Breastfeeding over Harper's Ferry

Breastfeeding over Harper's Ferry

My Wife is a Breastfeeding Calendar Cover-Girl!

Kat as the Miss October Model for the IBFAN International Breastfeeding Calendar
Kat as the Miss October Model for the IBFAN International Breastfeeding Calendar

IMG_1751I always though my wife was gorgeous enough to be on a calendar, but now she’s actually on one!  🙂

Kathryn and Mackenzie now proudly grace the cover of the 2011 IBFAN Breastfeeding Calendar, her photo selected by the organization from thousands around the world, on a multinational calendar which is distributed to promote breastfeeding and raise awareness around the world for its importance in proper baby nutrition.

In addition to being on the cover, she’s Miss October, if you must know.

As the pic below is a little low-res, you can see the full-res original photo here – a shot I took of her when we took a fantastic hike up to a cliff overlook in Harpers Ferry last fall.

Miss October - IBFAN Breastfeeding Calendar
Miss October – IBFAN Breastfeeding Calendar

Kat and I are big fans of breastfeeding.  Mackenzie was breastfed exclusively until about 7 months old, at which point we started introducing solids, and supplementing her diet with Barley Formula to keep up with her voracious appetite.

One of the first things Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard said about making healthy & happy children was simply,

“The largest cause of upset in a baby’s early life is just rations. The baby might be fed, yes. But with what?” — LRH

Obviously the ideal is to breastfeed the baby as long as feasible, as that’s going to give the baby the best possible nutrition, plenty of protein, and all of the other things needed to make a sharp, smart, strong baby who has strong defenses against illness and is – well – happy.

In the same article quoted above, Mr. Hubbard also suggests the use of a Barley Formula to be used as a natural alternative to breastmilk if the need arises – i.e. if there is something preventing the woman from breastfeeding or if the baby isn’t getting enough nutrition from the breastmilk due to an overworked or undernourished mother.

For us, breastfeeding was a perfect solution.  Mackenzie was not sick at all (not even a little) during her first 7 months, and was healthy, strong and sharp.   However, right around her 7th month, her appetite just flipped suddenly into overdrive, and the baby turned into a bottomless pit — and mommy was simply not able to keep up.  So, we started supplementing diet with home-made baby food and prepared barley formula as suggested in the above article, which we have had excellent luck with.  There have been times since then where she’s gone on almost exclusively on the barley formula, and she loves it.

And her growing has just not stopped.  She’s the only 1-year old at a daycare full of 2-year-olds, and she’s almost as big and has almost the same vocabulary as any of the 2-year-olds there.

So, we’re planning on not changing much of anything with baby #2 – breastfeeding as long as possible, then supplementing with barley formula and solids when appropriate.

As a note, the full article quoted above, along with illustrated instructions for Barley Formula is available as part of the Children on-line study course, available for free from the Scientology Volunteer Ministers.

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16 thoughts on “My Wife is a Breastfeeding Calendar Cover-Girl!

  1. That is a great photography Tad! Really beautiful back lighting and colors. A bit of selective focus too … I am not at all surprised that they chose it, it is iconic in concept as well.

    1. Thanks! I actually lucked out that day — we took that hike up to Maryland Heights at Harpers Ferry, timed so that we reached the cliff face at the top of the trail /exactly/ as the sun was beginning to set over the horizon. So, I had only to open up the aperture all the way and fire away. Even the pics taken with Kat’s cameraphone turned out stunning:

      http://www.flickr.com/photos/tadnkat/4006584354/

  2. The Barley Formula is awesome!!! I have raised 4 children on it for the last 20 years.

    I could only breastfeed successfully up to 3-4 months with each child and then switched to Barley Formula. All four of my children grew up very healthy, happy, bright and well fed.

    My youngest, who is newly 2 years old, recently got a check-up physical from the pediatrician and he commented on how healthy she looks and is. He also said she had some of the best teeth he’d ever seen.

    1. Hi, I am a new mom. I am thinking about the barley formula. I have a few questions. Since you have raised 4 kids on it would you mind answering a few? Thanks, Erika

      1. Erika – thanks for writing! If you would, just post your questions into the contact form (http://scientologyparent.com/contact/) and I’ll definitely answer them. I’m writing a page exclusively for the barley formula, as I’ve had a lot of questions on this on this site plus other forums. Would be happy to help, as we’ve had great luck with it.

  3. This is wonderful! Thanks for helping promote breastfeeding! I love the viewpoint that nursing is the #1 perfect food for a baby! I exclusively nursed #1 to 11 months and #2 to 7 months. I am a fan of the barley formula also, but not as a replacement to nursing.

    1. Thanks! Yes, we would have gone on breastfeeding for ever if it hadn’t been for my girl’s chompers. So successful.

      1. “We”–as if you were the one expressing milk from your breasts!!! Funny man–the woman bears brunt of breastfeeding!
        Fallacy to think you need to switch to some formula–breastmilk is perfect food. Barley formula–just feed baby fortified cereal to get barley etc. Solids should be fed in solid form–not liquid puree. I nursed baby #1 until 18 months, then baby #2 until 15 months.

  4. Butterfly – wow! #1 until 18 months, #2 until 15 months? I think that statistically puts you high-ranking in the breastfeeding elite! Unfortunately for us, when our daughter got teeth and started using them on mommy, that had the effect of cutting our milk supply in half. Unfortunately, that also came at a time when she was going through a massive growth spurt and needed about 3X the food. If my wife had not had to work so much, we likely would have been able to work out breastfeeding longer, but in our case we had to seek a way to augment the diet.

    Luckily, the aforementioned barley formula worked great for us, our daughter took to it well and continued to grow. Obviously it has none of the properties of breastmilk with respect to antibodies & such, but all told it was a workable move. She was then able to move on to solids and is a solid food maniac right now.

    Our month-old son however, of course, is 100% breastfed, and we plan on doing that as long as possible.

    What did you find was successful in breastfeeding your children for so long?

  5. I think an important piece of breastfeeding advice that seems to get left out- Before you try to solve a problem by with supplementing formula, check with a lactation consultant to figure out what the best resolution to your problem is. When a baby is in a growth spurt, giving the baby formula is not the best resolution for the milk supply. It will not tell the body to increase the amount of milk it is making, so the baby may continue to have less than what it needs for it’s growing body. If continuing to breastfeed is important to you, you and your baby will be well served by getting some help from a consultant.

  6. I had a question! My son is 8 months old and I have been breastfeeding since day 1. I’ve just recently introduced barley to him and he eats solids as well. However, my question is with regarding the barley formula recipe…Can I use Almond milk instead of cows milk?? Almond milk is healthier and even has more calcium in it. I’ve also recently read how bad cows milk is for us. I did get organic whole milk….

    1. Anna – thanks for commenting. On switching out cow’s milk for alternatives like Almond/Soy/Oat/Hemp milk, you can totally do this and nothing terrible will happen. My daughter did best on cows milk, my son sometimes would be prone to spit up, and such symptoms tended to abate temporarily when I switched to soy milk. Almond milk, I think, tastes the best, but has the least protein out of most milk alternatives. Soy milk evidently “has the most protein” but I’ve read conflicting studies that argue how well the body can actually absorb and utilize protein in soy milk. In terms of nutrition, I know the “is cow’s milk good for you” question is answered differently depending on who you ask.

      In the end, the acid test is to try it, and keep a close eye on your child’s indicators. If they seem to be doing well with it as diet augmentation, then by all means go ahead and use it.

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