Happy little guy!
Lactation consultants are not only interested in what goes into your baby; we’re also interested in what comes out! We like to see very frequent stooling that is yellowish in color with lots of chunky white curds. That is normal breastfed baby poop. If baby is not pooping frequently, or poop is a different color, that is not normal and we want to know why. Continue reading
This story was sent to me by one of my clients, Yurika. She wants to share it with all of you and hopes that it will help to continue breastfeeding–even when facing challenges.
Mila was born 8lbs 7oz, healthy and passed all the health screening at the hospital before discharging. At our postpartum appointment 3 days after leaving the hospital, her weight loss was brought up as a concern. She seemed to be latching but she was not transferring enough milk and I was experiencing a lot of pain. Her losing more that 10% of her birth weight was addressed at her 7 day postpartum appointment with her pediatrician and we were sent to the breastfeeding center at the hospital that day for further investigation. Continue reading
This story was sent to me by an incredibly determined mom. Thank you, Erin B. for sharing with the world!
My daughter had been nursing exclusively until she was 4 months old. She was always colicky, hard to nurse, and would arch her back and scream during feedings. My nipples were constantly sore. She was diagnosed with acid reflux and put on medication, but it never really helped. We had to start her on solids early at 4 months because she always seemed hungry. Then, at 5 months, she flat out refused to nurse. This time, I knew it was more than just “reflux,” and decided to go digging.
I searched high and low and came across some information regarding tongue ties and lip ties. I immediately made an appointment with our pediatrician to have our daughter checked. He told us that she did not have a tongue tie, and that her lip tie shouldn’t affect feeding, but I had a gut feeling about it and talked to other moms and eventually found Renee–an experienced lactation consultant. (IBCLC)
Even though Renee practiced in another city, an hour away, I made an appointment and went to see her as she has experience in identifying ankyloglossia (tongue tie). It was a wonderful experience. Finally someone listened to me! She was able to identify my daughter’s lip and tongue ties, and help me figure out how to nurse her comfortably, without pain, while waiting to have her ties revised. Renee also contacted my OB and our daughter’s pediatrician to fill them in, and helped us find a wonderful body worker (Michael Hahn) to take our daughter to after her revisions. (Note: Body work is often needed after the ties are revised to resolve any residual tightness in the jaw and other areas.)
We had both the tongue and lip ties clipped. We saw an immediate difference. A few days after the procedure we took our baby for a session of body work with Michael which helped our baby even more. I can’t even begin to describe the difference in my baby since her ties were released, but the short of it is that she is a much more settled, content, happy baby who is gaining weight and growing much more efficiently. For the first time, I have seen her content to nurse and know what “milk drunk” looks like. Her reflux and spitting up have also vanished.
I am forever grateful to have found someone to listen to me and help me figure out how to continue to breastfeed my sweet girl. I will not hesitate to seek help again with any breastfeeding issues, and when we have our next baby, I am absolutely hiring Renee to come to the hospital!
Note from Renee: I refer most of my local clients to Dr. Chenelle Roberts for tongue and/or lip tie releases. If you’re not local to Seattle, that’s ok! I can help you identify tongue tie with a virtual consultation and can locate a provider local to you for the release.
Baby with tight frenulum. No tongue elevation present.
I met a darling baby last week who was obviously tongue tied. By obvious I mean that his tongue was not only visibly anchored to the floor of his mouth, but the mobility of his tongue was severely restricted. All signs indicated tongue tie. He cried frequently through the day with severe gas pains. He could not move his tongue side to side and there was almost no elevation when he cried. When he nursed, his tongue “snapped back” repeatedly. The snap back prevented him from keeping a strong vacuum at the breast, leading to noisy breastfeeding, slipping off the breast and sore nipples for mom. He was so noisy with smacking sounds and squeaky swallowing that his mom nicknamed him “Squeaker.” Continue reading
Multi-tasking!
Alice came to me concerned about how she was going to keep breastfeeding once she returned to her full-time career. In her workplace, there is no such thing as 9-5. Everyone is expected to put in long days. I talked to her about asking for what she needed and setting some limits. We also talked about creative ways to meet her baby’s needs. She took my suggestions and ran with them—developing her own, unique style. Many thanks to Alice for sharing how she has managed to maintain her breastfeeding relationship and continue her fast-paced work life.
Christian is a big, healthy boy who is now enjoying solid foods in addition to mommy’s milk. Here is her success story: Continue reading