Summer Social, 25 Aug

The next La Leche League meet up will be a Summer Social at Cotham Gardens Park in Redland on Thursday 25 August from 10.30am to 12ish. Bring a picnic if the sun is shining! This is the park just opposite Redland Train Station. Buses 8 & 9 stop next to it.


The next meeting at 53 Zetland Rd will be on Thursday 8 September from 10.15am.

Toddler manners!

At the meeting on 11 Aug we talked about ways of managing toddler feeding needs and fitting them in with our own. Some helpful books are:


The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding
Mothering Your Nursing Toddler
Adventures in Gentle Discipline


Have a look under the tab 'Group Library' for a full list of our library books.


There is plenty to read about reasons to breastfeed a toddler at kellymom  

World Breastfeeding Week Special Offer

This week (1 - 7 August) is World Breastfeeding Week and to celebrate La Leche League international has got a special offer on. You can get the Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, LLLI annual membership and the book BabyBabyOhBaby for a special price. See here for more info.

Park meet up

Come and play in the park, or ask a question if you have one, this Thursday 28 July. We'll be in the play equipment area of Greville Smythe Park from 10.30am til around noon. There is parking on Ashton Road. Everyone welcome.

Busy meeting

I couldn't be at the meeting this week, but I hear it was lovely and busy! Remember that you can call an LLL Leader in between meetings if you have a concern you'd like to talk through.


There is also lots of great info online at www.llli.org A good place to start is the FAQs section.

The Nights

The meeting this Thursday 14 July will be about  'night-time parenting' and we'd love to hear your experiences and suggestions. All welcome at 53 Zetland Rd at 10.15am. More info and map on the Meetings Info page.

Big Bristol Breastfeed

The Big Bristol Breastfeed today in town was a lovely day and with so many gorgeous mums and babies! It was a pleasure to see everyone just getting together. Here is a photo for those who couldn't make it. See Big Bristol Breastfeed on Facebook for many more:

Big Bristol Breastfeed

We had a lovely time in the park today, despite the showers!

You are all invited to the Big Bristol Breastfeed this Saturday 25 July. We'll be meeting at Anchor Square (near Millennium Square), next to @Bristol anytime from 10am to 4pm, with a main gathering at 12pm. It promises to be a great day with lots of passionate Bristol breastfeeders coming together to raise awareness, so do come along with friends and family to celebrate Breastfeeding Awareness Week. 

To find out more, look for Big Bristol Breastfeed on Facebook. Here is a picture of the recent 'flashmob' gathering of breastfeeding mums in Manchester.

Summer Social, 23 June

There is a Summer Social tomorrow, 23 June, which will be in Cotham Gardens Park if it is not raining, or even just a few showers.
If it is really wet, we'll head to Rimando's cafe on Gloucester Rd. See the Meetings Info page for directions.
See you there, the Bristol Leaders

New edition of Breastfeeding Today

You can read the latest edition of the international magazine from La Leche League here: Breastfeeding Today

When you need to leave your baby

It was great to see lots of people at the meeting on 9 June. The meeting got a little hectic, so do remember that you can contact a Leader in between meetings if you had a concern that we didn't get a chance to talk about at the meeting.


It was lovely to see Lorraine and Callum again and to welcome Daisy to her first LLL meeting!

There are a few information sheets that LLL publish that are helpful if you are going back to work or if you need to leave your baby with someone else for a length of time. These are:


When Mum Can't Be There
Workday Practicalities
Working and Breastfeeding
Storing Your Milk
Hand Expression of Breast Milk
Choosing a Breast Pump


They cost 75p each and you can get them from here.



There are also some useful books in our library on working and breastfeeding, such as Hirkanis Daughters.


We look forward to seeing you on Thursday 23 June from 10.30am to 12ish for the next Summer Social in Cotham Gardens Park, or Rimando's Cafe if it is raining, to celebrate Breastfeeding Awareness Week!.


And don't forget the Big Bristol Breastfeed! This will be a great gathering of Bristol breastfeeding mums, also to celebrate Breastfeeding Awareness Week. It will be on Saturday 25 June from 10am to 4pm in Anchor Square, next to @Bristol. There is a mass breastfeed planned for 12pm. It promises to be a lot of fun so come along and spread the word. There is more info on the Big Bristol Breastfeed Facebook page.

Working and breastfeeding

The meeting this Thursday will be at 53 Zetland Rd and the topic is juggling breastfeeding with working. This can mean retuning to work full time, fitting in some part time paid work or trying to fit in looking after your own needs and those of your family whilst you've got a little one at home with you. We'd love to see you and hear your experiences and any questions you may have on the subject. There will, of course, be plenty of time for other topics.

The meeting will start at 10.30am so come anytime from 10am to get settled and a cup of tea! Bring a little food to share if you can.

See you there, Charlie and Vicky

comfort feeding

Thank you for a lovely meeting today, with some lively toddlers! We talked about ways of getting both mums and babies comfortable when breastfeeding. We mentioned biological nurturing, and you can find out more here.

La Leche League publish a number of leaflets on positioning and latch, such as Comfortable Breastfeeding, Nipple Pain, which you can get here

There is also online information about positioning here

We also talked a little about breastfeeding and fertility and there are some more articles here

We look forward to seeing you at the next meeting, which is a 'Summer Social' in Greville Smythe Park, on Ashton Rd, at 10.30am on Thursday 26 May.

Are you breastfeeding comfortably?

The meeting tomorrow, Thurs 12 May, will be at 53 Zetland Rd at 10.30am. We'll be talking about breastfeeding and comfort. All welcome.

Should Mothers Avoid Nighttime Breastfeeding to Decrease Their Risk of Depression? By Kathleen Kendall-Tackett

Kathleen Kendall-Tackett recently wrote an article questioning the advice given to mothers at risk of depression to avoid nighttime breastfeeding. It is assumed that breastfeeding mothers get less sleep, and this would therefore have a negative impact on their mental health. However, Kendall-Tackett examines research on breastfeeding mothers and reveals that breastfeeding mothers get more sleep.  She says:

At first glance, it may seem to be [good advice to avoid nighttime breastfeeding]. Since breast milk is lower in fat and protein than formula, we might assume, as I once did, that breastfeeding mothers sleep less than their formula-feeding counterparts. When a mother’s mental health is at stake, avoiding nighttime breastfeeding might be worth the risk it poses to breastfeeding. However, recent research has revealed the opposite: that breastfeeding mothers actually get more sleep – particularly when the baby was in proximity to the mother. And that has major implications for their mental health.

The author reviews studies of mothers at 4 weeks postpartum, during the first month and at 3 months. In each of these studies the breastfeeding mothers got the most sleep, especially when they were bedsharing. Mothers who were exclusively breastfeeding at 3 months got an average of 40mins more sleep per night than those who supplemented.

Not only did the breastfeeding mothers get more sleep, but the sleep they get is better quality. Another study compared the sleep quality of breastfeeding and bottlefeeding mothers and found a significant difference in the amount of slow-wave sleep. Breastfeeding mothers got an average of 182 minutes compared with 63 minutes for the exclusively bottlefeeding mothers. “Slow-wave sleep is an important marker of sleep quality, and those with a lower percentage of slow-wave sleep report more daytime fatigue and pain.”

Another recent study of 2,830 women, published in the journal Sleep (“not known for its support of breastfeeding”) found that mothers who were not exclusively breastfeeding had more disrupted sleep and a higher risk of depression.

Kendall-Tackett concludes that exclusive breastfeeding including at night helps reduce the risk of depression due to the deep restorative sleep stages and the ease with which mum falls asleep and returns to sleep after feeding.

Dr. Kendall-Tackett PhD IBCLC is a health psychologist, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and La Leche League Leader who specialises in writing about breastfeeding, women’s health and depression. She is the author of many breastfeeding research articles and co-author of Breastfeeding Made Simple. There is more information on her websites: www.UppityScienceChick.com and www.BreastfeedingMadeSimple.com

CHANGES TO DAY AND VENUE!!!!!

Dear Bristol mums
The forthcoming meetings over the summer will be on THURSDAYS and take place at different locations.
The Series Meetings are to be held on the 2nd THURSDAY of every month and will be at 53 Zetland Road, Redland, Bristol BS6 7AJ.
There will be Summer Socials held on the 4th THURSDAY of every month and these will be in a local park or cafe. Check the individual event listing for the location. Summer Socials are meet ups for breastfeeding mums and their families and friends.
The next meeting will be on Thursday 12 May, 10.15am - 12pm, at 53 Zetland Rd, Redland BS6 7AJ.
Tell your friends and help spread the word! Ring a Leader for more info.
With love from the Bristol Leaders.

Meeting on Wed 13 April is MOVING

The meeting today, Wed 13 April, will not be at Charlie's house as the children are ill. Instead Vicky will be at the Hen and Chicken on North St from 10.30am for anyone who wants to go along for a cup of something and a chat.

Very sorry about the late notice. With love from the Bristol Leaders.

Starting solids and healthy eating for the family

You are invited to the next meeting which will be on introducing solid foods and the wider issues that come up at this time. The meeting is on Wed 13 April in Southville, Bristol. It is the Easter hols so if there are a few older children around we may wind up early and end up in the garden (fingers crossed the sun holds).

laid back breastfeeding

This is a great article about laid back breastfeeding
www.nancymohrbacher.com/blog

Making toddlers happy

On Wed 23 March, at the Coffee Morning in Bradley Stoke, we'll be talking about the many joys (and tribulations) of breastfeeding a toddler. Hope to see you there!

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