What kind of infant feeding problems can you support?
As an IBCLC/"Lactation Consultant"/Infant Feeding therapist, I support families who exclusively breastfeed &/or bottle feed.
Common infant feeding issues I see involve:
Common maternal issues I support are:
Common infant feeding issues I see involve:
- Feeding refusal & fussiness
- Taking too long to feed and feeding too often
- Feeding too quickly & having tummy upsets
- Excessive crying & settling difficulties
- Coughing, gagging, milk spillage, difficulty co-ordinating sucking/swallowing/breathing
- Slow weight gains
- Weak suck
- Sucking too strongly
- Parent's needing to clear their baby's mouth of food that they are unable to swallow
- Lip & tongue ties
- Low muscle tone or high muscle tone
- Medical challenges such as heart or breathing issues, cleft lip/palate, Down's syndrome
Common maternal issues I support are:
- Recurrent blocked ducts
- Painful latch
- Mastitis, thrush
- Sore, damaged nipples
- Insufficient milk supply
- Excessive milk supply
- Emotional difficulty coping with challenges of feeding infants with feeding difficulties
What is usually involved with a lactation & infant feeding consultation?
We are experienced at consulting with baby's present & know that baby's don't like waiting to be fed & take time settling, so we work around you & your baby as much as we can.
We also know how families work - we know that mum's can't always access childcare for siblings & we know that mum's can't always leave their home for appointments. This is why we can either visit you at home or siblings are welcome to use our educational toys to entertain themselves whilst we have our consultation.
Firstly, I will need to get to know you.
I will ask you to complete an intake & consent form - this is so that you're fully involved in understanding what is involved in our consultation, what our professional boundaries are & you can also let us know what kind of treatment you are & are not comfortable with.
Who are the members of your family? What kind of support do you have? - I need to know this so that we can begin to customise your care.
I will also need to know who your GP, Maternal & Child Health Nurse are for example as I may need to liase with them in order to ensure that you receive the best support you deserve.
I will also listen to your current feeding concerns & what our feeding goals are, so that I can accomodate your needs.
To help build a picture of what is contributing to your feeding concerns, I need to do a thorough background assessment.
This involves asking questions about your pregnancy, birth, postnatal history, family, medical & feeding history.
If breastfeeding or exclusively pumping, I will examine your breasts to help rule out any breastfeeding/lactation problems.
Whilst your baby is feeding, I will be assessing your child's levels of comfort, oral motor function & feeding performance.
I will also be assessing your interactions with your baby, how you are coping & handling your baby. I will also be fine-tuning what you are doing to feed your baby, to help make it better.
Sometimes, I will trial different interventions to see which works best for you & your baby.
This may include introducing different feeding positions, bottles/teats, feeding techniques or feeding aids such an at breast supplementer.
Somewhere about here, I will also perform behavioural & emotional regulation assessments, along with a physical assessment on your baby.
Physical assessments involve a cranial, musculoskeletal, neurological, oral & oral motor function assessments to assess for any variants which may be impacting on your baby's ability to feed effectively. I will involve you in this examination & point out any variations identified & inform you of how it potentially impacts on your feeding concerns.
I may demonstrate some exercises & massage techniques for you to take home & help enhance your baby's feeding development.
These are customised according to your baby's needs.
By now, I will have a good picture of what is going on and discuss my assessment findings in order to address your concerns.
We will discuss any queries you may have & I will provide you the education and information that you need with regard to this.
Together, we will make a holistic plan, which is orientated towards helping you achieve your goals.
Your plan will include the personalised techniques & tips to improve your baby's feeding.
If I have assessed your child to have an oral restriction for example, I will provide you with all the information that you need, in order to make an informed choice with regard to any written referrals that you may ask me to complete.
If needed, we can arrange a review consultation to enable you some time to put your plan in action & then reassess the progress of your plan. where we can make adjustments as necessary or go over a few things that you still need practicing with.
We also know how families work - we know that mum's can't always access childcare for siblings & we know that mum's can't always leave their home for appointments. This is why we can either visit you at home or siblings are welcome to use our educational toys to entertain themselves whilst we have our consultation.
Firstly, I will need to get to know you.
I will ask you to complete an intake & consent form - this is so that you're fully involved in understanding what is involved in our consultation, what our professional boundaries are & you can also let us know what kind of treatment you are & are not comfortable with.
Who are the members of your family? What kind of support do you have? - I need to know this so that we can begin to customise your care.
I will also need to know who your GP, Maternal & Child Health Nurse are for example as I may need to liase with them in order to ensure that you receive the best support you deserve.
I will also listen to your current feeding concerns & what our feeding goals are, so that I can accomodate your needs.
To help build a picture of what is contributing to your feeding concerns, I need to do a thorough background assessment.
This involves asking questions about your pregnancy, birth, postnatal history, family, medical & feeding history.
If breastfeeding or exclusively pumping, I will examine your breasts to help rule out any breastfeeding/lactation problems.
Whilst your baby is feeding, I will be assessing your child's levels of comfort, oral motor function & feeding performance.
I will also be assessing your interactions with your baby, how you are coping & handling your baby. I will also be fine-tuning what you are doing to feed your baby, to help make it better.
Sometimes, I will trial different interventions to see which works best for you & your baby.
This may include introducing different feeding positions, bottles/teats, feeding techniques or feeding aids such an at breast supplementer.
Somewhere about here, I will also perform behavioural & emotional regulation assessments, along with a physical assessment on your baby.
Physical assessments involve a cranial, musculoskeletal, neurological, oral & oral motor function assessments to assess for any variants which may be impacting on your baby's ability to feed effectively. I will involve you in this examination & point out any variations identified & inform you of how it potentially impacts on your feeding concerns.
I may demonstrate some exercises & massage techniques for you to take home & help enhance your baby's feeding development.
These are customised according to your baby's needs.
By now, I will have a good picture of what is going on and discuss my assessment findings in order to address your concerns.
We will discuss any queries you may have & I will provide you the education and information that you need with regard to this.
Together, we will make a holistic plan, which is orientated towards helping you achieve your goals.
Your plan will include the personalised techniques & tips to improve your baby's feeding.
If I have assessed your child to have an oral restriction for example, I will provide you with all the information that you need, in order to make an informed choice with regard to any written referrals that you may ask me to complete.
If needed, we can arrange a review consultation to enable you some time to put your plan in action & then reassess the progress of your plan. where we can make adjustments as necessary or go over a few things that you still need practicing with.