Breastfeeding Perspectives

04/04/2026

Looking for high quality continuing education?

Hi everyone! I’m posting today as the Social Media Chair for the National Lactation Consultant Alliance (NLCA) and a fellow IBCLC.

✨I wanted to make sure you all saw that registration is officially open for our 2026 2nd Quarter Virtual Workshop on Thursday, May 7th.

Our Education Committee pulled together a powerhouse lineup to tackle the specific challenges we're facing in the field right now. If you’re looking for CERPs or just want to dive into some of the tougher topics we’re facing right now, this looks like a great one.

They’re covering:
🚫 The Formula Industry Narrative: Marsha Walker is presenting on how formula companies are co-opting our roles as healthcare providers.

🧠 Burnout & Resiliency: Kathy Parkes is doing a session on moral injury and taking care of ourselves (so needed right now!).

🏥 NICU Advocacy: Joanie Palmer Randle and Claire Cutler Eden are making the clinical case for IBCLCs in the NICU.

It’s only $50 for all three sessions (1:00–4:00 PM EST).
CERP application has been submitted!

Registration link here:

What will you learn at the 2026 2nd Quarter Virtual Workshop? Explore Infant formula manufacturer marketing ethics, burnout, and IBCLCs in the NICU.

03/04/2026

session with Megan Dunn!

12/29/2025

We should end this practice too.

Denmark has officially moved away from the "cry it out" method, a practice where babies are left to cry until they fall asleep. Experts say this approach can interfere with attachment and stress regulation, especially in the first year of life. Babies’ brains are highly sensitive to emotional cues, and prolonged crying can trigger the stress-response system unnecessarily.

Research shows that when infants are comforted promptly, their brains develop stronger connections in areas that manage stress, emotional regulation, and social bonding. Responding to a baby’s cries does not spoil them. On the contrary, it helps them feel safe, strengthens their nervous system, and promotes healthy brain growth.

Gentle care practices such as holding, rocking, and speaking softly to babies build trust and security. When parents provide consistent comfort, babies learn that the world is predictable and safe. These early experiences set the foundation for emotional resilience, empathy, and mental health throughout life.

By following Denmark’s example, caregivers can support the brain and emotional development of infants. Choosing gentle care over strict sleep training ensures babies feel secure, loved, and understood from the very beginning.

12/10/2025

I’ve been advocating for responsive attachment parenting my entire adult life. It’s SO important.

Denmark is moving away from the “cry it out” sleep training method, largely due to pressure from over 700 psychologists who signed an open letter citing harm to infant emotional development, leading the Danish board to reconsider its guidance, emphasizing responsive care and secure attachment as healthier alternatives.

Studies find consistently ignoring a crying baby can negatively impact their brain development, increase stress hormones like cortisol and can even affect their future emotional health.

Babies communicate their needs by crying, and ignoring these cries can lead to prolonged periods of stress, causing a rise in cortisol levels. Elevated cortisol levels can negatively impact brain development, brain structure and a baby’s ability to regulate stress even later in life.

Consistent responsiveness to a baby’s cries helps them develop a sense of security and trust in their caregivers. This can lead to a more secure attachment, which is crucial for emotional well-being, healthy social relationships and brain development.

Babies are not trying to manipulate their parents when they cry, they are communicating their needs and attempting to establish a connection. Responding to these cries is critical for building a strong bond and promoting healthy development.

08/19/2025

We’re having a BIG sale!!

08/06/2025

Happy World Breastfeeding Week!

08/04/2025

Save The Date: Wednesday, August 20th.

Breastfeeding Perspectives is having an office closing sale. We have cute furniture, breastfeeding products, easily cleaned nursing pillows, dressing gowns, office products, and a large selection of books on birthing, parenting, and breastfeeding for those of you who might want to build your professional libraries or stock and furnish your lactation offices.

Times: 10:00 am to 3:00 pm
Location: 12042 Blanco Road, Suite 360, San Antonio, TX 78216
Directions: North Blanco Executive Center, a three-story complex at 12042 Blanco Road, midway between West Ave. and Wurzbach Parkway, and directly across the street from Churchill High School. You can park in any parking spot, and then enter the building through the front doors. Head straight ahead to the elevators and go to the third floor, exiting and turning left.
Payment: Cash or check. You can also be invoiced for an additional $5.00, with payment due by the end of August.

Come say goodbye to Kathy and take advantage of the super-low costs!

Send a message to learn more

07/27/2025

Responsive parenting doesn’t mean spoiling…

A baby's cry is not just noise. It is a biological signal designed to trigger a response from caregivers. When that signal is ignored, especially over time, the consequences reach far deeper than temporary distress. New research shows that consistently leaving a baby to cry without comfort can alter the course of their brain development, emotional regulation, and even future intelligence.

A large-scale Japanese study, following over 100,000 mother-child pairs, found a strong connection between repeated non-response to infant crying and measurable developmental delays. These children were more likely to struggle with communication, motor coordination, social interaction, and problem-solving by early childhood. The early months of life are a critical period when the brain is rapidly wiring itself, and responsive caregiving plays a vital role in that process.

From a physiological perspective, prolonged crying floods an infant’s brain and body with cortisol, the primary stress hormone. This stress response, when experienced regularly, can weaken the developing architecture of the brain, disrupt the formation of secure attachment, and increase the child’s risk of anxiety, aggression, and behavioural issues later in life. In some studies, chronic stress exposure in infancy has also been linked to lower IQ and academic challenges years down the line.

Contrary to popular advice about "toughening up" a baby or letting them "cry it out," science consistently points to the importance of emotional attunement in the early months and years. Responsive caregiving does not mean spoiling a child. It means recognising their cues, validating their needs, and helping them build a sense of safety and trust in the world. These are the foundations of emotional resilience and cognitive strength.

This research reminds us that babies don’t cry to manipulate. They cry because they are biologically wired to seek connection. When we respond with care, we’re not just soothing them in the moment—we’re building their brains for life.

Follow Minds Canvas for more insights into how science shapes the way we raise, nurture, and understand our children.

07/20/2025

Moms, you make amazing milk!

Your milk contains phagocytes, white blood cells that pass through your baby’s gut wall and patrol around your baby’s bloodstream.

There, they detect, engulf and destroy harmful micro-organisms; bacteria, viruses, fungi, and foreign materials that aren’t supposed to be there, like dust particles or pigments, and also cancer cells, though these cells can sometimes adapt and evade detection.

Phagocytes also remove dead or dying cells that can cause inflammation and disease.

Once phagocytes have destroyed the harmful micro-organism, they retain harmless fragments of this pathogen on their surface, allowing another type of protective cell - the T cells - in your baby’s immune system to learn from them.

T cells learn to recognise the pathogens, developing your baby’s long term immunity.

It’s like a whole military operation going on, whilst we sit and feed our children like nothing appears to be happening at all.

We are all born with immature immune systems. Your milk not only helps your baby’s immune system to develop in a healthy way, it also helps to protect your baby from illness while this happens.

Our immune systems take around 6 years to fully develop, which is thought to be one of the reasons that natural term breastfeeding (allowing a child to stop breastfeeding in their own time without interrupting or replacing breastmilk) extends from anywhere between around 2 and 7 years old.

Some extra geekiness: The word phagocyte comes from the Greek ‘phagein’, ‘to eat’ or ‘devour’, and ‘-cyte’, a word-forming element used in modern science to mean "of a cell," from the Greek word kytos, meaning ‘a hollow’, ‘receptacle’, ‘basket’.

So Mama, are you remarkable, or are you really, really remarkable?



More science (ie information bout how incredible you are), support, and references at https://human-milk.com/pages/science-of-breastmilk

07/19/2025

https://www.breastfeedingperspectives.com/breastfeeding-perspectives-is-closing/

Breastfeeding Perspectives is finally Closing

06/25/2025

As we approach the end of PTSD Awareness month, let us shed light on Postpartum PTSD and the impact it has on breastfeeding mothers.

https://www.breastfeedingperspectives.com/postpartum-ptsd-what-you-need-to-know/

As we approach the end of PTSD Awareness month, let us shed light on Postpartum PTSD and the impact it has on breastfeeding mothers.