Makes Milk with Emma Pickett: breastfeeding from the beginning to the end

This week, I have the honour of talking to Dr Vicky Thomas, consultant paediatrician and gastroenterologist. She’s here to talk about how paediatricians support families in the UK, some of the reasons why somebody might go to see a paediatrician if they're a breastfeeding family, and we talk about lots of things doctory and infant feeding.

Resources mentioned - 

Breastfeeding for Doctors

BOOKS | Dr Pamela Douglas

Breastfeeding the Brave - Lyndsey Hookway

Some of Melissa Bartick’s work: Suboptimal breastfeeding in the United States: Maternal and pediatric health outcomes and costs (wiley.com)

Adrienne Hedger’s cartoon here #12: 21 Too-Real Comics That Capture The Highs And Lows Of Breastfeeding | HuffPost UK Parenting (huffingtonpost.co.uk)

First Steps Nutrition Trust

The Lullaby Trust - Safer sleep for babies, Support for families

Find out more about breastfeeding and chest feeding older babies and children in my book Supporting Breastfeeding Past the First Six Months and Beyond: A Guide for Professionals and Parents

Follow me on Twitter @MakesMilk and on Instagram  @emmapickettibclc or find out more on my website www.emmapickettbreastfeedingsupport.com

This podcast is presented by Emma Pickett IBCLC, and produced by Emily Crosby Media.

This week we’re talking weaning as in starting food, rather than weaning from the breast. I’m joined by Cordelia Uys, an NCT breastfeeding counsellor who supports parents with introducing solids, to answer your questions about all things food. 

You can hear more from Cordelia on her website https://www.cordeliauys.co.uk/ and follow here on instagram @‌cordeliauys.

Questions answered in this episode - 

2:10 Why is the recommendation to introduce solids around six months?
7:22 Do you ever think there's a time when it's appropriate to introduce solid food before six months?
10:39 What about parents with allergies in the family?
12:14 Are there times when you think it might be appropriate to delay the onset of solids?
15:48 Should we be worried about iron levels after six months?
16:54 I'm going back to work at six months, but I don't want to miss starting my baby on solids. Any suggestions?
18:31 What is baby led weaning? And how is it different from spoon feeding/purees? Does it have to be one or the other?
27:10 Is there a risk of choking with baby-led weaning?
33:56 How do you avoid engorgement/mastitis when a baby starts eating solids?
39:32 When do you start worrying about whether you’ve got to three meals a day?
42:51 How do you suggest that families introduce water? And how can they make sure they're giving the right amount?
46:30 What do you say to parents about introducing foods and whether it should it be in a particular order?
49:45 If somebody has a minor allergic reaction, what would that look like and what do they need to possibly do if that happens?
51:23 What are the sort of foods that we really do stay away from in infancy?
55:35 At what point should you look at breastfeeding frequency in relation to lack of solid intake? What should you do when a toddler still very much prefers milk to having solid 18 months plus? My health visitor is suggesting I wean from breastfeeding, is that necessary?

Find out more about breastfeeding and chest feeding older babies and children in my book Supporting Breastfeeding Past the First Six Months and Beyond: A Guide for Professionals and Parents

Follow me on Twitter @MakesMilk and on Instagram  @emmapickettibclc or find out more on my website www.emmapickettbreastfeedingsupport.com

Resources mentioned - 

Choking video: Children First Aid: Choking baby - YouTube

Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (UK) on feeding in the first year, with discussion on why solids at 6 months: Feeding in the first year of life: SACN report - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

November 2022 newsletter — First Steps Nutrition Trust (discussion of allergy studies)

Why Starting Solids Matters - Pinter & Martin Publishers (pinterandmartin.com)

The Baby-led Weaning Cookbook (penguin.co.uk)

For more resources and Instagram accounts to follow see Transcript

This podcast is presented by Emma Pickett IBCLC, and produced by Emily Crosby Media.

Finding a way to effectively and comfortably feed your baby can sometimes feel like a challenge. Luckily, there are wonderful people like my guest, Maddie McMahon, who can help with all things positioning, attachment and so much more. In our wide-ranging conversation, we talk about Maddie’s charity, Maddie’s Miracle, why cross-cradle hold isn’t for everyone, alternative feeding positions, and whether pain is ‘natural’ in breastfeeding.

Find out more about Maddie on her website - https://maddiemcmahon.com/

Find out more about breastfeeding and chest feeding older babies and children in my book Supporting Breastfeeding Past the First Six Months and Beyond: A Guide for Professionals and Parents

Resources mentioned -
No pain, no gain? What EXACTLY do we mean by breastfeeding pain? - The Birth Hub

My Book: Why Doulas Matter - The Birth Hub

Why Mothering Matters - Pinter & Martin Publishers (pinterandmartin.com)

How to Become a Doula - Developing Doulas

Mobile Breastfeeding Support - Maddie's Miracle (maddiesmiracle.org.uk)

Breastfeeding Resources – Cambridge Breastfeeding Alliance

Nancy Mohrbacher - YouTube

BASIS – Baby Sleep Information Source (basisonline.org.uk)

Follow me on Twitter @MakesMilk and on Instagram  @emmapickettibclc or find out more on my website www.emmapickettbreastfeedingsupport.com

This podcast is presented by Emma Pickett IBCLC, and produced by Emily Crosby Media.

Trigger warning: This episode discusses fertility struggles, miscarriage and early pregnancy loss.

Fertility and breastfeeding can be confusing, with conflicting information coming from friends, family and medical practitioners, so in this episode I speak to the knowledgeable Carol Smyth IBCLC to try and make sense of the issue. We talk about what effect breastfeeding has on your hormones, when periods return after birth, nursing and assisted conception, charting and perimenopause.

You can find more from Carol, including her articles about fertility at www.carolsmyth.co.uk

The books Carol mentioned are

Taking Charge Of Your Fertility: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control, Pregnancy Achievement and Reproductive Health by Toni Weschler
Fertility Cycles and Nutrition by Marilyn Shannon

Find out more about breastfeeding and chest feeding older babies and children in my book Supporting Breastfeeding Past the First Six Months and Beyond: A Guide for Professionals and Parents

Follow me on Twitter @MakesMilk and on Instagram  @emmapickettibclc or find out more on my website www.emmapickettbreastfeedingsupport.com

This podcast is presented by Emma Pickett IBCLC, and produced by Emily Crosby Media.

Catherine’s story touched on a lot of elements: managing with tongue tie, triple feeding, looking after yourself, setting feeding goals and knowing when parent-led weaning and putting in boundaries feels right. We look at managing the big feelings of little people, the aware parenting philosophy, the importance of support and that final breastfeed when the time comes. 

You can find Catherine on instagram as @‌stroudgentlesleepsupport, where you can follow her link to learn more about her professional life. 

Catherine’s new project is Stroud Motherhood Collective. You can find more about that on instagram @stroudmotherhoodcollective or at stroudmotherhood.com. Shout out to gbsn.org.uk who get a mention - the wonderful Gloucestershire Breastfeeding Support.

Find out more about breastfeeding and chest feeding older babies and children in my book Supporting Breastfeeding Past the First Six Months and Beyond: A Guide for Professionals and Parents

Follow me on Twitter @MakesMilk and on Instagram  @emmapickettibclc or find out more on my website www.emmapickettbreastfeedingsupport.com

This podcast is presented by Emma Pickett IBCLC, and produced by Emily Crosby Media.

Are there additional challenges to weaning a neurodivergent child? What strategies can we employ to wean with care and kindness when neurodivergence is involved?  In the next two episodes, I’m sharing two different perspectives, from Eleanor and Faith.

In this episode, I speak to Eleanor about weaning her first child, Anna. Both Eleanor and Anna have recently been diagnosed with autism. We discuss the prevalence of neurodivergence in the breastfeeding supporter world, the similarities and differences between weaning her neurodivergent and neurotypical children, and Eleanor shares some resources that can be of help to parents and supporters.

Find out more about breastfeeding and chest feeding older babies and children in my book Supporting Breastfeeding Past the First Six Months and Beyond: A Guide for Professionals and Parents

Follow me on Twitter @MakesMilk and on Instagram  @emmapickettibclc or find out more on my website www.emmapickettbreastfeedingsupport.com

Resources mentioned in this episode - 

Eleanor Campbell is @Eleanor.ibclc on Instagram and her website is www.eleanor-campbell-breastfeeding.com

@DrAimeeGrant on Twitter

Autistic Parents UK

Reframing Autism | Celebrating & nurturing Autistic identity

This podcast is presented by Emma Pickett IBCLC, and produced by Emily Crosby Media.

Are there additional challenges to weaning a neurodivergent child? What strategies can we employ to wean with care and kindness when neurodivergence is involved?  In the next two episodes, I’m sharing two different perspectives, from Eleanor and Faith.

In this episode, I speak to Faith about weaning her son, Addison. We talk about having a newborn during the Covid lockdown, nursing manners, and leaning into your child’s passions to find alternatives to breastfeeding as you wean.

Find out more about breastfeeding and chest feeding older babies and children in my book Supporting Breastfeeding Past the First Six Months and Beyond: A Guide for Professionals and Parents

Follow me on Twitter @MakesMilk and on Instagram  @emmapickettibclc or find out more on my website www.emmapickettbreastfeedingsupport.com

This podcast is presented by Emma Pickett IBCLC, and produced by Emily Crosby Media.

Our weaning topic isn’t over yet, but this week, I wanted to answer some of your questions about weaning. You can find a list of the questions and when they come up below, and if you have a question that I haven’t covered yet, do message me on Instagram @emmapickettibclc and I’ll answer it in a later episode.

Find out more about breastfeeding and chest feeding older babies and children in my book Supporting Breastfeeding Past the First Six Months and Beyond: A Guide for Professionals and Parents

Follow me on Twitter @MakesMilk and on Instagram  @emmapickettibclc or find out more on my website www.emmapickettbreastfeedingsupport.com

Questions answered in this episode - 

• 1:28 How do you drop that 5am feed, without them starting the day?
• 4:57 Will my child sleep better when I wean?
• 8:40 How do you night wean if cutting the bedtime feed doesn’t feel right? And, If I want to stop feeding during the night, would it be best to also not feed to sleep initially at bedtime?
• 10:18How do you help a toddler fall asleep at bedtime without the breast if it's all they’ve ever known?
• 13:24 It will be helpful to know how much crying is okay. When it escalates and they can't be soothed other than the breast, does it mean they're not ready? Or is it just a change that they're fighting?
• 17:59 Will my child eat more solid food when I wean?
• 20:15 How do you gently wean a three and a half year old when they're always seeing you feed an eight month old?
• 23:11 How to manage engorgement?
• 24:57 How do you manage weaning blues? I'd like to know more about the hormonal changes I'm going through as my son stops breastfeeding.
• 27:13 How do you grieve the end of nursing?
• 28:40 How do you know when you are ready to wean?
• 30:36 Is it better to wean at night first or during the day?
• 31:17 How do you put boundaries in place, rather than stopping completely?
• 32:21 How do you move away from feeding to sleep for naps?
• 34:05 How do you get another parent to be accepted by a toddler?
• 35:58 If you're not influenced by external factors to start weaning, but know that you want to sometime soon, are there ages and stages to avoid?
• 37:37 I cut down to just morning and nighttime feeds, and then maybe one at night, and then it seems to pick up again. And I don't seem to be able to do anything about it - help!
• 39:29 What's the timescale for weaning?
• 41:19 What are the common myths about weaning? And can you bust them?

This podcast is presented by Emma Pickett IBCLC, and produced by Emily Crosby Media.

Continuing to breastfeed/ chest feed during pregnancy is normal but not always well understood. Many people feel pressure to stop nursing their child when a new baby comes along. They may be told that breastfeeding during pregnancy is the problem or weaning in pregnancy is essential to avoid the ‘nightmare’ of tandem feeding.

In this episode, I explore the research about breastfeeding during pregnancy, and the experience of feeding two or more children at once. I answer some concerns and questions about tandem feeding, and I speak to Natalia about her experience of nursing and weaning her toddler when her second child was born.

Find out more about the benefits of breastfeeding and chest feeding in my book Supporting Breastfeeding Past the First Six Months and Beyond: A Guide for Professionals and Parents

Follow me on Twitter @MakesMilk and on Instagram  @emmapickettibclc or find out more on my website www.emmapickettbreastfeedingsupport.com

Resources mentioned in this episode - 

You can find a summary of the research on tandem feeding here https://www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/guest-post-breastfeeding-through-pregnancy-and-beyond/

Adventures in Tandem Nursing: Breastfeeding During Pregnancy and Beyond by Hillary Flower

Goodbye Mummy's Milk! by Mariapaola Weeks

Booby Moon with Two: A storybook for gently weaning Tandem fed toddlers by Yvette Reid

Natalia is a birth and postpartum doula based in Ireland and you can find her on Instagram at @10moonsandbeyond. The illustrator who created her cocoon and butterfly colouring pages is @thaiannecavalcanti on Instagram. 

This podcast is presented by Emma Pickett IBCLC, and produced by Emily Crosby Media.

Weaning a booby monster can feel like an impossible task. In this episode, I explore your motivations for weaning, and whether a refresh on nursing manners could help. I talk about ways you can upskill to meet your child’s needs without the breast, how to cut down on the number of feeds and how you can talk with your child to wean with kindness and authenticity.

Find out more about breastfeeding and chest feeding older babies and children in my book Supporting Breastfeeding Past the First Six Months and Beyond: A Guide for Professionals and Parents

Follow me on Twitter @MakesMilk and on Instagram and Threads  @emmapickettibclc or find out more on my website www.emmapickettbreastfeedingsupport.com

Resources mentioned in this episode - 

Nursies When the Sun Shines: A Little Book on Nightweaning, by Katherine C Havener

Booby Moon: A weaning book for toddlers, by Yvette Reid

Goodbye Mummy's Milk! by Mariapaola Weeks

The Aware Parenting Institute

This podcast is presented by Emma Pickett IBCLC, and produced by Emily Crosby Media.