From the Archives: Let's Talk Sleep and Lactation

Welcome to the summer from the archives series! We’re revisiting some much loved podcast episodes from the early months of the podcast. These are episode that are great to revisit at different points in your parenting journey. 

Sleep and lactation – such a huge an important topic! In honor of World Breastfeeding Week, I think this is an important topic to share again. 

Every parent needs sleep information that supports their feeding goals! And sadly, that’s not what is happening for many families. 

In this episode I’m unpacking the ways in which sleep and lactation are interconnected. So many parents hear conflicting information about nursing and sleep, and there is a lot of sleep advice that can negatively impact a parents nursing relationship. This is a big topic, and I’m highlighting 4 factors that are important to consider: the need for nighttime milk removal to maintain supply; baby’s need for night feeds; lactation hormones supporting sleep and supply; and the fact that we need the whole picture of a baby’s feeding pattern to put night feeds in context.

Resources related to this episode

Nursing to sleep podcast episode: https://intuitiveparentingdc.com/podcast/2023/9/19/is-nursing-to-sleep-a-bad-habit

Reverse cycling blog post: https://intuitiveparentingdc.com/blog/2023/6/27/reverse-cycling-why-your-baby-is-suddenly-feeding-more-at-night 

Magic number: https://www.nancymohrbacher.com/articles/2010/8/13/the-magic-number-and-long-term-milk-production-part-1.html 

Connect with Kim 

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