FAQ
Breastfeeding & Baby Feeding
Basically, a satisfied baby who is gaining weight is ideal, but there’s often much more to it. To gauge whether your baby is getting enough milk, an IBCLC will work with you to track you baby’s feeding patterns, their output (wees and poos), their weight gain, and their temperament, as well as show you how to recognise signs in your own breastfeeding body that baby is feeding well and getting the nutrition they require.
Responsive feeding refers to learning your baby’s hunger cues, and responding to these by feeding at the early hunger signs, rather than feeding you baby on a timed schedule. This concept is used for breast or bottle feeding, allows your baby to be an active participant in their hunger and satiety, and replaces the older term of “demand feeding”.
If you are “responsively” breastfeeding (meaning feeding baby according to their hunger cues, rather than a set time schedule), this is virtually impossible. Babies will unlatch when they are satisfied, often falling asleep and relaxing off. Occasionally our milk can flow very quickly, which can overwhelm babies or cause them to “guzzle”. You can work with a lactation consultant to try strategies for reducing the guzzle or discomfort. Bottle feeding breastmilk to your baby may create an opportunity for overfeeding, but “paced” or “responsive” bottle feeding can really help to allow the baby to only take what they want from the bottle each feed. Bottle feeding your baby with formula can increase the possibility of overfeeding, so it can be helpful to learn about responsive bottle feeding and paced bottle feeding.
Click here to send an enquiry to get help with assessing and feeling confident with your baby’s feeding needs.
Paced bottle feeding allows the parent or baby to set the pace of the feed, rather than the traditional fast pace of bottle feeding. By using paced bottle feeding, we can avoid overfeeding, minimise the discomfort of indigestion, and more closely mimic breastfeeding in order to respect the baby’s autonomy and natural hunger and satiety cues. This is particularly helpful for small or premature babies. You can ask Zoe about a paced bottle feeding plan during your visit.
Click here to send an enquiry for bottle feeding assistance.
Yes. When we produce breastmilk, both breasts usually produce milk if both are stimulated. Most of the time we have one breast that seems to produce more and have a faster flow than the other. This is normal. Sometimes our baby prefers the side with the faster flow and will begin to refuse the other. Working with an IBCLC can help to encourage baby back to the slower breast. Sometimes, through physical, medical or baby preference reasons, women may feed off one breast alone. This is completely safe for mum and baby, though will produce some asymmetry of the breasts while the feeding breast maintains its supply.
Baby doing small, quick sucks on the nipple is called “non-nutritive sucking”, meaning no nutrients are delivered. Babies often do this for comfort and connection with their parent, which is important. Non-nutritive sucking can be normal if it occurs occasionally during a feed where you can see baby otherwise doing mostly “nutritive sucks”, which are longer, deeper and have swallows. However, when baby’s only sucks are the quick, shallow kind, it is important to seek help from an IBCLC, because as the name suggests, there is little to no nutrition gained from this kind of sucking.
Definitely not! Feeding your baby to sleep encourages connection, a feeling of safety and biologically normal behaviour. It’s a win-win situation. The old advice about putting babies down “drowsy but awake” is not evidence based, and can create unrealistic expectations as well as working against your baby’s natural instincts and behaviours.
Breastfeeding Challenges
It can be very stressful when a baby refuses the breast. There are some strategies you can use to help ease baby back to the breast, starting with plenty of skin to skin contact and lots of gentle time together. It is important to have patience, and just go step by step, offering feeds as spending time together, rather than focusing on the volume of milk or time spent feeding. Zoe can work with you to offer support and guidance through these challenges in a way that feels gentle and appropriate for you and your family. Click here to enquire.
Milk “coming in” refers to the change that occurs when we transition from colostrum (our first milk that has a small volume) to more mature breastmilk (which has a larger volume). When this occurs, most people notice a significant increase in the size and fullness of the breasts. This can commonly occur sometime between day 3 and day 5 post birth and often results in baby becoming more settled as their tummy fills. Occasionally, some people don’t notice this change. The milk not coming in can simply be due to an ineffective latch or baby feeding rhythm, or can sometimes be due to physical or hormonal factors for the woman. It is important to speak to your midwife or a lactation consultant if by day 5 you haven’t noticed an increase in the size of your breasts or the volume of breastmilk they seem to be producing. An IBCLC is the ideal support to seek if you feel this could be an issue for you, to help figure out the issue and find a solution. Reach out to see how Zoe can help support you through your feeding challenges.
Breastmilk production is both hormonal and a supply/demand situation. Spending lots of time skin to skin with your baby will increase oxytocin, the hormone that controls breastmilk release from the breast. Feeding your baby often and not timing or restricting feeds will signal to your body the amount of milk required. Emptying each breast before moving on to the other side will let your body know baby’s tummy capacity requires more volume. Expressing either by hand or breast pump after a breastfeed will signal further to the body to increase supply. As we ease further into breastfeeding and our body learns the requirements of our baby’s appetite, it can sometimes feel like our milk supply is reducing. Sometimes it is, but sometimes it’s just our body adjusting and not overproducing like we often do at the beginning. If you have any concerns regarding your milk supply, reach out to Flow State Lactation for a full assessment and comprehensive plan.
If your baby swallows small amounts of blood while breastfeeding, this will not hurt them. However, bleeding nipples are painful and usually a sign that there is an issue with either the breastfeeding technique or the baby’s oral function. Resting damaged nipples for 24 hours and hand expressing instead can be helpful, but there is generally an underlying cause that needs addressing. If you have painful, misshapen, damaged nipples, reach out for an appointment with Flow State Lactation today.
“Plugged ducts” or “blocked ducts” are older terms referring to some breastmilk forming a semi-solid “plug” in one of our breastmilk ducts within the breast, causing a blockage, pain and inflammation. In recent times, new evidence has emerged to show that the cause of these blockages isn’t solidified milk, but inflammation of the milk duct; narrowing the duct, thus obstructing the flow of milk. While this may sound a bit picky, it’s important to distinguish the difference, as the new management recommendations are very different. We now recommend using cool packs and anti-inflammatory medication as components of a regimen to resolve this issue and avoid mastitis. Always make sure your lactation consultant is up to date with the latest evidence.
Mastitis is an infection in the breast caused by inflammation. It can look like hard, red, painful lumps in the breast and a general feeling of being very unwell, with fevers and body aches. Prior to mastitis, inflammation can look like hot, engorged, firm breasts, with body sweats. The trick is responding to the inflammation before it turns into mastitis. Use a cool compress on the breast. Continue to breastfeed normally, but not excessively. Consider anti-inflammatory medication such as ibuprofen. Contact an IBCLC if inflammation persists past a couple of days, as there can be underlying issues such as ineffective breastfeeding patterns or latch issues that can often cause mastitis. If you think you may have mastitis, however, it is important to seek medical advice quickly as well as seeing an IBCLC. Don’t hesitate to present to the emergency department of your local hospital if mastitis flares during the night.
Bottles, Expressing & Combination Feeding
This might depend on how often you use a bottle and how long since you’ve breastfed. Babies can develop a preference for the bottle because it flows quicker, giving them immediate satisfaction. With careful planning and continued breast stimulation (like pumping or hand expressing) you can definitely work back towards breastfeeding if you are motivated and patient. The guidance of an IBCLC can increase your chances of success when making this transition. Click here for guidance from Flow State Lactation.
Technically, yes, but… If you want to feed your baby predominantly breastmilk, you may want to give the breastmilk first, followed by the remainder of the recommended volume in formula. This is because your baby may not want the full volume you are offering, so if you’d combined the two, you may need to throw away some of that “liquid gold” breastmilk that you worked so hard to express. Giving them separately means the only discarded portion is the formula portion.
Combined feeding is when you use a combination of two or more feeding methods at the same time. You might breastfeed and then top-up your baby with expressed breast milk, or you may even add a formula step into the routine. This method is commonly used while trying to increase breastmilk supply, or as a long-term method if breastmilk supply remains lower than what the baby requires. Another common term similar to combined feeding is “comp. feeding”, which essentially means compensatory feeding, or adding a step to the breastfeeding element.
Paced bottle feeding allows the parent or baby to set the pace of the feed, rather than the traditional fast pace of bottle feeding. By using paced bottle feeding, we can avoid overfeeding, minimise the discomfort of indigestion, and more closely mimic breastfeeding in order to respect the baby’s autonomy and natural hunger and satiety cues. This is particularly helpful for small or premature babies, and avoiding overfeeding formula-fed babies. You can ask Zoe about a paced bottle feeding plan during your visit.
Breastfeeding & Family Life
No. In fact, breastmilk contains incredibly effective immune factors to protect your baby from illnesses they may come in contact with. If you or someone in the family are sick, the best thing you can do for your baby is to breastfeed them often to boost their protection. Ensuring that you and the family have good handwashing practices will also help protect baby, particularly if you have older children. Always seek medical advice if your baby stops breastfeeding due to illness, or is breathing differently to normal when they’re sick.
Partners can play an essential role in supporting breastfeeding parents. There are useful things: like doing household chores, feeding the breastfeeding parent, shopping and making meals. There are also fun things to do with baby: bath time, nappy changes, reading stories, outdoor walks, playing games, singing songs. These fun things boost the connection with the baby for the non-breastfeeding parent, and also provide essential down-time for the breastfeeding parent, who can sometimes feel a bit touched-out or exhausted (or hasn’t showered yet).
Known as “weaning”, the timing is different for everyone. The World Health Organisation recommends 6 months of exclusive breastfeeding, with up to two years of breastfeeding plus complimentary foods. Sometimes your child will let you know they are ready to finish breastfeeding, and sometimes it’s the parent who is ready first. There are no rules, but there is support. Contact Flow State Lactation if you would like some support to wean, or you are considering how to approach returning to work and not yet ready to stop breastfeeding.
Working With Flow State Lactation
Zoe specialises in breastfeeding and bottle feeding support and education for families with newborns right through to the toddler years. She can help you with the following, and many topics not covered here – just ask!
- Weaning
- Breast or bottle feeding preparation
- Responsive breastfeeding
- Responsive bottle feeding
- Nipple pain, inverted or flat nipples
- Breast/ bottle refusal
- Tongue-tie identification & support
- Low milk supply
- Slow baby weight gain
- Oversupply
- Mastitis
- Twins, multiples, premature babies
- Unsettled baby
- Reflux/colic, food intolerances
- Inducing lactation
- Relactation
- Suppressing lactation
- Pumping/expressingReturning to workPreparing for pregnancy
- Introducing solid foods
The title IBCLC stands for International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. IBCLCs are the highest accredited healthcare professionals specialising in breastfeeding, milk production, and infant feeding clinical care. Unlike general lactation counselors or educators, IBCLCs are globally recognised as the “gold standard” in lactation care. They must complete 90+ hours of lactation education, multiple health science courses, up to 1,000 hours of supervised clinical training, and pass a rigorous international board exam. Zoe from Flow State Lactation is an IBCLC, as well as a Registered Midwife of over 12 years, so you can be assured you’re in good hands. Check out our About page for more info on Zoe and her qualifications.
Zoe will chat with you to get a full history of the parent and baby journey so far, and an understanding of what is important to you and your family. She will observe a feed and offer any guidance or recommendations as required. Together, we will create a plan for moving forward, and this will be emailed to you. One week after your appointment, Zoe will contact you to check in or follow-up with any further questions. Check out our Services page for appointment types and pricing, or click here to send an enquiry form.
This depends on the reason for your enquiry and of course your personal preference. One or two sessions can sometimes get you well on your way to successful breastfeeding, while sometimes a little more time is required. You might like to refresh your knowledge as baby grows and changes, or you may want assistance planning for life’s milestones and stages, it is really up to you. Prepaid package deals are also available for those who really like to plan ahead. Check out our Services page for more info on services and pricing.
Yes! We currently offer home visits or telehealth appointments. This is super convenient and takes the stress out of leaving home with a new baby. In exciting news, we will soon have a clinic space for you to visit, and will be able to offer more appointment times for your convenience. Watch this space! Check out our Services page for more info and pricing.
