The Gentle Village

24/03/2026

Teamwork 🫶🏼

When babies struggle to latch, could facial tension be part of the picture?

These photos are of a 3 month old baby pre- and 6 days post release of 5 oral ties - upper and lower lip, upper cheeks (x2), and tongue-tie.

When I first saw her, she had refused the breast for three weeks, and feeding was not going well on the bottle.

Mum had been advised early on that her baby’s mouth was too small for her ni**le.

These photos illustrate clear reductions in tension in the lips and cheeks. I’m increasingly recognising this as very important for deep latching and efficient tongue suction. When these tissues are tight, a baby will not be able to sustain a deep latch and can start slipping shallow.

6 weeks later, mum happily reports she is feeding more on the breast than ever before. Not 100%, but improving with time.

Unfortunately, tongue-ties are still given limited attention in most healthcare training and can remain a source of debate. Whilst research has focused primarily on tongue-ties, other ties may also be overlooked. It’s why I had not looked at them as closely until recently. Now that I recognise their potential contribution to facial tension and oral dysfunction across my patients of all ages, I can’t unsee it.

Today I happened to consult with four babies - all had been offered ni**le shields early on when latch was poor.

From memory, at least two of them weaned from the breast early, as it was not helping.

Not one of them was advised to seek assessment for oral ties, or given an alternative pathway if the shields did not work (all four had stopped using them).

So I want to highlight this:

If you’ve been told your baby’s mouth is too small to get a good latch, or you’ve been offered a ni**le shield due to latching difficulties, make sure you are also seeing someone who can assess for all ties inside the mouth - not just the tongue.

In the case illustrated, as with all cases - the aim is not to jump in and release every tie. This family had multiple visits with IBCLC Brenda from The Gentle Village and our chiropractic colleague Dr Jean-Luc Sulon at Oceanside Chiropractic - Alkimos to address other contributing factors first.

Disclaimer: Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.

23/03/2026

Breastfeeding isn’t something your baby is simply “born knowing how to do” perfectly!

It’s a learned skill, for both you and your baby! And for some babies, learning may take a little longer than others.

Feeding is actually a really complex skill for your baby. The have to coordinate sucking, swallowing and breathing
all at the same time. Using over 60 muscles and multiple nerves in their face, mouth and airway.

That’s a lot for a tiny human who’s only just entered this crazy world!

So just like learning to ride a bike, it takes practice, coordination and support.

But what I often see in the early weeks, when feeding is difficult, many parents are introduced multiple strategies all at once(triple feeding, bottles, top ups, sometimes even feeding tubes)

And yes, these can absolutely have a time and place and be necessary in certain situations…but your baby is now learning multiple ways to feed, not just breastfeeding.

And little babies are very good at adapting to changes (and quickly) but not always in the direction you were hoping for.

If your goal is to breastfeed, we need to create opportunities for you and your baby to actually learn breastfeeding.

That doesn’t mean removing support, it means support that protects your baby’s ability to practice while also keeping them fed, settled and safe and also working to meet your feeding goal.

Breastfeeding is a dyad. It’s not just about your baby learning, it’s about you being comfortable, supported and confident too.

An IBCLC is the only feeding specialist that works with the dyad! So, when both sides of the dyad are supported properly that’s when things start to fall in to place for many families! 💕

Breastfeeding is a learned skill…but struggling through it isn’t something you should have to “push through”

Know what to look for early! Comment FLAGS and I’ll send you my free 🚩 feeding guide.

20/03/2026

There are some people who just hold everything together behind the scenes…and our beautiful Renee is absolutely one of them! 🤍

Renee, thank you for keeping us sane, keeping the clinic running and being the warm, kind voice that greets our families every single day. You make such a difference to every parent who walks through our doors (and to me too) and I truly couldn’t have asked for a better person to be the face and supporting The Gentle Village.

We are so lucky to have you! 🥹

And to our beautiful TGV families, thank you so much for your patience. We know wait times are long at the moment and when feeding your little one is hard work, it can feel even more overwhelming waiting for an appt with us!

Between the high demand, Easter and school holidays with our own little loves, our availability is a little tighter than we’d like. We are actively working on reducing wait times as much as possible.

Brenda’s next appt available for an initial consult is the 15th of April at this stage. Cheryl has a couple of home visit appointments left available on the 2nd of April. So, if you see an appointment pop up - grab it straight away and make sure you leave a note to be put on the waitlist too!

We are trying our best to bring families forward whenever we can! Please know that we also triage appointments - so filling in your intake form as soon as possible helps us find ways to bring your appointment forward!

Once again, thank you for trusting us, waiting for us and allowing The Gentle Village to be part of your village 🫶🏼

16/03/2026

Bottle feeding should feel calm and comfortable for you and your baby!

But sometimes babies show subtle signs that feeding is actually much harder work than it should be.

If you see signs like:

🍼 hands clenched or a stiff/straight little body during feeds
🍼 a shallow or pursed latch on the teat
🍼 suction breaking or clicking sounds
🍼 milk spilling during feeds
🍼 tiring quickly even though they’re still hungry
🍼 breathing up after a few suck swallows

These signs can sometimes point to reduced tongue function, oral tension or feeding mechanics and a bottle/teat that may not be working well for your little one.

The problem is most bottle fed babies will still gain weight, so these challenges are often dismissed as “normal” or nothing to worry about.

But over time they can contribute to things like reflux symptoms, gassiness, long feeds or your little one becoming frustrated or unsettled during feeds and they stop taking in the volume they need.

Understanding what to look for during a bottle feed is one of the most important steps in supporting your baby’s feeding.

Inside my upcoming Formula & Bottle Feeding Masterclass, I teach parents not only how to choose the right formula, but also:

💫 the red flags to watch for during bottle feeds
💫 how oral function affects feeding efficiency
💫 how to choose bottles and teats that support better tongue movement
💫 practical ways to make feeds calmer and more comfortable for your baby

If you’d like to join the early access waitlist, comment MASTERCLASS and I’ll send you the link.

15/03/2026

Over the past few years in my clinic, I’ve supported so many families who are formula feeding their babies but feel like they’ve been left to figure it all out on their own.

There are so many wonderful breastfeeding classes available for parents, but what I kept seeing was a gap when it came to clear, evidence-based education for families who are choosing or needing to introduce formula to their baby.

So I decided to create something I wish parents had access to much earlier in their feeding journey.

I’ve been quietly working on a Formula Feeding Masterclass (it’s taken me a long time and a few gentle nudges from my lovely mamas, I’ll be honest haha), sharing the same knowledge and guidance I give families in my clinic every day.

My goal is to help you feel informed and confident when it comes to choosing a formula, preparing bottles safely and understanding, how to feed your baby a bottle while still supporting their oral development and what may actually be behind feeding discomfort or reflux symptoms.

This course has been created from my perspective as a registered nurse, endorsed midwife, IBCLC and orofacial Myofunctional therapist. It’s designed to support families without judgement, whether formula feeding was always part of the plan or something that happened along the way.

I’m really excited to finally share this with you.

If you’d like to be the first to know when the masterclass launches and receive early access pricing, comment FORMULA and I’ll send you the waitlist link.

Here’s to closing the gap in infant feeding!

11/03/2026

09/03/2026

I see so many babies coming in to our clinic with a ‘white tongue’ and their parents are concerned that it’s thrush…but 95% of the time…it isn’t!

Yet so many parents are told to treat it with thrush medication straight away. Even when no other symptoms are present!

What I often notice 👇

The majority of babies I see with a ‘white tongue’ will also have reflux or silent reflux, combined with reduced mid-posterior tongue elevation, which is very often linked to a tongue tie.

When the tongue isn’t lifting well to make contact with the palate, it can’t help clear the tongue surface as effectively.

So instead, milk residue, reflux, normal oral bacteria and dead skin cells can begin to build up…creating that white coating parents notice.

Sometimes it’s thrush, but there’s usually other symptoms present with both you and your little one.

What I tell my parents in my consults is that their little one’s ‘white tongue’, can give us all a visual clue about how bub’s tongue is moving and what might be happening with their digestion.

If you want to start identifying what might actually be driving your baby’s reflux symptoms, comment TRACKER and I’ll send you the reflux symptom tracker I use with families.

And if your baby has a tongue tie or suspected oral restriction, comment GUIDE to access my tongue tie guide and learn how to support your baby’s feeding.

Because sometimes the symptom isn’t the root cause 💜