TLC Theresa Lactation Consultant

03/09/2025

Surprised? Recent guidance recommends avoiding swaddling. It's important to understand the reasons behind this advice.

I know some of y’all just LOVE your swaddles, this is not an attack. 🚨

Babies need their arms to feed well. I know their scratchy nails and little hands can be annoying and get in the way. But they use their hands and arms for balance and stability at the breast and to find the ni**le.

Wrapping up babies in blanket burritos dampens their feeding cues and can cause missed feedings.

This is ESPECIALLY worrisome in the early days and weeks when frequent milk removal is required to create your milk supply.

Your breasts are literally calibrating the milk volumes and when you miss feeding cues, it means LESS milk is going to be made.

Frequent/long swaddle sessions can cause babies to be underfed.

Babies should be gaining 1oz/day.

Babies who can’t use their startle reflexes as designed aren’t able to reduce their risk of SIDS.

They are literally designed to startle as a way to keep them alive.

Reconsider the swaddle.

Other ideas for ways ways to ensure your baby is safe and sleeping well can be found at Biologically Normal Infant & Toddler Sleep. 🖤🖤🖤

Let them use those arms! 😍

03/09/2025

Hot topic 🔥 that's rarely discussed 🤫

02/09/2025

This! 🙌 Don’t burden new parents with algebra. Please 🚫

I was told to give my newborn baby 57mls per feed on day 2?

Where does this very precise volume come from?

Well it comes from a calculation which bases infant feed volumes on 150ml per kilo weight per day divided by 8 feeds a day. But does this make sense?

We know that a newborn has a stomach capacity of 20ml (Bergman, 2013). Yet parents of a newborn weighing 3.5kg would be told to give 65ml per feed. No wonder parents tell me their babies have vomited after being given these disproportionate amounts!

At the other end of the scale I have seen a 7 week old baby who had fallen off the bottom of the growth chart because this calculation had been used to calculate feed volumes. At 7 weeks he was only getting 54ml per feed with a total intake of around 500ml when babies of this age average 90-120ml per feed, total intake around 800ml.

Research on milk production indicates that around 27ml of colostrum is produced in the first 24 hours and this gradually rises to around 550ml by day 5, and around 750ml by day 28. Volumes then stabilise at between about 850-950ml per day (Neville et al, 1989) These are the volumes we should keep in mind when thinking about feed volumes. Not a non sensical calculation.

01/09/2025

To wake? Or not to wake?

Let’s talk about waking a sleeping baby. It used to be common to recommend waking a newborn under 2 weeks old every 3 hours to feed. Why? We except babies to lose up to 7-8% of their birth weight in the first 3-4 days and then regain it by 10-14 days. Many hospital staff still recommend this with the expectation that at baby’s 2 week check up, the pediatrician would give the go ahead to let baby sleep as long as they wanted based off regained weight. This is based on research that newborns typically breastfeed a MINIMUM of 8 times in 24 hours (most breastfed babies eat 10-16 times in 24 hours). In reality, if a newborn is feeding well (pain free latch, audible swallows noted, engaged during feedings), if they are gaining weight and peeing/pooping, there’s no reason to wake them to feed. Even from birth. Babies are exhausted from labor as much as you are and sleep is a good thing to recover.

Reasons to wake a baby to feed:
⚖️Lost more than 10% of their birth weight
🍯 Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)
⚖️Struggling to gain weight
👅Not efficiently feeding due to tongue ties or an uncoordinated suck
😞Moderate to severe jaundice
🚑Certain medical conditions
💊 Side effects of certain medications is making baby drowsy

Waking a baby to eat because of feeding, jaundice, or weight concerns would be done TEMPORARILY and under the guidance of a team of health care providers. If a pediatrician is recommending to wake baby, and the goal is breastfeeding, they should refer the family to an IBCLC lactation consultant or have the family come into the office for multiple weight checks to stop waking as soon as feeding is on track. Many times a triple feeding plan would be put into place (attempt to latch, pump and supplement) to help establish milk supply and keep baby fed until baby becomes more efficient at feeding. This usually happens within the first 2-3 weeks after birth. Once baby is waking on their own, gaining weight and consistently feeding efficiently, there is no need to wake baby to feed and the triple feeding should be weaned off.

01/09/2025

Even if you aren't planning on bedsharing, sometimes it just happens! Be prepared 💚
THE SAFE SLEEP 7
If you are breastfeeding, meet all seven for safer bedsharing.
#1 No smoking in the home or outside
#2 Sober adults: no alcohol, no drowsy medications
#3 Breastfeeding day and night
#4 Healthy baby who is full term
#5 Baby on back and face up
#6 No sweat: baby in light clothing, no swaddling
#7 Safe surface: no soft mattress, no extra pillows, no toys, no tight or heavy covers. Clear of strings and cords. Gaps firmly filled: use rolled towels or baby blankets.

01/09/2025

The terms might seem similar, but Responsive Feeding is a 2-way relationship in which *everyone* gets their needs met.

30/08/2025

Babies need movement! Compared to previous centuries, today’s babies spend far too much time in “containers” (bassinets with shushing devices, vibrating seats, prams with rocket jugglers, capsules). This restricts normal infant movement, leading to body stiffness and feeding struggles.

28/08/2025

Sleep isn’t a straight road. It’s a wandering mountain pathway with many curves and ups and downs.

28/08/2025

Please don’t “ni**le shame”! Just like feet and other body parts, there is a wide range of *normal* when it comes to ni**les. Believe me, yours are normal👍 I can say that confidently without ever seeing your ni**les 😂

Breasts and ni**les have as much diversity in shape and size as our other body parts. The range of normal is wide. Most of us don’t look like the pictures in the breastfeeding books or videos. You may notice that your breasts are not exactly the same size. Each ni**le may be different. Some ni**les stand out. Some look flat. Others look like they are poking inward.

The most important thing to remember is that babies BREASTfeed not NIPPLEfeed. As long as your baby can get a good portion of the breast in his mouth, then most types of ni**les do not cause problems.

Reach out if latching hurts, feeds stay short and frequent, diaper counts drop, or weight gain worries you.

More step-by-step help: lllc.ca/flat-or-inverted-ni**les-and-breastfeeding
One-to-one support: connect with an LLLC Leader at LLLC.ca

**les **les

28/08/2025

Gentle hands 🙌

28/08/2025

Helpful for making informed decisions about contraception while breastfeeding 💟