Daily pacifier use can affect whether a baby ever grows into a nursing toddler. Occasional use does not seem to be a problem. Study results, with the numerical data omitted:
"Daily pacifier use was associated with a significantly shorter time to complete weaning from the breast. . . The use of a pacifier less frequently than daily did not increase the risk of early weaning. . . The association of daily pacifier use with early weaning persisted after adjustment for multiple potential confounding factors. . . , maternal age, marital status, family income, maternal return to full time work, smoking in pregnancy, planned duration of breastfeeding, inverted nipples, and maternal report of mastitis symptoms. . . there was no difference in the risk of ceasing breastfeeding by time of pacifier introduction. finger sucking at 1 month . . . or at 12 months . . . was not associated with an increased risk of early weaning from the breast." (Vogel AM, Hutchison BL, Mitchell EA, The impact of pacifier use on breastfeeding: a prospective cohort study, J. Paediatr. Child Health (2001)37, 58-63)
There is a lot written about women who don't lose all of their pregnancy weight but not about those of us who fall below and stay below our pre-pregnancy weight. I was told that until I stop breastfeeding, it is likely I will remain at this weight (which is 7 pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight and is too thin!) It would be reassuring to us breastfeeding women who are concerned about this weight loss. Also, that we may need to adjust our exercise so it is less frequent and/or strenuous than our routines before we were pregnant.
Discuss weight loss -- There is a lot written about women who don't lose all of their pregnancy weight but not about those of us who fall below and stay below our pre-pregnancy weight. I was told that until I stop breastfeeding, it is likely I will remain at this weight (which is seven pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight and is too thin!) It would be reassuring to us breastfeeding women who are concerned about this weight loss. Also, that we may need to adjust our exercise so it is less frequent and/or strenuous than our routines before we were pregnant.
There is one suggestion I have for the 2000 edition - leave out the Fun and Games. I don't remember the page number, but I know many mothers who have been turned off by the description of toddlers nursing off of Playboy magazine, or expressing milk from their mom's breast. A woman with her first breastfed baby turning a year will be overwhelmed with such a graphic description of the older nursling. Women in my LLL group have rejected the entire book on the basis of that one passage. So please strike it from the new edition. The rest of the book is too good for moms to miss.
I know I fall into a weird catagory, but there are several mothers I know of that have exclusively pumped also. When my son couldn't latch on (he was a preemie), and I had been pumping while he was in the hospital, it seemed natural to continue to keep supplying him with nutrition that way! He's now going on 14 months and I'm still pumping, but getting a lot of noise from others about it. It would be nice to see a line or two of support about exclusive pumping somewhere.
When I turned to it [MYNT], long ago, it didn't give what I needed. I was comfortable with the idea of a toddler nursing. I wanted concrete information on nutrition. My pediatrician was trying to be supportive (he's learned lots), but was worried about specifics that I was clueless on. What is the nutrient intake of the toddler from mama? Then WHAT exactly else does he need?
I think this web site is amazing. I hope you will consider maintaining it even after your revised edition comes out.
Hi! I am really glad that you are writing a new MYNT. I recently read the first one, and found it extremely useful, and funny, too. The only thing I disagreed with was about little "Gussie" from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Although I know the author's portrayal was supposed to negative, I, coming from a family that openly encouraged breastfeeding, even past the magic one year point, always thought that the description of little Gussie was so cute!!!!! Sometimes they really ARE so bossy and specific about just how the ninnies are going to be!!! But you were right about his needs being ignored and not tended to appropriately.
Another mother thinks about Gussie’s story: My son and I have always used the football hold. I thought he'd "graduate" into other positions, and technically he can, but we love our big, special chair and our football hold position. What is funny is how he positions himself to nurse. He is very long (34") and extends his legs over the back of the chair and crosses his legs jauntily, ankle over knee. Like Gussie, his gaze wanders around the room, legs crossed, like a real guy. It is very cute to see.
My sister just had her first baby on Valentine's Day. I thought I'd melt and want another baby right away...but watching her struggle to nurse the baby and the newborn's closed eyes and almost unconscious nursing made me appreciate my son all the more...and nursing toddlers in general. They are the limit.
I am not sure if you have any control over this or if a new publication will solve the problem but we often hear from mothers that they cannot find your book in bookstores. We would love to see it more available, as I'm sure you would.
I love your book. If it were to be any different - and I don't think that it needs to be - I would wish for an expanded section on the 6 (or 9) to 12-month-old. I found this 6 month period to be the most difficult. ... What happened to me? EVERYTHING CHANGED! Good-bye tranquil dinners with my husband with the baby nursing in my lap propped up with the nursing pillow. Now baby is grabbing everything in sight, knocking over my plate, OR he's in the highchair gagging over new foods, turning blue, screaming for more, finger-painting, dumping on the floor. ... Speaking of little, did I mention that baby now weighs 25 pounds at 6 months and 31 pounds at a year! The sling helps but my back is feeling sore lots of the time during this period when holding and carrying are still majorly important. ... I seemed to have more sore nipples during this time, perhaps it was from nursing him in that rear-facing car seat during long summertime trips. ... Speaking of sore nipples, my son was teething during these months. I discovered that nothing spells relief from teething like b-i-t-i-n-g m-a-m-a. ... What about the diaper derby? For the first six months, baby lay there like a fish, but then it was Roll, Roll, and Resist! Shirts and pants were little better. ... Although I didn't get my period until he was 13 months old, I started worrying more about birth control between 6 and 12 months. ... But the biggest adjustment to those months is getting used to seeing your baby bump his head and fall down, from perfect soft skin to bruises. Normal exploration came as a shock to me after six months of slinging. I would love to hear more about "non-manipulative mothering". It sounds to me like this is right on, but how does it work in more detail.
How 'bout a chapter on Mothering your sick toddler. Some issues:
1) My husband was horrified to see me sharing a straw with the toddler when the baby had a fever. I thought - the sooner I catch this cold, the sooner my antibodies will help him get better - I'd rather have us both sick at the same time. Do other Mom's do this routinely? As it happened I didn't get sick, and the baby got better very quickly.
2) Although the AAP (Acad. of Pediatrics) suggests letting a fever boil, as long as it doesn't get too high (I think they said 102 is fine). I felt guilty not giving the baby Tylenol. Still I held off until 103.5 and it was great! It's much easier for me just to hold him while he sleeps, than to try to be with him in that odd -- Tylenolized space -- feeling lousy, but running around anyway. Do you know what I mean?
Another topic [that needs discussion]: breastfeeding the special needs toddler.
[Nursing a child who is challenging.]There is autism in my family. Not severe, like non-commutative, vegetable children. Rather, high-functioning, near-genius intelligence autism, specifically Asberger's Syndrome. My youngest brother was the first to be diagnosed, at age 12, during his third major work-up at a major children's hospital. I suspect similar tendencies in my 4-year-old, but not as severe as my brother, and it will be years before anything is definitive. (It may be years before I can afford in any way to get a diagnosis with someone who knows anything about the different types of autism). I wonder if his intensity for needing breastfeeding is related to this? Could these years of breastfeeding him be ameliorating his alleged condition? We'll never know. ... [This same mother expands on the challenge her family faces in a later communication], I wish I had known a four year old can be just as insistent as an infant, but more vocal and intelligible, and argumentative. Four year old, 50-pound boys are not very cuddly or soft, and have strong arms and pointy elbows. [Can you tell I'm having difficulty with this nursing relationship?] I find I have to limit him from long nursings, as he leaves teeth marks. He would prefer to just sit and nurse for longperiods of time, just like when he was very little. In all honesty, my four year old is a very difficult child (that's why I have suspicions of a condition like my brother's) and I don't know if parenting would be any easier if he were not BF. BF him is very draining. He is not easily put off, or in a mood to negotiate. When he decides he wants to nurse, that's it; I have to instantly decide if I'm going to nurse him Right Then, or deal with the fit. Is that normal? There are other factors in our home, but nobody has the ideal situation. If anything, BF help books should focus on situations that are not ideal, to give a chance to those who otherwise would give up.
Here's part of an interesting online discussion on the temperature of breast milk:
One mother's now-five-year-old son is still nursing occasionally along with his nine-month-old brother. For several months now the 5-year-old has been commenting that the breast milk from the left breast is "cooler" than the milk from the right. Not different in any other way, but just not so warm. . . . . the left is the least preferred breast. My theory is that maybe there is less glandular tissue on the left, a lower blood supply, higher skin area in comparison to milk-producing tissue (breasts do not appear to be asymmetric) and these factors combined result in cooler milk. ------------- I have never heard of this before, but then (so far) this is the only client I have had with an eloquent, observant 5-year-old nursling, so maybe this kind of thing would not be reported that often! Does anyone have any ideas, explanations, speculations? ------------ A breastfeeding counselor writes: I've been pondering this case and what just came to mind is that, when taking temps with an ear thermometer or under the arm, there is usually a different temp on the left from on the right. This difference is more pronounced in some people than in others. I'll bet that most of us have a different temp of milk from the different sides, and most children don't even wonder about it or talk about it. It is just the way it is.
What experience/information is there out there on "postlactation involution," that is small and/or saggy breasts after weaning? This is certainly a far from universal experience. [A lot of us are a lot better off in that department after nursing!] Is it even common?
See also: La Leche League International's Breastfeeding Help, Extended Nursing