Makes Milk with Emma Pickett: breastfeeding from the beginning to the end

This week, the brilliant Jo from Cheshire, mum to two-year-old Cecilia, is here to talk about breastfeeding beyond infancy alongside Jo’s neurodivergence. Jo shares her long conception journey, pregnancy complicated by preeclampsia, a five-day induction ending in an emergency C-section, and subsequent PTSD. Ceci struggled to latch and transfer milk in the early weeks. We discuss how Jo overcame those challenges. We also touch on toddler feeding patterns, co-sleeping, sensory factors, and using boundaries to reduce overwhelm and sustain breastfeeding. 
My picture book on how breastfeeding journeys end, The Story of Jessie’s Milkies, is available from Amazon here -  The Story of Jessie's Milkies. In the UK, you can also buy it from The Children’s Bookshop in Muswell Hill, London. Other book shops and libraries can source a copy from Ingram Spark publishing.
You can also get 10% off my books on supporting breastfeeding beyond six months and supporting the transition from breastfeeding at the Jessica Kingsley press website, by going to https://bit.ly/JKPbooks and using the code MMPE10 at checkout.

Follow me on Instagram  @emmapickettibclc or find out more on my website www.emmapickettbreastfeedingsupport.com 
You can follow Jo on Instagram @‌cecilias_mama 

This podcast is presented by Emma Pickett IBCLC, and produced by Emily Crosby Media.

I’m joined this week by the lovely Becky from Southampton to talk about breastfeeding her identical twins, Sully and Knox. Becky shares the shock she and her wife Sarah felt when discovering they were expecting twins. The pregnancy was monitored closely due to a shared placenta, and then growth restriction led to a 35-week C-section in Bournemouth because Southampton lacked NICU space. Her babies needed CPAP and NICU care, and Becky started pumping within hours and maintained three-hourly pumping while navigating inconsistent feeding support. After discharge, with crucial IBCLC support from Polly Smith, the twins gained strength and transitioned to mostly breastfeeding. Now nearly aged one they feed less, with a recent nursing strike linked to illness and teething, but Becky is determined to breastfeed them for as long as they need. 
My picture book on how breastfeeding journeys end, The Story of Jessie’s Milkies, is available from Amazon here -  The Story of Jessie's Milkies. In the UK, you can also buy it from The Children’s Bookshop in Muswell Hill, London. Other book shops and libraries can source a copy from Ingram Spark publishing.
You can also get 10% off my books on supporting breastfeeding beyond six months and supporting the transition from breastfeeding at the Jessica Kingsley press website, by going to https://bit.ly/JKPbooks and using the code MMPE10 at checkout.

Follow me on Instagram  @emmapickettibclc or find out more on my website www.emmapickettbreastfeedingsupport.com 
Resources mentioned - 
Breastfeeding Twins and Triplets https://breastfeedingtwinsandtriplets.co.uk/ 
Polly Smith IBCLC https://www.pollysmithibclc.co.uk/ 

This podcast is presented by Emma Pickett IBCLC, and produced by Emily Crosby Media.

This week, I’m delighted to be joined by listener Sharnaé Storm from New Zealand. We’re talking about breastfeeding her three-year-old son Enzo. Sharnaé shares how night weaning and ending the bedtime feed happened gently through repeated “cuddles for sleep” affirmations, with breastfeeding temporarily increasing during illness (recent RSV). She describes early breastfeeding challenges, flat nipples, mixed opinions about possible tongue tie, and choosing to persevere with a nipple shield. Sharnaé also recounts Enzo’s hospitalisations for complex febrile seizures starting at 11 months, including ICU and a drug-induced coma, later seizures managed with medication, and how this shaped their vigilance and childcare choices. 
My picture book on how breastfeeding journeys end, The Story of Jessie’s Milkies, is available from Amazon here -  The Story of Jessie's Milkies. In the UK, you can also buy it from The Children’s Bookshop in Muswell Hill, London. Other book shops and libraries can source a copy from Ingram Spark publishing.
You can also get 10% off my books on supporting breastfeeding beyond six months and supporting the transition from breastfeeding at the Jessica Kingsley press website, by going to https://bit.ly/JKPbooks and using the code MMPE10 at checkout.

Follow me on Instagram  @emmapickettibclc or find out more on my website www.emmapickettbreastfeedingsupport.com 

This podcast is presented by Emma Pickett IBCLC, and produced by Emily Crosby Media.

This week I’m talking to brilliant mum of two Clarisse Allen, from South London, about tandem feeding with a small age gap after Clarisse became pregnant when her first baby was six months old. Clarisse describes a four-hour first labour with a birth-before-arrival home birth, early breastfeeding that looked good on paper but felt hard due to worry about weight gain and latch pain, mastitis, and mixed advice about frequent feeding and bottles. Pregnancy brought nipple soreness and later reduced supply, but her daughter, Talia, continued nursing. Clarisse’s son, Zayn was born at home with a doula. His was a longer early labour, as a back-to-back baby, and his first newborn feed became an immediate tandem feed. We explore the realities of tandem feeding, co-sleeping, reflux, boundaries, night challenges, and the importance of intuition, selective information, and supportive help. 
My picture book on how breastfeeding journeys end, The Story of Jessie’s Milkies, is available from Amazon here -  The Story of Jessie's Milkies. In the UK, you can also buy it from The Children’s Bookshop in Muswell Hill, London. Other book shops and libraries can source a copy from Ingram Spark publishing.
You can also get 10% off my books on supporting breastfeeding beyond six months and supporting the transition from breastfeeding at the Jessica Kingsley press website, by going to https://bit.ly/JKPbooks and using the code MMPE10 at checkout.

Follow me on Instagram  @emmapickettibclc or find out more on my website www.emmapickettbreastfeedingsupport.com 
Resources mentioned - 
You can follow Clarisse on Instagram @‌the_sacral_moon
Breastfeeding: The dangerous obsession with the infant feeding interval https://www.unicef.org.uk/babyfriendly/breastfeeding-the-dangerous-obsession-with-the-infant-feeding-interval/ 

This podcast is presented by Emma Pickett IBCLC, and produced by Emily Crosby Media.

This week, I’m delighted to be joined by returning guest, the fabulous Kathryn Stagg IBCLC—also a musician, parent, and qualified neurodiversity coach—to discuss ADHD and breastfeeding. Kathryn explains ADHD subtypes, why the label can be misleading, common overlap with autism and other neurodivergences, and how diagnosis often follows identification in a child. She shares about her own assessment and how diagnosis improved self-awareness and self-forgiveness, alongside mixed experiences with medication. We explore how ADHD can help breastfeeding through antenatal hyperfocus and responsiveness, but can make difficulties like triple feeding, planning, and accessing support harder due to executive function challenges and rejection sensitivity dysphoria. Kathryn shares some practical support strategies,  and discusses some challenges with sensory sensitivities, breastfeeding aversion, app-related anxiety, and perimenopause effects.
My picture book on how breastfeeding journeys end, The Story of Jessie’s Milkies, is available from Amazon here -  The Story of Jessie's Milkies. In the UK, you can also buy it from The Children’s Bookshop in Muswell Hill, London. Other book shops and libraries can source a copy from Ingram Spark publishing.
You can also get 10% off my books on supporting breastfeeding beyond six months and supporting the transition from breastfeeding at the Jessica Kingsley press website, by going to https://bit.ly/JKPbooks and using the code MMPE10 at checkout.

Follow me on Instagram  @emmapickettibclc or find out more on my website www.emmapickettbreastfeedingsupport.com 
Resources mentioned - 
ADHD and Breastfeeding - The Breastfeeding Network https://www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/factsheet/adhd-and-breastfeeding/
You can follow Kathryn Stagg on her website https://kathrynstaggibclc.com/ or @‌kathrynstaggibclc on instagram
And thank you to FeedSpot for listing me as #7 in the top breastfeeding podcasts list https://podcast.feedspot.com/breastfeeding_podcasts/

 
This podcast is presented by Emma Pickett IBCLC, and produced by Emily Crosby Media.