Babies fall asleep at the breast. This is not a bad habit, it is part of the package! Breastmilk contains natural sleep-inducing hormones for just This reason!

All that putting baby down "drowsy but awake" has no evidence to support it. Trying to make it happen generally ends up with a cranky baby who would have settled into a nice, deep sleep but is now in a state of distress instead.

#breastsleeping is the term coined by Dr James McKenna to describe the biologically-normal practice of breastfed babies sleeping close to their mother during the night attached to or within reach of the breast.

Expectations of infants and breasts to pause for long periods of time overnight make no sense. Babies grow 24/7 and they refuel 24/7. Bressts make milk 24/7.

Removal of milk from the breast stimulates production. Mothers in the light sleep stage of sleep may wake slightly in response to fuller breasts. Babies in light sleep stages might wake slightly seek the breast. Without either fully waking, they make small movements to bring breast and baby together and settle back into a sleepy state. The baby removes milk from the breast and prolactin is released into the bloodstream. This stimulates milk production and the breasts begin to refill.

Mother and baby slip back into sleep, leaving the breasts to do their work. When the cycle starts over, the milk is ready and waiting.

#breastfeeding isn't all or nothing. Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months is the global guideline but if your journey looks a bit different you can be confident that the effort of providing any breastmilk to your baby is worth it.

Because of the way birth and the postnatal period is managed in our modern world, breastfeeding initiation is sometimes not well-supported by the health care system (public and private) and formula top-ups are prescribed. This might be temporary or an ongoing part of feeding a baby and can range from once a day to every feed. Formula can even become the primary food source for many babies. However introducing formula doesn't have to mean ending breastfeeding. If your baby is still going to the breast, you can continue to offer it. The immune support and bonding continues to be important even if nutrition is not fully met at the breast.

The term "nursing caries" was coined by dentists in the 20th century to describe the type of tooth decay they were seeing in toddlers. Unfortunately, their terminology was flawed as Nursing has long been used to describe breastfeeding and the percentage of toddlers still at the breast was negligible in most western societies where the condition was being observed.

Older babies and toddlers who have developed their upper front teeth are at particular risk of decay, caused by milk pooling behind the teeth while sleeping. This is a functional problem created by children falling asleep with a bottle and continuing to hold it in the mouth while sleeping. The design of teats allows a steady drip to be released because of gravity, even when the child is not actively sucking.

If you express your breastmilk in the early days after your milk comes in, you will probably get more than your baby needs for a feed – indeed, you might feel you have enough milk for all the babies in the world! You head home confident that expressing is quick and easy and start to plan for the extra freezer you will buy to store all that expressed breast milk in.

So its really disappointing when you try expressing for the first time after the early postnatal period and only get a few mls for your effort. If you are expressing to have a supply of milk for your return to work or a special occasion away from your baby, you will probably start to panic and worry that you need a different (better) breast pump or you have a poor milk supply.

Back in the day, we had to stress to the midwives in hospital that we wanted to Demand Feed. Otherwise they would presume our babies were on a feeding schedule: 3 hourly feeds until a certain weight, then 4 hourly feeds.

Demand in this context was later reframed as Feeding According to Need. Demand came with some negative connotations and also put too much responsibility onto babies who might be too sleepy to demand very much at all!

Later again we talked about Cue-based Feeding which is now also referred to as Responsive Feeding. Which is what was being talked about all along, it just took several decades to get the language right!

Once more for those up the back: nobody is awarding points to the biggest baby! The whole point of a growth chart is to show the range which children at any given age may measure. Height, weight and head circumference are the common measurements.

You can anticipate what a baby aged X months might weigh if they are a particular height but there are lots of reasons why they might not hit that mark on a particular day or even week. Even siblings can be significantly different in how they grow. Detailed studies tracking individual weight gain daily show it is typical for growth to occur in fits and starts.

It is the individual curve over time which matters most, not where a child's curve sits compared to others.

Growth charts are not a league table.

Growth is not a competition. We are all born with a blueprint based on your family genetics.

Some people are born to be tall and lean. Others are destined to be short and stocky. People from parts of the world have generations of typical body types which travel with them through genetics when they migrate.

Plotting the individual changes in infants at different stages is not about comparing their progress against others. Your child is being tracked against themselves and it is their point on their growth curve which matters. If your baby has been tracking along nicely on the 25th percentile for height, you know that 75% of children their age are taller. And the same applies with weight.

You have to assume health professionals truly don't realise the impact on parents of being told that breastfeeding is failing to meet their baby's needs. There is 100% focus on getting more milk into the baby - pumping, topping-up, introducing formula.

It seems goals around exclusive breastfeeding are ignored or dismissed in so many cases. There is no space for grief, no suggestion of speaking to a breastfeeding counsellor to work through those emotions and rarely any referral to an IBCLC to diagnose why the baby isn't effectively removing milk from the breast. The default blame is the mother has insufficient supply.

Can we just cut parents some slack?

Obviously eye contact is vitally important for the mother-child connection and gazing into your baby's eyes while they feed is one of life's pleasures.

But, here's the thing. Babies actually spend a lot of feeding time with their eyes closed. They're in their own little bliss-bubble.

It is fine to leave them to it and take your own break. That might be screen time, it might be conversation time. Or daydreaming time.

Birth interventions and the medicalisation of natural childbirth last century masked something incredible which had almost been lost in western midwifery memory: babies are born hard-wired to seek the breast and attach with minimal assistance.

The hints were there in the reflexes observed and assessed at birth: the stepping movement of the feet, the rooting reflex, the grasping reflex. Babies delivered onto the belly of their mother can crawl and move their body to the breasts, identify the nipple area, lift and move into position and latch on.

Why we are surprised by this, when we observe similar behaviour in other mammals shows how distanced we are from our biological normal.

This week Victoria took a hammering from the weather during the last days of Melbourne's lockdown. Huge wind and rain storms in the night and into the next day took out power in large areas of the suburbs and brought floods to Gippsland. Water supplies in some areas were tainted and residents advised not to drink the tap water. Power is not expected to be restored in some areas for several days.

#breastfeeding is safe and reliable in such emergencies but babies who rely on expressed breastmilk, donor milk or infant formula are vulnerable to supply interruptions. Donors and recipients can lose their freezer stores. Formula fed babies might not have access to safe water and flooding can spoil stocks in shops and homes. Road closures from flood waters and fallen trees can mean families are cut off from retailers. Exclusively expressing mothers can lose access to power clean water and equipment can be lost or damaged by flood waters.

Most parents choose to breastfeed their babies. But many are not able to achieve their goal of breastfeeding exclusively for the first six months.

Society puts so many hurdles in front of feeding goals. Throughout pregnancy parents are told human milk is important. Yet very little practical guidance is offered on how to make breastfeeding work. A couple of hours hearing about the "benefits" of breastmilk in an antenatal class does little to educate mothers on how breastfeeding works, what challenges they might face and how to overcome them.

A well-attached baby is the most effective way to remove milk from the breast. Feeding your baby whenever they want, for as long as they want, will establish and maintain your milk production, and is also the best way to restore it after breastfeeding challenges. More out equals more in.

There are times when you want or need to remove milk without your baby. Expressing breastmilk occasionally or regularly is part of some people's breastfeeding journey.

Southern Natural Parenting Network respects the challenges breastfeeding presents for many mothers and families. Too many women are not given the support and information they deserve to establish and maintain breastfeeding. Being able to meet their #breastfeeding goals is prevented due to factors beyond their control, barriers and hurdles created by others and misinformation circulated by medical and social contacts.

Our community is a safe space for like-minded parents whose goal is #naturaltermbreastfeeding two years and beyond. When they have not personally been able to reach their goals, our non-bresstfeeding members support others in the group to do so.

Our group practice #breastsleeping #milksharing and #exclusivebreastfeeding for six months followed by #babyledweaning with family foods.

Babies are regularly weighed and measured to monitor their growth.

The majority of children are growing just right, at rate determined by their genetic recipe.

Very occasionally, a baby causes concern because they are not growing at the anticipated rate and this flags potential complications. This includes everything from poor feeding through to complex and rare medical conditions. Regularly checking all babies is intended to prevent the few slipping through the net.

But the monitoring of weight can cause extreme anxiety for parents and, when poorly interpreted, can jeopardise exclusive breastfeeding.

When your baby is well attached it will feel better. This is the primary indicator, more important than how it looks. However, those supporting you will also be looking for visible signs of good attachment, including how much areola they can see.

The skin around your nipple is very individual. Some breasts have pale areola while others are quite dark. Some are small enough to completely disappear into the baby's mouth while others extend beyond the area touched by the baby's face.

It is given unconditionally.

In Australia it is illegal to sell human milk. It is collected and donated, most often through informal molk-sharing networks as this country has so few milk banks. There is an abundance of generosity behind the donations. It takes time and effort to collect and store excess milk.

Blood donors are celebrated as their gift saves lives. Milk donors also offer lifesaving fluid. For premature infants. For those at risk of or living with allergies. For parents working on overcoming challenges in establishing breastfeeding and wanting to avoid the risks of formula for their child. For mothers with Insufficient Glandular Tissue (IGT) or a history of breast surgery or injury preventing them fully meeting their baby's needs.

When it comes to positioning your baby, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Here is what you need to keep in mind:

"Chest to chest and chin to breast" This is all about presenting your baby in the best orientation to seek the breast and attach well.

Decades ago, when #breastfeeding rates were at a historical low, bottle feeding techniques got mixed up with breastfeeding advice. We held our babies on their backs, swaddled tightly to keep their hands out of the way and brushed their cheek so they would turn their head towards the breast. This position meant babies had to grasp the nipple with their head twisted towards their shoulder - obviously not a comfortable position for anyone! Babies would grab the nipple and hold on for dear life, because it would spring out of their mouth the moment they paused.

It makes so much sense that a relaxed, comfortable position will allow your baby to comfortably take a mouthful of breast tissue and keep it in their mouth without losing their latch. It's comfortable for babies and their mothers.

Your position when you are breastfeeding is just as important as your baby's. There is no use getting them attached only to find you are now stuck in an uncomfortable position for the next hour. You won't be able to relax and that can delay your let-down reflex.

While you are establishing breastfeeding, it helps to set up your feeding spaces at home.

Ideally, you can feed lying down as much as practical to maximise rest and recovery (especially if you had a caesarean or complicated delivery). At other times choose a seat where you can leave any pillows or cushions you are using in place.