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Breastfeeding has been going well: your baby is thriving and happy. But now you are returning to work and feel sad at the prospect of weaning your baby.

Take heart, returning to paid work doesn’t mean you have to stop breastfeeding. Your baby can enjoy the health, immunity and nutritional benefits and you will still have that unique connection through the one thing that only you can do for your baby  - snuggling him close as he drinks your milk.

Getting used to your newborn is such an intense time as you recover from your birth experience physically and emotionally and there is a lot of trial and error as you work out what is best for you and your baby. The thing is, it’s ok to take a few short cuts and, as a mum of five, there probably aren’t many I haven’t tried – some were helpful, some not so much. Here are my top hacks to make things easier for you and your new baby.

Here at Boobie Foods, we talk a lot about IBCLCs – International Board Certified Lactation Consultants. In fact, Boobie Foods founder, Pinky McKay is one of Australia’s most recognised and respected IBCLCs.

An IBCLC is an allied health professional with specialist education in lactation, infant feeding, infant development and nutrition. But what exactly does an IBCLC do, and how do you know if you need to see one?

What does an IBCLC do?

An IBCLC offers non -judgemental reassurance, support and information to help you reach your personal breastfeeding goals. If you want to set yourself up for a positive breastfeeding experience, especially if you have had challenges with a previous breastfeeding experience (yes, IBCLCs do antenatal consults too); are struggling with nipple or breast pain; have a premature or unwell baby or a baby with a special medical condition; multiples – twins, triplets; want to breastfeed after breast surge

For a new mum, the holiday season can be overwhelming and exhausting. It can also impact your milk supply and may mean that your baby, sensing your own stress, becomes increasingly unsettled. Then, as relatives ask, ‘are you sure you have enough milk?’ your self-doubt increases and you reach for the bottle. This is often described as ‘holiday weaning’.

But please take heart, we have top tips for you to beat holiday ‘boobie traps’ so you keep your boobs full and your baby at the breast.

It’s your baby’s first Christmas. It’s exciting but also a bit overwhelming too as you try to plan the big day with family and friends.

Hopefully, if you have a newborn, you haven’t put your hand up to host the day, but this means you will be a guest at somebody else’s house and this can present other sorts of stress. Check out our survival plan. 

Learning to breastfeed so it becomes natural and easy can take a few weeks or longer, just like learning a dance with an inexperienced partner who also needs to learn the steps (coordinating sucking, swallowing and breathing). Soon, breastfeeding is mostly a sweet interlude in your days and nights, as you snuggle together and drink in that sweet baby breath and stroke his fine skin as he fills up on your mama milk. But, at the risk of sounding like a Debbie Downer, even when breastfeeding is going pretty smoothly, there are a few things that suck, big time ....

We hear a lot about postpartum depression, but depression can also take place during pregnancy. In fact, it is almost as common. Here, Dr Dawn Kingston, Canada's leading expert on Perinatal Mental Health explains the warning signs of PRE-NatalDepression. 

One of the best ways to avoid severe postnatal depression is to receive diagnosis and treatment during pregnancy. But with so many bodily changes and outside demands during pregnancy, how do you know what is and isn’t normal?

Pregnant women are frequently reassured that the mood swings, anxiety, irritability, mental fog and emotional outburst they’re experiencing are a normal sign of pregnancy. Television sitcoms have always played it for laughs. However, the truth is that prenatal depression occurs in 16 to 20 percent of pregnant women, and it can range from sadness to real dif

It’s stinking hot. You are sweaty so is your baby. He keeps grizzling and signalling that he wants more ‘boobie’ . He’s obviously thirsty so you wonder, should I give him a drink of water?

Not only do you not need to offer your baby water in hot weather but it can be unsafe: giving water to newborns can affect your milk supply and your baby’s weight gains and for all babies under six months, giving water can dilute the sodium in the baby’s bloodstream to the point where a potentially life threatening condition known as “oral water intoxication” develops, and this can lead to symptoms like low body temperature, bloating, and seizures.

Breastfeeding will be more relaxed and comfortable for you and your baby if you get a good latch right from the start. A good latch can head off breastfeeding problems before they happen: it will enable your baby to get more milk and to drain your breasts effectively and this will signal your breasts to make more milk, increasing your supply. And, although you can expect a wee bit of discomfort as you begin breastfeeding, rather like trying out a new pair of shoes, having a good latch at the breast will avoid damaged nipples and painful feeds.

Signs of an effective latch include feeling comfortable, without pain, ‘pinching’ or a ‘biting’ sensation; your baby’s mouth will cover some or all of your areola, depending on the size of your areola (the dark part surrounding your nipple), with most or all of the underside and some of the top of the areola in your baby’s mouth; your baby’s lips will be flanged outwards, like ‘fish lips’ and baby’s tongue will be cupped under you

There’s nothing quite like four hours of broken sleep and cracked nipples to get you “in the mood”, right?

Mama, it’s completely normal for your sex drive to take a nosedive after you’ve had a baby.

Spending your days (and nights) snuggling, comforting and breastfeeding your new baby can leave you feeling completely touched out – not to mention the significant biological and hormonal changes going on inside your body right now.

Here are 5 interesting facts about breastfeeding and sex that you might now know:

1:Breastfeeding hormones can affect your sex drive

Apart from feeling dead tired and touched out, there are also some biological reasons why your libido has go

You have most likely heard very good reasons to breastfeed: boosting baby’s immune system; providing breast milk that changes to meet your baby’s needs; a lovely way to bond and allowing instant comfort for an unsettled baby.

Another important reason to consider breastfeeding is evidence that it can reduce your own and – if you have a baby daughter – her risk of breast cancer too.

One of the most common reasons for breastfeeding problems is unhelpful advice. We have asked real mums, ‘what was the worst breastfeeding advice you have been told? ‘

Here is what they said – and why this is bad advice:

The kids have explored every inch of the backyard and even the local park is off-limits. This is lockdown life with kids – it’s hard and it’s exhausting. If you’re struggling for new ideas to keep your little ones entertained during lockdown, especially if you are also feeding and caring for a baby, we’ve got you!

We’ve pulled together a list of fun resources for kids of all ages.

There’s something for everyone: from exploring the world’s museums, to story time from space – all without leaving your home.

For the animal lovers

Animals At Home Explore Melbourne’s three zoos, listen to keeper talks and see what the giraffes are up to on Werribee Zoo’s savannah.

Atlanta Zoo Panda Cam Watch Atlanta Zoo’s pandas chew bamboo and tumble about. So cute!

Registered Dietician/ nutritionist Tammy Kacev explains the importance of Iron during pregnancy and lactation for baby and mum:

We are well aware of the importance of a good diet pre pregnancy and during pregnancy, but once we have our precious babies we tend to neglect ourselves. Just as it is important to eat a balanced and healthy diet that is rich in a variety of nutrients and vitamins including protein, iron and calcium while we are pregnant, it is just as important to do the same while we are breastfeeding. In this article I will be discussing the importance of iron during pregnancy and lactation for both baby and mum.

Importance of Iron during Pregnancy

When we first find out we are pregnant part of the routine health check-up we receive that is done early on by our doctors (and then again in the third trimester) is to check our iron levels. Our body uses iron to make red blood cells (haemoglobin) and when we are pregnant

Here you are, dripping milk, all ready for your baby to feed – but he won’t!

If you have a newborn, there is every chance you will be ‘woman handled’ as somebody tries to get your baby to latch by grabbing baby and boob and shoving them together (if this happens, put your hand up in a stop sign and ask, ‘please can you guide me, I would like to try myself’).

Or, if your baby is older and has been happily breastfeeding until now, you are probably wondering, ‘is he weaning?’

Whatever the reasons for your baby’s breast refusal, your baby isn’t ‘refusing’ to breastfeed because he is being stubborn, and forcing him won’t help.

For newborns, generally if your baby won’t breastfeed it is because he can’t right now, but it doesn’t mean you won’t be able to breastfeed at all – although you will need to be patient, with the right help, most

“I know I need to exercise but I don’t even have the energy to go for a walk, I feel so tired all the time and I am anxious without any reason,” says Sarah, mum of a happy thriving eight month old. When I visited her, Sarah asked her husband to take notes because her brain was so foggy she could barely stay on track in conversation, let alone remember what we discussed.

According to Dr Oscar Serrallach, Sarah’s symptoms are typical of a condition he has labeled ‘Postnatal Depletion’. Formerly an emergency medicine doctor, Dr, Serrallach is now a GP in Northern NSW specializing in nutritional and integrative medicine and author of ‘The Postnatal Depletion Cure’. He says, “ a lot of my clients were new mums, they seemed to be really tired and not coping well and initially I thought this was quite normal. But, just because something is common doesn’t ne