Blogs

Whoever thought of the term feed-play-sleep? I remember reading about it 15 years ago when I first became a mother, and I constantly hear it being bandied about by mums I speak to now — they’ve either read about it in baby sleep books, or told it’s a ‘must’ by maternal and child health nurses and sleep schools to get their baby to learn to self-settle. And look, sure, some babies may respond well to it, and some mums may find comfort in the structure it gives them, but the whole premise is somewhat confounding to me.

National Mothering Week competition winner,  Kat Heart

Ever heard complaints about how much pressure there is to breastfeed? You know, the midwife who made a mother put her baby to the boob against her will, or the child health nurse who pushed a woman to keep breastfeeding even when she was struggling and her baby wasn’t putting on weight? I think stats show this to be more of a myth than reality. Only 18 per cent of Australian women are actually exclusively breastfeeding their babies at six months of age.

Written by Kayla Berzins for the March 2017 Personal Member eNewsletter

I've always been one of those people that would rather carry all the grocery bags in one go, then have to make another trip to the car. No matter how hard!

I sometimes hear stories about women who couldn’t breastfeed because their milk didn’t come in. This is one of those terrible misnomers. If the milk was delayed for a medical reason and the mum isn’t encouraged to continue initiating breastfeeding, she may believe she’s just one of those women who doesn’t have milk and give up. If she doesn’t pump or attempt to put the baby to the breast and baby goes straight on the bottle, it can even appear as if the milk never arrived at all. But it would have, given half a chance.

Blog by Kayla Berzins for the January 2017 ABA Personal Member eNewsletter.

It would be fair to say that it’s widely accepted that I am a full time stay at home mum. When people ask what I do, there has never been a negative response (aside from a couple of “she needs to be in day care for social skills!” remarks).

In these hot, hot holidays, I’ve been fielding heaps of questions about what to feed babies in the sweltering weather. It seems a lot of worried grandmas out there are telling their daughters their babies need cooled, boiled water to stop them becoming dehydrated.

This month's blog may help you to...

• Relax and have 'me' time
• Know when and where to seek emotional support

This week a mum presented me with a dilemma. ‘Why do I feel so ashamed of the fact that I’m still breastfeeding at 12 months?’ she asked. ‘I love breastfeeding, the closeness of it, the fact that it not only nourishes my daughter, but comforts, protects and heals her too. I have no idea how I’d deal with teething or starting childcare without it.’ Yet, when friends asked that question ‘Are you still breastfeeding?’ she felt the need to make excuses, and felt paranoid that she was being judged by them.

“The work of a mother is hard, too often unheralded work. Please know that it is worth it then, now, and forever.” —Jeffrey R. Holland
 

It’s no secret that being a mum (or dad) is a tough business. There are countless tears and sleepless nights, frustrating times, and moments that make you just want to give up.