LALactation

01/19/2026

Breast milk isn’t free.
It’s just unpaid.

We love to say “breastfeeding is free,” but that only works if we pretend a mother’s time, energy, body, and labor have no value.

Let’s do the math for a second. Just numbers.

🍼 The average baby drinks about 25–30 oz (750–1000 ml) of milk every 24 hours.

🏦 Most human milk banks charge about $3–5 per ounce.

That means:
25 oz × $3 = $75 per day
30 oz × $5 = $150 per day

💸 That’s $75–$150 PER DAY
💸 $2,250–$4,500 per month
💸 $27,000–$54,000 per year

And that’s just the milk.
Not the pumping time.
Not the night wakings.
Not the calories burned.
Not the mental load of remembering which side, when you last pumped, or washing pump parts (again).

Whether milk goes directly from breast to baby or breast to pump to bottle, it costs something:
•Time away from work, sleep, and rest
•Physical energy and calories
•Emotional labor and persistence
•A body that is actively working around the clock

We don’t call it “free” when farmers grow food.
We don’t call it “free” when baristas make coffee.
But somehow, when a mother produces food with her own body, we shrug and say, “Well, at least it’s free.”

It’s not.

Breastfeeding parents aren’t lucky to get to do this.
They are working often without recognition.

So if you’re breastfeeding and exhausted, touched out, hungry, or wondering why this feels like so much…
It’s because it is so much.

Your milk has value.
Your labor has value.
You have value. 💛

01/18/2026

If your baby cries when they’re in the crib and instantly calms when you pick them up, the crib isn’t a reflection of a “bad sleeper.” It’s simply a space that goes against what baby is biologically wired to expect. There is nothing wrong with the baby.

Humans are carry mammals. Just like primates, our babies are designed to be held, worn, fed frequently, and kept close to a caregiver for regulation. A human newborn is born neurologically immature and depends on an adult body to help regulate heart rate, breathing, temperature, stress hormones, and emotions. When your baby is on you, they have access to your smell, your movement, your warmth, and your nervous system. These are things a crib can’t replicate.

So when a baby sleeps longer during a contact nap and wakes sooner in the crib, that’s not manipulation or a bad habit. It’s normal human infant behavior. A flat, still, quiet surface offers less sensory input and less regulation, so babies often transition out of sleep more quickly. Shorter crib naps don’t mean your baby “can’t self-soothe” , it means their brain recognizes the difference between safety through connection and safety through proximity.

Babies aren’t meant to be independent sleepers early on. They’re meant to be close. Wanting to be held is not a flaw to fix. It’s a survival instinct doing exactly what it’s supposed to do.

You’re not creating a problem by responding. You’re meeting a need. And your baby isn’t broken because they aren’t following a book they didn’t read. They’re behaving like a perfectly normal human baby 🤍

01/18/2026

Breastfeeding is more than just a calorie exchange. Babies breastfeed for many reasons, and hunger is only one of them. Nursing is how babies meet their physical, emotional, and regulatory needs all at once. It is food, hydration, comfort, communication, and connection wrapped into one beautifully efficient system.

Babies breastfeed because they are hungry. They breastfeed because they are thirsty. They breastfeed because they are tired and their nervous system needs help settling. They breastfeed because they missed you and need reassurance that you are still close. They breastfeed because the world feels big and loud and overwhelming. They breastfeed because something doesn’t feel quite right in their body and they need comfort. They breastfeed to calm themselves, to regulate their breathing and heart rate, and to feel safe again. They breastfeed when they are not feeling well. They breastfeed because they want connection. They breastfeed because you are their safe place.

None of these reasons are bad habits. None of them mean you are doing something wrong. This is biology doing exactly what it was designed to do.

Breastfeeding is not just about feeding a baby. It is about supporting a developing human nervous system through closeness, responsiveness, and trust.

01/16/2026

Hand expression during pregnancy is one of those topics that can feel mysterious or even a little intimidating, so let’s slow it down and make it practical.

In late pregnancy, usually after 36–37 weeks and with provider approval, some parents choose to practice gentle hand expression to collect colostrum. Colostrum is that thick, golden first milk and it’s made in tiny amounts on purpose. Hand expression doesn’t mean you’re trying to “empty” the breast or boost supply before birth. It’s more about learning the skill, understanding how your breasts respond, and sometimes saving a little colostrum for the early days, especially if there’s a higher chance baby may need supplementation.

A few important notes, said gently and without fear: ni**le stimulation can release oxytocin, which is why this is something to talk through with your OB or midwife first. For most low-risk pregnancies, brief, gentle hand expression is considered safe late in pregnancy, but it’s not recommended for everyone. And it’s always optional. If it feels stressful, uncomfortable, or just not for you, skipping it does not set you or your baby up for failure. Feeding your baby is not a test you can pass or fail during pregnancy. Hand expression is simply a tool, not a requirement, and like all parenting tools, it’s there to serve you, not pressure you.

01/16/2026

Quality lactation support is about so much more than milk moving from a body to a baby or into a pump.

In private practice especially, we often sit with moms for long stretches of time. And in those hours, something important happens. We become the person who hears the birth story start to finish. The feeding struggles that didn’t make it into the discharge summary. The exhaustion that feels bone deep. The grief over how things went. The pride over what they’ve survived. A good lactation consultant knows that postpartum care is not just about weighted feeds, latch angles, or fl**ge sizes. It’s about understanding that feeding challenges rarely exist in isolation. They live inside a nervous system that’s been stretched, a body that’s healing, and a heart that’s learning how to be someone’s everything.

Active listening is real postpartum care. It’s sitting without rushing. Letting silence exist. Reflecting back what you hear so a mom feels seen instead of fixed. Postpartum mothers need women who will listen without minimizing, correcting, or immediately problem-solving. They need space to process the transition into motherhood out loud, sometimes for the first time. When we honor that, feeding support becomes more effective, trust deepens, and healing happens. Because sometimes the most impactful thing we offer isn’t a perfect plan, it’s the feeling that someone was truly there.

Drop the name of the support person who was there for you during the hardest phase of your postpartum life

01/16/2026

Breastfeeding and bottle feeding are both ways babies get fed and loved, but they work very differently in a baby’s body.

At the breast, babies use a wide, rhythmic jaw motion with the tongue cupping and massaging the breast. Milk flow isn’t instant or constant. There’s an ebb and flow with letdowns, pauses, and changes in speed, so babies actively coordinate sucking, swallowing, and breathing. They work a bit like a marathon runner, adjusting pace, taking breaks, and responding to changes in flow. This builds endurance, oral muscle strength, and sensory awareness.

With a bottle, milk is usually available right away and flows more consistently. Babies tend to use more tongue and lip compression with less jaw excursion, and gravity plus ni**le flow do more of the work. It’s more like a steady treadmill pace. While the both feed the baby, you just need to be aware that they do work different. Understanding these differences helps explain why some babies need time, support, or specific strategies when moving between breast and bottle, and why feeding is a learned skill, not just an instinct.

01/14/2026

01/14/2026

OmG I completely forgot about this hack. I haven’t shared it in years but it’s worth pulling up again. Thank you for the reminder. Have you used this hack?

01/13/2026

01/12/2026

✨ When Can You FINALLY Stop Washing the Green Stem in Dr. Brown’s Bottles?

Let’s be honest. Nobody loves that little green stem. It gets lost, it’s annoying to clean, and it feels personal at 2 a.m. 😅 So here’s the real talk: the green stem in Dr. Brown’s Options+ bottles is there to do two very specific jobs — prevent ni**le collapse and vent the bottle. That’s it. “Anti-colic” is mostly a marketing phrase. What actually matters is air management, and all bottles need a vent system in some form.

Early on, many babies need that internal vent because their suck is still developing. Without it, the ni**le can collapse, milk flow can stall, and babies may work harder than they should to get milk. That extra work can show up as frustration, clicking, leaking, or gulping air. The stem helps regulate pressure so milk flows smoothly and predictably.

Here’s the good news. As babies grow, their oral skills get stronger. Once your baby can maintain a steady suck, the ni**le stays open without collapsing, and feedings feel calm and efficient, you can try removing the stem. Most families experiment somewhere in the 4–6 month range, but there is no magic age. The right time is when your baby no longer needs help managing airflow.

The test is simple. Take the stem out for one bottle. If the ni**le collapses, baby gets frustrated, or suddenly seems gassier, the bottle still needs a vent system — so the stem goes back in. If feeds stay smooth and relaxed, congratulations… you just reduced your bottle-washing workload. 🙌

Bottom line: you are not “breaking” the bottle by removing the stem. You’re just switching how the bottle vents. Every bottle on the market has to manage air somehow. The stem is helpful early, optional later, and never a parenting failure to hate cleaning.

Less parts. Same love. If that system isn’t working for you, there are better bottles out there!