what to expect at your initial lactation visit
Expect the initial visit to take 1.5 hours. Ideally, your baby should be hungry, but not ravenous when we meet. It would be optimal to have 15 minutes of consult time prior to the feeding.
If you are complementing your baby’s feedings, please have enough formula or breast milk ready for a feeding in the event that we will need it. Please have on hand any breastfeeding aids that you were given in the hospital or purchased, such as nipple shields, syringes, a pump, etc. A daily feeding log for a few days prior to the visit is helpful.
We strongly encourage having a support person with you during the visit to help take notes, pictures and to learn any techniques we will be teaching you. Some parents find it helpful to take pictures or videos during the appointment. If you would like to do that, please have a camera ready.
The consultant will ask you:
How many times has your baby gone to the breast in the past 24 hours and for how long has your baby fed?
How many times do you pump in a 24 hour period?
How many minutes are you pumping and how much milk on average do you obtain per session?
What kind of pump are you using?
How many complementary feedings has baby had in the last 24 hours?
Labor and delivery circumstances?
Mom’s current health?
Baby’s current health?
Doctor’s information if you would like them to receive information about your visit today.
For in-home visits, we will be bringing a scale so that we can weigh your baby before and after eating. Please have a sturdy flat surface for us to place the scale on such as a kitchen table.
Please have a list of questions ready for your appointment—they help us make sure we are meeting your needs. We love questions!
service options
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Initial Visit
The initial visit includes 1-1.5 hour visit in our New Brighton office located at Nourish Family Wellness where we cover your goals, assess baby’s ability to transfer and develop a phased plan to give you confidence in feeding your baby!
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In-Home Initial Visit
This visit includes a 1-1.5 hour visit in your home so your recovery isn’t sacrificed as you care for your baby (travel fees apply) and we cover your goals, assess baby’s ability to latch and transfer and develop a phased plan to give you confidence in feeding your baby!
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follow up visit
This includes a 30 minute follow up visit to monitor progress or adjust the plan and help you with questions to ensure your confidence in feeding continues!
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Phone/Video Consult
This option is most helpful as a follow up visit when a weight/transfer check isn’t necessary.
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Online Tongue Tie Support video
To support you as you nourish your little one, we created a video to walk you through the homework that will help baby learn to use muscles to eat better and stretch the tight muscles that haven’t ever moved that far.
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Breathing Retraining
Breathing through the nose is integral to successful feeding and nervous system regulation for those of any age. In this visit for, we help establish ideal nose breathing.