Infant feeding support in Ilkley
Welcoming a baby into the world is such an exciting, rewarding and life-changing experience, but this incredible journey also comes with a lot of unexpected and rather overwhelming challenges. Feeding your baby is often one of the earliest challenges that new parents face – and it’s a lot more common than you might think – with research suggesting that approximately 50% of infants suffer from at least one gastrointestinal disorder (such as colic, reflux or constipation) before they’re six months old, and over 70% of breastfeeding mothers experience feeding difficulties in the first few months.
Yet many parents often feel that once they’ve been discharged from hospital and are back at home, there is little in the way of infant feeding support, which can leave so many parents feeling emotionally and physically drained, overwhelmed and alone. It’s exactly this reason that I decided to train as an Infant Feeding Coach, so that I could begin to offer this much-needed support system for parents in the Ilkley and Knaresborough areas.
Infant feeding support sessions are usually based in my osteopathic practice in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, although I also take appointments at my home-based clinic in Scotton, near Knaresborough. I'm also more than happy to come and visit you in your own home or provide online consultations. Please find more information about my infant feeding support services below.
What is an Infant Feeding Coach?
An Infant Feeding Coach is a mentor who is trained to support families in their infant feeding journey, whether that’s breastfeeding, formula feeding or combi feeding. Support is available for both expectant mothers (such as with colostrum harvesting after 36 weeks) or in those early weeks or months after birth (such as helping with latch, breastfeeding or bottle feeding positions and techniques etc.), to help you feel truly empowered, encouraged and confident to feed your baby the way that you wish to do so.
As a qualified Infant Feeding Coach from The Infant Feeding Academy, I'm here to offer friendly, supportive, impartial and non-judgemental advice, or simply to lend an ear if it’s all feeling a little too much, to help you overcome any challenges and turn your feeding journey into a memorable, empowering and enjoyable bonding experience for both you and your baby.
How does osteopathy play a part in infant feeding support?
The difficulties that a baby might experience when trying to feed can sometimes be the result of tension in their head, neck or body from birth, or even from conditions such as tongue tie (which can occasionally go undiagnosed). Osteopathy looks at alleviating tension and discomfort and can therefore be hugely beneficial in helping to get to the bottom of (and ultimately resolve or reduce) many feeding difficulties. That’s why I'm proud to offer these two services in tandem with one another in order to better support parents and their babies. Visit the osteopathy for babies webpage to learn more about this treatment.
A little bit about me
As a mum of two young children, I have long been passionate about helping to support families with their babies, so working to become an Infant Feeding Coach alongside osteopathy seemed like the perfect fit. I work with expectant mothers or babies from a few days old, and my feeding consultations are available either in person (at the Ilkley practice, my home-based clinic in Scotton or at your home) or via Zoom or WhatsApp. I strongly believe that money shouldn’t be a barrier to seeking support (and one of my long-term goals is to eventually offer feeding support free of charge!), so please do get in touch if you’re concerned about costs as I’ll do my utmost to accommodate this. You can find out more about me via the meet the team page.
Further information
If you’re interested in learning more about my infant feeding support services, please contact me either via email or telephone. I'm currently offering an initial free 15-minute consultation to ensure that I'm the right healthcare professional for your family’s needs, so don’t miss out on this great opportunity! I'm also in the process of adding this service to the online booking platform and incorporating it into the pricing page, so please bear with me.