Candice James IBCLC, Los Angeles, CA (2025)

10/01/2025

THERE IS A SCIENCE BEHIND WHY SWAYING WITH YOUR BABY IS HEALING AND CALMING FOR BOTH OF YOU ❤️

When you gently sway back and forth with your baby, you’re not just rocking them. You are engaging one of the oldest, most primal somatic healing practices known to humans: rhythmic movement as medicine.

🌿 For You:
• Rhythmic motion activates your parasympathetic nervous system, lowering heart rate, relaxing muscles, reducing cortisol.
• Gentle repetition creates “bottom up” healing, sending the message to your brain: I am safe.
• Oxytocin (bonding), dopamine (reward), and endorphins (natural pain relief) rise, shifting mood, energy, and emotional regulation.
• The micro engagement of core, hips, and spine supports postpartum recovery while restoring proprioception (your sense of where your body is in space).
• Swaying reanchors you in your body after birth, central to somatic healing when trauma, anxiety, or overwhelm have created disconnection.

🌙 For Your Baby:
• Rocking mimics womb sensations, activating neural pathways of safety and comfort.
• Their immature stress response is regulated by rhythm: heart rate slows, breathing deepens, muscles soften.
• The vestibular system (inner ear balance & coordination) is stimulated, laying groundwork for rolling, crawling, walking.
• Close contact during swaying wires in secure attachment: baby learns, “in motion, I am safe with you.”
• Repeated rhythm helps shape their developing brain, synchronizing motor, sensory, and emotional systems.

💞 Together:
• Your nervous systems coregulate, borrowing each other’s calm.
• Shared rhythm creates entrainment, your bodies sync in a primal dance that predates language.
• Eye contact, warmth, and synchronized breath embed the message: we are safe, we are connected, we are whole.
• This daily act isn’t small, it rewires stress pathways, builds resilience, and strengthens your emotional and physical bond.

If you are ever having an off moment for latching, stand up, sway and deep breath.. reset.. after some moments, try again.

In these moments, both of you are reminded: safety, love, and connection live right here ❤️

10/01/2025

HELLO GORGEOUS OCTOBER 🍂

It is my very own birthday month and even more special to my heart, the birthday of my sweet daughter.

In honor of, how about some October baby and postpartum fun!

October babies get TWO birthstones: opal and tourmaline 💎

They have two flowers too!: marigold and cosmos. 🌸

October is month of the Libra (me) ⚖️ and Scorpio (my daughter) 🦂 vibes

Interesting thoughts:

Fall babies may get a tiny immune boost thanks to mama’s late pregnancy sunshine ☀️

October is one of the busiest birthday months- hello New Years love 😍

Halloween babies get a built in party theme forever that they will most likely either super love or be majorly annoyed by👻🎃

October is a month for Postpartum Magic..

Cooler air, cozy walks, warm drinks 🍂

Baby wearing through the corn maze at the pumpkin patch anyone?? My absolute fave 🥹

Home made pumpkin seeds are the perfect postpartum fuel

Cozy fall newborn photo shoots 😍 Hello flannels and boot weather- also my absolute fave..

Shorter days with extra morning sunlight helps baby’s rhythm ☀️

Watching the leaves fall..

Toddler painting activities with crunchy leaves..

Outdoor concerts?? Farmers Markets??

For me.. October is the month I start to come out of my cave lol when many people love to get out in the summer, I prefer my indoor AC lol

Did I miss any October facts or October feels for you??

09/29/2025

Thought this trend would be fun 😃

And I also of COURSE love being a part of your amazingly beautiful journeys 😍

Are we twinning on any of these?! Lol

09/29/2025

This quote triggered a thought for you guys about SURRENDERING IN POSTPARTUM (Feeding Edition❤️)

Surrender, does not mean giving up.

It means giving your nervous system a moment to calm, ground, reset, pivot if needed.

With breastfeeding, I have noticed sometimes my client feels a HEAVINESS that they need to make a decision instantly. Examples: Do I pump or feed at breast?? Should I release the ties or not?? Should I bring in formula, should I sleep a stretch (Im so exhausted), but will my milk supply suffer??! Should I wean?

It is too too much and guess what? We cannot make a sound decision when our mind is zig zagging and clouded and overwhelmed in a sea of hormonal pressures ❤️

So I have started to incorporate a certain flow and formula that I wanted to share here with YOU!

🌿 The Surrender Formula

Pause → Breathe → Ground → Clarify → Choose

1. Pause
Stop the swirl. Instead of rushing to decide, give yourself permission to pause. This interrupts the urgency spiral.

2. Breathe
Deep, slow breaths cue the nervous system that you are safe. This brings oxytocin online and quiets cortisol.

3. Ground
Connect with your body: place a hand on your chest, feel your feet, or hold your baby skin-to-skin. This anchors you in the present.

4. Clarify
Ask yourself: What matters most in this moment.. my baby and I feeling relaxed and secure, my rest, preserving supply, my mental health? This clears the fog of “shoulds.”

5. Choose
From a calmer place, make the next one decision, not the whole future. Remember, no choice is final, and you can pivot again tomorrow. Feeding journeys can evolve, they do not need to be written in stone.

✨ This flow reframes surrender as empowerment: you’re not giving up, you’re creating space to reset your body and mind so your decisions come from clarity, not panic.

💌 Save this for when your brain feels foggy and your heart feels heavy. You are not alone.

09/28/2025

BREAST CAPACITY refers to how much milk a person’s breasts can store at any given time. Individual from person to person, and even from b***y to b***y! Your right breast may have a larger capacity than your left!

Breast capacity isn’t about breast cup size. Smaller breasts can have just as much, or sometimes even more, capacity than larger ones. What truly matters is the internal glandular tissue, which is responsible for producing and storing milk.
Storage capacity is different from milk supply.

MILK SUPPLY refers to the total milk produced in 24 hours. A smaller capacity means a baby may need to feed more frequently but the total daily milk production can be just as robust as someone with larger capacity. This is why how much you pump in a single session isn’t the best indicator of overall supply, and why strict “cookie cutter” feeding schedules and expectation can actually hurt overall milk production.

An IBCLC can help you understand your own storage capacity. Clues that someone may have a smaller capacity include needing to feed every 1.5–2 hours, pumping under 2 ounces total after a skipped breastfeed. A larger capacity might allow longer stretches between feeds, larger pump amounts with breasts that feel fuller before baby nurses.

And here’s something that matters just as much: ties, tensions, or oral dysfunctions in the baby can sometimes mimic low capacity or low supply. That’s why professional support is so valuable to seek out the deeper details. Breast capacity is just one piece of the puzzle, and this is a great example of how lactation is incredibly individual and variable.

Insufficient glandular tissue (IGT) is a medical condition that equals significant lower amounts of glandular tissue which will equal a lower milk supply overall.

It is so important to know that primary low milk supply is sometimes beyond a persons control. Know that if this is you, you are not alone, and the amount of milk you make does not define your worth or amazingness. ❤️

Did you know about this?

Did you know about this?

07/19/2024

Let that sink in.

Let it be known that if you or someone you know is lactating, it is no simple feat.

Making milk is a complex bodily function.

It is a SUPERPOWER.

07/17/2024

It is Primal- Innate- Biological- A hormonal response to protect our babies.

Like that of bears or wild animals. 🐻

Evolutionarily, it may come across now as multiple questions (who is going to be there, how much did you feed him, what time did he fall asleep), reiterating instructions that we already know you know (remember to feed him at 2, this is how many ounces, remember burp after, try holding him like this). It is also why we have an instinctual response to shwoop in and take the baby when we hear them cry with you, even though we know you are quite capable of calming him.

This has nothing to do with trust- we trust you. We LOVE you. We APPRECIATE you.

It is more about US than it is you. It is a hormonal and biological response, nature made and actually BEAUTIFUL. It means we love our babies more than life itself. They are quite literally our hearts outside of our own body. Its not that you dont love them JUST as much. YOU actually have a natural response system (for example a rise in testosterone to protect us ALL)

For the birthing parent, by natures design, we have a response system and its science. Our blood pressure changes, our brains ping in particular places, our body temperature changes, our cortisol levels rise.. these biological reactions influence our behaviors.

Tips to cope:

- try not to take these moments personal
- validate emotions
- reassure your understanding
- after, share how these moments make you feel
- create a plan or a “safe word” for these moments
- understand these are big moments with big feeling for both of you
- understand that these moments are all big because they are full of big amounts of LOVE
- hug it out (truly- long hugs with deep breathes together will raise your oxytocin levels and more)

As always, there is such an importance for a professional support team postpartum. Sometimes these feelings/reactions can be signs of postpartum anxiety. I am the biggest advocate of prenatal and postpartum therapies individually and as couples even during non crisis moments.

Please reach out privately if you need support and professional resources ♥️

07/16/2024

Invite your baby’s caregiver to join you on this free Zoom as we discuss proper baby feeding amounts, paced bottle feeding and how to ensure baby is getting enough while you are out.

07/11/2024

The best way to help a new parent is to ask them exactly what they need. The answer will be different for every new parent! If it IS to hold the baby so that they can clean or make themselves food because that is what their mental health is calling for, then of course this infographic may not apply.

Here are some great examples of what (typically) new mamas may love as support:

- porch drop offs- food or supplies 😍
- walking the doggies
- store runs (save them the door dash fees lol)
- house cleaning
- laundry washing and folding
- cooking (bonus points for easy leftovers or freezer back ups)
- driving or coming along to doctors appointments to support and carry items/load up stroller etc.
- playing with older siblings or taking them to a fun activity

Important! Don’t forget about your 6 months + mamas! This is typically a time when the checkins fall off and people think all is under control but its often the time when newborn adrenaline is wearing off and exhaustion is settling in.

07/10/2024

Loving these supportive responses! Feel free to leave some things you wish someone would have told you about the postpartum period 🤍

07/09/2024

Free Postpartum Prep Webinar 🤍

When a baby is born, it is the most beautiful time of life. It can also be overwhelming. MCLA brings expertise from the 3 best pillars of support for the newborn stage: Sleep, Feeding & Mental Health.

Learn what to expect during these first few months after birth and strategies to cope with a licensed therapist, certified gentle sleep coach and IBCLC.

Speakers: Candice James - IBCLC, Gayane Aramyan - LMFT, & Tracie Kesatie - Sleep Coach

RSVP via email [motherhoodcollectivela@gmail.com](mailto:motherhoodcollectivela@gmail.com)

Candice James IBCLC

10/01/2025

10/01/2025

09/29/2025

09/29/2025

09/28/2025

07/19/2024

07/17/2024

07/16/2024

07/11/2024

07/10/2024

07/09/2024

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