breastfeeding baby

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

As he pulled on his little ‘working boots’ my three year old gazed up and told me very matter of factly, “Mummy, when I get scared, booby makes me feel brave.”

When I breastfed our first two babies, I wasn’t aware of the nutritional or immunological benefits of breastfeeding older babies or toddlers (no, there is no ‘best before’ stamp on mama milk!); I simply kept on breastfeeding them because it felt right. In fact with each of our five children, breastfeeding has been an integral part of my relationship with them and not just about ‘food’.

As newborns, breastfeeding gave my babies a gentle beginning, and as toddlers, it soothed life’s little knocks, easing the discomfort of swollen teething gums and picking them up when they fell (or fell apart emotionally). Breastfeeding provi

You have finally made it beyond the letter-box with your newborn. You are feeling pretty proud of yourself for getting out and about between feeds, poos and spews and you even have your own shirt on the right way round. But then some dear old lady spies your little ‘freshie’ and as she peers into your pram, she can’t resist asking, ‘is he a good baby?’

Then that dreaded next question, ‘does he sleep all night?’

Suddenly you are hit by a wave of self-doubt. You wonder, ‘should my baby be sleeping longer? This isn’t helped by all the baby sleep programs advertising how to teach your baby to sleep ‘all night’. Especially when you read that babies can sleep 8 hours or 12 hours or whatever is being promised. Or that you can expect your baby to give you a full night’s sleep when he is just a few weeks old – if you just follow the right ‘method’.

Firstly, ‘all night’

Unrealistic expectations, pressure to be the perfect mum and too many ‘rules’ are making mums overthink – and blame themselves when they don’t have a ‘good’ baby. The first question every new mum is asked will be ‘is he a good baby?’ This will be followed by, ‘how does he sleep?’ Is it any wonder mums are asking, ‘am I screwing things up?’

Around the middle of your baby’s first year, that is at about six months, your baby will start showing signs that he is ready for family foods: he will be able to sit up in a high chair or on your lap; he will have lost the tongue thrust reflex (that protects him against choking in the early months, but also means food gets thrust out of his mouth, rather than swallowed); he will be watching you closely as you eat and probably reaching for your food  - but being able to grab objects and put them into his mouth is an actual sign of readiness ( after all, even young babies will watch you and may reach for food).  Your baby may seem to suddenly be more hungry but not satisfied by extra milk feeds over a period of several days.

See how, when and what to help your baby transition from breastfeeding to family foods

Help! My baby has his first two teeth and he has started biting when I breastfeed. How can I stop him biting or will I have to wean him?

Ouch! Being bitten on the breast really hurts but thankfully, there are strategies to minimise and even stop your baby biting.