Anxiety Free Parenting with Ashley Pickett, IBCLC

01/14/2025

Navigating pregnancy and breastfeeding is intuitive and joyful and rewarding but it can also feel scary, overwhelming and confusing... BUT it doesn’t have to!

Let me help you get off to the very best start possible to breastfeeding once your baby arrives!

Join us Tuesday (Jan 14th) for our next Prenatal Breastfeeding Class. In our time together you will learn all of the secret tips and tricks to achieve a pain free latch, as well as how to manage the most common challenges families face in the first hours, days and weeks.

Classes are booked through the Community Midwives of Halton and are held over Zoom.

Please email [email protected] to register :)

See you Tuesday!

10/29/2024

Our children will learn some of life's greatest lessons through our parenting. Instead of worrying about the techniques we'll use to effectively teach our kids all the things we want them to learn, how about we SHOW them what we hope for them instead? A kid who is loved well and treated with kindness and respect is a kid who will grow into a loving adult who shows kindness and respect to others.

10/05/2024

URGENT 🚨

Good afternoon,
In the wake of Hurricane Helene, we are urgently seeking 20 Infant Feeding Specialists to support the efforts at the Lilac Birth Center in Asheville, NC starting tomorrow, October 5, 2024 at 9:30 AM and on an ongoing basis. The situation is critical, and we need trained support for outreach and education at shelters where mass distributions of formula and bottles are taking place.

Requirements:

Must be an Infant Feeding Specialist (IBCLC, CLC, CLE, LLL, Breastfeeding Peer Counselor, etc.)
Must review the Infant Feeding in Emergencies Toolkit prior to deployment.
Must bring a photo ID and displays credentials (if available), or print credentials and place them in a plastic lanyard for easy identification.
If you are available and willing to help, please sign up using the Google Form below:

[https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfQOLaMbpXignLu2GWB8orApfqtm9vWQLqfO2m_stxRzaBzcw/viewform]

Lilac Birth Center Address:

Lilac Birth Center
390 S French Broad Ave,
Asheville, NC 28801
We ask that you please share this form widely so we can get as many trained specialists on the ground as quickly as possible. Your support can make a significant difference to families in need during this crisis.

Thank you for your immediate attention and response.

If you would like to coordinate infant feeding in a location other than Asheville. Email Chair NCBC . And we will start mobilizing volunteers in your direction.

We are urgently seeking 20 Infant Feeding Specialists to assist at the Lilac Birth Center in Asheville, NC starting tomorrow, October 5, 2024 and on an ongoing basis. Specialists will help provide support to families affected by the hurricane by ensuring safe infant feeding practices. Volunteers mus...

10/05/2024

Parenting a teenager can be a LOT, especially when your child is missing school, being disrespectful, and expressing their frustrations in hurtful ways. It’s essential to approach this challenging phase with patience, empathy, and a focus on connection rather than conflict. It can be tempting to take things away, ground them, or yell at them! And this will work if your end goal is compliance. But if the goal is an eventual adult who can regulate their emotions, stay calm and kind in times of stress, and make good decisions when faced with options that are right or wrong - then it’s relationship that is worth focusing on.
We have social contracts with people we feel attached to. In teenaged years, attaching to friends and peers rather than family becomes very easy. And it will be easier for them to move farther away from you if they only feel reprimanded, judged and shamed for exploring their feelings and actions.
It’s important to remember that your teen’s behavior is often a reflection of deeper feelings they may not fully understand or know how to articulate. They are wrestling with a mix of emotions, pressures, and expectations that can be overwhelming. When your child “acts out”, they are simply physically acting out the huge feelings that they don’t yet know how to process. Try to view it through a lens of compassion: they might be struggling with anxiety, peer pressure, or a sense of inadequacy. They likely don’t know how to act and are relying on displays of emotion rather than concrete next steps to calm and move through it.
Instead of reacting to the surface behavior, aim to connect with the emotions driving it.
One of the most effective ways to foster a positive relationship is to prioritize connection. Engaging in fun, low-pressure activities can create a safe space for your teen to feel loved and understood without the weight of judgment or expectations.
This is when you will start to see change.
www.ashleypickett.com/blog

09/10/2024

This is my mom and my sister and I. I am grateful every day that I get to love to spend time with them. And I wish this for you!
When your children no longer rely on you for food & shelter, no longer need rides because their friends drive, when they are older & living their own lives … you will be left with the relationship that was built over time.
How you make your children feel when they are having their hardest moments counts. When they are having unhinged feelings they need stability & presence. They don’t know what choices to make and can’t wade through the noise - they need your ears not your words. When your babies are sad or mad they will learn where to take those emotions from how you choose to show up for them.
You can teach anger to turn into curiosity and then a solution, or you can teach anger to turn into shame and then a fight or more intense feelings. Your child will follow your lead.
Connection and curiosity will let them truly rest in your presence… and know unconditional love. When we put our discomfort aside & meet huge feelings with curiosity, we might understand why they’re having such a hard time.
Futility is the hardest one… handling those moments when your kids want something they can’t have. It could be the blue cup, ice cream for dinner, or to go to a movie that is too old for them. Or a later curfew or to go away overnight. Or a person that can’t come back, or to stay back when you have to move cities. No matter how small or big the cause, we have to learn to face futility and process it so we can move on with grace intact.
As their wants & mistakes get bigger, impact more people (and scare the hell out of you), they need your understanding to grow even faster. They will need you to hear things that you may not want to hear and they may need you to compromise on things that you initially said no to. They need you to listen without judgement.
Guiding children is very different than controlling them. Let go of who you think they should be. Become a safe person to ask the most uncomfortable questions to, to share the deepest secrets with and to trust that no matter what - you’re there. Let them rest in your connection.

09/06/2024

I hold the belief that parents are powerful conduits of information, empathy, and love… and have the ability to guide the newest dear ones into becoming their highest and most wonderful selves!!

Your heart, words, actions… they consciously create feelings and stories within your little ones that can last a lifetime.

Wading through the sea of parenting advice doesn’t have to be lonely or overwhelming.

Calm the storm.

RISE above the waters.

Access the wisdom already with you.

Starting October 3rd at 6:30pm.

Register by sending me an email at www.AshleyPickett.com :)

Support services, classes and workshops on everything to do with Birth, Doula support, Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultant, Infant Feeding, Solid Foods, Parenting Positive Discipline, and Parent Coaching, Infant Sleep Education and Speaker presentation topics.

08/04/2024

Click here—-> https://www.rafflebox.ca/raffle/footballontario?cid=sendgrid

Select “Oakville Titans Football”

Pay for tickets.

Goodluck! 🏈 

07/24/2024

Join us tonight for our parenting and Feeding Circle!

We need community as new parents, to share the hard and celebrate the wins. Our circle is meant to bring families together to connect and help each other with feeding, sleep, parenting and everything in between.

Ashley will also be there to help and share, assist with baby carriers, and lead the discussion.

If you plan on coming, please indicate that you are joining us in the event post (linked below) or by emailing [email protected]. Siblings welcome, however, we ask that you keep older children from entering the clinic, beyond the waiting room where we will be meeting.

**Please note that this is not an opportunity for individual care, and is not a lactation consultation.

EVENT LINK: https://fb.me/e/21wqkVe7u

07/18/2024

Come and join our KidsCorner team for our monthly parenting circle where you can share, shed and learn! Breastfeeding is hard, sleep is tricky and babies have their own language that is ever-changing… and we’re here to help try and decode it all!

Topics regularly discussed:
- breastfeeding, bottle feeding, weaning, back to work
- babywearing (bring your carrier or try one on!)
- normal infant sleep
- introducing solid foods
- siblings, preparation

Please note that this is a parent to parent support circle, with IBCLC’s helping along the way. This is not a clinical appointment and no direct medical advice will be available.

https://www.ashleypickett.com/upcoming-events/2024/7/24

06/26/2024

FREE Infant feeding and Parenting Circle

I’m looking forward to our first infant feeding and parenting drop in tonight at 6:30 PM at Kidscorner medical and dental!

We will be sharing about our feeding and parenting journeys, with a focus on feeding and infant sleep! Always an exciting topic.

Comment here if you think you’re coming! See you later.

06/22/2024

Don’t get me wrong… reading books & gathering knowledge is wonderful. I’ve read close to 600 books on parenting, sleep, feeding, attachment, teenagers, weaning, solid foods, connection, punishments, love, trauma… however gathering knowledge & trying to implement knowledge are different!
I watch parents in my practice read a book, immediately put the advice to work and wonder why it’s failing. Books feel authoritative, esp when authors are medical pros. But they’re mostly just ideas.
A clear theme stands out - there are thousands of books with thousands of versions of raising littles. You are raising YOUR little human. Not the baby that book was likely written about. No matter who wrote it!
Many authors’ personal story is embedded right into their advice. This is wonderful - sharing personal experiences and solutions! We need more of this sharing. But remember these were solutions that worked for *their* baby and *their* families’ goals.
So please DO learn as much as you can. And also, DO trust your baby and your own instincts. Collect the bits and pieces that fit YOUR baby and YOUR families’ goals. Allow your family goals to be intentional and include your baby’s needs too. They deserve as much consideration as the adults in the mix.
When you read your baby, really watch and listen to them with curiosity and an openness to listen, they share their own best and healthiest solutions! It’s difficult, at first. We’re used to online interactions and have less exposure to uncomfortable in person discussions. Reading true body language can feel strange. But babies are like 90% body language and always telling you what they need. They cry when their cues were missed, but are speaking well before the crying begins. You can learn how to read them!
The more physical touch and contact you keep with them, the easier they become to read. Wear them in a baby-carrier, sleep close to them if it’s safe for you, contact nap, hold them when they ask to be held and feed them when they ask to be fed. Truly LEARN their language and they’ll help you understand their needs every step of the way!

06/10/2024

Congratulations to everyone voted up by their communities!!
Both my private practice as well as KidsCorner Medical were recognized in the community this year. And some friend’s businesses too, like Dominika!! If you haven’t had a session with her you’re missing out. I haven’t looked through the full winners list - add your name in the comments if you have a win to share!!
Thank you to everyone who participated! We LOVE what we do, and are always so grateful for your trust in us and your referrals. Xoxo 😘

06/04/2024

Babywearing for Beginners Class - June 24th @ 12pm.

Babywearing saved my life! With three kids under three, one of them had to be strapped on to me while I chased the rest... babywearing let me be the parent I wanted to be, always welcoming my kids into their safe space (my body) but also letting me meet my own needs like eating, reading, walking, running errands, caring for the other kids...

Come join us to learn about the benefits of contact and connection, to discuss the very real and intense needs of babies in the first years of life, and how to manage it all with babywearing!

We will discuss the types of baby carriers available, how to use each and the pros/cons, discuss babywearing safety, summer wearing and if you have a carrier, we will do a fit check at the end.

After attending this class you are also welcome to book an in person babywearing consultation with me for $40 (usually $75) at my office if you need more personalized help with your carrier or would like to try out others.

Babywearing for Beginners Your baby is here, and LOVES to be held, cuddled and to sleep on your chest! For a new parent, this can feel overwhelming, even though it is normal and even good for our babies. Let me show you how to safely wear your baby in a carrier, so you can meet his intense at

05/31/2024

This is the first year in many that my peonies have bloomed. We split them from the center and lined the corners of the garden with them. They waited almost 4 years to come back. There are now 40-50 blooms in my garden and I’m just so happy to see them looking brilliant.
They had undergone a huge change. Their environment was different and we disturbed their roots. It took years and years for them to heal and anchor themselves firmly enough to blossom.
We’re not so different. And our kids are like this too. And so are you, when life changes.
We can absolutely anchor ourselves wherever we land… It may take many years. Slow down. Wait for it, be kind to it, show it patience, put energy into the soil and weeding and the buds will open up and be amazing.
Parenting is much like this. You think you’re doing the right thing. Making the right moves. Trusting the process… until you shake it up too much and watch your family suffer. Hopefully nurturing them - feeding and watering and weeding - works just as well on teens 🩷

05/28/2024

🤰Breastfeeding Basics 🤰🏽
Hosted by the Community Midwives of Halton
You deserve the best possible start to breastfeeding! Join our class to learn all of Ashley’s secrets to help you achieve YOUR own feeding goals!
Feeding your baby is natural and normal, however it’s a skill like anything else and takes time to master. Your baby is wise, and will be born knowing just how to feed. Our class focuses on navigating your baby’s behaviours and cues, so you know exactly what they need, when they need it!
Join me and other families-to-be to enhance your knowledge of breastfeeding your baby. Through understanding how to read your baby’s communication, identify problems and work through common challenges, this class will help you gain confidence in your feeding success. Learn how to listen to your intuition, how to get out of your baby’s way, and remain ready to meet your babies’ needs while meeting your own.
We will discuss:
- Breast anatomy, System of milk production & Milk removal
- Easy steps to get the best start possible
- Optimal latching, reflexive latching
- Secrets of consistent milk flow
- Signs of a well fed baby
- Common Barriers and how to avoid them
- Pumping & bottle feeding
- Ages and stages, what to expect
- Common Breastfeeding challenges, and when to get help
Consider this an add-on or extension of the traditional breastfeeding class content. I design the cirriculum to cover information above and beyond the typical prenatal info with a focus on the practical steps you may wish to take to optimize feeding in the first hours, days and weeks!
WHEN: Second Tuesday of each month.
- Virtual Class @ 430-600pm
- In person Class at Milton Site @ 615-745pm
Class fee: $50

Please enroll by emailing [email protected]
Check out other events on my website - Linktree in bio or hea over to AshleyPickett.com
I look forward to learning with you!

05/16/2024

Be gentle with those ti***es!

If you’re having breast health problems, like block ducks or mastitis, use ice and cold therapy, gentle lymphatic drainage, and anything anti-inflammatory…

Enough with the rough massage and other things that will just cause more inflation.

For too long, we've been rougher with breasts (even our own) than we should be. The breast is both an organ and a glad. Image treating your thyroid gland or your liver like some treat breasts. Be gentle.

Breasts get inflamed sometimes, which we call plugged ducts, engorgement, and sometimes that leads to mastitis and some other worse medical issues. If your ankle was inflamed, would you squeeze it, poke it, rub it firmly? No, you'd be gentle. You'd apply cold. You wouldn't put a virbrating tool on it, either (side note: companies can put whatever they want on the US market, whether it's good for you or not).

Please be gentle with your breasts. No heat, no poking, no squeezing, no vibrating tools.

Your breasts will thank you.

03/26/2024

Super excited to continue to be serving the community of Milton with the addition of office visits at the CMOH Milton site!!
Book with me on Tuesdays either privately via AshleyPickett.com or with some OHIP subsidy through the OntarioBreastfeedingClinic.ca
In my private practice I can help you with breastfeeding, babywearing, sleep support and parent coaching 🙂 Alternatively, you may ask your midwife or doctor for a referral in for breastfeeding and infant feeding support subsidized by OHIP when booking through the OBC!
Looking forward to seeing you in our cozy little space in
And of course - you can still see me on Wednesdays and Fridays at Abaton Integrative Medicine and on Thursdays at Kids Corner Medical & Dental!