Guest Blog: How Expert Lactation Support Encourages Comfort for You and Your Baby
Feeding a baby is natural - it’s part of nature. While the term natural is often equated with “ease”, many parts of nature are certainly not easeful, comfortable, or straight forward from the get go. This includes feeding a baby. In fact, for many families, feeding a baby is one of the most challenging aspects of early parenting.
However a baby is being fed - breastfeeding, pumping, formula and bottle feeding - there are such a myriad of factors that need to sync up, to get things on a smooth and comfortable trajectory.
The great news is that working with a Lactation Consultant, specializing in all areas of infant feeding, can help make the whole experience less daunting, more efficient, and much more enjoyable.
How discomfort can present itself
There are many layers to infant feeding - not only is it a physical act, there is also a very emotional and psychological element to the process. Here are some ways that discomfort can manifest for babies and their parents:
Nipple pain and damage.
Breast pain.
Fussy babies.
Infant reflux.
Sore bodies for parents.
Sore bodies for babies.
Lengthy feeds.
Milk supply/production concerns.
Emotional and psychological discomfort and worries - i.e. worries babies are not taking enough or taking too much, anxieties about physical discomfort, stress from fussy babies.
Thankfully, these are very often not unique concerns and there are multiple remedies to help!
How Lactation Consultants help optimize comfort
Here are 4, overarching, ways an experienced LC can help get feeding into a comfortable and smooth trajectory:
Alignment.
Alignment and slight adjustments to the latch or feeding position, are some of the first key remedies that we look at.
With breast and bottle feeding, we want babies to feel secure. That means, understanding how to hold your baby confidently. For both yours and your baby’s comfort, it also means knowing which props (pillows, rolled blankets etc.) to use and how to use them, so you’re not hindering the alignment.
However, a baby is being fed, their spines should be in their natural curve, with hips in line with lips. Your body should also be relaxed and your seated position should help encourage good spinal alignment too. A hunched body can cause tension and restrict blood flow.
For breastfeeding, we want babies quite snug into the feeding person’s body, with their chin touching the breast and nose off of the breast. We want their mouths as wide as they can personally open, with as much tissue in their mouth as they can take. This will help with milk transfer and help prevent, or resolve, nipple pain and damage.
The same goes for their latch on a bottle. A wide mouth, with a good seal, will help your baby transfer milk more effectively and take in less air. Bottles are not created equal - the shape, the size, the texture of the teat, and the flow rate, can be so different from one bottle company to the next. These variables can significantly impact babies’ comfort (and yours) during a feed.
Babies’ anatomy is small (particularly little newborns) and sometimes it’s just a mm of change that can make all the difference.
Anatomy, physiology and health history.
When I work with families, I look at the full picture of their health. I also look at babies’ oral and physical anatomy, with permission from their parents. These areas can impact so much of how feeding is unfolding. Some examples of areas that I take note of are:
Tongue ties - in essence, a tongue tie is a tight, restricted frenulum. Frenulums attach to the underside of the tongue and to the floor of the mouth - we all have them, so seeing a frenulum does not indicate a problem. Equally good to know is that tight frenulums don’t actually hurt a baby. However, if there’s limited function in the tongue, it can cause nipple pain and damage, for the feeding parent. Tongue ties can also impact how a baby is accessing milk from the breast and/or bottles, sometimes causing them to become sleepy or fussy and feeds to become stressful for everyone. For more information about tongue ties, you can read this thorough blog here.
Recessed chins - many babies have some form of recess in the chin, and they feed just fine. However, when it is a little bit further recessed, it can impact how a baby is able to latch and access milk. Positioning and tools can help these babies feed better.
Body or neck tension - some babies have significant tension in their bodies. This can be from womb positioning or from labour. Specific positioning, and body exercises, as well as working with a trained pediatric body worker, is often recommended for these babies.
Nipple shape and size - babies are not nipple feeders, meaning we do not generally want them latching just onto a nipple. Rather, we want them taking in as much areola as they can. With that said, sometimes nipple size and shapes, such as inverted nipples, or nipples that are larger than average, can impact how a baby is feeding. In these scenarios, we need to explore different latch positions or tools, to help a baby latch on more successfully.
With bottles, the shapes, texture and flow rate of the teats can be drastically different. It’s important to find the right one to meet each baby’s physical anatomy, like the size of their mouth and the strength of their suck.
Maternal Health history - some pre-existing health conditions can impact how feeding is unfolding. This includes, but is not limited to, things like thyroid conditions, diabetes, PCOS, and previous breast surgeries or biopsies. To help, we may look at feeding management tips, pumping routines and flange fitting, galactagogues (foods, herbs and medicine to help with supply) and regular weight checks, for baby.
Birth - how a birth unfolded can impact comfort and sometimes milk supply. For example, c-sections, episiotomies or generally discomfort from a vaginal delivery, may need some positioning tweaks, so that the feeding parent can sit and/or hold their baby comfortably. Sometimes, things occur during or immediately after birth that may also impact physical, emotional and psychological comfort, and in turn how feeding and milk supply unfolds. This can include postpartum hemorrhage or time in the NICU for babies. Often we’re looking at a combination of support tools here, such as positioning, feeding management tips, pumping and flange fitting, and possibly galactagogues, too.
Referrals.
Pregnancy and birth can subtly and deeply affect babies and parents’ physical, emotional and psychological comfort. Physical trauma and strain can happen, which can certainly be helped with positioning and prop support. However, sometimes, more support is needed, from an expert body worker (like Courtney Wood!)
Birth is a huge event and even when it goes smoothly, there is a lot to process. Entering the new world of parenting is also a huge internal tectonic shift. Processing some of this can happen, while we delve into feeding a baby.
I am there to remind you that you are not alone, you’re doing an amazing job, and to take it one step at a time - the learning curve is steep but you’ve got it! Anything beyond my scope, is always referred to trusted professionals who are trained to work with the world of perinatal mental health.
The Realities of Feeding.
Feeding a baby is not straightforward - there are just so many areas that can impact how feeding is going!
There’s no denying that optimizing comfort, in all realms, can positively affect milk transfer, milk production and feeding efficiency. It can also, very importantly, impact a baby’s demeanor and how parents are feeling about feeding their baby.
The reality is that feeding a baby is hard work. We ALL walk into parenthood with some expectations and the best laid plans, particularly in this complex world of feeding a baby, often go astray. A big reminder here, though - going astray isn’t necessarily a bad thing - it is just a different journey.
With expert support, we can craft a path that gets your baby fed and thriving, efficiently and comfortably, alongside you also feeling great.
_____________________
Kate Sissons is a Toronto based Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). She supports families, with all their feeding needs, across all the areas of the city. Her support is offered privately, in homes, as well as through some no cost clinical care, at two Toronto pediatric clinics.
Kate is also a mother to 3 children and truly understands the realities of feeding babies and the intricacies of parenting.
You can learn more about Kate, her offerings and book support on her website here www.katesissons.com