Should I Allow a 14-Month-Old to Nurse Several Times a Night?

A mom wrote to One Sassy Doctor asking if she should stop allowing her 14-month-old to nurse several times a night. One Sassy Doctor jumped right on that one! Nursing your 14-month-old at night? Well, may not be the best thing for you and your baby. Here’s why!

When Your Baby Becomes A Vampire! What To Do About Teething Nursing Babies

Well, mom, you’ve just touched upon one of the ouchiest parts of nursing! Some babies begin to bite the breast during nursing when teething. This can be extraordinarily uncomfortable for mom and potentially dissuade mom from continuing to nurse. Babies engage in this biting behavior because the pressure of biting (on a teething ring, on a finger, or—unfortunately—on a nipple!) reduces the inflammatory pain associated with tooth eruption. It’s a tricky situation—you want baby to nurse as usual, but the biting just doesn’t fly!

Breastfeeding & Teething

A reader asked Dr. Jen about how to handle breast biting during teething. We thought we’d share the answer Dr. Jen gave on her website!

Well, mom, you’ve just touched upon one of the ouchiest parts of nursing!

Some babies begin to bite the breast during nursing when teething. This can be extraordinarily uncomfortable for mom, and potentially dissuade mom from continuing to nurse. Babies engage in this biting behavior because the pressure of biting (on a teething ring, on a finger, or—unfortunately—on a nipple!) reduces the inflammatory pain associated with tooth eruption. It’s a tricky situation—you want baby to nurse as usual—but the biting just doesn’t fly!

I would suggest taking the following steps:

Healthy Sassy Smiles! Information About Healthy Dental Development

Wow, is this One Sassy Doctor’s husband obsessed with our kids having good teeth. Perhaps that’s because his late father was a dentist. Or perhaps he knows how healthy teeth create healthy smiles and reflect a positive projection into the world. Well, I married him for his glowing smile, so I suppose he’s right (lucky guy…).

Anyhoo … with tooth decay being the primary dental problem among children ages 2 to 5, we’re fortunate that it can be completely prevented! If we encourage healthy dental habits starting from the baby years (sassy baby years, if I may…), this will help foster positive habits and the healthy glowing smiles we want to see when they are all grown up.

Here are some One Sassy Doctor informational tips on healthy dental development—starting from birth!

Do’s and Don’ts of Properly Storing Breast Milk

A repost from www.playthisway.com!

The thought of a freezer overflowing with breast milk sounds like a dream come true to a new mom. Having nursed two sets of twins myself, I’ve been there—double time! If you’re fortunate enough to be facing this embarrassment of breast milk riches, you should definitely know the 5 Do’s (and Don’ts) of proper storage. So here goes:

1. Cleanliness Is Next To Godliness When handling breast milk, make sure you are working in a clean area and wash your hands (well). Also make sure that you are using clean containers/bags for expressed milk storage. If you’re storing your milk in re-usable nursing storage bottles, pick one of these options: use a microwave steam sterilizer, wash with hot soapy water, or run them through the dishwasher. 
2. Forget About Those Ice Cube Trays Use hard plastic bottles specifically designed for storing breast milk, with a screw cap or tight fitting lid; or use heavy plastic bags designed for breast-milk storage. Store milk in amounts that make sense for your baby’s age and the amount he or she may drink in one session. For example, you may want to store 4 ounces per container for your 2 month-old, but 6 - 8 ounce s per container for your 4 month-old. 
3. Chill Out In the fridge, breast is BEST within 24 hours of refrigerated storage. If you refrigerated your milk more than 72 hours ago, throw it out. 
4. Freeze Ease If your freezer is attached to a refrigerator (the kind most of us have in our homes), milk is good there for one month. If you have a deep freezer (am I dating myself here to say like the kind in Sam’s Butcher Shop on the Brady Bunch?), you can store breast milk up to six months - but it’s best to use it within 3 months. Make sure to keep milk at the back of the freezer where the temperature is coldest.
5. Quick Thaw McGraw To thaw for frozen milk in advance, put in the fridge for up to 24 hours. For immediate usage, you should place frozen milk in a bowl of lukewarm water. Never (ever!) use a microwave to defrost or heat breast milk or formula, as heating is uneven and may result in scalding your baby’s mouth. Once milk is frozen and defrosted, do not refreeze it.

Breastfeeding

I’m going to share some personal information here, maybe TMI (too MUCH information) for some readers, but I want you to feel comfortable that I’m no white coat perfectionist doctor—I’m a normal(ish) parent like you, realistic and sassy. (Get it?)

Overview of Baby’s First Year: What Goes IN

We’ll save “What Comes Out” for a later blog posting—right now I’m too pooped to write about that (ha ha). Pardon me.

So what happens during that magical first year of life—where baby goes from complete reliance on mom’s body during pregnancy to self-feeding by the age of one?

It’s a magical—and sometimes messy—transition! We’re setting baby up for healthy lifetime eating habits during this first year, and One Sassy Doctor has some research for you to back this up!