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It’s a common milestone we all assume happens when your child turns 1: Happy first birthday, have some milk with your cake. Non-human milk replaces human milk, and the weaning journey continues apace.

After all, the prevailing wisdom is to let cow’s milk replace breast milk (or formula) after your child reaches his first birthday. While it is true cow’s milk should not be introduced into a baby’s diet before the age of 1, the question is, does it really need to be introduced at all—ever?

Cow’s milk is safely used as a substitute for human milk (and a replacement to formula) because it is…

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Maybe I’m doing this backwards.

Recently I shared my experience of weaning my son. But let me back up and tell you why I decided to breastfeed my son for three years in the first place.

For starters, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends breastfeeding until a child is at least 2 years old and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends women breastfeed for at least one year and beyond, as breast milk protects infants and young children against infectious diseases and boosts their neurodevelopment. It also provides many health benefits for mothers. I knew this and I took their advice. But…

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For low-income families who need help providing food for their babies, the support of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is invaluable. But at times, the organization has come under fire for giving new moms and their babies infant formula rather than promoting and supporting breastfeeding.

Rev. Douglas Greenaway, the President and CEO of the National WIC Association (NWA), says that his organization has reversed course and made significant strides in promoting breastfeeding in recent years. In fact, he wants new mothers to see the NWA and WIC as the “go-to sources for breastfeeding support…

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It’s been described by some as “funny and awesome,” and by others as “weird and kinky.” But at that end of the day, it succeeds where countless other public service announcements (PSAs) have failed by sparking conversation around a subject that deserves everyone’s attention—breastfeeding.

This 28-second PSA featuring celebrity moms, courtesy of the bump, invites viewers to “join the boob-olution” and breastfeed. It comes on the heels of a PSA sponsored by Best for Babes featuring a silhouette of the female body with the words, “Life-saving devices” written across the woman’s breasts.

Boob-olution was one of many PSAs launched during World Breastfeeding Week 2010 celebrations.…

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In January 2010, the breastfeeding community lost a visionary—Mary Rose Tully. But like all remarkable woman, Mary Rose left an indelible mark, one that is reflected in the Mary Rose Tully Training Initiative (MRTTI)—a joint effort of Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute and the University of North Carolina Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

A lifelong dream, Mary Rose was able to see the inaugural class complete the first of two academic semesters. Each of the six students went on to graduate in 2010 and recently sat for the certification exam. These students will join the ranks of IBCLCs, health professionals dedicated to providing breastfeeding…

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In celebration of World Breastfeeding Week 2010, we asked mothers to talk about their breastfeeding experiences—the hard parts, the best parts, surprising parts, even what it’s like to breastfeed in public. We discovered some universal truths.

How did you overcome any breastfeeding difficulties?
“One of the things that I found really helpful was a video. I was in the hospital at the time and they suggested I watch it before going home. It was pretty naff but it had a good mix of people talking, demonstrating, and graphics that showed how the nipple fits into the baby’s mouth…The second thing that…

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My daughter Katie sprained her ankle today. While she gave up breastfeeding long ago, her cries reminded me of something I appreciated with each of my children: Breastfeeding was soothing. It was comforting. It had a powerful ability to calm a child in pain or discomfort. One friend calls breastfeeding a “magic ability;” another calls it a “super power.”

I have used this super power many times over the years, breastfeeding each of my babies during and after their vaccinations. Sadly, for my firstborn, Ben, our first pediatrician didn’t allow breastfeeding during the actual needle stick. Comparing my son’s reaction during…

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I love that my son and I share a bond that is exclusive to us. I had no idea how intimate, rewarding, and sometimes challenging breastfeeding would be.

I love being able to give my son the most natural and purest form of nourishment; chock-full of vitamins, minerals, protein, antibodies, and cool stuff like stem cells and cancer killing cells. I love being able to provide not only nourishment but comfort when my son is sick, sad, or scared. I love that breastfeeding makes me more aware of what I put in my body, so that I take better care of…

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If only I had known that most moms and babies need to learn to breastfeed. Now I understood, but it was too late. I had stopped pumping long ago and had given up any hope of actually breastfeeding my baby long before that. I assumed that my inverted nipples meant breastfeeding wasn’t an option for me.

Naïve? Unfounded? Uninformed? Yes, yes, and yes.

If only I knew then what I know now, my breastfeeding story might be very different. Instead, it goes like this:

I was confident in my ability to give birth, and equally sure that breastfeeding would not be part of…

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When was the last time a celebrity breastfed a baby, cooked breakfast, breastfed a baby, packed lunches, drove carpool, breastfed a baby, worked her ‘second job’ (breast pumping twice during the work day), drove carpool, breastfed a baby, cooked dinner, read a bedtime story, washed and ironed clothes, breastfed a baby—all in the same day and without help?

With thousands of U.S. women attempting to do all of the above and more, for Gisele Bundchen Brady to tell Harpers Bazaar UK, “I think there should be a worldwide law, in my opinion, that mothers should breastfeed their babies for six months,”…

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Tommy has a fever. Even though it’s been almost two years since he’s napped regularly, he’s asleep before dinner, a little sweaty ball in his big boy bed. Earlier this year, I would have known just what to do to get the fever down and return life to normal: breastfeed. Now that he’s weaned, I time doses of acetaminophen and ibuprofen and encourage fluids and rub his back and give him smoothies and read books—all the time wondering what more I could be doing to help.

I remember breastfeeding so fondly: looking down at his face as his entire body melted…

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Motherhood is full of funny moments—seeing your baby bounce to the beat of her favorite song or make a spaghetti wig during dinner. The same is true of breastfeeding. When you were a new mom feeding your baby 8, 10 or 12 times a day, chances are you experienced a funny moment or two.

We’ve pulled together 10 of the funniest, most laugh-inducing “benefits” breastfeeding moms are likely to experience, and share with you one reader’s personal experiences (congratulations Lara, mom to Zoe, for winning our July 2010 writing contest).

10. You’ll have to wonder: Breastfed baby or drunken sailor?
You may have…

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