As a IBCLC, my approach to supporting breastfeeding is holistic. I work closely with both mother and baby as a unit. Sometimes, this includes collaborating with other healthcare professionals, such as osteopaths and chiropractors, to help babies feed more effectively and comfortably.

As a lactation consultant, I can often identify challenges in breastfeeding related to positioning or latch. These can usually be improved with targeted techniques. However, if a baby consistently, prefers one breast over the other, causes more nipple damage on one side or favours turning their head in one direction it often suggests an underlying issue such as torticollis, a form of neck strain. In these cases, bodywork care can be incredibly effective. With gentle therapy and guided parent-led exercises, osteopaths can help improve the baby’s neck mobility, allowing for better movement at the breast, less clamping down on the nipple, and a more relaxed feeding experience.

Tongue tie or Ankyloglossia as it is officially known, is when a piece of frenulum (tissue) that holds the bottom of the tongue, to the floor of the mouth is too short or tight. There is also lip tie or labial frenulum or buccal / cheek ties. But more on those later.

Everyone has frenulum, but in some babies, that piece of tissue can be really tight, thick or forward closer to the tip of the tongue, restricting its ability to move freely, to lift, to cup and hold nipple, to obtain a deeper latch and to effectively transfer milk. All key ingredients in breastfeeding.

This can lead to some or all of the following feeding symptoms: