Your baby is crying and fussing more. Nothing you do seems to help. Is it gas? Is it reflux or silent reflux.....what even is the difference? A Google search and poll of your friends and family may leave you with lots of opinions and even more questions. What is right for your baby? Will gas drops help? Thinking about changing your diet or trying and herbal remedy? Before you give your baby a supplement, let's review the evidence and make a plan to talk with your baby

Vitamin K injections as standard care for newborns has come under public scrutiny recently. Largely because of misunderstanding and misapplication of information. Influencers repeat bad information and build mistrust. Much of the concern and ultimate rejection of this standard infant treatment comes down to fear. Fear is not a good mindset to have when making decisions. So let's break it down. What is it? Why do babies need it? Vitamin K is necessary for baby’s body to

this is a long read but stay with me! Infant feeding and lactation care is facing more challenges year after year leaving families without competent support or access to the most skilled and knowledgeable providers. The challenges are both internal, with continued criticism of IBLCE’s lack of advocacy and defense of our credential, and external, with semi-benign muddling of scope with the “alphabet credentials” and outright attacks to access and fair reimbursement from health

Did you know the old recommendations of 500-600 extra calories for breastfeeding were based on nutritional needs for men and assumed the parent is trying to lose weight!! Not only that but the old guidelines don't account for recovery from birth, potential surgery, increased stress, or sleep deprivation! Postpartum recovery and making milk takes a lot of nutrients and calories! Focus on easy-to-digest foods like cooked vegetables and fruits, whole grains, proteins like eggs

Aerophagia (air swallowing) induced reflux is a fairly common finding with oral function challenges like tongue tie. Tongue tie can impair baby's ability to extend (stick out) their tongue, and this often results in nipple pain or bottle nipple pinching. The tie can also prevent the tongue in the back of the mouth from lifting and sealing with the soft palate (the part of the throat which starts at the back of the mouth). When this seal is interrupted baby can choke or

Working on sleep with older babies and toddlers can be tricky and exhausting! In the absence of medical concerns, we need to think about a few things to help figure out why our kiddos are waking at night. It could be that they are going to bed too early or that daytime naps are too long which prevents them from building up “sleep pressure” which is what makes us tired and helps us stay asleep. Look at the chart below and see where your kiddo is compared to other children o

For babies who are only getting your milk (no formula), food allergies are quite rare. If your baby is fussy or having more mucousy, watery, and green stools or having a big increase in spitting up, it's possible that baby is reacting to inflammatory cells which are part of your immune system which is shared via your milk. These inflammatory cells can be released when you consume a food that you don't tolerate well, are exposed to an allergy, you have inflammation from rec

Lactation and infant feeding care is really in its infancy and we have many SOC (standards of care) that are built on NICU and inpatient practices which don’t really apply for outpatient and extended care. Weighed feeds can be an example of one of the practices which may apply for really young babies, in NICUs, and in patient settings but have limited usefulness in outpatient care. I rarely do weighed feeds and that is surprising to some parents. Why don’t I do weighed fee

The most basic thing about feeding your baby is how to hold them and latching (attaching to the breast for feeding). There are consistently things that parents struggle with, phrases I say over and over and explain several different ways. It's pretty much constant education. Babies' movements are just reflexes at first. They get an input and they respond with reflexes. It's like pushing a button. If you push the volume up button then volume goes up. Luckily babies are a l

Iron's importance extends beyond your well-being and the ability to produce nutritious milk. The body prioritizes critical functions, such as blood cell production, over milk production when resources are scarce. This means addressing iron deficiency is vital for supporting both maternal health and successful lactation. Lab ranges for lactation are not typically included in analysis and this can impact milk production. For example, hemoglobin (HGB), which is a measurement of

Ethics may not be the coolest topic ever but it's a part of the work we do every single day. It should be ingrained in all of our decisions, recommendations, and practices. Our ethics and integrity is meant to protect our patients, of course, but it also protects us as providers and our field. While the IBCLC certification has been around for 4 decades, it's still rather in its infancy. IBCLCs are not incorporated into every hospital, primary care clinic, and public healt

Geez. Another article from The NY Times. Who there has ants in their pants about ankyloglossia or maybe a deep and lingering...

I’ve noticed a lot of posts lately about getting “lip ties” released. “My baby is having a lip tie release tomorrow. What should I...

My baby has a class 3 tongue tie! The classification tells us where the frenulum (the tissue that connects the bottom of the tongue to...

There are cache mammals (deer, rabbits), follow mammals (calves, giraffe), nest mammals ( cats, dogs), and carry mammals (apes,...

Lactose can be a concern for many adults as fewer than half of us can process the lactose sugar from dairy effectively and we may...

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome is a condition which includes at least 2 of the following: Ovary Dysfunction Hyperandrogenism (high than...

Protective Sleep is a plan to make sure parents are getting enough sleep to be healthy, take care of their baby and themselves, as well...

You may have heard about a sleep regression which happens around 4 months of age. Your baby was previously sleeping 4 or 5, maybe even 6...

Magnesium is essential for more than 300 enzyme systems in your body that control various processes. These include making proteins,...