, increase the frequency of nursing when you're home, and offer lots of breastfeeding on the weekend when you're home, with no bottles on weekends. It would also be good to continue pumping at work. If you get more breast milk than you need right away, you can freeze it. In our book we devote an entire chapter to pumping, storing, and feeding breast milk.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

Sally

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.  

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Sally 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

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