Greetings Breastfeeding Subscribers,

Happy Belated New Year! I hope everyone had an exciting holiday. We were lucky enough to welcome a new nephew, Avi, on January 2, which was an incredible start to 2010 (nursing like a champ for his mama by the way!).

I am also excited to announce that I have completed a formal program this fall and am now a Certified Lactation Educator. I'll be updating the site over the next few weeks and months with my nifty, new CLEC credential, and will also start offering phone counseling to my readers (more info to follow). With BellaOnline, I have celebrated two big milestones -- two years writing the Breastfeeding sites and 100 articles posted to the site.

I have been writing weekly to the Breastfeeding Site, but with all of our family travel and excitement (plus homework and finals!) I've done a terrible job sending out the newsletter to you to let you know. Below are the 10 articles that I've posted to the site since my last newsletter (yikes!)

What is a Lactation Educator
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art65294.asp
What is a lactation educator? Information on the training, education and qualifications of this type of breastfeeding professional.

Using the Cross-Cradle Nursing Position
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art65214.asp
The cross-cradle nursing position, also known as the cross-cradle nursing hold, cross-cradle latching hold or transition hold is a great "training position" for both mother and baby as they both learn to breastfeed in the first days and weeks.

Nursing a Three-Year Old
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art65004.asp
Each year, around the time of my second daughter's birthday, I've written about my thoughts on the extended nursing experience. Here's my musings on nursing a three-year old

Breastfeeding Basics DVD Review
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art64931.asp
The Breastfeeding Basics DVD by Mother of 7, Inc. is an excellent visual resource for breastfeeding educators or for mothers who may not have access to breastfeeding classes in their community.

Breastfeeding and Commercial Diet Plans
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art64810.asp
Information for Breastfeeding mothers interested in managing weight loss with the assistance of common commercial diet plans, while protecting milk supply and infant growth.

Breastfeeding and Smoking
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art64698.asp
While quitting smoking is ideal when pregnant and breastfeeding, it is still better to breastfeed and smoke than to not breastfeed and smoke. Tips and important information for mothers who can't or won't quit or have those in the household who smoke.

Epidurals and Breastfeeding – My Challenges
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art64536.asp
My experience with how an epidural in labor likely negatively affected our first days of breastfeeding leading to a weight crisis for my daughter and challenges that lasted several months.

Epidurals and Breastfeeding – My Labor Experience
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art64448.asp
My experience with an epidural in labor and how it likely impacted early breastfeeding success with my first daughter.

Epidurals and Breastfeeding
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art64255.asp
Epidurals during labor can affect breastfeeding success in several ways. Basic information and links to an important study on the effect of epidurals on breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding Friendly Baby Showers
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art64164.asp
Throwing a baby shower for a mother who plans to breastfeed should pass on images of bottles and pacifiers. Why bottles and pacifiers are subversive images and suggestions for decor alternatives.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments on these articles or any breastfeeding topic in the forum
http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=237

Sorry again that I've been so remiss about the newsletters and keeping you up to date on the new articles. I'll be starting to send them again weekly and hope to hear from you soon!

Warmly,

Nicki Heskin, CLEC
Breastfeeding Editor
http://Breastfeeding.bellaonline.com

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