Comments on The Lactivist Breastfeeding Blog: Good Grief, How Anal Can We Get?

I'm disappointed by the negative tone of this blog...

2009-04-14T07:21:00.000-07:00

I'm disappointed by the negative tone of this blog and many of the responses. What, I support breastfeeding moms as long as they do everything exactly as I would?

I'm not saying I would buy this software. I will say, however, that I spent over an hour the other day designing my own printable chart to keep track of my low supply. I am trying, after weeks of struggle and conflicting

I will admit to being a very anal person. I start...

2007-03-14T22:18:00.000-07:00

I will admit to being a very anal person. I started with the feeding/diaper log at the hospital (and thought it wasn't structured very well, lots of wasted space!) and continued on with it at home for about 2 weeks. And one night when DD was probably 2-3 weeks old, when I was up yet AGAIN with her when everyone else was asleep, I found a software program like this online...but I thought it

LOL, Aruni, I live near Columbus, Ohio and graduat...

2007-03-12T07:26:00.000-07:00

LOL, Aruni, I live near Columbus, Ohio and graduated from Ohio State.

I know exactly what you mean about being sucked into National Championship games. ;)

Thanks for posting my comment! Yes, moms and babi...

2007-03-12T07:20:00.000-07:00

Thanks for posting my comment! Yes, moms and babies are all different. My sister also pumped exclusively with her first born.

I also try to spread the word about milk banking. We link to the Austin site from inside our app. For those who worry they may not be able to give enough milk...please don't! The milk banks (and the sick and premature infants) appreciate everything you can

My wife and I started using this program before it...

2007-03-10T15:28:00.000-08:00

My wife and I started using this program before it was migrated into a web-based application. While the focus of the new application is that you can use it online, what makes it the most useful is the it runs on the PocketPC. Personally, we found it much easier to just click a few buttons on the pocket pc to get the data entered instead of writing it down on a piece of paper that kept

Aruni,Not self-serving at all! I welcome you to th...

2007-03-10T11:44:00.000-08:00

Aruni,

Not self-serving at all! I welcome you to the Lactivist and thank you for coming and sharing your personal input.

Hope you didn't take too much offense at my post, it was written in good humor. ;)

While I could still never imagine using a program like that myself, my readers have really given some great reasons why it's still a useful programs for some moms. I

I’m the founder of Babble Soft and just happened u...

2007-03-10T11:05:00.000-08:00

I’m the founder of Babble Soft and just happened upon this cool blog while seeing if anyone picked up on our press release about Baby Manager. I loved reading what everybody had to say about our new application. At first I felt a little bit misunderstood but saw that others out there kind of understood what our goal was.

When I had my son 4 ½ years ago, breastfeeding was challenging.

It would help in breastfeeding clinical trials, I ...

2007-03-09T09:52:00.000-08:00

It would help in breastfeeding clinical trials, I suppose, but then it would rule out mamas like me who would ultimately end up forgetting to put in the info!

Oh for the simple life! Just when ya thought moms ...

2007-03-08T21:00:00.000-08:00

Oh for the simple life! Just when ya thought moms had enough to obsess about (do I have enuf milk? is baby growing fast enuf? did my neighbor's kid turn over when she was 3 hours younger than mine did?) along comes software to help her obsess a little more. An enterprising venture for sure....but practical? Yeah....about as practical as logging every morsel that jumps into your mouth when you're

I have to admit, I'm much happier since I *stopped...

2007-03-08T15:08:00.000-08:00

I have to admit, I'm much happier since I *stopped* counting how many times a day my five-month-old eats. (Backstory: he was hospitalized a day after we were discharged for dehydration, where I pumped and tracked for four additional days with no sleep.)

Once I stopped looking at the clock at night and counting, I've felt much more rested. Baby in bed next to me, and he can nurse

My son is 5 months old and I do keep a daily journ...

2007-03-08T14:11:00.000-08:00

My son is 5 months old and I do keep a daily journal. I have a small notebook where I write down what time he eats, which side, and how long. Then I scribble his nap times along the side of the sheet, and on the back, I write down a little note about what we did that day. When we wake up in the morning, I jot down how many times he nursed (if he did) over night.

My mom and my husband

That's hilarious! But, I wish I could have done it...

2007-03-07T21:10:00.000-08:00

That's hilarious! But, I wish I could have done it just one day back when my babies were younger, so that I could say "I nursed for 4 hours today." Although I would never have time to fill that chart out, but I would love to know how many hours total that I have nursed! That would be cool.

You mean this site is real?Not a joke?Why in the h...

2007-03-07T19:35:00.000-08:00

You mean this site is real?

Not a joke?

Why in the hell would I want to keep track of all that????

I know at approximately what times I should pump (11 and 3:30). I would have to get up and keep track of which breast my all night nurser is on. Why Why Why!

That was one of the best things about getting DD home from the NICU. We kept very close track, but my

Rosomaqa, thanks for delurking! Welcome to the Lac...

2007-03-07T12:54:00.000-08:00

Rosomaqa, thanks for delurking! Welcome to the Lactivst. :)

I'm finding the responses to be really interesting. Quite honestly, I'm surprised at how many moms WOULD use a program like this, even among my readers.

Guess that goes to show why I'm not working at a venture capital firm, eh? I would have laughed and laughed when someone came in the door to present this business

Okay, I will admit it. I kept a Excel spreadsheet ...

2007-03-07T12:51:00.000-08:00

Okay, I will admit it. I kept a Excel spreadsheet for the first two month's of DS2's life because he didn't gain as quickly as his brother so I got a little worried. It started out on paper and then evolved to a spreadsheet.

Now selling software to do what an excel spreadsheet can do? That's a lil absurd. I think the only people who would benefit from it is people who's baby isn't

Well, I think would have used it - at least for th...

2007-03-07T12:34:00.000-08:00

Well, I think would have used it - at least for the first 2-3 months or so.
We had issues with low weight gain and low frequency of feedings (Z. just slept too much), and I kept what we called a "Baby Log" - yes, on the computer. Much easier and more convenient than writing it down on paper, especially since I usually breastfed and pumped sitting in front of the computer (if not lyng down).

Ok, I can see the need to track things for multipl...

2007-03-07T10:26:00.000-08:00

Ok, I can see the need to track things for multiples...that makes sense...but why on a system where you have to go online and fill out forms instead of on a sheet of paper on your fridge where you fill in check boxes?

It just seems like so much extra work for the sake of "oh, look organized I am on the computer."

It's like last week when my slightly OCD (sorry, CDO, lol) husband

Like others have said I see how it could be useful...

2007-03-07T09:37:00.000-08:00

Like others have said I see how it could be useful if someone is having a problem. I can see how it'd be a real real help to an LC who is helping a nursing pair with supply or weight gain issues.

When my first son was born he lost about 15% of his weight and wasn't nursing well and I had to keep a sheet similar to this (though just on paper). The thing is when you're going through

i admit to carefully tracking when ava ate, which ...

2007-03-07T08:37:00.000-08:00

i admit to carefully tracking when ava ate, which side, how long, and what her diapers were like for the first 2 weeks. after that, she was healthy and growing well and i decided i could throw my anal retentiveness out the window. i didn't track any of these things at all when julian was born. funny how much more relaxed you are w/ baby #2.

anyway, i can see some instances (like w/

Um hello? It's not "OCD" it's "CDO" which is alpha...

2007-03-07T08:25:00.000-08:00

Um hello? It's not "OCD" it's "CDO" which is alphabetical, as it should be.

Yeah, totally ridiculous. Who the hell has time for that? Let's see, baby is napping so I could a) take a shower b) eat something c) attempt to do my taxes or d) fill out my breastfeeding chart. Yeah right.

I am however extremely jealous that you pump 11 oz in 30 minutes AND breastfeed 8 bazillion times

This does seem silly - but remember parents can ha...

2007-03-07T08:13:00.000-08:00

This does seem silly - but remember parents can have all kinds of challenging issues with newborns. I have several friends who have had babies with cleft palate, heart defects, CF etc. They REALLY had to track details very carefully, not just feeding but also medicines, treatments, etc. For them, maybe this would really be worth it. Sounds crazy for those of us blessed to have healthy babies

I think if you have a successful, normal nursing r...

2007-03-07T06:59:00.000-08:00

I think if you have a successful, normal nursing relationship with your child, it may be a bit over the top.

As someone mentioned, I could see this being useful for someone with multiples (though I would think it would be easier having a pre-made paper chart that you could easily access around the house rather than having to go your computer and log it all in unless your computer is

I have multiples, and the last thing I have time f...

2007-03-07T06:58:00.000-08:00

I have multiples, and the last thing I have time for is something like this. If they cry or fuss (or grab my pant leg, or crawl over and look at me, or..), I put them on the boob. If that doesn't work, I try somethiing else.

I vote for "that software is totally over the top".

This seems like another ploy to exploit the fears ...

2007-03-07T06:57:00.000-08:00

This seems like another ploy to exploit the fears and insecurities of parents, especially new ones, and extort more money out of them. Ridiculous.

I don't see how anyone other than a mother of mult...

2007-03-07T06:25:00.000-08:00

I don't see how anyone other than a mother of multiples or someone who's child is cared for by a dozen different people could ever find this to be more helpful than harmful! Yikes. I had to keep a food diary for my 2 year old's doctor for 3 days and I about went crazy . . . and he sleeps all night! I could not imagine keeping track of all of this stuff on less than a full night's sleep,