Necklaces made with a little extra TLC...

"Ask the LC" is hosted by the amazing Jaye Simpson, an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). Jaye Simpson is the founder of Breastfeeding Network, which was founded in 1995. Breastfeeding Network is backed with 13 years of lactation experience. Having breastfed all three of her children, Jaye adds personal experience to her practice as well as a personal understanding of the joys and challenges that come along with being a mother. Jaye became a Certified Lactation Educator in 1995 and became an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant in 2000, fulfilling a dream and professional goal.

Feel free to submit your own question or breastfeeding concern to Jaye. This page is reserved for Jaye's responses to questions received via our "Ask the LC" page. Our hopes are that by posting Jaye's responses here we will be sharing her knowledge with other mothers who many the same or similiar questions just like you. We are proud to bring her warmth, experience, and expertise to Mommy & Me Necklaces™ website!


Previous questions submitted to Jaye:

Q:Hi, My baby girl is almost 6 months old. I have been exclusively breastfeeding since birth. I recently started her on solids after showing major signs of readiness. Increasingly, though, it seems that she is less and less interested in breastfeeding, especially if there are any other distractions. She will only nurse if she is at home with no one else around, except for my husband. If she can see or even hear other people (when I bring her into a dark room), she refuses to nurse until I get back home. If there a way to ease her into nursing in different situations, especially as she gets older? I hope to be able to nurse her past a year, but it's getting frustrating. Thanks! -- Amy

A:Click here for Jaye's response!

Q:Hello, in the last couple of days, my 5 week old son will only nurse for 2 or 3 minutes on my right breast. Then he will repeatedly let go and/or start screaming. I have plenty of milk, maybe too much? He'll still be hungry so I end up nursing on the left side until he's full. I'm really confused about what's going on. Do you have any idea? Thanks in advance. -- Sara

A:Click here for Jaye's response!

Q:This is my first time breastfeeding and my baby is a week old. She's been feeding well but the problem is that she tends to falls asleep after five minutes of feeding. I can't get her to feed and then she feeds EVERY hour. Also, now she is spitting up. Is this because my milk has come in? She never did this before. I'm frustrated because she only nurses for a few minutes and then does spit up what I just gave her. She also in nursing all the time. What should I do? -- Kandi


A:Click here for Jaye's response

Q:Due to low milk supply and on the advice of two LCs, I began taking More Milk Special Blend- doubled dose for the first few days. I noticed my baby began having lots of gas, which smelled like rotten eggs/sulfur dioxide. I don't know if it is coincidence (growth spurt) or if it is a side effect of the Special Blend product; my diet has not changed. I don't want to decidedly discontinue use because it is helping me, but I also don't want to see my daughter so fussy and gassy. (1) Have you seen there to be a relationship? Also, I actually stopped the herbs yesterday and haven't convincingly noticed a difference... (2) Should I resume and give it another try?
Many thanks! -- Amy

A:Click here for Jaye's response!

Q:My son is not nursing well during the day. He pulls away from the breast, sometimes biting down, and cries and arches his back. He nurses well his one feeding in the night (both breasts for 15 min each) and even did two feedings last night. I took him in on the 13th of February and the pediatrician didn't find anything. A couple of days later the pediatrician said it might be the beginning of an ear infection and prescribed Omnicef (because the amoxicillan my son finished apparently hadn't done the job). I also took him to a gastroenterologist for colic. My son had a mild anal stenosis. The GI also prescribed a muscle relaxant for the times my son seems particularily fussy in case he is too sensitive to bowels motions. We will be sending in stool samples testing for food allergies, too. My son has no trouble gaining weight; he is 17 lbs. So my question is what could be causing his nursing trouble and what do I do to fix it? He is really interested in what I am eating but doesn't seem to appreciate his food! -- Amy

A:Click here for Jaye's response!

Q:I have extremely flat nipples and have had to use a nipple shield since my daughter, Kaylie, was just a few days old. A couple months ago we noticed that right about her 3 pm feeding she would act as though she wasn't getting anything, so I tried pumping and sure enough nothing was coming out. So we started supplementing with formula. Now it seems as though my milk supply keeps getting less and less. Not to mention Kaylie is distracted by every possible thing so she is constantly pulling off of me and then fussing as though as have snatched myself out of her mouth. I know that she has started teething so we thought that may be part of the problem. I have also gone back to work so my husband has been feeding her bottles (breastmilk or formula). But today she wouldn't latch on at all. I want to keep giving her breastmilk as long as I can but I don't seem to get much when I pump and she doesn't seem interested in nursing anymore. Today I gave her some infant rice cereal, first with water and she ate about half, then with warm formula and she ate it all but right after that she pollished off the 8oz bottle of formula that I had made the cereal from. Through everything that has happened with me breastfeeding her I was really hoping that I would be able to exclusively breastfeed for the first year. I've read that lots of moms have easily distracted babies but we've tried everything, sling, when she is really tired, making a tent with a light blanket, in a dark quiet room, different positions, nothing seems to work. I guess my question is should I just keep pumping to mix the breastmilk with the cereal? Because she did really good with it today. But is it too early to move on? Or is there anything else I can try to maybe get back on track and exclusively breastfeed again? -- Kari

A:Click here for Jaye's response!

Q:When I had my first daughter 5 yrs ago - I wanted to breastfeed. But, at 5 days old she went into ICU for 2 weeks, diagnosed with "Failure to Thrive". I tried to pump, but got only about an ounce a day so was forced to formula feed. One Pediatrician told me that I didn't have milk (although I could shoot milk across the room if I self-expressed) and was starving her. But, the LC's were telling me that I was most likely under so much stress that I was unable to pump and at only 5 days - could not develop or maintain a milk supply with a pump.

I continued to try to pump for the next 3 months to no avail. After my daughter got out of the hospital, we had her tested and it was determined that she had severe reflux (72 episodes in 24 hrs, with 18 lasting more than 5 minutes each). At any rate.....I am pregnant again and both my husband and I are very nervous about breastfeeding, although I really want to try again (he is adamently against it because of the issues from before). I have not gained any noticable size in my breasts at this stage (I'm 30 weeks). I am also Hypothyroid, but am under close care by my endocrinologist. No Dr. seems to want to talk to me about this. They all pretty much ignore me and just tell me that I have to be positive. And they tell me that there is no need to test my hormones (Prolactin, thyroid, or anything else). It's very frustrating. I do carry alot of guilt about what happened to her. I don't know if I need to just accept the fact that I don't produce milk (or enough milk) or if I just didn't have time to develop a good supply or if the stress just dried me up pretty quick.

My questions are: Should I try again? Should I be worried about the lack of increase in breast size? Do I need to have hormones tested? Should I start taking Goat's Rue before I deliver and then the MMSB or MMP after delivery just as a precaution to be prepared? At what point do I need to give up? Sorry for the long email, but I really want to give all the facts - and let you know that I really want to try, but just don't know if I should. -- Melissa

A:Click here for Jaye's response!

Q:I have to get surgery (umbilical repair) in 10 days. It was highly suggeted that I wean my son, so I did. They said I would be in a lot of pain and on pain killers. I still want to nurse and have milk, but I will be on vicodin. Would I have to pump and dump, how long would I need to have the drugs out of my system before I could nurse again? Could my milk supply build up again? -- Becky

A:Click here for Jaye's response!

Q:Hi Jaye, My son is exclusively breastfed. Recently he has started pulling his head back off my nipple so that he has a very small amount of it in his mouth. This is the position he seems to want to use for nursing - especially while at the right breast. I have been trying to pull him in or try to re-latch because obviously his latch is very painful. He fights me pulling him in. He does the head back move even when I know he is very hungry so I am sure he is not signalling that he is done. I am getting very frustrated and don't know how to stop his poor positioning. Please let me know if you have any advice. Thank You. -- Tara

A:Click here for Jaye's response!

Live in the Sacramento, California area and needing breastfeeding guidance?
Jaye is available for personal consults in Sacramento and surrounding counties!

Breastfeeding Network
Sacramento, CA 95660
Phone: (916) 344-6660
Email: IBCLC@breastfeedingnetwork.net

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