Leaking breasts can be an embarrasing problem when you're breastfeeding

What to do about ‘leaking’

I had an embarrassing moment in the supermarket once. I was breastfeeding at the time and had bought some milk in plastic bags. Unfortunately, one bag was leaking. This resulted in a trail of milk following my shopping trolley. A woman stopped me and said, “You’re leaking milk.” My first reaction was to clutch my breasts in horror and go bright red. I quickly recovered when I realised that it wasn’t me who was leaking!

Breastfeeding experts tell us all about the bonuses for mother and baby when it comes to breastfeeding, but they forget to warm moms about leaking. Leaking colostrum can start as early as six months.  It’s all connected to hormones made in a pea-sized gland in the brain called the pituitary. As soon as a baby is born, breastfeeding hormones called oxytocin and prolactin are produced. While prolactin helps to make milk, oxytocin stimulates the tiny muscles around the milk-producing lobules in the breast to contract. When this happens, it’s called the ‘let-down reflex’, and then the milk flows.

Women aren’t strictly aware of this sensation until a breastfeeding pattern has been established – unless it’s her second or third baby. Painless, this feeling is described as ‘pins and needles’ sensation. If you’re topless, your breasts literally ‘stand up’ before the milk starts dripping. It’s particularly embarrassing when you’re sexually aroused during love-making and you find yourselves feeling wet and sticky. Nursing breasts leak when it’s time for a feed, or mom hears a baby (any baby) cry or sometimes, even just thinking about her baby. Breastfeeding women who go back to work and have to sit through board meetings or are in the public eye, should be advised to wear breast pads inside her bra. These can be washable or disposable. They should be wide and cone-shape – otherwise, it looks like you’re wearing a pair of socks inside your bra.

Breast pads should be changed often to avoid getting thrush (especially when the pads are plastic lined) on your nipples because of the warm, wet and sweet environment created by the milk. Washable pads don’t have a plastic lining so they’re less likely to cause this problem. They’re also environmentally friendly.

There’s a wide variety of breast pads (washable and disposable) available on-line, with prices ranging from R59.99 (Clicks disposable breast pads – 36 in a box) to Avent washable (6) at R246,99. I went to Dis-Chem to see what they have available. Their range includes Bump (4 for R69,95) that feature: extra soft and absorbent/reusable/gentle on skin. Softi disposable breast pads featuring: ultra-absorbent / soft and skin-friendly / reliable (breathable protection) / contour shaped / 40 individually wrapped. Other brands include Madela: super dry, discreet, and super absorbent. Honeycomb boast ultra slim/discreet under clothing / super absorbent with a polymer that traps excess milk keeping the skin completely dry / waterproof/non-slip adhesive tape to ensure the pad is kept in place.

The online special I found and recommend is for Newchic Reusable pads at R75.86 (were R198.29) Visit www.newchic.com – and type in reusable breast pads to find them.         

 

24th September - Heritage Day in South Africa

Tell your children where they come from

On Tuesday 24^th September, we will be celebrating Heritage Day here in South Africa. I’m sure that many other countries around the world also celebrate their heritage. As parents, we need to use this day to remind our children (and ourselves) of our uniqueness, community and heritage. In our fast-paced, disposable, on-line, social-media-savvy world, there seems to be a disinterest in anything ‘old’ – like family photographs, artifacts and other memorabilia once handed down from generation to generation, now called ‘junk’ and donated to charity shops at best or thrown away at worst.

Our heritage starts with family. Little children love looking at old family photographs and hearing the stories about people they never have, and perhaps, never will meet. It also does you good to reminisce those days when you were growing up, telling your children about the things you used to do, and the games you used to play. You could even introduce them to some of these games on Heritage Day.

Our heritage is not only about our DNA, it’s also about where we worship – church, Sunday school, mosque or temple – where children learn to sit still and pretend they’re listening to words of wisdom that make no sense to them at all right now. It’s the park where we used to play, the schools we went to, the colleges, universities or places of work after school. This may have been the local service station or the dean’s office. All the same, it’s your heritage.

The Big Stuff regarding our national heritage are our historical buildings, museums, gardens and nature reserves, monuments, and statues that stand idle, forever waiting to remind generations of our descendants what their grandparents and great-grandparents did to secure our future.

I recently had the pleasure of meeting James Ball who was the speaker for a function at the Modderfontein Conservation Society. James started The Heritage Portal. I encourage you to visit this site on  http://www.theheritageportal.co.za to learn more about our heritage buildings and sites here in South Africa, and meet with enthusiasts who are prepared to protect and even restore some of these magnificent places.

Happy Heritage Day!

Waiting for baby...

We love babies!

Last Saturday, our village arranged a baby shower for the secretary’s daughter who is seven months pregnant. For weeks, the conversation was all about baby goodies and knitting needles were madly clicking, magically transforming balls of baby wool into beautiful jackets, blankets, booties, bonnets, and beanies. It was a pleasant change to the usual conversation about aches and pains. The spirit of the village, spurred by the arrival of spring, was uplifted.

There were ooh’s and ah’s as each gift was unwrapped and held up for inspection. This was followed by the twittering of conversation about how things were ‘back then’ when nappies were washed, bibs were embroidered and christening gowns (carefully wrapped in blue paper to preserve their whiteness) were passed down the generations.

Babies are like the lambs, chickens, bunnies and baby birds of spring. They are the promise of new life and renewed hope for the future. They arouse maternal instincts – both new and dormant – and evoke the mother in us that wants to cuddle, protect, teach, guide, feed and entertain the next generation. Babies are the miracle of a couple’s DNA, connected, fused and sealed to create a unique human being with his or her own personality and characteristics, genes and epigenetics, skills and talents – each generation building onto these to improving the species.

Babies bring families together, fuse a couple’s relationship, soften a man and make a woman stronger. Babies make us smile and laugh and repeat the silliest things just because it makes them laugh. When babies laugh, the world laughs with them.

If you’re lucky enough to be the mommy carrying a baby, treasure this time because you’re special and will never have this time again. Right now, you are cuddling your baby 24 hours in the day. Soon you will meet face to face, and then, a whole new world will begin.

Picture from Pinterest  

Start with little steps ...

Sometimes it gets too much ….

Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, life gets too much. You’re running on a treadmill and just want out. Especially when you have small children, a demanding job, financial stress, you’re worried about aging parents, the economy, crime, and global warming. All the ‘what-if’s’ turn into sleepless nights and energy troughs become lethargic ‘I’ll do that later’. When everything around you begins to pile up and you can’t find your toothbrush, you know that things are getting pretty serious.

I remember a game-changer once when a friend visited unexpectedly. My hair was a mess, I was wearing my oldest clothes and shoes, dishes were piled to the ceiling, children’s toys were lying everywhere. Even the beds were unmade.

Whenever I face a mammoth task, I break it down into manageable slices. Whenever I don’t feel like doing something, I tell myself to START. Even if it only means sitting down and planning. Inevitably, this motivates me on to take the next step, and sometimes, even the next. “Small achievement spur you on to tackle bigger tasks,” says Debora Robertson, author of ‘Declutter: The Get-Real Guide to Creating Calm From Chaos’. Debora also recommends the 30-day challenge: ‘Pick one thing to get rid of on the first day, two on the second, and so on. After 30 days, you’ll have got rid of more than 400 items almost without noticing it.’

Besides planning and decluttering, it helps to do away with negative thinking and creating a positive aura. Start with body image. A new hairstyle, make-up (even if it’s just lipstick), glam earrings, a colourful scarf. Set your goals, but make them realistic.   Think about your successes, don’t dwell on the negatives. Enjoy your children – the mess will pass (when they leave home). Let their laughter be your music. Breakaway from playing the martyr. Nobody likes a saint – everybody loves a fun-loving, free spirit. Especially family and your children.

When you go to bed, think about your achievements – even the smallest things that we take for granted. Without your health, hands, and feet, eyes and ears and essentials like food, water, and electricity (some people don’t have these remember), like them, you would really struggle. Always be thankful. It makes us humble, helps us to remember who we are and stop taking so much for granted.

Then things will be better! 

  

Photograph: The Zebra Mom

Creator: Oleg landubaer

Credit: Chris Tefme.