Weleda Nursing Tea

Weleda Nursing Tea is a specialty tea for nursing mothers made with the finest ingredients. A nicely brewed cup of this tea should aid in your digestion and help soothe your baby’s tummy pains. The taste of the tea will be enjoyed by most, with its anise & fennel flavors.

I like that the ingredients are certified organic to give you and your baby only nature’s best ingredients. The ingredients include: fenugreek, anise, fennel, caraway and lemon verbena. Fenugreek helps to increase the milk supply. Anise seeds, fennel seeds and caraway give you and your baby good digestive functions. Lemon verbena is a popular ingredient in herbal teas to help your digestive system but it also helps you to de-stress. Together they make a fantastic blend to support your breastfeeding and give you relief with any digestion problems.

A note of caution: if you think you might be allergic to any of the above mentioned ingredients or are pregnant, it is always advisable to talk to your physician beforehand.

Overall, if you like herbal teas with a distinctive anise/fennel flavour, this tea is certainly worth its money. It tastes great and helps you and your baby feel good.

Weleda Nursing Tea is available on Amazon.com and in large natural health grocery stores.

But, if going to the gym sounds as exciting as going to the dentist, this news may come with mixed feelings. Now you don’t have an excuse for not exercising!

Whatever your feelings are, there are some guidelines to follow when you do start exercising:

Breastfeeding and Exercise: Tips

- You may find it more comfortable to nurse before you hit the gym. Engorgement is painful, especially if you’re running or taking a step class.

- Make sure you have a supportive, properly fitted running bra. This will help prevent issues with mastitis or plugged ducts.

Such as:
La Leche League High Impact Softcup Nursing sports bra

La Leche League Low Impact Softcup Nursing sports bra

- Drink plenty of water and don’t overdo it.

- If your baby gives you the cold shoulder when you return from the gym, he may just be reacting to your sweat. (Can you blame him?) Rinse off and he should nurse just fine.

* Always consult with your health care provider before starting an exercise routine.

Book Recommendation:

Eat Well, Lose Weight, While Breastfeeding: The Complete Nutrition Book for Nursing Mothers

Review: Traditional Medicinal’s Organic Mother’s Milk

I received a box of Traditional Medicinal’s Organic Mother’s Milk when I first started to breastfeed and found that I truly enjoyed it right from the start. I prefer this over Yogi’s Nursing Mother’s tea as this one tastes lighter and smoother. Mother’s Milk is a caffeine-free, all organic blend of herbs and spices designed to promote lactation in breastfeeding mothers.

Traditional Medicinals Mother’s Milk, 16-Count Boxes

Anise is a spice that I have never enjoyed. The fact that Mother’s Milk seems to use less of it than Yogi’s nursing tea is a plus for me. What I taste when I drink Mother’s Milk is a sort of sweet, yet a little spicy blend of herbs. It tastes best with a touch of honey. It also contains the herbs of fennel, fenugreek seed and coriander, which are a nice combination for a healthy milk supply. The blend of spices smells delicious too.

The way I prefer to drink this tea is cold. I brew a pot of this overnight, chill and drink cold throughout the day. Since there is a tiny hint of spearmint in it, it can be refreshing. This way I am getting in several cups on a daily basis. During the winter months, a warm cup can be soothing for the body.

My milk production has been steady and plentiful throughout the years, perhaps due to drinking this tea. This is also one of my favorite gifts to give a pregnant mother who has planned to breastfeed or still deciding to do so. Having a low milk supply is worrisome for many women and having this tea helps reduce that worry. A box of 16 bags costs around $5.

See also: Yogi Women’s Nursing Support Tea review

It seems that whenever a nursing infant fusses or passes gas, people blame the mother’s diet. Let’s find out whether that type of thinking is accurate.

True or false?
Nursing moms need to avoid “gassy” foods.
Nursing moms must never drink alcohol, caffeinated or carbonated beverages.
Nursing moms have to stay away from spicy foods.
Nursing moms should cut out dairy products and peanuts to avoid allergies.

Would you be surprised to learn that all the above statements are false? Let’s take down these common myths about breastfeeding women and diet, one by one.

For years, breastfeeding women have been warned that so called “gassy” foods like beans, cabbage, onions, broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables would cause their babies to have painful gas. Not only does this statement needlessly restrict a new mom’s diet, it also decries a lack of understanding about the simple mechanics of lactation.

While some of these foods may cause gas in the mother, it is because of undigested carbohydrates (otherwise known as fiber!) in her digestive tract.

These carbohydrates cannot pass through the mother’s milk ducts and get into her milk, so it’s actually impossible for these foods to cause gas in a baby, unless he is allergic to that food, which is extremely rare for these types of foods (the common allergens are by far eggs, dairy, soy and wheat).

Gassiness and fussiness may be related to strong milk ejection reflex (also called the “letdown”) in the mother. Baby struggles to handle the flow of milk and so swallows a lot of air. Thorough burping may help, as well as wearing a baby upright in a sling during and after feedings.

Obviously it wouldn’t be appropriate for breastfeeding moms to drink large amounts of alcohol, primarily because it would impair her ability to care for her child properly. However, a glass of wine with dinner is not going to harm the breastfed infant. In the same vein, most babies are not bothered when mom drinks a cup or two of a caffeinated drink. Watch the baby for signs of irritability, and cut back if you think baby is sensitive to the caffeine in your milk. Since the bubbles that make carbonated drinks fizzy also cannot pass through to her milk, carbonated drinks (while not particularly healthful) won’t harm the breastfed infant. Mothers can’t make fizzy milk!

The third piece of advice, to avoid spicy foods, seems patently ridiculous when given some thought. How many millions of women the world over, eat many spicy foods as the bulk of their diet? Do they have fussy babies who suffer from painful gas? The evidence doesn’t support that. In fact the truth may actually be the opposite! More than one study has shown that babies actually preferred the taste of garlic in their mother’s milk and suckled longer, taking in more milk. There is simply no evidence that a nursing mom must eat a bland diet.

What about dairy products, peanuts and other common allergens?

Many breastfeeding experts believe that nursing moms should not needlessly restrict their diets. Life with a new infant is challenging enough. Learning to breastfeed and recuperating from birth can be stressful.

Why add to that by telling mothers to make radical changes?

The one scenario that may support mom adopting a strict allergy free diet would be if she has a strong family history of food allergy and if her baby is showing signs of allergy, including excema, extreme fussiness, vomiting, slimy (mucusy), bloody or foamy stools, and other symptoms. Keeping a detailed food diary may be the best course of action to help her decipher what foods may be causing her infant trouble.

One final note: Although postpartum mothers are often told to keep taking prenatal vitamins after their babies are born, these can and do sometimes cause uncomfortable symptoms in nursing babies. This is often due to the iron content in the supplement, which causes pain in the infant. If your baby seems to be in pain, try dropping the vitamins for a week and see if that makes a difference.

The bottom line is, breastfeeding mothers should continue eating the same healthy diet focusing on a wide variety of whole foods that they enjoy, just as they did while they were pregnant. Listening to your body and eating and drinking to hunger and thirst will ensure new moms get the nutrition they need in order to care for themselves and their infants.

Recommended:

The best diet advice for breastfeeding and pregnant mothers

Are there any special foods breastfeeding moms should be eating? What about breastfeeding friendly recipes?

There is a lot of misinformation on this topic that abounds. You are likely to hear from friends, your mother in law, or strangers on the street that when your baby is fussy, it’s because of something you ate.

Don’t believe the old wive’s tales.

Even if it increased your pregnancy heartburn, that cabbage or broccoli you ate didn’t affect your baby’s digestion. It is technically impossible for the gas producing substances (nondigestible starchy fibers) to get INTO your milk in the first place.

So you can eat all the garlic, onions, cabbage, beans or whatever you want while nursing without fear. Women all over the world eat a varied diet – including highly spicy foods – without harming their babies. At least one study showed that babies LIKE garlicky milk and will nurse longer and with more vigor when mom has been eating garlic!

Read more about breastfeeding and the mother’s diet here. Unless your baby is allergic to a specific food, there is NO reason to avoid it. Babies are fussy or gassy for many reasons. Most of the time the gassiness will simply pass (pun intended!) and baby will be fine. Thorough burping, keeping baby upright after feedings, nursing on only one side if baby is getting too much milk too fast – these will help baby swallow less air and experience less gas.

There are many different cookbooks geared specifically toward nursing moms as well as online resources where you can find breastfeeding-friendly recipes. This site has free whole foods recipes that you can print out.

The important thing to keep in mind that good nutrition is important for all stages of a woman’s life, but during the reproductive years special attention should be paid to getting a healthy, whole foods diet.

One resource I can wholeheartedly recommend for recipes, exercise tips and nutrition guidelines is the Fit and Healthy Pregnancy Guide.

The challenge when you’re breastfeeding and a busy mom is finding the time to cook a proper meal, so another book chock full of easy and healthy recipes is The One Armed Chef.

This one was a lifesaver for me after my 4th child was born and probably the only reason we ever ate a hot dinner that first year of her life.

All of the recipes are designed to be quick and easy to prepare with one arm – because you have your baby in a sling or in your arms.

However, there’s no need for you to cut out any particular food when you’re nursing unless your baby shows an intolerance to it. This rule goes for sushi as well.

photo credit: jlastras

Fish is highly nourishing for everyone, but nursing mothers especially benefit from the vitamin D and healthy fats in fish.

When eating sushi, it’s important for anyone to make sure they are getting it from a safe and reputable source. There is the risk of infection by Listeria or food poisoning from fish that has not been handled properly.

These things have the potential to make you sick but the illness would not be passed on to your baby.

The moral of this story? If you’re a sushi lover, there’s no need to stop enjoying one of your favorite foods just because you are breastfeeding your new baby.

Highly recommended: Nutrition for Breastfeeding and Pregnant Women

photo credit: russelljsmith

You’ve just went through 9 months of drinking not a single sip of alcohol and all you want is to indulge yourself in a nice glass of wine with your pasta, or a yummy margarita from your favorite Mexican restaurant.

Believe me; I know how you feel and so do millions of other new moms out there. One of the things I looked forward to most once I gave birth was a nice pint of Guinness! (Maybe it was the iron I craved? Not sure, but a lot of European women drink a little beer while nursing and swear it helps with milk supply. Who knows?)

Breastfeeding and alcohol is something many mothers are concerned about because just as the health of their baby kept them from drinking pregnant, those same concerns apply when breastfeeding. Breathe a sigh of relief though because you won’t have to abstain completely.

· If you drink, make sure that you have pumped before so you have expressed milk available because if you have more than two beers or small glasses of wine, you need to wait approximately three hours to breastfeed.

· You can safely breastfeed if you only drink one drink.

· Dumping expressed milk will not rid your body of alcohol and will only waste breast milk. It’s time that is important here. Try nursing your baby just before or while drinking the alcohol, so that by the time the next feeding rolls around, most of the alcohol will be out of your bloodstream.

· If you are really worried, you can buy strips to test the alcohol content of your milk, these will tell you if you have had too much to drink to safely nurse your baby.

Here is a quote from The Breastfeeding Answer Book, published by La Leche League:

“Alcohol passes freely into mother’s milk and has been found to peak about 30 to 60 minutes after consumption, 60 to 90 minutes when taken with food.

It takes a 120 pound woman about two to three hours to eliminate from her body the alcohol in one serving of beer or wine…the more alcohol that is consumed, the longer it takes for it to be eliminated. It takes up to 13 hours for a 120 pound woman to eliminate the alcohol from one high-alcohol drink.

The effects of alcohol on the breastfeeding baby are directly related to the amount the mother consumes. “

photo credit: Ed Yourdon

If you are a java lover like myself, you have been waiting a long time to indulge in some good coffee.

Doctors say that you can have up to 300 mg of caffeine a day safely when pregnant, but what happens after pregnancy with breastfeeding and caffeine?

Does the caffeine enter your breast milk and if it does, are there any negative consequences to baby? Many moms wonder the same thing.

The good news is that you can drink some coffee or other caffeinated beverages while breastfeeding, as long as you don’t indulge too much. However, you do need to watch for the effects of the caffeine in your baby.

Some newborns do not tolerate caffeine well especially if you abstained from it during your pregnancy. If your newborn is crying a lot, seems agitated, and doesn’t sleep well, these could be the symptoms of the caffeine in your breast milk. The best thing to do is lower your consumption and wait until your baby is a bit older to try to resume your regular caffeine consumption.

If you are still wondering how much is a safe level of caffeine to consume during breastfeeding, go here to read more on breastfeeding and caffeine. Reports have noted that 500 mg or five 5 oz cups of coffee a day is probably the outside limit for breastfeeding moms. Keep in mind that if you order a Venti coffee from Starbucks, that’s 20 ounces right there.

As with most things, moderation is key. Now excuse me while I go and grab a coffee!

p.s. If your baby is sensitive to caffeine, you might want to switch to organic decaf (to avoid the pesticides) or something like Teeccino, which is made from roasted carob, chicory and grain and tastes like coffee.

photo credit: Joe Shlabotnik