Co-Bathing! I want to draw attention to a useful technique for getting baby back to breast after a disruption, like a baby who has gotten used to too many bottles. Take a warm, relaxing bath WITH your baby! Here is a great article from La Leche League detailing how to "re-birth" and restart breastfeeding when things have gone off course... https://llli.org/news/co-bathing-a-useful-technique-to-restart-breastfeeding/

The Power of a Prenatal I love to see families for prenatal visits! Why? Because we can talk through preparing for the birth experience, what to expect in the early hours and days, latch and positioning tips, even a little bit about pumping and bottle introduction for the future! It is so helpful for families to build their toolboxes during this time, and feel empowered and educated, especially in not-always-breastfeeding-friendly birth environments. Once we've established

Why an image of someone doing a plank?! What can that possibly have to do with breastfeeding my baby? I am CONSTANTLY discussing the importance of stability and alignment when considering positioning of both parent and baby while breastfeeding. You will hear me say... "Relax your back and shoulders" "Tuck-in baby and lean back" "Ear, shoulder, hip alignment" "Tummy to tummy, chest to chest" "Have baby give you a hug" My goals here? Stability for baby, supported by your bo

I see many families who are "triple feeding" - baby to breast, pumping, bottlefeeding - for various reasons such as low milk supply or oral restrictions. While this strategy can and should be a temporary measure while we work toward the root of the problem, it can still be exhausting and time-consuming. Recently, I have found myself with families brainstorming time-saving measures for this situation! Here are a couple of examples... Latch baby and pump at the same time - if b

Back To Work? One of my most popular follow-up visits is for back to work planning! Ideally, families have been moving along with breastfeeding, have practiced pumping and baby has practiced taking a bottle, and now they are ready to return to the office. I tend to get a lot of questions like - "Will I make enough milk?" "How do I know how much to send?" Also, really common - "Daycare is saying to send more milk, but I am not producing as much as they are asking for! What d

I often share about the importance of paced bottle feeding, especially when the goal is to have the baby easily go between breast and bottle. The idea is to slow down the flow of milk, and allow baby to control the feed, as they would at breast. Encourage them to latch in the same way, reward with milk when they "work" for it, tilt back and allow breaks, and generally follow their cues! Paced bottle feeding can be done with baby sitting upright, and also in a side-lying posit

Supplementing at the Breast! Oftentimes a new parent needs some time to work on milk supply, and ends up supplementing baby with expressed milk, donor milk or formula via bottle in the meantime. I would love to encourage more families to consider supplementing baby directly at the breast, with the help of a supplemental nursing system (SNS). Babies that are interested, willing and able to latch, but just need more "flow" at breast, are particularly good candidates for this!

So many little ones come eagerly to the breast, but once they are there, they snuggle up and fall asleep! Hardly surprising, since it is such a calming place to be! However, we need them to EAT ;) Here are a few of the tips I generally share for those sleepy babies... Breast compressions! You have milk ducts everywhere! A gentle squeeze, massage, jiggle can get the milk flowing and remind baby why they are there! A little "tuck-in" between the shoulder blades. Helps the chi