“II am a breastfeeding, first time mum of a lovely and funny 7 1/2 month old. Cameron is teething like crazy (yet to get any chompers but all the signs are there) and we have been breastfeeding like crazy at night. I’m very interested in what is known about breastmilk as an analgesic but haven’t been able to find very much information on it. I was hoping you may be interested in sharing some on your blog some time.

Thanks for your science based and heartfelt based approach to baby rearing! We love it!!!”

What an interesting question! Particularly as I […]

Gems from ILCA 2015 (No.1)

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As it is World Breastfeeding Week I think I should relate a gem from the International Lactation Consultants Association conference held last week in Washington DC.

• Kathy Dettwyler, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Delaware gave a great talk about the time of weaning (meaning ‘ceasing breastfeeding’ not adding solids).

Unencumbered by culture, societal and peer pressure, how long does biology tell us to breastfeed our young?

It seems reasonable to compare the timing of weaning in non-human primates, but as they have different lifespans, growth rates and times to mature we need to look at this […]


Breastfeeding infants after six months of age who have no extra iron-containing foods are at risk from iron deficiency, as there is little iron in breastmilk

I gave a talk at a conference a while ago, and the subject was the introduction of spoon and solid foods to babies. It went pretty well and there were a lot of questions in the Q & A session afterwards. Interestingly, most of them about baby-lead ...

“My 7 mo has constipation. She’s breastfed and on solid. She eats lots of vegetables, fish, fruits and a little meat. I’ve given her pear puree and prune puree but they don’t seem to work. I recently had to apply a vaseline covered cotton bud to the inside of her rectum to help with things, and even then she cried and strained a lot. Her stool looks like it has blood and is hard.”

If   If your baby’s getting true constipation (that is, hard, pebbly, rabbit-pellet stools, not just infrequent ones) after solids have been introduced, […]