Christmas is a beautiful time of year to show off your new baby to your family. All those extended Aunt’s Uncles and Grandparents ready for a snuggle with your sweet baby!

This is all absolutely wonderful, however did you know that the highest incidence of mastitis is on Boxing Day? The day after big events is a really common time for mastitis to occur. 

Why does this happen? At home, Mum and Baby do lots of regular, frequent feeds, often taking their time and having lots of boobie snuggles. But when your baby is being passed around and held by everyone else, maybe being kept quiet or asleep in those loving grandma arms, you may find that you accidentally skip a feed, or you feel bad taking the baby back, so you go longer between feeds. Another thing that can happen to our lovely Mums who are doing a million things, organising all the joy, presents and food, is that we get a bit burnout and don’t get enough rest or food and hydration for ourselves.

Exclusive pumping is absolutely still breastfeeding. Don’t compare yourself to other Mums! Your output is not the only thing that matters. Remember you are providing your baby with amazing nutrition and you are doing great job. You are doing what is right for you and that is all that matters.

This years world breastfeeding weeks theme is all about making a difference to working parents.

With that in mind, here are 6 of my tips for planning for returning to work.

When breastfeeding doesn’t work out.

Birth and breastfeeding are emotional times in a woman’s life and come with a weight that is deeply personal. Women will carry and tell their birth story over and over and it will stick with them throughout their life. Similarly, a breastfeeding journey can also be full of emotions. So when breastfeeding doesn’t work out, it can leave a lasting impact. So with that in mind, I want you to know:

There isn’t always one obvious cause of mastitis. Some of the detective work we have to do is asking lots of questions about your history. There can be some strange things that make someone unfortunately more susceptible to mastitis. There are the obvious ones, not fully draining the breast, skipping feeds or a poor latch. But sometimes a perfect storm of stress, trauma coming to surface, lack of sleep, poor snacking habits and a body prone to inflammation can trigger it. As always, seek help and try to be aware of what might be triggering for you so that you can take steps to manage your situation.

Breastfeeding has been recommended for children up to 2 years and as long as mutually desired. And yet we still hear stories of Mums being told to wean because there is no longer a benefit to their baby. So here are some reasons to continue breastfeeding your “older” child.

Connection - I loved feeding my older child, especially after being away from him all day at work. I called it “Reconnection Feeding”. I moment to stop, relax and chill out together!

Immunity - This is the biggest one! Those first years of daycare germs are brutal on the immune system! They get sick with everything (and so do you!). Your breastmilk is an alive substance. By taking in all of those disgusting germs, your milk then changes to combat those germs and get your little one get over those illnesses a little quicker.