In this section are some links to videos and other sites which may help support and inform you when breastfeeding. Whether you are new to breastfeeding or this is baby number four, each baby is unique and comes with their own ideas and challenges. These links offer you the opportunity to look at different positions and techniques to help support you in your feeding journey.
There may come a time in your feeding journey where it may be suggested for you to pump/express in order to increase your milk supply, to offer your baby a supplement of expressed breast milk (EBM), or because you may have made the decision to mix feed. So here are some links which provide lots of useful advice and tips to inform your choices.
(It is recommended by WHO and UNICEF, that if you hope to exclusively breastfeed you should only feed from the breast for the first six months of life that you do not introduce alternative feeding methods/dummies/nipple shields before six weeks to avoid nipple confusion.)
Babies tend to do what they want but sometimes we can perhaps try and give them a little nudge and support in the right direction. Our bodies are very complicated and incredible and they undergo a huge amount of marvellous change during pregnancy and birth, and indeed afterwards which is all normal and natural and physiological……however we live in a busy modern world and sometimes that can interfere with our instincts and hinder how we move our bodies. So here are some links to help you and your baby work together to prepare yourselves for pregnancy, labour and birth.
Stretching, opening out and bodywork can be a really useful thing to do with your baby. if there is any tension in the baby, from positioning in utero, labour and birth experience or mode of birth it can sometimes cause a tightness to baby’s mouth, jaw, neck, shoulder and overall body positioning of your baby. Ideally seeing a trained baby bodyworker would be best, and having that released may help with the soft tissues and muscles and you may find feeding and overall function improves.
However there are some gentle exercises and games you can do with your baby which not only may help with their body function, and behaviour but if you keep it fun, respectful, engaging and consensual it can be a really nice way for you to bond with your baby.