Team QEH Infant Feeding

03/01/2026

Just a little reminder that your breastmilk is perfect for your baby 🩷

[ID: Did you know? Breastmilk is the perfect meal for your baby. It contains more than 200 types of fatty acids, over 400 types of protein and is more than 85% water. This means they do not need anything else for at least the first 6 months. Image of a mum breastfeeding her baby.]

31/12/2025

The Infant feeding team at QEH hope you have all had a good Christmas and would like to wish you all a Happy & Healthy 2026 😊

30/12/2025

Wearable breast pump Vs
Traditional/Hospital grade pump

Some wearable pumps may have less power and suction strength compared to traditional pumps. Meaning they might not empty the breast as fully as a strong traditional pump for everyone, potentially impacting supply if used as the sole pump.

Sharing some info on wearable breast pumps from Sarah Oakley Lactation.

Wearable breast pumps are popular. Over half the clients I see for breastfeeding difficulties have one. They promise the convenience of pumping on the move so you can do other things whilst pumping which will save time and make fitting pumping into your busy day easier.

So, are there any downsides?

Wearables were originally designed to make pumping at work easier and more discreet, after a good milk supply had been established.

Effectiveness and durability: The motors in these pumps are small. For anyone struggling to establish a milk supply/increase a milk supply or exclusively pumping in the early days for a non-latching baby a traditional double electric pump is likely to be a better option.

Fl**ge fit: These pumps, like all pumps, typically come with a 24mm fl**ge as standard and may have a smaller fl**ge option of 20/21mm and a larger one of 27/28mm. Recent research has established that these fl**ges are too large for most of us. A fl**ge that is too large can cause ni**le pain and trauma and will not remove milk effectively. Inserts to make the fl**ges on these pumps smaller are readily available in sizes 13-19mm. However, the shape and designs of the fl**ge and the material it’s made of (hard plastic or silicone) can influence fl**ge fit, comfort and efficacy. There is a much wider range of fl**ge options available for traditional electric pumps to achieve optimum comfort and output.

Price: Many wearables are far more expensive than a good quality traditional electric pump and may not be the best option for you so choose carefully.

If you are struggling to fit in the frequent pumping sessions required a wearable can be used alongside a double electric pump to achieve those extra sessions but the double electric pump should continue to be used as your ‘main’ pump.

24/12/2025

Day 24 of our advent calendar
It's Christmas Eve 🌲 🎅🏻

The Infant Feeding Team at QEH would like to wish you all a Happy Christmas.

If you need a calm moment away from the festivities to talk about your breastfeeding journey you can contact National Breastfeeding Helpline UK
They are there for you all through the holidays, including Christmas and New Year.
📞 0300 100 0212
Or send them a private message
Their 24-hour service is provided by The Breastfeeding Network (UK), with Association of Breastfeeding Mothers.

22/12/2025

DAY 22 of Our Advent Calendar 🌲
Letter V - Viruses & being unwell
🎵 Tis the season to be poorly 🎵

Breastfeeding babies who are poorly

Yes its that time of year where all the colds, coughs and stomach bugs are doing the rounds. Although antibodies in our milk may prevent them catching a bug, or make it less severe, and they help them recover more quickly, breastfed babies still get ill from time to time!

When our babies are feeling poorly, some babies may cut their feeding down a bit when they are poorly. Just like use, when they're ill they go off their food a bit. If this is the case with your little one then keep an eye on your b***s, if they are engorged try some gentle hand expressing or massage towards the armpit. Once baby is feeling better they will likely feed lots to make up for being ill and boost your supply back up if there has been a bit of a dip.

If your baby is struggling to latch due to a blocked nose, you can clear the nasal cavity with a syringe of expressed milk or saline up the nose and suck the bogies out! Steam can also help massively. As can an upright feeding position.

Some babies will feed more when they are unwell. And especially those babies who are well established onto solids, they will often refuse to eat but will want to breastfeed a lot. This is actually very sensible because you will be making antibodies in your milk to the particular virus that they have encountered and this will help them recover more quickly. Also it will keep them hydrated and is such a huge comfort too.

For those babies who are vomiting, it is recommended to continue to breastfeed. Even if they are sick straight after a feed, human milk is so easily absorbed it will be doing baby good and keeping them hydrated. It has the perfect balance of nutrients and electrolytes to help them recover, as well as those important antibodies. And it will also protect the oesophagus from stomach acid.

If older siblings who are no longer breastfeeding are unwell, it can be beneficial to express some of your milk to give them. They may not like it, in which case hiding it in a milk shake can be a good option. It needs to be freshly expressed milk for the specific virus related antibodies to protect them although stored milk still has some benefits.

Good info for breastfeeding mums looking for cough/cold remedies
https://www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/cold-remedies/
Or https://www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/vomiting/

21/12/2025

Day21 of Our Advent Calendar 🌲
Letter U - Unrealistic Expectations

Unrealistic expectation is the belief that your journey into motherhood should be a certain way.
And often, when the journey doesn’t look like how we think it "should" look, we feel guilty and frustrated with ourselves.
The expectations can be set upon us by society, Social media and those around us, and even ourselves.

Expectation: I will immediately love and ‘bond’ with my baby

Reality: This doesn’t always happen straight away, especially if mum has had a long hard delivery.
Lots of Skin to skin with baby will help with raising oxytocin levels.

Expectation: My body will return to normal after I give birth to my baby.
My belly will go down, and my body will look and feel more like myself again.
I will fit back in my old jeans a few weeks later.

Reality: Some women are surprised by what their body looks like after giving birth. They thought that once the baby was out, their body would return to normal, but that is not the case. It's normal for your body to look five or six months pregnant post-delivery.

Expectation: Breastfeeding is natural and baby will latch straight on.

Reality: You and your baby may struggle to latch well, which is often the case with a lot of newborns.
Breastfeeding is a very natural way to
feed your baby, but it being natural
does not mean it comes naturally to
everyone. It takes some adjustment
and learning on both mum and baby's
parts to figure out exactly how to
make it work. It’s a new skill that you both have to learn. Ask for lots of support.

Expectation: I will have loads of time for things as baby will feed 3-4 hrly

Reality: Babys Feed a lot!! Especially in the early day and weeks.
They should be fed responsively.
This can mean that some days you will literally not be able to put baby down (cluster feeding).
You will probably feel extra hungry, thirsty and sleepy. Listen to your body.

Expectation: I can do this on my own.
I won't need extra help.
It's a baby! How hard can it be?

Reality: It’s not normal for parents to do it all without any help. Family & friends usually want to help. Get them to help with cooking, cleaning etc Let them look after baby while you have a bath/ shower.

Expectation: Baby will soon sleep through the night.

Reality: It’s normal for babies to wake and feed alot during the night.
You may feel like your doing something wrong you are not. Try to rest as much as possible in the day time.
Try not to get obsessed with sleep patterns

Expectation: Maternity leave will be great I can meet friends for lunch while baby peacefully sleeps in the pushchair.
Or doing housework/ decorating etc

Reality: Somedays it’s hard work getting out of the house especially after a night when you’ve been up a lot. You might be more interested in spending time on getting some sleep/rest.
Don’t feel pressured to go. Be honest, cancel and rearrange.
Forget about the housework.
The most important thing is spending time with your baby.
You don't ever get these days back.
Later on your child won't remember if your house was clean but they will remember being cuddled, having story’s read etc
Why does my baby want to be held all the time?
Baby’s don’t like to be put down. Your baby is learning all about this big scary world. And your smell, warmth and heart beat lets them know that everything is ok.
You may feel that after a month baby should have had enough of the cuddles and be more independent. You might start frantically researching what is wrong with baby.
Remember they love to be close to you. Slings can be great.

Expectation: I will get baby into a good routine like the books tell me I should.

Reality: Just be responsive to your baby’s needs.
You may feel like everything revolves around them and their needs.
By adjusting your life to your baby’s needs is so much easier, than trying to "break them in" to a schedule you want.

Expectation: I am going to take my baby to all the baby groups.

Reality: You don’t have to take baby to all the groups. It’s hard work to get out and about.
Groups are great for making friends though. Some of the ladies may be great friends for life.
Try to avoid competition with other mums in the classes. Its easy to get drawn into comparing your baby with that of your friends. Don't forget all babies develop at different rates. It is not a competition, take a step back and enjoy it.

Now think about how much easier life
would be for a new mum if we told her before her baby arrived that
- feeding may be challenging, because
it is for a lot of families.
- her baby will not sleep through the night in the first year of life. This is normal and is a safety mechanism.

Be gentle to yourself.
Feeling good as a mother comes from
lowering the expectations you have of
yourself, congratulating yourself on the small wins and giving both yourself and your baby time to develop into the family you are meant to be.
Be proud of yourself ❤️

19/12/2025

Day 19 of our Advent Calendar🌲
Letter S for Suck/ Swallow ratio

It is important to recognise when your baby is feeding effectively from the breast.
When your baby attaches to the breast, they will do short shallow sucks to which will trigger the oxytocin release that will help to deliver your milk. They will then settle into a deep, rhythmical sucking pattern. At the beginning of the feed, there is more water. As the deep rhythmical sucking continues, you may hear your baby swallowing milk every one or two sucks.
They may also have short pauses before starting that pattern again.
After a while you will notice that the sucks become more infrequent but you might feel "flutters" with more occasional swallowing (some mums say it feels like their baby is tickling them, or their tongue is vibrating against your ni**le). This helps to draw even more fat down the ducts as fat is thick and sticky.

Here Lucy Webber Feeding Support - IBCLC shows us babies that are and aren’t sucking and swallowing well.

18/12/2025

Day 18 of our advent calendar 🌲
Letter R for Responsive parenting.

To read more on the Unicef uk baby friendly initiative on responsive feeding:supporting close and loving relationships click on the link below

https://www.unicef.org.uk/babyfriendly/baby-friendly-resources/relationship-building-resources/responsive-feeding-infosheet/

Responsive parenting builds babies's brains

Did you know that when you are cuddling, feeding, responding and playing with your baby, you are actually growing their brains?

Babies are born with an immature brain and the majority of brain structure and function develops outside of the womb.

Every interaction a baby has will help make those brain connections. And repeated interactions will strengthen those connections further. The baby's attachment to their primary carer is fundamental in making positive brain connections.

A sensitive or attuned parent has been proven to be the single most important factor in a child's future development. An attuned parent is one that is considering baby's needs, thinking about them, responding quickly to their distress, feeding at the earliest cues.

Stress has been found to have a negative impact of the baby's ability to learn and build relationships. Babies will learn to deal with mild levels of stress with parental support (nappy is wet, feeling cold, hungry, alone etc) with no impact on their development. Some will fond this easier to manage than others! But a prolonged stressful environment where nobody is helping or responding to them is detrimental to their development.

This is not to say that you have to be the perfect parent. There is no such thing. You cannot be totally attuned to somebody else's needs 100% of the time. It is impossible. "Good enough" parenting is just fine! But the more you can respond to your baby, the better. The baby will have a firm secure base from which to explore the world and will learn to make loving and trusting relationships with others.

So if you feel like you are not achieving anything when cuddling, feeding and playing with your baby, you are actually growing another human's brain! And you are increasing the likelihood that they will be able to make positive relationships with others as they grow up. This is an incredibly important job and the fundamental role of being a parent! Get cuddling, the dishwasher can wait!

17/12/2025

Day 17 of our Advent calendar 🌲

Letter Q For QUESTIONS
As a new parent you may have many questions.
One Questions we get asked a lot is
“How do I know my baby is getting at the breast? “

Lucy Webber Feeding Support - IBCLC talks about how to recognise they are getting enough.

How do you know they're getting enough?
Frequent, comfortable feeds with lots of lovely swallowing. (Swallows will be every 1 to 2 sucks for a good bulk of the feed)
A word about poos here, under 6 weeks old we expect at least 2 poos in 24 hours or more. After 6 weeks old some babies may poo less frequently.
Re growth, babies do grow pretty quickly at first! If they're growing well you don't really need scales to know they're putting on weight as they'll be growing out of their clothes and feeling heavier in your arms.
If you do get them weighed, they'll be roughly following one of the centile lines, not falling across or under (up is fine)
If you're in any doubt reach out for some well trained support. X

16/12/2025

Day 16 of our Advent Calendar 🌲
Letter P for Pump hire.

Did you know the Infant feeding team have a number of breast pumps they can hire to you free of charge on a 2 week loan?

For families struggling with breastfeeding using a hospital grade double breast pump will be the best way to establish and protect milk supply.
To establish your milk supply with a breast pump you are looking at pumping 8-12 times per day.

Our ardo pumps are easy to use and have a variety of fl**ge sizes available to ensure pumping is comfortable and effective.
You want the fl**ge to fit comfortably around your ni**le and for pumping not to feel uncomfortable. When using the pump your ni**le should not rub on the tube or be pulled to far into the pump. You should not find much of your ar**la or breast tissue is pulled into the pump tube while pumping.
Along with the pump we can provide you with safe storage of breastmilk information and an expressing plan.

15/12/2025

Day 15 of Our Advent Calendar 🌲
Letter O for Oxytocin ❤️

Oxytocin is a feel-good hormone ‘the love hormone’

Oxytocin plays a key part in your recovery from giving birth. If your newborn latches on early and often, it can help your uterus (womb) to contract.
This encourages the ‘third stage’ of childbirth, expelling the placenta.

It is released in you when you cuddle your baby, and it also makes you feel calm and happy and helps you bond closely with your baby.
All babies have needs for comfort, closeness and food, and responding to these needs makes babies feel feel safe, loved and secure.
Every time you cuddle your baby, smile & talk to your baby, respond to your babies needs promptly their brain releases Oxytocin, a hormone that also helps your babies brain grow.

Whenever you breastfeed, the hormone is released in your brain, and your baby’s brain too.
It’s well-known that breastfeeding is good for baby but the oxytocin released during breastfeeding is also pretty great for mums too!

A rollercoaster of interactions takes place in your body so you can feed and protect your new baby, and this process relies on oxytocin.

This hormone, is generated and regulated between you and your baby in four ways as the sensory nerves are activated in:
1) your ni**le, as your baby sucks on it
2) your baby’s mouth, as they suck
3) your baby’s gastrointestinal tract, as the milk arrives
4) your skin and babies skin, by the warmth and touch of breastfeeding

It has many benefits for mum and baby and has been shown to decrease
- sensitivity to pain,
- promote healing,
- reduce stress
- lowers blood pressure in both mums and infants.

Once breastfeeding is established, your baby’s brain will release oxytocin whenever baby sees or smells you, or hears your voice, and so baby will also feel its pleasant effects at these times.

Oxytocin also plays a vital role in helping you bond with your new baby.
Mums who breastfeed have higher oxytocin levels and scientists have linked this with enhanced mothering behaviour, including more eye contact, caressing, affectionate language, and faster responsiveness.

Oxytocin has antidepressant and anti-anxiety properties – and it may protect against postnatal depression.
It has been found that mothers with higher levels of oxytocin had fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression.