This terrific new graphic developed and published by the Women’s and Newborn Services of the  Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH) is offering new mothers and other caregivers a means to identify and meet a baby’s hunger cues. First and foremost a friendly promoter of breastfeeding and nursing, these RBWH tips can be used for breast- or bottle-fed babies, as led by each family.

In addition to the well-illustrated and identifiable images of this baby as she moves through the progression of hungry, is the gentle reminder to parents and caregivers alike, that when a baby becomes too agitated to eat, that you can help them best by first taking some time to calm them so that they can then feed.

Being a mother myself, I can remember those early hours with my newborn son, when I quickly learned that by first calming and centering myself, I could then help guide my son into a calmer state as well. Hearing our little ones cry, especially as new mothers, can really stir up our feelings of concern, lending a sense of urgency to give our baby what he or she needs…NOW. It was here that I found taking a few easy, full breaths and speaking aloud in a soothing voice helped both me and my son—getting us both back in a place where we could settle in for a nurse together. This practice served me well with my newborn, and it continues to to this day, now that my boy is an energetic toddler zooming around the house at top speed.

In the article shared below, you will read about the recent discovery of more than 700 species of beneficial bacteria found in breastmilk and about the factors, such as maternal weight and natural vs. cesarean birth, that have been shown to influence the diversity and quality of these mighty microbes.

I have linked to the original stories at the end for those interested in reading the published work in it’s entirety.

Science Daily, Jan. 4, 2013

Journal Reference:

1. R. Cabrera-Rubio, M. C. Collado, K. Laitinen, S. Salminen, E. Isolauri, A. Mira. The human milk microbiome changes over lactation and is shaped by maternal weight and mode of delivery. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2012; 96 (3): 544 DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.112.037382

Story Source:

Covering much more than the subtitle lets on, the book actually begins before the first year. It touching on the planning and preparing for your upcoming birth, making it a great read for mothers-to-be, whether it’s your first pregnancy or not. And the charming introduction offers the lens from which to read the book, with Massaro and Katz sharing their sole purpose for writing this new mama guide, and that is to “bring to life an often-forgotten truth: a mother’s instinct is the best resource she has to crease a joyful and connected relationship with her baby.”

Their hope is to empower every mother to gently and committedly to do their own “gut check” with all that is offered to them as new mothers, whether through cultural “wisdoms,” ideas that are pounded through the media, or even “experts” to whom we look to for help and information.

Massaro and Katz speak to what so many mothers are seeing and feeling today, and that is that “Motherhood has been targeted by advertisers, and bombarded by opinions masquerading as medical necessities.” Their intention behind writing this book is to help mothers reclaim a simpler, more connected first year with their babies based on a mother’s own heart of true joy and relationship.

In The Other Baby Book, you will learn the “whys” behind so many tried-and-true mothering wisdoms, like the incredible healing and protective qualities of vernix (the waxy, cheesy coasting your baby is born with) and why waiting to bathe your newly born baby allows your little one to take full advantage of nature’s perfect plan for immunity.

You will also learn the science behind the magic of touch and physical contact that benefits not just your baby, but mothers as well. Highlighted in the chapter on Touch, is a terrific section on babywearing, which is what Boba Family is all about. Massaro and Katz offer up what stats on what generations of mothers already know; that your baby cries less when held close to you throughout the day, whether by babywearing and carrying. Boba founder and babywearing educator, Elizabeth Antunovic shares with readers how babies and mothers benefit physiologically, psychological and emotionally from babywearing. Antunovic, also a mother of four, details the benefits of upright babycarrying in the book with this,

“With a baby upright on his mother’s body, mom adjusts to all her baby’s movement, and he to hers, moving like perfect dance partners. Constant feedback from his skin and the fluid in his inner ear help the baby understand space, and his place in it. A baby’s muscles become stronger as they respond the varied movements of mom’s body and the force of gravity.

Its no surprise that babies carried upright scored higher on both motor and mental tests in the first of life. The rich environment worked the babies’ neural pathways.

Carrying a baby upright on your chest regulates his autonomic system. Studies have shown that a baby’s heart rate stabilizes, his body temperature regulates, he transitions more easily from one sleep state to another, and actually sleeps longer. His breathing becomes steady, he has less chance of apnea, and oxygenation of his body increases. While on his mother’s chest, his systems are kept at a regular tempo. When apart from his mother, a baby works twice as hard to maintain physiological harmony.

A mother can trust her intuition. By holding her baby close to her heart, she uses the most physiologically beneficial method of carrying her baby, proving the optimal environment for her baby’s psychological and emotional growth.”

Massaro and Katz have written the book that was missing from our bedside tables, by accurately covering a mother and baby’s first year together with practicality, kindness and humor. And all the big first-year questions are covered, from breastfeeding and introducing solids, to diapering and EC, but most importantly, how to build your trust in yourself and your mothering wisdom as the authority for your family. I love that this book is in the world and being shared. Taken in and taken to heart, it will go far in supporting the growing, world-wide movement to heal birth and our families, beginning as it should with the mother-child relationship.

This morning, I awoke to my nearly 16-week-old little girl scooting closer and nuzzling in for her morning wake-up nurse. A couple hours later, we settled into the rocking chair for a nice, long mid-morning feeding cuddle. This afternoon, we nursed and napped. Tonight, we will nurse to sleep. It is beautiful and precious to enjoy my daughter so much, to watch her growing up before my eyes and to see the sweet little parts of her character emerging, especially while we nurse. We have a beautiful nursing relationship. It is, however, marked with sadness. Let me back up a bit and start from the “sort of” beginning.

I believe in breastfeeding, deeply. I know in my head and heart that its benefits far surpass any other way of feeding our babies for reasons of nutrition, overall health and emotional well-being.  I have read three books and countless articles on breastfeeding.  I have a bunch of amazing mama friends and online comrades who are passionate about bf-ing and are inspiring examples to me of extended nursing (an example I am set on following if possible). I had an uncomplicated homebirth and my little one went right to my breast, staying skin-to-skin for hours, then days. I have a lactation consultant. I fed on-demand without question. I did everything “right” (well, maybe, but more on that a little later down). However, after three months of a rough road, I am still supplementing with formula. Where before I assumed it was easy to breastfeed, now I see more clearly just how hard it can be for some mothers. I obviously am one of them.

I debated waiting to write this post until after we were completely on the other side of our breastfeeding challenges, back to 100% unrestricted breastfeeding and completely off the supplemental formula we began using when she was just two weeks old. However, I realized that this path, the journey, is the point and in my journey as a breastfeeding mother with breastfeeding challenges, I have much to learn and perhaps a little to share. So I write from this place of vulnerability and hope, day-to-day struggles and day-by-day triumphs. Also, the truth is that we may never “get back” to breastmilk-only.

The reasons why we are where we are, supplementing about 50% of our feedings with formula, weave through three and a half months of trying, trying, trying (and crying, crying, crying, I may add). Taking a quick glance back, the reasons include slow-to-no weight gain after two weeks, newborn jaundice, small mouth with “lazy” sucking, i.e started good, tired out fast, I had lots of milk at first, then quick decline, and now in a day-to-day effort to keep my supply up via just about all the known galactagogue herbs, homeopathic remedies, lots of water and broths, pumping, insistent latch awareness, frequent feedings, nurse-ins, visualizations, breast massage and following every wive’s tale my partner’s Chilean grandmothers have thrown my way (including drinking lots of milk, thank you Grandmother Manoca!). I spend a lot of time every day working on my supply. If you think you have an idea for me, I’ve probably tried it (but feel free in your suggesting, really). The only thing I haven’t done is take prescription drugs (I still might).

Maybe my low supply stemmed directly from my daughter’s poor sucking and us falling into a slippery-slope supplementing strategy. Maybe I would have had a low supply anyway due to stress or hormonal issues (or both). I’ll never know. But here’s what I’ve humbly learned: I happens. It happens a lot more than we’re led to believe, a lot more then I would have guessed perusing my usual online lactivist haunts. In my search to find physical and emotional support online, I’ve started running across many stories of other mothers struggling with not being able to nurse their babies exclusively, though their hearts were set on it and they’ve tried everything. Some of them can’t nurse at all. It seems that among low-to-no supply mothers, I’m one of the lucky ones.

Finding a couple of awesome online resources filled with heart-warming (and heart-wrenching) stories from moms wanting so badly to nurse their little ones has been a real heart saver for me. Among the sites I’ve found, the best is by far Mothers Overcoming Breastfeeding Issues (MOBI) International. The night I found that site, I read and read and read, and cried my heart out. Finally, stories that were like my own; finally a sense of being a true part of the breastfeeding community. It gave me hope; hope that I may still be able to increase my supply, yes, but also hope that I wouldn’t feel like I was a failure forever, or that I was missing all this precious time with my daughter while I was worrying about whether or not the next feeding at my breast would give her enough. Still, it continues to be hard.

Not breastfeeding exclusively has been a real heartbreaker for me. I’ve felt grief and guilt, frustration and shame, … not because I’m worried that all the bf-ing mamas I love and respect will think badly of me, not at all. It’s because I really do know what is best for my baby and I can’t give it to her. I’ve read the stats on formula-related health problems. I mix the powder and feel no life in the food other than the prayers I put into it and its promise of weight gain (I live in Chile where there are no breastmilk banks.). I long to sweep her antsy “neh-neh”-ing sweetness up into my arms and feed her from my breast until she is full-up, whenever she wants or needs it, wherever we are. I wish for just one breastfeeding session where neither she nor I get nervous because the milk isn’t flowing.

But that’s not what I have. What I have is a nursing relationship with my baby that looks differently then I expected. It’s a nursing relationship marked with difficulty, yes, but with great joy, too. When I remember that I have my daughter at my breast, that we nurse and make sweet eye contact and talk to each other, that she is getting so much goodness and love here with me in those moments, even if a lot of the milk she is swallowing comes from a little bottle around my neck through a tube to her mouth (we use the Medela SNS), I relax and enjoy. When I remember I am lucky for all that we have, I relax and enjoy. I say little prayers for the mothers and babies less fortunate than us, and relax and enjoy. When I remember that these moments right here are worth my total non-worried, non-regretting attention, that stroking her fingers and feet, her sweet head, her back, and gazing into her eyes give us both so much goodness, I smile and relax and enjoy.

I do. But, still for the sake of any mother reading that may be saved the extent of our struggle (and the physical and emotional exhaustion it brings), here are the things I would have done differently:

Dealt with the jaundice immediately to reduce fatique. I was so adament about protecting our home nest and her sweet adjustment period, it didn’t seem like an option to consider an in-hospital jaundice treatment. I trusted what I read about newborns processing their jaundice in a week or two and it being normal. If I have the chance again, I’ll get right to a light box (or blanket).

Breathed longer before buying formula. “Feed the baby” – that is the number one rule of lactation advice right? Of course it is, and of course it was my priority. However, in our panic of realizing she wasn’t gaining enough weight, we didn’t even try to pump and supplement with breastmilk first. Knowing that I DID have milk, I’d have at least tried that for a few days with a really good pump.

Taken the plunge with a hospital-grade pump. I would have spent the $100 or more for a month with the best pump I could have found to fortify, extract and deliver my milk. Period. Not realizing how important it was until much later, I opted for the first pump I could find easily (a manual Madela), then later an okay double electric.

Gotten a second opinion on my baby’s feeding. I love our LC, and she is a friend, but I would have found the most notable expert to examine her mouth, watch us feed, and rule out or address every baby-related or positioning issue. I would have demanded she be as nit-picky and heavy-handed as possible with our technique.

Been firmer about my boundaries. The early bf-ing relationship is so important and fragile, and now knowing the roll stress can play in production reduction, I wish I had not let all the well-meaning people into my home and bedroom whom I knew would stress me out with all their advice and off-handed comments (one grandmother said to me plainly and forcefully, “You have no milk, get a bottle.”). Never. Again.

Taken each day at a time and remembered to enjoy each and every feeding. In the whirlwind of worry and stress, and in the shadow of grief and failure, I let my mind spin too much into the what-if’s and how-come’s and whoa-is-me’s too much. I would have reached out for more support sooner so that I could relish it all more. I’m doing that a lot better now, though it’s still hard sometimes.

Of course, I’m continuing to work on my supply and still have hope that we’ll get it up enough to wean from formula. But, I’ll finish by saying that above all, knowing that I’m not alone (my friends back home have been so supportive and loving, my partner here a major ally) has been a huge help. And knowing that no matter what, I do and will continue to give my little girl all the love and nourishing affection I can give her, no matter what milk I can provide, I know she’s getting the very best from me she can get. That’s my job, right? I’m her mother… and I’m the best mother I can be.

~ Heather

**********

Here is a list of the sites that helped me the most to address my breastfeeding challenges:

• kellymom.com
• mobimotherhood.org
• lowmilksupply.org
• www.nbci.ca

You may also enjoy reading another perspective on breastfeeding challenges in the Boba post How One Mother Practices Attachment Parenting While Bottle Feeding.

The simplest option would be to simply pump for relief and dump out the milk.  I would save myself a lot of trouble that way.  Another option would be to save the milk and find a way to smuggle it back on in a cooler.  The final option was to save the milk but find a donor recipient who was willing to pick up 4 days of my milk from the hotel.

There was no way I was wasting the milk so the first option was out.  Breast milk is too amazing and it is hard work to get.  With TSA guidelines as strict as they are now I was also not willing to risk having to dump out my milk in airport security.  The logical choice was to donate.

I posted my proposition on the San Diego Eats on Feets page.  Eats on Feets is a peer to peer milk sharing program where mothers with extra milk will donate directly to families who need it.  Eats on Feets and similar organizations have websites and Facebook pages for local chapters making it easy to find a match.  Quickly a mother responded saying she would be happy to work with me and pick up the milk.

Since I knew that thousands of women would be attending  I also assumed at least a few dozen would be currently breastfeeding a baby or toddler.  Many women, like myself, would be leaving their nursling home with a loved one and would be faced with the same dilemma.

Through social outlets like Twitter, Facebook, and by writing a post on my blog I found many others who wanted to join me in donating milk.  We used a hashtag to keep organized.  During the conference we saved our milk and, towards the end, I met up with the women either in their rooms or at parties.  (Yes, I had a large bag and collected milk from a donor at a party!)  Another blogger and friend who didn’t have such an early flight home met with our recipient on the last day.

Pumping in the hotel room

I’m so proud to say that 13 women collectively pumped and donated a whopping 300 ounces of milk in 4 days!  The recipient was thrilled and had a large stash for her freezer and all of the donors were just happy that our precious milk wouldn’t be lost to the sewage system.

I attended BlogHer 12 in NYC last week and unfortunately did not have enough milk to donate.  Several other women did join forces and sought a recipient.  Next year BlogHer will be in Chicago and I am planning on working closely with Gina from The Feminist Breeder and utilizing her local connections to make sure we are able to better plan out a donation group.  I’m hoping the BlogHer planning committee will be more responsive to helping out in an official manner as well.

When I found out I was pregnant, I knew I would breastfeed. My mother had breastfed me, and my husband’s mother breastfed him. I knew of the benefits, and more importantly, I knew it was the natural choice. I was all for natural “attachment parenting”- I wanted to give birth all naturally, cloth diaper, babywear, leave my son intact, and generally give my son the best start in life. I didn’t buy bottles, and since I was going to be a stay-at-home mom, I laughed at the idea of dropping $200 on a breast pump.

Of course, parenting is not as simple as we anticipate. Sometimes life throws us a curve ball, as I found out. Although I was able to give birth to my son Lucas all-naturally on September 15, 2011 with the help of my amazing doula, I immediately began struggling with breastfeeding. After 3 weeks of nursing exclusively (through bloodied nipples and nonstop tears/meltdowns), another 3.5 weeks of pumping exclusively (still painful), and countless tries to remedy the pain I was feeling, my doula and I came to the conclusion that I had Raynaud’s phenomenon of the nipples. Even though I had dealt with this condition in my hands and feet for all my life, I was still shocked that it could affect my breastfeeding relationship. And on top of all this, I was struggling with severe postpartum depression. My son was 7 weeks old when he got his first bottle of organic formula- and I mourned the loss of the nursing relationship I so longed for.

Although I was still giving my son 6-12 ounces of breast milk per day from my own frozen stash, I knew that wouldn’t last for very long. The nearest breastmilk bank was 4.5 hours away, required a prescription from an OB/pediatrician, gave precedence to severely ill/premature babies, and costs $3 an ounce (not including shipping). So on my doula’s urging, I decided to check out two informal milk-sharing sites called Human Milk 4 Human Babies (HM4HB) and Eats on Feets (EoF). I nervously contacted two mothers in my city who were offering up their extra breastmilk, completely free, out of the goodness of their hearts. My own heart bruised from my own feelings of regret, I prayed they would not judge my inability to continue nursing/pumping. Not only that, but many people I had talked to about donor breast milk seemed very wary of the idea- how do you know that this milk is safe, that the mothers aren’t sick or doing drugs?

Instead of judgment, I found kindness from these donor milk moms who were just trying to help out, who had the same belief as me- breast milk is the normal, natural, perfect food for our babies. In fact, one of these first two moms is now a very close friend, and despite her daughter being over a year old, she continues to nurse her and pump about 6 ounces a day for my son! (I also told her about the Boba 3G, and she’s now a regular babywearing momma!)

Since the end of October/early November, my son has had 10 donors, and at 24 weeks old, he stopped needing any supplementary formula. I got to know these women, saw them pumping and/or feeding their children, and many of them offered up copies of their blood work and medical history. One of them was an elementary school friend of mine, another went to school with my husband since they were just kids, and a third was my sister-in-law’s high school buddy. All of them did it out of generosity, not for profit (which both HM4HB and EoF strictly prohibit). Through their donations, I have made many amazing momma friends from all over California, and even two from Oregon and Colorado.

I learned that it is possible to practice “attachment parenting” while bottle-feeding. I hold my son in my arms as I feed him (instead of propping his bottle or making him hold it on his own) and try to emulate the nursing relationship. Whenever we are out, I avoid using our stroller and instead opt to carry him close in the Boba 3G. I respond to his cries and avoid rigid feeding/sleeping schedules.

I never thought, in a million years, that I wouldn’t be able to breastfeed my son. However, I am so thankful that I have made friends with so many selfless women. Every new donor momma that I meet, I take a photo of them with my son. One day I hope to share these photos and the story of his milky mommas with my son.

I had only one example of extended breastfeeding (EB) in my younger years; I am unsure when that mother’s babies were weaned or if she let  them initiate the weaning processes. I do know that she was joked about by other women, whether she was to her face or not, she must have felt on some level that she was not supported in her mothering choices by some of the women in her life. And knowing what I do now about mothering, breastfeeding and community support, I consider this particular mother a person of great courage and someone who must have had an incredible sense of self to do what she knew was right, even when it was uncommon in her immediate community.

Unfortunately, the jokes and unfavorable opinion about extended nursing are what stuck with me throughout my childhood and 20s. I held onto these judgements as if they were my own until women my own age (in our 30s) began having babies. I watched my friends as they transformed into these educated, self-empowered mothers who made their breasts available to their little ones in a deeply mothering way that I had not seen before. Their breast-fed babies were settled quickly when they cried and they fell asleep peacefully at the breast. In fact, after being with these mothers and now being a mother myself, bottles seem to be the more challenging job and without the closeness and intimacy that a mother and baby need to flourish in their respective places within their families. Watching this new generation of mothers and babies showed me how perfectly designed we are as women to give our babies in this incredibly nurturing way. It set me right in my thinking. And in watching them, I knew in my bones that this is what I wanted for my own family if I was going to be blessed with a child.

My son was born in December 2010 and we were blessed that he was a solid nurser from the start. He went immediately to my breast after birth and over the first week, our home-birth midwife taught me many tricks during our in-home visits and care appointments. She taught me how to help him latch properly for his efficiency and to also keep my nipples free from hot spots and soreness. She shared not to use soaps in the beginning because even the mildest soaps will dry skin that was even more delicate now from changing hormones and a hungry little mouth. I followed other mothering friends’ advice too; like applying lanolin before showering to keep chapping at bay. (My son nursed easily even with lanolin on, so do not be put off by the smell.) And as always, being proactive with careful steps means staying healthy and well so that you can mother your baby with more easiness, comfort and joy. I was thrilled when we made it through our first six months with no setbacks and my son was bright, alert and constantly gaining weight. His skin was clear and healthy, his body was strong and gorgeously round.

I know some women would prefer to teach themselves to breastfeed, noting what works and what doesn’t and adapting from there.  I tend to fall into this category myself for most things, but learning to breastfeed with other mothers (my midwife and my momma friends) was ideal for me for many reasons. As new mothers, we need community and loving support more than ever before. Our hearts being wide open so that we may bond with our child is an incredible gift that needs to be honored with respect and tender loving care. I have seen mothers who had given up nursing (some with heartbreaking reluctance) after meeting with a challenging start, so I wanted the best start possible for me and my son in the hopes that we wean when we were both ready, and not before.

If you feel like extended breastfeeding and nursing is the right choice for you and your child, I encourage you to build a community around you who will support you in that choice. Seek out other mothers who are already doing it in your own community, be it immediate or online. I feel like I have learned so much about “breastfeeding” and the natural progression to “nursing” that happened for me and my son early on. (That might be a future blog topic right there: Nursing, Breastfeed and How We Relate to Both.)

Because I had some of my own conditioned obstacles I was working with, and because I was concerned that I would get push back about nursing my son longer than many do, I initially loaded up on “facts” and studies and statistics on why what I was doing was important and medically supported. I want to encourage others to not let themselves get too fixed or harden in this. I have a degree in integrative physiology/pre-med, so I understand how much stock others put into statistics and studies, even in poorly executed or biased studies. Many people want numbers or another person to tell them what is right for themselves. I understand this position because I came from this position, but I no longer share this. Instead I look to what is working for me and family and follow this. I also trust in and let my son’s natural state of wellness lead the way, and I seek professional care (our pediatric MD, our licensed midwife, etc.) when I come up against a stubborn obstacle.

I have softened quite a bit over the last year because I realized that being geared up to educate or defend the benefits of EB was actually taking away from the joy and benefit of EBing with my son. I do still have one educational come-back lined up just in case I am in the mood; and that is that the World Health Organization (WHO) position that “exclusive breastfeeding is recommended up to 6 months of age, with continued breastfeeding along with appropriate complementary foods up to two years of age or beyond.” WHO also recommends that children are breastfeed until two years or longer in developing countries.  But for the rest of it, that has completely given way to a joyful satisfaction in my son and my own mothering. I let the praise that others offer my husband and me on our son’s health and his friendly, happy nature speak for what we do together as a family.

Look for support in your immediate community: through friends and family, mothering groups who gather together (and nurse together), and to your local Le Leche League. If you are need of supportive online resources, I like these that are on Facebook:

Peaceful Parenting

You Can Breastfeed Here

The Leaky B@@B

and of course, our very own,Boba Facebook page

If you’re wondering if you should breastfeed in public or just stay home to avoid potential awkwardness, here are 10 reasons to feed your baby in front of others.

10. You make it easier for other moms to nurse in public when you do.

9. By nursing your babies in front of kids, it’ll normalize the already NORMAL biological function of breasts.

8. It’ll help de-objectify the female form by giving breasts a function other than ogling.

7. Being a mother to a young child doesn’t have to be isolating. By nursing in public you can stay social & active.

6. No standing up in public restrooms feeding baby. Need I say more?

5. It’s your legal right.

4. Your baby won’t learn that feeding comes only after excessive crying.

3. Your chances of breastfeeding for a longer period of time go up if it’s part of your normal routine rather than an inconvenience.

2. You can enjoy feeding your baby rather than feel as if your little one pulls you away from the action.

1. Breastfeeding is normal!

Boba chats with Caroline Gauthier, mother, wife & motocross enthusiast.

Q: How did you get into motocross?

A: When I met my husband, he just got his motocross bike. I told him that would be great that one day we get bikes and motocross, I knew I would love it, it is in my blood!

Q: Have you always been physically active/enjoyed sports?

A: We are not couch potatoes, but we aren’t very sportive neither. We garden, work around the house and motocross. My husband cycles to work during the summer, and we run in winter to try to stay fit for motocross. You must be fit to motocross, it is extremely demanding.

Q: How has the motocross community responded to your nursing in public?

A: At the track, the guys just care about riding. I breastfeed both kids comfortably, often while I’m talking with some guys or sitting in the middle of the peewee track watching my older riding.

Q: What do you wish moms knew about nursing in public?

A: Nursing in public is your right! It is in the Chart! If somebody tells you to go, sue them, it will give you $2000 (2 condemnations available on La Ligue Leche website, www.allaitement.ca).*

Q: Were you ever afraid of nursing in public?

A: I have never been afraid to nurse in public, but I must admit that when my five-year-old asks me to, I will smile because I am shy, but will do it for him!

Q: How long have you been breastfeeding?

A: I have been breastfeeding for the last five and half years, never weaned anybody yet. [;)]

*Canadian law

Thanks for the wonderful interview, Caroline! Enjoy the Boba 3G Kangaroo Carrier!