28/08/2025
Infant feeding is incredibly nuanced.
It’s no longer the simple biological norm it used to be, and there are so many reasons why — too many to go into in this post.
This is why, in order to even sit the exam to become an IBCLC, you must accumulate 1,000 clinical hours, complete 14 health science subjects, and undertake 90 hours of lactation-specific education. It’s not a simple two-day course (although I’ve done plenty of those too!).
Anyway, getting to the point...
If you're experiencing challenges with your baby, it's likely they link back to infant feeding — even if feeding seems to be going well. (This is especially true under four months of age.)
For instance, I don’t offer sleep training or sleep support, but feeding can impact early sleep patterns in ways that have longer-term implications.
We’re often told that breastfed babies feed more frequently — and they do — but if your breastfed (or bottle-fed!) baby is looking to feed every hour of the day, or most hours of the day, it’s likely they’re rarely sleeping more than one 45-minute sleep cycle at a time. If they don’t learn to link sleep cycles early on, this can lead to sleep challenges and unsettled babies.
So we’d look at why your baby might be struggling to stay asleep.
Sometimes it’s hunger, or aerophagia (swallowing air). Sometimes there’s so much milk that the fat content is altered, or they’re feeding very quickly and not realising when they’re full.
Sometimes it’s more to do with discomfort — which can be caused by sensitivities, gut motility, tension in their little bodies, or even something simple like missed cues.
See what I mean about nuanced?
And that’s not to say that babies who don’t sleep well early on will never sleep well! But in my experience, it makes life easier to explore these issues as early as possible.
My £35 WhatsApp service is a great way to look through things methodically, with the lovely continuity of always speaking with just me.
If I can help, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!
Kx
