A resource to inspire, inform and empower parents.

Once a Badass, Always a Badass

by guest blogger Danielle

Danielle's husband

My husband was an infantry assaultman in the U.S. Marine Corps for 4 long years. He got to travel the world. He helped dig people out of the mud in Leyte, Phillippines in 2006 when an earthquake caused a mudslide to fall over an entire town. He was in our local newspaper. The next year he was sent to Iraq. He was stationed in Ramadi and Kharma. He worked every single day for 7 months. Not a day went by that I did not worry about him. There were no days off. He was involved in dangerous fire fights and was nearly ambushed once when a Humvee broke down. After my husband was out of the Marines I was talking to my uncle, a Marine who served in Vietnam, and I said something about my husband being a “former Marine.” My uncle was quick to correct me, “No,” he said, “Once a Marine, always a Marine.” And how right he was! These experiences are woven into the fabric of my husband’s being. They have made him into the man I know today. He cannot unlearn the lessons that he learned while he served in the Marine Corps. He is not active duty anymore, but he is still a Marine and a combat veteran. [Read more…]

Nancy Morhbacher, IBCLC Answers Breastfeeding Questions

Facebook Q&A with Nancy Mohrbacher, IBCLC 12-6-13

QUESTION 1: I need help with low milk supply. Ten days ago I had the flu and was dehydrated. To recover my supply, I’m 1) nursing & pumping a lot, 2) drinking lots of water and mother’s milk tea, 3) taking fenugreek 3x/day, 4) mixing flax meal into my food. It’s helping, but my supply still seems lower than usual. Any suggestions?

 

NANCY MOHRBACHER, IBCLC: I’m glad you reached out. You’ll be glad to know that milk production is such a hardy process that even mothers who have never been pregnant have brought in milk for adopted babies! You just need to know how it works. First, despite popular belief, drinking more water and eating foods like flax do not affect milk production. Your body knows how much [Read more…]

A Love Story by guest blogger Mama Bean

Read this post at Breastfeeding Basics!

A Love Story by guest blogger Mama Bean

Nancy Mohrbacher, IBCLC Answers Questions About Breastfeeding Struggles

Q&A with Nancy Mohrbacher, IBCLC 11-20-13

QUESTION 1: My milk supply for my 4-mo-old is decreasing despite taking fenugreek and pumping. Any advice? I’m not ready to give up!

NANCY MOHRBACHER, IBCLC: I’m glad you reached out. You’ll be happy to know that milk production is a hardy process. Even mothers who have never been pregnant have brought in milk for adopted babies! You just need to know how it works. First, despite popular belief, drinking water and improving your diet does not affect milk production. Your body knows how much milk to make by the number of milk removals (breastfeeds plus pumps) each day and how fully the milk is removed. (Drained breasts make milk faster and full breasts make milk slower.) If you breastfeed your baby on cue, your baby will do this for you automatically without you even having to think about it. For most women, 7 or 8 milk removals per 24 hours are enough to keep supply steady. Fewer removals usually mean decreasing milk supply. More than 8 or 9 usually stimulate a gradual milk increase. Taking fenugreek or other herbs will not help if you’re not removing the milk often or well enough. For more on how individual differences among mothers affect this and how to use this info to keep up milk production after you’re back at work, see my posts on the Magic Number concept. [Read more…]

COMING OUT OF THE BLUR… THE TROUBLETS TURN TWO by guest blogger Davina

Davina's triplets

Wow, another year has gone by so fast, a whole year since I wrote about our first year of gentle parenting and breastfeeding triplets.  This last year has obviously been gentle parenting and breastfeeding TODDLER triplets, which has been a whole new ballgame!

Davina's triplets

[Read more…]

Transgender Breastfeeding

We have received many messages since launching the “Sometimes Badass Breastfeeding Looks Like This…” graphic series on Facebook. Last week we were contacted by a fan in Germany who wanted to share her family’s truly unique story.

Transgender breastfeeding

“My name is Tabea, I live in Germany. Maybe our family’s attitude is something for the badasses, too. My baby’s daddy is transgender, feels kind of half man half woman. The picture shows him feeding our son, Bela, some weeks ago, it’s my milk I pumped to enable him to feel the joy of breastfeeding a child. As I personally don’t feel the milk flowing out of my breasts, I guess it’s quite close to feeling like a breastfeeding mother. We do so from time to time, when I had to go to the dentist in a case of emergency it was very helpful to have breastmilk in the deep-freezer so he could have it. We don’t give him my milk like this in public.”

Yours,

Tabea

Badass Dads: Breastfeeding and Adoption

A HUGE thank you to DADsquared for these images!! Breastfeeding doesn’t look the same way to every family.
Sometimes, it looks like THIS.
Dads using donor milk to provide adopted child with breastmilk.
My husband Simon and I are dads to an 8 month old boy born in March through a surrogate. Giving him breast milk was something we had always wanted and we were delighted when our surrogate said that she would be willing to pump for us. She lives in Pennsylvania and we live in Montreal, so each week she ships a box of frozen milk to us. She’s been doing it since our son was born and will stop on November 1st. That means she not only carried our child for nine months, but she also continued to be his sole or primary source of nourishment for another eight months. It’s simply unbelievable that someone would do this and we are incredibly grateful. Attached is a picture of Simon walking in the door with a 21 pound box of breast milk this afternoon. We have one more shipment left. Hopefully you can use this to show another side of breastfeeding. Our surrogate is certainly badass!
Best,
John

 

Breastfeeding Through the Generations

Abby Theuring, The Badass Breastfeeder, breastfeeding with father in law.

Jack breastfeeding at 26 months old next to my father-in-law who was breastfed in the 1920s until he was 3 or 4 years old. He is a huge fan and supporter of all the Badass Breastfeeders! -Abby, The Badass Breastfeeder

A Story of Long-Term Pumping by guest blogger Hayley

Read this post at Breastfeeding Basics!

A Story of Long-Term Pumping by guest blogger Hayley

A Badass Breastfeeding Story by Rosie

Gracen at 3 days and 3 months.

I want to share my story with you. My son is now 3 months old. I read and read while I was pregnant and decided I wanted a natural labor to be home as long as possible and do be coached by my husband through the pain and hopefully out of a hospital bed. That all changed on July 28, 2013. I went to the hospital for a non-stress test because I was 10 days overdue. [Read more…]