5 Powerful Photos Of Breastfeeding Mums – And The Stories Behind Them

Posted on 31/07/2023 by Boris Clair

What’s stopping new mums from breastfeeding? That’s the question photographer Ania Hrycyna set out to uncover when she gathered 15 mothers together for a candid festival-inspired photoshoot of them feeding their babies.

The UK has some of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world with eight out of 10 women stopping before they want to.

Ahead of World Breastfeeding Week (1-7 August), the South London-based photographer and mother brought together a group of local women at a local airfield and asked them about the challenges they’d experienced in their breastfeeding journeys.

The photographer’s hope is that their stories – and gorgeous photos – will foster more empathy and understanding of the difficulties women face. And one theme that crops up time and time again is the lack of support new mothers face.

Here are some of their stories.

‘He struggled to latch and I received very little support from midwives at the hospital’

I started breastfeeding my firstborn in May 2017. He was tiny and very sleepy, really struggled to latch and I received very little support from the midwives at the hospital.

Once at home, he lost 13% of his birth weight. The home health visiting team were fabulous and helped me increase my milk supply and get onto an exclusively breastfeeding path which we followed for two-and-a-half years (until a couple of weeks before the birth of his little brother).

I thought after breastfeeding for two-and-a-half years it would be a doddle the second time around, but I guess I underestimated that my new little bundle had to find his way, too.

I managed to settle onto breastfeeding Hugo, who again I fed for two-and-a-half years. This time until I was about 30 weeks pregnant with my third baby, Max.

I have recently gone back to work after maternity leave so just learning to live in our new chaos and finding the right balance between expressing at work and co-sleeping so that he can get all his milk feeds.

I love the bond from breastfeeding my babies.

‘I never knew two breastfeeding journeys could be so different’

In 2020, I became a mother to our first child Lilah Ottalie. Breastfeeding was something I had set my heart on and it came so naturally to us both – born in water, she climbed up and latched on within moments, despite having a tongue tie.

She fed perfectly throughout my second pregnancy in 2022 and is still going strong today.

Our second child, Ottis Malachi, had a harder time learning to latch and feed. He was born very fast, he was tired and so was I – everything was a blur. He didn’t feed at all for the first 48 hours, he never got any of my golden colostrum. I felt very let down by the team at the hospital, I still do.

They wanted him to try formula as he couldn’t latch and he was losing energy. Lilah has a severe cow’s milk protein allergy that had her in and out of hospital for the first eight months of her life. I have been dairy-free for the last three-and-a-half years for this reason.

The hospital could only offer me cow’s milk formula for Ottis, which I had no choice but to accept. He reacted more or less straight away and I knew the symptoms so well that I declined the next feed. It was all on me.

Giving birth in lockdown meant my partner wasn’t allowed in to support me either, and it was the first time I had ever left Lilah, who was still breastfeeding and wasn’t allowed in to see us. I was heartbroken with a new baby that needed me.

We stayed in for four days until we were discharged with a feeding plan of me exclusively pumping to supply him with what he needed. Ottis had a lot of problems – we found out he also had a tongue tie and a high palate with a shallow latch.

At six days old he finally latched on his own for the first time. He really struggled to find his way to my nipple, so it was suggested at six weeks that we replicate being born and the newborn crawl to the boob. It helped and I was so emotional.

I had been told I wouldn’t be able to feed him and it was a long road but we got there in the end. He still wouldn’t latch every time and struggled a lot, he used to get very frustrated and chompy which had me in a lot of pain and tears. He also has low muscle tone making it hard for him to hold on when feeding.

I never knew two breastfeeding journeys could be so different. I have now been tandem feeding for a further year-and-a-half.

‘We need to be more open about the issues surrounding breastfeeding and where to go for support’

I knew I wanted to try breastfeeding, but also knew things might not work out and I didn’t want to feel too let down if I wasn’t able to. If anything I had almost convinced myself that I may not be able to because I was unable to harvest any colostrum before giving birth – despite my best efforts. I made sure to pack bottles of formula in my hospital bag.

With there being so much emphasis on ‘breast being best’ I did feel a bit guilty about being so comfortable with the idea of giving my baby formula straight away, like I had quit before starting – but now looking back I realise I had a lot of worries about breastfeeding in general with questions in my mind such as: Will I produce enough milk? Will it mean my body will never be my own again? Will my nipples be leaking milk all the time?

When I gave birth to my daughter, suddenly all of the feelings of anxiety and worry were quickly replaced with confidence as I watched her crawl up my stomach after birth, navigate her way to my boob and latch her little mouth – it was truly magical.

In this moment I fully understood and felt what my hypnobirthing teacher had meant when she said to trust your body and baby. Breastfeeding hasn’t come without the lows, though, and one of the things that surprised me was the pain – especially in those initial weeks when my daughter would cluster feed.

We’re told that breastfeeding should be a pain-free experience that will come naturally to us and our babies, which I don’t believe is true for the majority of women. I cried numerous times through the hard times in our journey, constantly thinking: why is this so tough when it’s supposed to be the most natural thing?

I think as a society we need to be more open about the issues surrounding breastfeeding and where to go for support, so that women can prepare themselves for the common issues and not struggle silently.

‘I felt like I was already failing as a mother, less than an hour after becoming one’

I always knew I wanted to breastfeed my children – my trouble was in having those children. After a good few years, I finally got pregnant thanks to the miracle of science, and then Covid-19 struck.

Serafina was born in September 2020. I tried to feed her in the minutes after birth, but she wouldn’t latch. I was devastated, especially as the breastfeeding nurses kept telling me it was because I have flat nipples. Hormones and tiredness didn’t help, but I felt that not only could I not conceive naturally, I couldn’t feed her naturally either. I felt like I was already failing as a mother, less than an hour after becoming one.

The following day, I was ‘allowed’ to express, so at least she was getting the good stuff… When I got home, I persevered with breastfeeding – my husband bought every contraption under the sun to try and help with my ‘flat nipples’ and the midwife who visited on day five tried to help me with positioning.

Serafina did start feeding, but I was in agony, kept getting blocked ducts, and had a baby or a pump attached to my boobs nearly 24/7. About six weeks after Serafina was born, I finally plucked up the courage to join a breastfeeding Zoom session. I was recommended a lactation consultant who arrived the next day and diagnosed a severe posterior tongue tie within two minutes of walking in the door and advised the stabbing, freezing pains I was feeling was vasospam.

A mere 10 seconds after the tongue tie was severed, Serafina latched onto my boob – and it felt amazing.

When we decided to try and have another baby, I was told I wouldn’t be able to start the hormone treatment until I’d stopped breastfeeding Serafina. After everything we’d been through to get to this point, how was I going to stop?! And why was I putting a potential future baby ahead of the real life baby girl I held in my arms?!

The guilt was crushing. But we eventually did it (with many tears!). Persephone was born in January this year and latched on and started feeding within minutes. It was a totally different experience. It still didn’t feel quite right, but it wasn’t painful. Tongue tie was discounted, so I just got on with it.

We were eventually referred to the tongue tie clinic because Persephone had green stools, and lo and behold, she had posterior tongue tie. To say I was annoyed is an understatement. But at six months old, she is now feeding much better. It has not been an easy journey, but I’m so proud of myself and my girls.

‘There is so much more to breastfeeding than just feeding a baby’

I always knew I wanted to breastfeed, so when my eldest daughter was born in 2013 I was delighted when it came quite easily to us both. When her younger brother was born 16 months later, it was a different story.

He had a tongue tie and feeding was really painful. I didn’t know how or where to access good support and believed the people who told me nothing could be done to make his feeding more comfortable.

I fed him for a year but it was a good three months before it felt comfortable. The same thing happened with his younger sister, born 18 months later and also with a tongue tie.

When my fourth baby was born and feeding was again painful, I knew a bit more about tongue tie and what to do. We found support, had her tie divided and feeding was so much easier from then on.

I decided to train as a breastfeeding counsellor, partly because I had always loved feeding my babies (despite the pain) and wanted to understand it more, and partly because I wanted to be able to offer others the support I had so desperately needed myself.

I spent two years completing a foundation degree and during that time my fifth and sixth babies came along, both with tongue tie. I recently gave birth to my seventh baby (again with tongue tie), who is in this photoshoot.

I find it so rewarding to be able to help people to work through difficulties and to be able to continue breastfeeding, where that is important to them. It has also been a huge help to my own breastfeeding journeys, which have not been without their difficulties, to understand how breastfeeding works and the impact that the various challenges can have.

I hear first-hand how valuable that support is for new parents and I am passionate about providing accessible support to anyone who needs it through drop-ins, free telephone helpline support and signposting to other services.

There is so much more to breastfeeding than just feeding a baby and I enjoy the constant learning that comes with working in breastfeeding support.

If Your Baby Or Toddler Naps Little And Often, Researchers Want You To Do This

Posted on 28/07/2023 by Boris Clair

When it comes to babies and toddlers, it’s safe to say there’s no rulebook as far as sleep is concerned.

While there’s no shortage of books out there telling parents how much their children should be sleeping at various stages in their development, the reality is that no two babies are the same so they’ll have very different sleep needs.

And, when they reach toddlerhood, well… good luck to you as you spend hours each evening trying to get them down to sleep. (Sorry, I might be projecting.)

But does it actually mean something when an infant naps little and often?

Well, a new study suggests it might. Some children are more efficient at consolidating information during sleep, so they nap less frequently, the research found.

Conversely, University of East Anglia researchers found that it’s usually the case that frequent cat-nappers tend to have fewer words and poorer cognitive skills than their peers.

The takeaway? The research team said these children should be allowed to nap as frequently and for as long as they need.

For the study, researchers analysed 463 infants aged between eight months and three years during lockdown in 2020.

Parents were surveyed about their children’s sleep patterns, their ability to focus on a task, keep information in their memory, and the number of words that they understood and could say.

They also asked parents about their socio-economic status – including their postcode, income, and education – and about the amount of screen time and outdoors activities their child engaged in.

As the research took place during lockdown, it allowed researchers to study children’s intrinsic sleep needs because they weren’t at daycare, which is where they tend to sleep less.

They found the structure of daytime sleep is an indicator of cognitive development.

Lead researcher Dr Teodora Gliga said: “There is a lot of parental anxiety around sleep. Parents worry that their kids don’t nap as much as expected for their age – or nap too frequently and for too long.

“But our research shows that how frequently a child naps reflects their individual cognitive need. Some are more efficient at consolidating information during sleep, so they nap less frequently.

“Children with smaller vocabularies or a lower score in a measure of executive function, nap more frequently.

“Young children will naturally nap for as long as they need and they should be allowed to do just that.”

Parents of frequent cat-nappers needn’t worry though.

The findings suggest that “children have different sleep needs – some children may drop naps earlier because they don’t need them anymore,” said Dr Gliga, and that “others may still need to nap past three years of age” – and that’s OK.

Do You Actually Forget The Pain Of Labour? This Mum Did Six Months After Giving Birth

Posted on 07/07/2023 by Boris Clair

A mum has revealed how just six months after giving birth, she can’t remember the pain of labour. And it’s something many – but not all – can relate to.

“My husband thinks this is crazy. But I didn’t know if anyone else experienced this,” revealed the parent. “I gave birth almost six months ago and I don’t remember the pain.”

The phenomenon is not uncommon. Lots of women report not quite remembering the sensations of labour, even though they recall it was painful for them at the time.

“I vividly remember being in pain, and clutching the hospital bed rails with all my might, but the actual pain, [I] can’t recall it for anything,” said the mum, taking to Reddit.

“It blows my mind. Like I know I had contractions for hours, but I couldn’t even tell you what they felt like.”

Other parents were equally baffled and shared their own experiences of not remembering the sensations of birth. “I remember between (screaming through) contractions I said to my husband, ‘how do siblings exist?!’” said one.

“Two weeks later I’m picking out sibling names.”

But not everyone shared the reduced memory recall, as far as pain was concerned. “I can vividly recall every single pain and I’ve already decided to never do it again,” said one parent.

Another added: “Can’t relate. The pain haunts me daily.”

So, why is this?

Unsurprisingly it’s not a well-studied area, but one study of women’s memory of labour pain – from two months to five years after birth – found memory of labour pain did decline in a lot of women over a period of time.

But for those who had a negative overall experience of childbirth, the memory of labour pain didn’t decline. What’s more, women who had an epidural – suggesting they experienced extreme pain during birth – reported higher pain scores at all time points, suggesting that these women remember the ‘peak pain’ of labour.

In a piece for the Conversation, Monique Robinson, of the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research at The University of Western Australia, suggested lots of other factors can play a part in how a birth is remembered. So things like: satisfaction with care-providers, choice of pain relief, level of medical intervention, complications, outcomes for the baby, and other personal factors.

All of these would add up to either form a positive or negative birth experience. Positive experiences are less likely to be associated with pain, whereas negative ones are.

Discussing why some people might forget the pain of birth, Jennifer Conti, clinical professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at Stanford University, told Self her theory is that from an evolutionary perspective, the survival of our species could depend on women forgetting the pain of labour and birth.

“If you can’t remember how intense your [birth experience] was, maybe you’re more likely to do it again and reproduce,” she said.

“I often hear women say that they can remember that they were in pain during labour, but can’t actually recall the perception or intensity that well. On the other hand, there are women who swear they remember the event like it happened yesterday.”

Vaginal Seeding: Should You Swab Your Baby With Vaginal Fluid After C-Section?

Posted on 16/06/2023 by Boris Clair

Swabbing newborn babies with their mum’s vaginal bacteria might boost their early development, according to new research.

Known as vaginal seeding, the process involves transferring vaginal bacteria to a baby after a caesarean section, with a view to improving their gut bacteria.

The process reportedly originated in Australia, however over the years has become increasingly popular in the UK, too – with more and more mums asking for vaginal seeding after a C-section birth.

But there are risks attached – specifically the risk of passing on an infection from mother to child.

What is vaginal seeding all about then?

Previous research has found babies born by C-section tend to have different gut bacteria to those born vaginally.

Vaginally born babies receive their early gut bacteria from the mother’s birth canal, while C-section babies’ microbiota are dominated by bacteria found on the mums’ skin, in breastmilk and in the environment.

While the difference tends to disappear as they age, researchers suggest early gut microbiota is associated with the development of baby’s immune system and could affect their disease risk later in life.

This has led to practices like vaginal seeding – basically, mums (or dads) would rub newborns with a gauze swab containing their mother’s vaginal fluids after birth via C-section.

But there is limited clinical evidence that vaginal seeding is safe and effective.

What are the risks of vaginal seeding?

Doctors have previously warned that the process could put babies at risk of infection – particularly from group B strep (GBS), which can prove deadly in some cases. And according to Jane Plumb, chief executive of Group B Strep Support, testing for group B strep “is rarely available in the NHS”.

“[GBS] is carried by around one in four pregnant women, and although it poses no risk to the mother it can cause fatal infections in babies,” Dr Aubrey Cunnington, a clinical senior lecturer from Imperial College London, wrote in the BMJ.

“There are also other conditions that cause no symptoms in the mother, such as chlamydia, gonorrhoea and herpes simplex virus, that could be transferred on the swab.”

He spoke about how one colleague had to intervene when a mother with genital herpes, who had undergone a C-section and was about to undertake the process.

“Swabbing would have potentially transferred the herpes virus to the baby,” said Dr Cunnington.

What does the new study say?

Researchers rubbed the lips, skin and hands of 32 newborns delivered via C-section with a gauze soaked with their mothers’ vaginal fluids and another 36 newborns with a gauze soaked with saline as blind controls.

Because of the risks attached, the mothers were tested in advance to make sure they were free of infections, such as sexually transmitted diseases and group B strep.

The team found that newborns who received the microbiota had more gut bacteria found in maternal vaginal fluid six weeks after birth, suggesting that maternal vaginal bacteria successfully reached and colonised babies’ guts.

Compared with C-section newborns who received saline gauze, babies with microbial transfer had more mature bacteria in their guts at six weeks old, similar to babies born vaginally.

And no infants experienced severe adverse events during the experiment, according to the study which was published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe.

It could also boost development

The team also evaluated the babies’ neurodevelopment at three months and six months after birth, using a questionnaire.

They asked the mothers if their babies were able to make simple sounds or perform movements like crawling on their hands and knees.

Babies who had been swapped with vaginal fluid scored significantly higher in neurodevelopment at both ages, and their scores were comparable to those of vaginally born babies.

Study author Yan He, of Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, China, said they now want to determine if vaginal microbiota seeding has the potential to reduce the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in children, such as ADHD, ASD, and intellectual disabilities.

“It is somewhat like faecal microbiota transplantation,” continued He.

“We need more data to understand this intervention and make it more precise. We may eventually uncover what exactly is beneficial in maternal vaginal microbiota, which could enable us to design therapeutics for all infants born via C-section in the future.”

Advice for parents

Dr Cunningham, who cautioned against vaginal seeding, urged mothers considering the procedure to discuss it with their doctors first so that they are fully informed and are aware of the risks involved.

New Parents – You Can Grab 20% Off Postpartum Essentials With Lola&Lykke

Posted on 17/04/2023 by Boris Clair

We hope you love the products we recommend – all of them were independently selected by our editors. Just so you know, HuffPost UK may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. Prices accurate and items in stock at time of publication.

April marks C-section Awareness Month, and Lola&Lykke has pulled out all the stops to honour the delivery method many welcome their children into the world via.

Mums who have undergone a Caesarean section, as well as those who have had a vaginal birth, can now save on all the essentials they need to look after themselves and their bodies during their pregnancy, and postpartum, with the popular parenting brand.

For the duration of April, Lola&Lykke is offering shoppers the chance to get 20% off select items.

Lola&Lykke – which was was founded in 2018 by parents Laura and Kati, after they experienced problems during their pregnancies – offers a range of products to see parents before and after their pregnancy.

The selection of support bands, which includes the Core Restore Postpartum Support Band, as well as the Core Relief Pregnancy Support Belt, are firm favourites.

The Postpartum Support Band in particular is a must have as it provides medical-grade compression on the weakened core muscles, and aims to speed up recovery from childbirth and pregnancy. It was also designed by Finnish physiotherapists, so is safe to use.

Not only does it provide support around the stomach to heal diastasis recti, which is when your growing uterus expands causing your muscles to separate, but also to alleviate any back pain.

The Postpartum Support Band, which is also suitable for those recovering after a natural births, has been designed with comfort in mind, as the band fits to your body without inhibiting any movements.

It comes in a range of sizes, from extra small to extra large, to fit all body shapes comfortably.

The Postpartum Support Band is super simple to wear too, all you have to do is wrap around the target area of your stomach, and secure with the double velcro fastening.

It is free from latex, hypoallergenic and breathable, which means it is super delicate on fragile areas of the body.

The Postpartum Support Band is one of the selected items Lola&Lykke shoppers can claim 20% off of, which sees the price drop from £85 to £67, but for a limited time only.

No discount code is required to claim 20% off as it is discounted at the checkout, which makes for super simple and stress-free shopping.

While browsing Lola&Lykke – which is also famed for its bestselling breast pump, plus so much more – shoppers can save on the Hospital Bag Set, which usually retails at £271 has been slashed to £262.

While those who want to secure the Maternity Support 2-Pack, which features the Pregnancy Band and Postpartum Support Band to see you through all stages of pregnancy, can do so at a more purse-friendly £171 down from £180.

With glowing reviews, support from medical experts, and super affordable price tags, these bargain buys are not to be missed.

While on the Lola&Lykke website, you will also find tool kits, tips and tricks, expert advice from professionals, as well as real life stories from fellow parents, so rest assured you are in a safe space to share your concerns or product recommendations.

The maternity label also has a blog about all subject matters, including in-depth detail on C-sections, so you can be well informed about the surgical procedure prior to giving birth, preparation to help in advance, as well as tips on recovery, and everything in between.

This Woman’s Story About A Teaspoon And Post-Birth Constipation Will Haunt You Forever

Posted on 21/03/2023 by Boris Clair

A podcast host in the US has revealed how she was so constipated after giving birth that she got a teaspoon and tried to “dig it out” – yeah, reading that sentence certainly wasn’t on our bingo card for this week either.

In their latest episode, I’ve Had It podcast hosts Jennifer Welch and Angie Sullivan were joined by Jackie Schimmel, host of the Bad Bitch Bible, who just so happens to be pregnant.

Naturally the conversation turned to pregnancy – as well as what happens after the birth.

One thing Welch was incredibly keen to convey to Schimmel is that after giving birth you can become very constipated. Especially if you’ve had pain relief.

Welch said: “You’re going to be more constipated than you’ve ever been in your entire life. And you’re talking nine, 10, 11 days not taking a shit. Nobody fucking talks about this. This is not in the pregnancy advertisement.”

She continued: “That first post-pregnancy shit, for me personally, was more difficult than giving birth.”

When co-host Angie Sullivan, also known as Pumps, agreed, Welch encouraged her to tell her own constipation story. And ladies and gentlemen, this is where things take A Real Turn.

“I was so miserable and I couldn’t poo and I thought I was going to lose my mind. And so I got a spoon and was trying to dig it out with a spoon,” said Sullivan.

She helpfully clarified this was a stainless steel teaspoon – so thankfully not a table spoon. And she didn’t use any lube for her… encounter.

Despite her best efforts, it didn’t work. Sullivan confirmed nothing came out.

After posting a clip of their insightful chat on TikTok, people were keen to share their experiences of that first post-birth poo.

One person wrote: “Can confirm, first dump postpartum you WILL be fighting for your life on that toilet.”

Another said: “Literally same! I was on the phone with a nurse thinking I was going to have to go to ER. What ended up coming out was the biggest turd I have ever seen.”

Constipation is pretty common after birth – with about one in four women suffering. According to Baby Centre there are a whole host of reasons you might be constipated, from not feeling comfortable using the toilet in hospital, to being scared to poo after tearing, as well as the impact of opioid pain relief.

On top of this, your digestive system slows down during labour and any damage sustained to your pelvic floor during birth can make it harder for you to empty your bowels.

According to the NHS, it’s normal to not poo for a few days after giving birth.

To avoid constipation, they advise new parents to eat plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables, salad, wholegrain cereals and wholemeal bread, and drink plenty of water.

When it is time to poo, and if you’ve had stitches for tearing, they advise holding a pad of clean tissue over the stitches while going about your business. The official advice is also to try and not strain.

If you’re constipated and still can’t go after a few more days, don’t reach for the teaspoon and instead speak to your midwife or GP.

A gentle laxative might also help get things moving in the right direction.

Sick Of The Sight Of 5am? All The Reasons Why Your Child Is Waking Up Too Early

Posted on 26/12/2022 by Boris Clair

If there’s one thing we know about tiny tots, it’s that they definitely don’t do lie-ins. Unfortunately some little ones can become pros at waking up before the sun has even risen – much to the horror of their zombified parents.

But what actually constitutes as “too early” when it comes to kids waking up? Dani McFadden, an infant sleep expert from The Daddy Sleep Consultant, says she’d define it as “anything less than 11 hours after going to sleep”.

“In our experience, babies can typically sleep 11-12 hours at night and so we always aim for 11 hours from waking time when working with clients,” she tells HuffPost UK.

On rare occasions, some toddlers can get away with sleeping only 10.5 hours at night and are still absolutely happy and content with that amount, she adds.

Lauren Peacock, a sleep consultant at Little Sleep Stars, defines early rising as a little one consistently being awake for the day before 6am.

Most kids are natural ‘larks’, she adds, meaning they typically wake up fairly early – between 6 and 7am is standard. “If it’s earlier than that, there are usually steps a family can take to push the wake-up time to at least 6am,” she says.

Reasons your child is waking up too early

Overtiredness

“In our experience, we usually see early wakings being driven by overtiredness, usually because of a lack of daytime sleep,” says Dani McFadden.

Lack of daytime sleep – or a wake window between the final nap and bedtime which is too long – will lead to a baby becoming overtired, she explains.

“This will usually increase the levels of cortisol in the baby and cortisol is what keeps us awake each day. Therefore, if there is an increased level of cortisol in the body (more than what would usually be produced) this can lead to a baby waking more frequently in the night or waking earlier in the morning.”

Not building up enough sleep pressure

To sleep soundly until 6am or later, a child needs to be going to bed with enough sleep pressure (aka the physical drive to sleep) to do that, says sleep consultant Lauren Peacock. But sometimes they don’t build up enough of this sleep pressure in the day.

Things that can leave a little one low on sleep pressure are:

too much daytime sleep
insufficient awake time before bedtime
a bedtime that is too early for them

Interestingly – and annoyingly for parents impacted – without enough sleep pressure, a child may actually still fall asleep well at bedtime, as all the behavioural cues suggest it’s time to sleep. But the problem often comes at the other end of the night, says the sleep expert, when staying asleep without any remaining sleep pressure becomes “fairly impossible”.

What makes life even trickier is if you then cut down the amount of daytime sleep your child has too much, or you keep them awake for stretches that are too long, or you send them to bed later in the hope they sleep later, this can also backfire and cause early-waking. It’s about getting a happy medium.

“This happens because when a child gets too tired, they release additional wakeful hormones which can interfere with the body clock and in turn make 5am feel like the right time to be starting the day,” explains Peacock.

“So even though a child might still have enough sleep pressure to carry on sleeping, their body clock insists that they should be starting the day.”

As a result, she says, it’s often the timing and/or duration of their nap and/or the time a child is going to bed that is driving the early start.

Environmental factors

What probably won’t be music to parents’ ears after reading all of the above is that there are also some environmental factors that can wreak havoc on young children’s awake times.

Is your child hungry? Do they need a nappy change? Is there light creeping into the room? An increase in noise levels? Or a drop in temperature? These can all signal to your child that it’s time to get up and start the day. Cue: them standing in their cot, eyes wide open, shrieking at you; and you looking at your alarm clock and groaning hard.

How to stop your child from waking up so early

If your child is waking up at the crack of dawn then there are (thankfully) lots of things you can do to try and address it.

The first thing you can do is check how much sleep your child is getting overall in a 24-hour period, compared to the evidence-based range.

The Sleep Foundation is a great resource for information around average sleep needs by age, says Peacock. If a little one is towards the bottom of the range, or below it, parents should try encouraging more daytime sleep (longer naps) and/or an earlier bedtime, she suggests.

And if this doesn’t work, then it’s a “good indicator” that overtiredness is the culprit, “in which case, continuing to top up a child’s sleep tank should eventually start to chip away at the early start.”

If an early-riser is getting quite a lot of sleep for their age, or if more daytime sleep worsens the early start, then Peacock recommends going the other way and gently cutting the daytime sleep a little shorter or trying a later bedtime.

“Whenever a child’s routine changes, parents need to be prepared to stick with the new timings for a week or so, before evaluating the impact, as it typically takes a good few days for a child’s body clock to begin responding,” she adds.

“It’s all about getting a child’s sleep pressure back into alignment with their body clock – not least because young children are driven much more by what time it feels like than what time it actually is. The trick is to stop 5am feeling like the right time to get up.”

In terms of making the environment more conducive to a longer sleep, McFadden says it’s “imperative” that the room remains blackout dark in the mornings as light can stimulate our little ones, just as their body is preparing for wake-up and sleep is naturally lighter.

“Also, it’s important for parents to be mindful of external noise starting at this time which can wake babies, for example: birds tweeting, traffic picking up on the roads and parents getting up for work,” she says. “This is where white noise, which plays all night, can be very helpful for blocking out that external noise.”

Sometimes parents do land themselves with a natural early bird and if that’s the case, and your kid is raring to go at 6am every day, then it’s often easier for parents to adapt their own routine rather than their child’s, says Peacock.

“If caregivers can edge the time they head to bed earlier by 15 minutes every three to five days, they can typically get to a place whereby starting the day a little earlier than they did pre-children feels a lot more humane.”

This Baby Perfectly Embodies Our Excitement For Christmas Dinner

Posted on 25/12/2022 by Boris Clair

A hilarious video of a baby getting ridiculously excited about being fed is basically all of us ahead of our Christmas dinner.

In the clip, baby Milly pulls a face that can only be described as equal parts shocked, terrified and excited as she anticipates spoonfuls of chocolate pudding.

Milly was just nine months old when her mum, Sandra Karlsson Elfsten, decided to film her response to the delicious treat.

“She truly loved it,” the mum-of-three, who lives in Molkom, Sweden, tells HuffPost UK.

“She does that face when she gets excited over things.

“She actually does it even now [she’s five] – not exactly like in the video, but she gets excited with all her body.”

Karlsson Elfsten originally shared the video of baby Milly on Instagram in 2018, however it was recently resurfaced by another account – and we felt it was too good not to share.

Thank you Milly (and Sandra) for bringing us even more joy today.

Is It Us Or Are Babies Always In A Sleep Regression?

Posted on 14/12/2022 by Boris Clair

Name two words parents dread more than sleep regression… we’ll wait.

We often hear about them in Whatsapp groups (why is my baby suddenly not sleeping?! Send coffee!), or in books about child development, with most agreeing the first sleep regression happens around the age of four months. Then eight months. Then 18 months and finally, two years.

But for lots of parents, it can feel like every week you’re starting a new sleep regression with a baby. And even when they’re toddlers, you’ll get the odd night where they sleep through in their cot (and you’ll pop some Prosecco in the morning to celebrate), but you’ll also get lots of occasions where they’ll wake up, end up in your bed, pull your hair, grab your lips and shout “DADDY!” approximately 59 times at 3.30am.

So what are sleep regressions – and why oh why does it feel like you’re constantly in one?

It turns out most sleep specialists don’t really consider sleep regression a thing, per se – the concept is not really used in scientific or medical contexts when discussing child sleep. That said, sleep specialists do recognise that lots of parents are aware of them.

“The only ‘regression’ with any science behind it, that I recognise, is the one that happens around four months old when babies’ sleep cycles actually change and become more like adult sleep,” says Emily Houltram, founder of The Sleep Chief. “But even that one divides professionals!”

Explaining what a sleep regression is, Lauren Peacock, a sleep consultant at Little Sleep Stars, says that “it generally refers to a sudden perceived deterioration in a child’s sleep pattern, typically characterised by difficulty settling at sleep onset and/or night-waking that is happening more frequently and possibly for an increased duration”.

Sleep isn’t linear, she explains, and like all other aspects of development, it matures over time with a noticeable change occurring in the first six months. “Once this change occurs, periodic night-waking becomes a normal part of the sleep pattern,” she says.

Then, whenever children hit a significant stage of their development – so that could be crawling, walking, talking, starting childcare, becoming a sibling, getting sick or teething (the list goes on), there is potential for their sleep to be impacted. Again, and again, and again.

Peacock suggests the term ‘regression’ is actually very misleading because none of these events occur as a result of a child going backwards – “they are only ever moving forwards,” she adds.

But for parents who aren’t sleeping that well, it can definitely seem like a step backwards compared to those halcyon days of newborn sleep when you could ease them gently back into slumber with a mere cuddle and a bit of milk.

Most babies will be impacted by a disruption to sleep at some point in their first few years, but some will be less impacted than others.

“All babies experience changes to their sleep pattern and many will go through phases where sleep feels more challenging,” says Peacock. “Some little ones do have a trickier relationship with sleep than others and so whilst some children will experience more frequent and persistent sleep disruption, others will navigate through these inevitable ups and downs much more smoothly.”

If you’re very much in the camp of surviving the day on four hours’ sleep and feeling like you might never get a good night’s kip ever again, we have some good news – and some bad news.

The good news is that this won’t last forever. When they’re teenagers they’ll be sleeping for lengthy stretches to the point where you’ll probably worry they’re sleeping too much.

The bad news is that even as your baby becomes a toddler, and then a young child, there’ll probably be a few bumps in the road as far as their sleep is concerned. (Like we said: basically one big sleep regression.)

Signs your baby might be entering a so-called sleep regression include:

:: Becoming more difficult to settle at bed or nap time

:: Waking more frequently than was previously typical

:: Waking in the night and then staying awake for a long period – something sleep experts refer to as a “split-night”

:: Waking up a lot earlier.

There is a popular narrative around sleep regressions occurring at specific ages: so typically we hear four months, eight months, 18 months and two years as inevitable points that sleep will deteriorate, says Peacock.

“However, some families will feel that their child never experiences a ‘regression’, whereas others will feel that they are hit hard by every single one – with some extra ones thrown in for good measure,” she says.

“There are ages that it is more common to see sleep challenges crop up, and they do tend to coincide with children making big developmental shifts which are more common in the baby and toddler phases, but even older children can hit bumps with their sleep.”

If you are struggling right now, infant sleep expert Katie Palmer, from Infant Sleep Consultants, suggests maintaining good sleep hygiene to get your child into the best position possible to navigate the next few months (and years, if you’re really lucky) of sleep disruption.

“This involves a good routine in the day, well-timed naps, a good bedtime routine and allowing your child to self settle,” she says. “They will always find this easier at the onset of sleep but if you know they can do it at the start of the night, there is no reason why they can’t for the rest of the night.”

The sleep specialist adds that if a child is going through a developmental leap, they may be more unsettled when it comes to drifting off – and if you’re finding this, you can help them by keeping familiar routines and boundaries in place.

Of course, there are certain points where a parent might think: is there something drastically wrong with my child because they literally do not sleep? And if you’re feeling that, it’s definitely worth speaking to a sleep specialist about it – or at the very least your GP.

“There are ages that it is more common to see sleep challenges crop up, and they do tend to coincide with children making big developmental shifts which are more common in the baby and toddler phases, but even older children can hit bumps with their sleep.”

– Lauren Peacock

If a child’s sleep is good enough most of the time – both in terms of quality and quantity – then sometimes just knowing that more challenging periods are biologically normal, and will pass, is all the reassurance parents need, says Peacock.

“All children will, sooner or later, reach the stage of sleeping through the night,” she adds.

But if a child isn’t managing well with the sleep they are getting – for example, if they are regularly tired and irritable throughout the day, or it’s taking hours to settle them at bedtime every night – that’s indicative of a more pervasive challenge with sleep rather than a short-term ‘regression’, she explains.

“Sometimes these challenges are underpinned by physiological aspects such as digestive discomfort or daytime naps not being optimal,” she says. “Other times, the patterns of behaviour that have developed around sleep aren’t helping a child to sleep well.

“The question really is whether things are working well enough, most of the time. If the answer to that is no, there are lots of ways that children can be supported towards better sleep.”

Obstetrician Explains What Actually Happens Behind The Curtain During A C-Section

Posted on 05/12/2022 by Boris Clair

We all know vaguely what happens when you have a caesarean section – you’re given anaesthetic, a cut is made in your abdomen and then, minutes later, your baby is pulled out and passed to you. It’s a magical medical moment.

But it turns out there’s actually a hell of a lot going on from the obstetrician’s perspective. More than you could possibly know.

A fascinating Tiktok video explaining the anatomy of a C-section has been viewed more than 11 million times after showing just how complicated the surgery can be.

Using various sheets of coloured fabric and paper, Tina (@mamma_nurse) explained how there are various layers that surgeons have to cut through, before moving muscle out of the way and then manoeuvring past organs – and that’s before you’ve even reached the area where the baby is.

Most information given on C-sections by healthcare providers is lacking in details. Probably for good reason.

But if you’re the type of person who likes to be super informed ahead of birth – or you’re just really curious as to what the surgery involves – we asked Meg Wilson, an obstetrics and gynaecology consultant at London Gynaecology and the Whittington Hospital, to walk us through the process.

(Just a head’s up, there are some quite graphic images below.)

What happens during a C-section

First up, you’ll be given some pain relief – either a regional or general anaesthetic – and a catheter is fitted. Your abdomen will be cleaned and a drape will be put up so you won’t be able to see the surgery unfold.

An obstetrician will make a 10 to 15cm cut along the skin at the bottom of your abdomen, just at the top of your pubic hairline.

The first layer they cut through is the skin, and that cut also goes through a layer of fat. “Then you come down on to the rectus sheath – a white fibrous layer – that is covering the muscles of the abdomen,” says Wilson.

They’ll make a cut in that as well and all these cuts will be done in the same direction: horizontally.

Next up, they come to the rectus muscles “which people know as their six pack muscles,” says the obstetrician.

These two muscles run as a strip down the abdomen and where they join together is something called the linea alba. It’s a weak area which surgeons can basically “poke through” to open it up, says the obstetrician.

“That takes you into your abdomen, by making that little hole, and then you’re into what we call the peritoneal cavity which is the proper wet inside of your tummy.”

Surgeons will make the hole a bit bigger by basically moving the two muscles apart.

“You’re pulling them out to the side to make a hole there,” says Wilson. “I think it’s really important that people know you’re not actually cutting muscles, you’re just shifting them apart.”

When in the peritoneal cavity, surgeons will get a nice view of the surface of your bladder and then the main event: the womb itself.

Now comes the really interesting bit. They have to actually move organs to get to where they need to be – so yes, they shift your bladder out of the way.

“You lift up a little bit of something called the peritoneum,” she explains, which is “like a sheet that runs over the womb and the bladder.” Surgeons will make a small hole in that “sheet” and this allows them to see where the bladder is attached to the womb.

“It allows you to push the bladder out of the way and push it downwards a little bit,” Wilson says, noting it only gets moved about 1-2cm.

In the operating room, they have a specially designed surgical instrument that goes in to protect the bladder and hold it down and out of the way.

The surgeon cuts into the womb (again, a horizontal cut in the same direction as the skin cut). The womb is a muscle so they expect to have some bleeding at this point as muscles have a strong blood supply.

In cases where a parent has placenta previa – where the placenta completely or partially covers the opening of the uterus – it might be a bit more complicated, she adds, and they might have to cut higher up in the womb or even through the placenta, which could result in more blood loss.

“Then you’re going to hit the membranes around the baby – the amniotic sac – and you see that bulging out when you reach it,” Wilson continues. “You keep going and make a little hole in that with the scalpel and usually lots of amniotic fluid all comes spilling out in a big gush.”

At this point it’s all about getting the baby out. In a straightforward pregnancy the baby will be in a head down position, so they’ll get a nice view of that.

The retrieval process involves a bit of teamwork. “You put your hand in and slip your hand around the baby’s head – like a cupping action – and your assistant will put lots of pressure on the top of the woman’s tummy, pushing right at the top of womb where the baby’s feet are, and you’ve got your hands acting as a little slide for the baby to come out,” she says.

The head pops out, then comes the neck, and then there’ll be a bit more gentle pulling to deliver the shoulders one at a time, and then the body “slips out relatively easily after”.

Doctors work to remove a baby from a woman's uterus during a c section. — Doctors work to remove a baby from a woman’s uterus during a c section.

At this stage the curtain is often lowered and the parent(s) can see their baby and hold them. They tend to let the umbilical cord pulsate for at least a minute to give the baby beneficial nutrients and then they’ll clamp the cord, cut it and hand the baby to the midwife who will wrap them up and dry them off.

“Then it’s a case of removing the placenta, which is still stuck on to the lining of the inside of the womb,” says Wilson. “We pull a little bit on the cord and the placenta will be detaching.”

After the placenta has been removed, surgeons will then clean out the inside of the womb which Wilson says is “a very simple action” of rubbing a swab around the insides of the cavity “to make sure there’s no little bits of membrane or last little threads of placenta that are still there”.

The mum will still be bleeding at this point so time is of the essence to get the womb stitched up again. Once that’s done, surgeons will take a moment to do a check and assess that there’s no additional bleeding anywhere.

At this stage, she says, they clean away any spilt fluid and blood that may have collected in the sides of the pelvis using a swab. They also check the womb is contracted and that the ovaries and fallopian tubes look normal.

“It’s just an opportunity to do a health check because you’ve got the tummy open and it’s a relatively straightforward thing to do,” she adds.

The instrument protecting the bladder is then taken out and “then you allow everything to fall back into place,” adds Wilson. “The bladder will go back to where it was originally placed and those two rectus muscles that you held open to get into the cavity of the tummy will fall back into place as well.

“You don’t routinely close the rectus muscles … they will come back together naturally and reform their meeting point.”

The next layer that’s surgically closed is the rectus sheath, which is the layer just beneath the fat. “We sometimes put a stitch in the fat layer but for most women we then just close the skin with another running stitch,” she adds.

“By routine we remove all the drapes and clean any collected blood that’s in the vagina,” she adds, “and make sure there’s no clots of blood or anything.”

At this point they might put in a painkiller suppository and a dressing is placed over the c-section wound. The whole process is complete in less than an hour.

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