Bottle-feeding/ Breastfeeding Testimonials

Lindsay came into my life when I had hit rock bottom and did not know how to help my baby who would not eat. I am the mother of two breastfeeding aversion babies. I am also a nurse, midwife and lactation consultant. No amount of education could have prepared me for what I suffered through with both of my little girls. My story is just the same as all of the stories I have read on this website. Babies who started their lives breastfeeding perfectly and then a cascade of events that led to a breastfeeding aversion. 

I suffered through months of hopelessness with my first wondering why she wouldn’t nurse. I suffered alone and it was devastating. No one knew what was going on and no one knew how to help. I spent 7 months at home dreading every feed, wishing away the days that were supposed to be full of love and bliss. I longed for the nights because that was when my baby nursed well. She would only nurse in her sleep. But one day, just as quickly as when she had stopped nursing, she happily latched to my breast. At that point I still had no idea why she had a feeding aversion but it was gone and she nursed until she was 2.5 years old. I told myself that I would never go through that again if there was another baby. 

Unfortunately, 3 years later, I found myself in the exact same situation. I was beside myself. After months of trying everything...tongue tie revision, reflux meds, eliminating dairy, craniosacral therapy, dream feeds, hospital visits...my second baby would not nurse or take a bottle. I was so helpless I actually wanted my baby to get a feeding tube so the pain and stress on both of us could be taken away. After spending a night in the hospital being told my baby was fine, I stumbled upon Baby Care Advice's website during a late night google search. I didn't believe what I was reading. Women who had gone through the exact same thing I was going through a second time. It was so validating to know I was not the only one suffering in silence. 

The moment I saw Lindsay's face on my computer screen I knew there was hope. Lindsay was an amazing support through the most intense challenge I have had to overcome. As Lindsay has been through having an aversion baby, she truly understood the pain and suffering and agony that went with every single feeding. She can sympathize with the fear of not knowing how to help your baby.

Having a baby with a feeding aversion is the most devastating and isolating experience I have ever gone through. Finding Lindsay saved my life. Lindsay listened and was there for me every step of the way to getting through the aversion. I learned my baby's aversions were likely due to my forceful letdown and then repeated attempts to feed. Lindsay came up with a plan and it worked! Lindsay is an extraordinary woman who truly cares. She is compassionate and kind and always there when you need the support. She is also very prompt with emails and offering words of encouragement. The program is definitely daunting and challenging, but so extremely liberating when you come out the other side. My baby's aversion did not go away immediately. It took quite a few months and many more struggles, but I now have an 11 month old baby who is aversion free. She breastfeeds, takes a bottle and loves eating food. I only wish I would have met Lindsay with my first. I have learned so much about feeding aversions that I will take with me as I support women through their breastfeeding journeys. Thank you Lindsay. I couldn't have done this without you.

If you suspect your baby has a feeding aversion, give this program a try! Our girl struggled with slow weight gain for the first 4 months and our doctor couldn’t seem to figure out why. The doctor was quick to diagnose silent reflux, milk protein intolerance (which turned out to be true), and suggested we get 30oz a day in baby however possible - breast, topping off with a bottle, even syringe. Feeding time became incredibly stressful for both mom and baby and often ended in tears for both of us. We got to a point where I could only breastfeed baby when she was drifting to sleep or immediately waking from a nap. This caused incredible stress and made me afraid to leave the house or disrupt our routine for fear I’d miss a nap and a feeding. I was at a breaking point. 

Fast forward to doing my own research, discovering feeding aversions and reading stories of so many who seemed to have the same experience. I immediately read Rowena’s book and booked a consultation with Lindsay Wark. Lindsay confirmed what my pediatrician could not - my baby had a feeding aversion because of problems related to forceful letdown and pressure to feed - and gave me the steps to solving it. Within 2 days of implementing Lindsay’s advice our girl was cueing hunger, eating while awake, feeding on both breasts instead of one, and sleeping much better at night. I was even able to continue my goal of exclusively breastfeeding even though doctors had been pushing me to try hypoallergenic formula.  

This program not only helped our little girl get back on track with weight gain, but worked wonders for my anxiety and stress.  I wish I had done it sooner, but now feel confident in trusting my baby and worry less when she has low-appetite days.  Now I have the knowledge and tools to avoid a feeding aversion if I’m lucky enough to have more children.

I put mascara on today... Having a baby with a Bottle Aversion stripped me of everything. It stripped me of my confidence, my identify, my belief in myself as Claire and as Mum, but most devastatingly it stripped me of my relationship with you, my beautiful Sofia.  

Before becoming a Mum I was a very self assured woman. I was balanced, rational and above all else happy in myself and loved my life. Then you came along and, gosh, you were perfect. How did we manage to create such an incredible little human being? You. Were. Our. World. Fast forward two months and our world was becoming a lot more challenging than we ever expected it to be.

You were diagnosed with chronic reflux and a cows milk allergy, prescribed medication and specialised formula. Then you were weighed and I think that was the beginning of the end. You should weigh more. They say you need to weigh more. Why don't you weigh more? The 'Curve'. You're not where you should be on the 'Curve'. We aren't doing this right. We are failing you. We aren't good parents. If you're not gaining weight, we are failing you! So the simple solution? Drink more milk. You need to take more milk. You have to take more milk. You must take more milk. You have no choice. Drink the milk, drink the milk, Sofia, just drink the bloody milk. You can't be underweight, you can't be under on the curve, we are awful parents if you don't put on weight. 

The professionals say we must get the milk into you, try even when you are sleeping...Drink. The. Milk. Turns out that wasn't the simple solution. In fact, pressuring you to drinking the milk was the worst thing we could have done. Who would have known that a 3 month old babe could give you the big FU and just stop drinking. Point blank refusal. This wasn't due to the initial days of discomfort drinking cows milk. This was very clearly due to the pressure we put on you and, quite rightly, you took matters into your own hands.

Riddled with the most awful anxiety, a shell of the person I once was, frantic Google searches about the bottle refusal commenced and we stumbled upon Rowena Bennetts book, Your Babies Bottle Feeding Aversion. Gosh, this book was you. Every single word, it was you. And more importantly, it was us. At the advice of the professionals, we had done this to you.

Another Google search and we found the person who was going to save me, save you and save our family, Lindsay Wark. Someone who we owe everything to. There are very little words that exist in this world that could ever describe the gratitude we have for Lindsay. As a fellow Aversion Mama, Lindsay, a Feeding Consultant, got it!! And some! And so the teaching and support began.

To say it was the most difficult thing we have gone through would be an understatement. Allowing you to refuse every bottle, removing all the pressure, watching your volumes drastically drop, feeling like we were on the cusp of an admission to hospital was the worst time of our lives. However, Lindsay was there every step of the way. Providing gentle guidance that was honest, raw and invaluable. Every question was answered, every fear was acknowledged and every doubt was balanced beautifully with hope. Lindsay taught us the most important lesson that we will take with us through the rest of your life, trust.

We learnt to trust you. 3 months of hard work getting her to eat and 2 weeks to regain her trust and for us to learn to trust that she knew all along how much she needed to eat You started accepting your bottles and we couldn't have been more proud. We stopped pressuring you and let you be in control. Something we would have never achieved without Lindsay’s daily support. Finding Lindsay felt like we had been sent a Guardian Angel to rescue us from the hell we were living. She will never, ever, understand her true worth, not just as a Feeding Consultant but as a beautiful human too. Her kindness, love and selfless nature is in abundance and those who know her are very lucky to have her in their lives. I put mascara on today. A little bit of me was back. I finally felt like you were beginning to love us. I finally felt that we would be ok."

Having our first child at 29 weeks during a global pandemic was definitely not our plan, and presented us with many unique challenges. Feeding was an issue from Day 1, as our little guy was tube fed in the NICU and subsequent children's hospital, and then at home for the first 7 months of his life.  

The bottle was always a challenge. At first he didn't have enough stamina to drink more than a few ml and then as he got older and bigger it became a daily struggle. These feedings were battles that often lasted more than 30 minutes and frequently ended with everyone left exhausted.  

We eventually realized he had a bottle aversion. After reading Rowena's book, we went to the website and reached out to Lindsay for help. We were skeptical that things would ever change, but have seen a tremendous improvement. Our son's bottle feedings are now drastically different. They usually last around 10-15 minutes with him actually reaching out for the bottle to start each session. What was once the most difficult parts of our day are now very quick and easy, which has been life changing for all of us.

Lindsay created a personalized plan for our son that guided us with specifics on how to overcome the aversion, how much milk he truly needed per day and the right sleep/feeding schedule for his age. As a mom who also had a baby with a tube, Lindsay really understood our struggle and offered us the support and confidence we needed to be successful. 

We enjoyed working with Lindsay so much that she has also helped us out with solids and sleep training. Our son's bottle aversion has been one of the most challenging things either of us has ever had to deal with and we can't thank Lindsay enough for helping us through the process.

I started the program with Lindsay when my baby was 10 months. For context, I had been feeding my baby via dream feeds for six months ever since he developed GERD at month 4 and was deemed Failure to Thrive. After multiple conversations with GI/Pediatrician on potentially bringing in my baby for an NG tube, I found Lindsay as my last desperate attempt.  

The first few days were the hardest -- cutting out solids out of an older baby was tough for me. But I stuck with it via Lindsay's help and voila, by Day 3 saw improvements. By Day 9, he was fully aversive free. To think back on those dark times of spending endless hours rocking and dream feeding my baby to now, it's pretty amazing. I got my life back and my sanity with Lindsay's help.  

To parents out there with older babies, you CAN do it with this program! It truly works and I wish I found out about this program six months ago.

My baby had suffered from eating difficulties almost since her birth and tongue surgery. We had a lot of breastfeeding difficulties despite the surgery. I did look for help from an osteopath, breastfeeding councellor and a physiotherapist. None of them weren't able to tackle the real problem that we had. I did already think that our life with her will be such a fight with eating. Luckily, I accidentally heard about Rowena Bennett’s book and I read it as soon as I got it. I was convinced that my baby was suffering from a feeding aversion and I desperately needed help with following the program. I booked the consultation time for Lindsay Wark with a bit mixed feelings of fear and uncertainty. I was in touch with Lindsay and it was the best decision ever. She convinced me with her professionalism and extremely warm personality! This program really helped us with our baby’s breastfeeding challenges and Lindsay was there for us during the whole process. She was always ready to answer my questions and encourage me that we’ll survive. And so we did!

No words can express how truly thankful I am to Lindsay for her help and support. I turned to her at a time of desperation, when I had pretty much lost all hope and was resigned to fact that I would have to live with the struggle and dread of feeding my baby until he was on solids. I am so glad I decided to trust her to help us; she has literally changed my life and allowed me to finally start to enjoy motherhood.  

My darling boy was born premature; he was induced after a suspected intra-uterine growth deficiency and was born very small on the 2nd percentile. I tried breastfeeding but my already small baby, who only just managed to escape a stay in the NICU due to his small size, lost a significant amount of weight post birth and was slow to put it back on. As a result, I was advised to top up feeds with set volumes of formula and thus started a relentless cycle of breastfeeding, pumping and formula top ups. Despite all my efforts, my darling son was still very slow to gain weight and in the end I lost my faith in my ability to breastfeed my baby all and turned to formula alone. Unfortunately, my son never took to the bottle neither – he would arch his back in pain, spit up milk and take very little at feeds. I remember dreading feeding him so much so I would remain awake half the night with anxiety over his next feed. He would wake up in the mornings so so smiley and yet when it came time to feed him, he would scream and scream, and all of his smiles for the rest of the morning would be gone. I use to feel awful and a complete failure as a mother; unable to do the fundamental and supposedly innate task of feeding my baby.   

After 12 weeks, things reached a crescendo and my son was barely having 14oz per day and his weight gain had plateaued. My son was first diagnosed with reflux but after thickened feeds and Gaviscon made no difference, he was diagnosed with reflux secondary to a  cows milk protein allergy and was put on omeprazole, nutramigen and when this didn’t make a difference neocate. I was so hopeful in the beginning that these things would help him, but after trying each medication in turn with little to no improvement I was slowly losing faith.  

I came across Rowena’s book on bottle feeding aversion and implemented these changes; after a few days I saw positive changes and improvements but then after about 2 weeks I felt I hit a road block and progress seemed to plateau and then dip. It was disheartening to feel something was finally working, only for things to falter again; I could once again feel myself spiralling and losing faith. I continued to research and found Lindsay, to whom I reached out after being touched by her own journey.  I feel Lindsay was able to give me clarity and address my individual concerns in implementing the program, as well as giving me tips specific to my situation so that I could better negotiate the bumps in the road I had been facing trying to follow the book alone. Furthermore, she was able to relate, comfort and reassure me when I had moments of self-doubt. Lindsay’s manners is calm, kind and non-judgemental and her approach is tailored to meet your own needs, parenting style and lifestyle. Most of all I am grateful for the fact I feel I can still reach out to Lindsay for advice and encouragement on this on-going journey.  

I can only say if you have come across this page because you think your baby has a bottle feeding aversion and are considering getting help, I urge to trust in Lindsay’s expertise. You will not regret it and like me, you can finally feel like you can enjoy your baby and motherhood again.