Upcoming meetings...

Meetings at Angela’s house 10am Please call 6372 0713 or 6372 6335 for details.

August 2013
Thursday 22nd- Early Daze 
Breastfeeding basics, sleep and survival tactics for getting through the early days of having a new baby.

September 2013
Tuesday 3rd- Pelvic Floor (guest speaker). 
Want to get some tips on how to get into shape and enjoy a healthy lifestyle after having baby? Our guest speaker will give you many practical tips on how to strengthen your pelvic floor and more.

Saturday 14th- Garage Sale Fundraiser 
Do you have some odds and ends you would like to get rid of? Bring them to the ABA Garage Sale with all proceeds going to Mudgee ABA Group. See Jeanette for details.

Thursday 19th- D-MER and Baby Blues (guest speaker) D-MER and ‘Baby Blues’ can have a huge impact on a family but are not often spoken about outside of the home. Learn ways that you can be supported through this and post natal depression.

October 2013 
Tuesday 1st- Coffee Morning- Bring a new friend to ABA A relaxed catch up morning where you can bring a new friend to ABA or perhaps bring an old friend who hasn’t been to ABA in a while.

Thursday 17th- Can I combine breastfeeding and work? 
Find out about the different ways mums have managed to go back to work and continue a happy and healthy breastfeeding relationship.

Sunday 27th- Baby’s Day Out 10am BYO picnic in Lawson Park

Tuesday 29th- When to take baby to the doctor. (guest speaker)
We all have a million other things we would rather do than sit in a doctor’s waiting room. This talk will take a some of the guess work out and give you signs of when a baby is unwell and common baby health concerns.

November 2013
Thursday 14th- How do I get some sleep? 
Sleep is so important, not just so you can function day to day but also for
your health, well-being and sanity!! Come share and learn tips and tricks so the whole family can get some sleep.

Tuesday 26th- Follow Me Mum. 
Expecting your first baby and not sure where to start with breastfeeding? Or perhaps you have been feeding a while but something isn’t quite right. Learn
about ways to begin or improve baby’s positioning and attachment by following baby’s lead.

Facebook

Find us on Facebook to keep up to date with meetings, and share information and general baby related musings!
www.facebook.com/ABAMudgeeGroup

Preparing to Breastfeed Workshops

The Preparing to Breastfeed Workshop  dates for 2013: August 11th & December 1st. 9.30am- 1pm.  
Class is free and includes morning tea. Call Vicki to book on 0263 0687

Baby Led Attachment

Our babies are clever little people, capable of much more than we usually give them credit for. Newborns know the sound of their mother's voice, and often their father's, or those of others who have been close to their mother during her pregnancy. They cannot speak, but express themselves through facial expressions, body language and cries. A newborn baby learns the smell and taste of his or her mother's breastmilk, and prefers it to all others. And, if we trust our babies and ourselves, they can help us learn to breastfeed.

Poor attachment is a common difficulty experienced by breastfeeding women in Western, developed countries. Poor attachment can lead to cracked, sore nipples, which in turn can lead to a host of other problems, such as mastitis. Good attachment is important for a long and happy breastfeeding relationship with your bub, but what do you do with conflicting advice (often from people with the best intentions!), or when you feel something is not right, but you're not sure what?

Baby-led attachment is the term given to the process where your baby follows a pattern of instinctive behaviours to get to the breast. This can be for the first breastfeed or at any time when the attachment is not correct or your nipples are damaged.

For the first breastfeed, this involves the baby instinctively “crawling” up the mother’s abdomen, to the breast, where the rooting reflex allows her to locate, and attach to the nipple. Any drugs the mother has had during labour may slow this process, as the baby will also have the drugs in his or her system.

With baby-led attachment, patience, trust, and support will allow the baby to attach in their own time. We need to trust that our baby instinctively knows what to do, given the time and support needed. We need to resist the temptation to try and speed up the process, to assume that we know better just because we are bigger and older.

To support a baby in attaching to the breast, there are a few important steps to follow. These include starting with a calm baby and a calm mother, having skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby, and following the baby's lead. This is usually achieved by placing the baby, naked or just wearing a nappy, on the mother's bare chest, between her breasts. Then comes the time for patience and trust, as the baby may not seem to be doing anything! She (or he) is doing something- smelling, tasting, feeling her surroundings. Some babies may start to move fairly quickly, some may take half an hour or longer. When the baby is ready, she will start to wriggle, squiggle and squirm her way towards the breast. Support her, but don't interfere. Let her find her way! It really is amazing.

For more information, try http://breastcrawl.org
http://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/bfinfo/bla.html
http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2009/05/31/breast-crawl-baby-led-attachment/
http://www.breastfeedingbyheart.com/establishing-breastfeeding/baby-led-attachment

Our group also has a DVD available to borrow, featuring baby-led attachment with older babies. Contact our group leader, Jeanette, or group librarian, Amy, for enquiries about this.