LALactation

05/08/2026

05/08/2026

Baby teeth typically emerge in a specific order, starting with the lower central incisors around 6-10 months, followed by the upper central incisors. All 20 baby teeth should make their appearance by age 3. Teething symptoms can look really similar to sickness or feeding aversion, such as drooling, gum irritation, and fussiness, in combination with increased night waking and lack of appetite. While most babies follow this timeline, there can be individual variation, with some teething earlier or later than average. Your pediatric a has been trained to note the subtle differences between teething pain and illness but it can be hard as a parent to know what’s going on

Key Differences:
• High fever is associated with illness, not teething, but a fever around 100° is common with teething
•Cough, runny nose with colored boogies, or congestion point more toward an illness
•Teething-related symptoms are usually mild and short-lived, while illness symptoms can be more severe and last longer

If you’re unsure whether your baby is teething or ill, it’s always best to check with a healthcare provider, especially if symptoms like high fever, vomiting, or lethargy are present

How did you know when your baby was teething?

Don’t forget to comment, like, share and follow.

05/07/2026

Smoking and breastfeeding. In a nut shell: try to quit or decrease smoking when breastfeeding, but it’s better to breastfeed while smoking than to formula feed and continue to smoke

Smoking can cause low milk supply/milk let-down issues for you and your baby is at increased risk of colic, poor weight gain, respiratory infections, and SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). Your milk does not eliminate these risks but does significantly lower them compared to formula feeding. Breastfeeding also helps protect babies from the potential risks of environmental smoke.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) removed ni****ne from its list of “contraindicated” substances during breastfeeding. An AAP statement issued in 2001 says, in part:
“One study reported that, among women who continue to smoke throughout breastfeeding, the incidence of acute respiratory illness is decreased among their infants, compared with infants of mothers who bottle fed. It may be that breastfeeding and smoking is less detrimental to the child than bottle feeding and smoking.”

If you do continue to smoke:
⏱️Wait as much time as possible between smoking and breastfeeding to lower the amount of ni****ne in your milk
🧯Smoke right after breastfeeding and away from baby. Change your clothes and wash your hands before coming back to care for your baby’s. Have other smokers do the same
🚬E-cigs and vapes may have the same risks. There is limited research about the safety and health effects of e-cigarettes
⚖️Monitor baby’s weight gain

***This post is meant to help families make decisions about smoking and breast feeding vs smoking and formula feeding. I try to be as objective as possible and there is no judgment on the choice the family makes. Being pro breastfeeding does not mean being anti formula. Some people don’t realize the recommendation is to continue breastfeeding if you decide to smoke. Most assume you need to wean and offer formula

05/06/2026

Words are seeds.

They don’t fall onto the ground. They land in our hearts and heads.
In the quiet 2am feeds.
In the moments she questions everything.
In the space where confidence is either built… or slowly unraveled.

As lactation professionals, we are not just giving information.
We are planting something that will grow.

🌱 “Your body was made to do this.”
🌱 “Your baby is communicating, let’s figure it out together.”
🌱 “There are many ways forward, and we’ll find the one that works for you.”
🌱 “This is hard, and you’re doing it anyway.”

These seeds take root as trust.
They grow into resilience.
They stay with a mother long after we are gone.

But so do the others.

🌱 “You just need to try harder.”
🌱 “Your supply isn’t enough.”
🌱 “That’s not normal.”
🌱 “If you don’t fix this now, it will only get worse.”

These seeds grow too.
Into doubt.
Into fear.
Into a voice in her head that whispers she is failing — even when she’s not.

This is the work.

Not just latches and ounces and plans.
But language. Tone. Presence. Impact.

And to the mothers reading this:
If someone planted something in you that feels heavy, shame-filled, or absolute…
You don’t have to keep growing it.

You are allowed to replant.

You are allowed to choose new words.
New support.
New narratives.

Because the story that grows inside you?
It was never meant to be rooted in fear.
What words have had the most impact on your feeding journey?

05/06/2026

Think back to your childhood

You’ve NEVER seen a TV commercial or glossy magazine ad marketing baby bottles

There’s a reason

It’s called the World Health Organization Code (formally the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes)

This global policy limits how infant feeding products (like bottles and formula) can be marketed to families
The goal is simple: protect parents from misleading claims during a really vulnerable time

So what does that mean in real life?

Bottle companies can’t market the way other baby brands do
No big ad campaigns telling you their bottle is “the best” or “what your baby needs”

Instead, their marketing lives in two places:
• The packaging in your hand
• And… you

Yep. Parents have become the marketing channel

Social media is FULL of bottles for a reason
Not because one magically works better than all the others
But because companies rely on visibility through real families sharing what they use

And here’s where it gets tricky

Terms like:
• “Anti-colic”
• “Breast-like”
• “Mimics breastfeeding”

These are marketing phrases
They’re not standardized
They’re not regulated in a meaningful, evidence-based way
And they don’t guarantee your baby will feed better

Because babies aren’t struggling with a “wrong bottle” nearly as often as we’re led to believe

Feeding is about:
Flow rate
Positioning
Oral function
Regulation
Practice

Not a magic ni**le

So if you’re feeling like you need to try 6 different bottles to “fix” feeding
Pause for a second

It might not be the bottle

This isn’t about avoiding bottles
Bottles can be incredibly helpful and necessary

This is about seeing through the marketing

You don’t need the trendiest bottle
You don’t need the one with the most buzzwords

You need something that works for YOUR baby
And the support to make feeding feel easier

Because good marketing is powerful
But informed parents are more powerful
Need help finding the right bottle for your baby? Comment HELP for individualized care.

05/06/2026

Have you been caught in the pump trap? What helped you break free?

05/05/2026

We don’t talk about it enough, but we should. Postpartum mood disorders are one of the most common complication of childbirth. The intrusive thoughts, the suffocating anxiety, the bone-deep exhaustion — they can all be sitting under the surface while moms put on a happy face to the rest of the world. Proper support can change everything. Therapy, community, and sometimes medication, can help moms find themselves again

Sertraline, commonly known by its brand name Zoloft, is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) widely prescribed to treat conditions such as depression, anxiety disorders, and OCD

Sertraline is often considered a preferred antidepressant for breastfeeding mothers due to its minimal transfer into breast milk and low infant serum levels. This is supported by multiple sources:
•Dr. Thomas Hale’s resource, “Medications & Mothers’ Milk,” classifies sertraline as an L2 (Most Likely Compatible) medication. This designation indicates that sertraline has been taken by a large number of breastfeeding mothers without any observed increase in adverse effects in their infants
•The Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed) notes that maternal doses of sertraline even as high as 200 mg daily produce low levels in infant serum. It is considered a first line medication to try for managing postpartum mood disorders
•The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) suggests that sertraline is likely the safest choice among antidepressants for breastfeeding mothers, as drug levels found in nursing infants are usually minimal

While sertraline is generally safe during breastfeeding, monitor for any unusual symptoms in baby, like irritability, poor feeding, or changes in sleep patterns. Maternal mental health is health, and having a healthy mom is an important part of infant feeding

05/05/2026

You would think that the stronger a breast pump can suction, the better. But before you crank that pump to the highest setting, make sure you know the benefits (and risks) of doing that. Breast pump suction power is measured in mmHG (millimeters of mercury), the standard unit of measuring vacuum pressure. Studies were done on babies sucking at the breast and breasts pump suction levels are based off what we know of how babies remove milk from the breast. The suction level, or vacuum, is different than the cycle speed, which is how fast it pumps. This is why breast pumps should have two settings: cycle (speed) and vacuum (strength). Every baby sucks are their own pace and with their own vacuum strength.

Every pump has its own max suction strength that it can reach. “Hospital grade” pumps generally have maximum suction levels in the 300+ mmHg range while personal grade pumps are generally in the 200+ mmHg range. This doesn’t necessarily make a pump better or worse. The highest suction level on most pumps are actually above our natural comfort zone. Most people feel comfortable expressing in the range of 150 – 200 mmHg regardless of whether the pump can reach 250 or 350 mmHg at its max. Using the suction too high, especially in combination of the wrong size fl**ges, can hinder milk flow and be the root cause of plugged ductsmastitis, dropping milk supply and breast/ni**le damage!

Think of it like drinking from a milkshake with a narrow straw. When you suck too hard, the straw starts to collapse on itself and the shake is really hard to drink. Milkshakes move better with gentle, consistent sucking that doesn’t collapse the straw. Milk ducts are like compressible straws inside the breast that move milk from milk-making glands to your ni**le then to your baby. Too much pump suction compresses the breast tissues which pinches off the ducts and actually decreases the flow of milk to the pump. With time this can also foster inflammation and damage. This also leaves milk behind which eventually can drop your overall milk supply. Having the right size fl**ge AND using enough suction to move milk but not compress the ducts is essential to a happy pumping

05/05/2026

We have almost no research on breastfeeding and EDS and that gap shows up in real life.

Francis, J., & Dickton, D. D. (2022). Considerations for lactation with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome: a narrative review. International breastfeeding journal, 17(1), 4.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186/s13006-021-00442-9.pdf

05/03/2026

Having a stash of frozen breast milk is an option, but doesn’t need to be a necessity. How much you need in your stash depends on how long you’ll be away from your baby at any given time and your personal goals. You don’t need a stash to breastfeed. The stash should match your goals, not to match someone else’s stash.