Breastfeeding Awareness week

We are coming to the end of national breastfeeding awareness week.

NHS Scotland has its own supportive website - the feedgood factor - which is crammed full of useful advice and trouble shooting for mums who are starting out with breastfeeding.

The Association of Breastfeeding Mothers are supporting the week with a Keep Britain Breastfeeding Scavenger Hunt of blogs where you can read real stories from real mums.

I have been fortunate enough to breastfeed both my boys. I happen to find it fairly easy to do, pretty convenient and of course it is free! Having said that both boys have also taken formula from very early on as well so my partner can be involved in feeding, so I can have a break to  keep up with those "growth spurts" or just for convenience. I never got the hang of expressing, and I never felt bad about this.

I know plenty of mums who don't find it easy to breastfeed and have been on a terrible journey of trying to do the 'right' thing as promoted by all and sundry in the confusing early days with a newborn. In an ideal world all of us would love to be able to find it easy to breastfeed. But it is a fact that some women will find it easier than others to do - a bit like walking in high heels, something I have never mastered!

For those that find breastfeeding tricky or choose not to do it, formula feeding should be seen as a valid choice and not a poor second best where mums re made to feel guilty or allowed to feel as if they have "failed" an early motherhood exam. Formula feeding is a valid choice for some women and baby milks are after all designed for babies!!!!

Remember at Barnton Pharmacy we have our interactive infant feeding kiosk and we can also advise on all aspects of breast and bottle feeding your baby.

Chicken Pox

There hasn't been much time for blogging recently.

What with the challenges of getting used to our new baby, dealing with a 3 year old with tonsillitis and chicken pox within the space of a month, travelling to wet west Wales to the in-laws for Easter and having some sort of flu-like bug myself, spare time has been pretty limited!

But once again I have been learning to be a better pharmacist by testing the product range* available for dealing with a small boy with chicken pox and felt it timely to share my (ahem) wisdom.

So here goes:

• Paracetamol and/or ibuprofen suspension are great to bring down the high temperature. Remember to check the dose is right for the age of child and the advice has recently changed. If in doubt as your pharmacist.
• Chlorphenamine (Piriton) is a good choice if your wee one is incredibly itchy. It can help them get a good night's sleep as well. Although had no noticable effect on my boy!

• Topical products seem to stop the itching for a little while. Take your pick from:
  Calamine lotion - the smell took me back to a far away place in time. Very soothing and my small boy liked dabbing it on himself.
  Calamine in aqueous cream - not as messy as the lotion or as drying to the skin
  Virasoothe gel seemed to be the best we tried. Nice to apply, very cooling and soothing.
  There are some new products just out that we didn;t get round to trying this time. We'll need to wait for the next child to get chicken pox to test more products!

Other things we learned from this round of illnesses:

• It is possible to get chicken pox twice. We are pretty sure that our boy had it when he was about a year old, but a very mild dose. Perhaps not a good enough whack to give him immunity?
• A 3 year old can be too poorly to even watch peppa pig! Now that must be proper poorly.
• The spots in the hair itch the most.
• Breast feeding really does protect newborns - or so it would seem. That means we'll go through it all again when the younger brother goes to nursery.
• Small children can't often explain where things hurt. A sore neck turned out to be tonsillitis!

*Remember that some of the products above may be available free of charge on the minor ailments services. Come and discuss your child's symptoms with the team at Barnton Pharmacy.

Colic and sleep deprivation!



Little M



Looking back, my firstborn son was a dream when it came to feeding.

I found breast feeding easy, little G would take his fill, then fall into a contented sleep. I was a worried mum, though. I remember worrying about how much milk he was getting, whether I was eating the right stuff and how would I know if I was doing the right thing.

Little G is now a strapping, stroppy 3 year old and his baby brother little M is a completely different creature when it comes to feeding. Breast feeding is going well, but is never ending! M is a hungry boy and never seems to be off the breast. He scoffs and scoffs and then wants more, but several minutes after a feed his beautiful face contorts in a red uncomfy gurn, and he lets out a noisy shout to let everyone know he's uncomfortable. He squirms his scrawny legs and contorts himself in all sorts of positions until he manages to free himself of the offending wind from one end or the other. It looks horribly painful for him and in the middle of the night it sounds horrible and keeps us all awake!

Drummer G

I promised myself that second time around I would try not to worry so much about weight gain, feeding and doing the "right" thing according to the current thinking from health visitors, midwives and other well-meaning advice-givers.

So this time round we have tried the dummy very early despite mild concerns it will cause "nipple confusion". It hasn't, but it has given mine a rest, and allows M to get rid of some sucking energy.

We have also tried infacol. Once again, I had my reservations. Could it really work? After all, there is not much to it, but I am a complete convert. The writhing is almost over, or certainly much diminished and M can dine at the milk bar without us having to worry about what is coming next.

You never know, we might even get a complete night's sleep one of these days!!!

Photos: G and M at their current stages....mainly for my benefit.