Breastfeeding Consultation

Rowena's feeding aversion program promotes baby-led feeding practices. Baby-led feeding practices are suitable for all healthy babies who are achieving all milestones expected for their stage of development, and who have the physical ability to safely feed from a bottle, regardless of whether they are averse to feeding or not.

The recommended infant feeding practices will not only fix a feeding aversion that has been caused or reinforced by being pressured to feed, but they will also prevent a healthy baby from developing an aversion for this reason because all pressure is removed.

If your baby hasn’t breastfed for more than 2 weeks, it can be challenging to re-establish breastfeeding, and if it's been a month or longer, it is even more difficult. The suck reflex typically fades between 6-8 weeks, making it harder to reintroduce breastfeeding after this period. Please note that this situation would fall outside the scope of our program. We recommend connecting with a local lactation consultant who can provide personalized support and guidance tailored to your baby’s specific needs.

We do not provide medical advice. If you believe your baby’s troubled behavior is due to a medical condition, we recommended that you discuss this with your baby’s doctor. However, be aware that a diagnosed medical condition will not spare your baby from experiencing one of many developmental and behavioral problems often responsible for distressed infant behavior, feeding and sleeping problems. So if medical professionals have been unable to provide solutions to your baby care dilemma, it might be that the cause is due to a developmental or behavioral reason, both of which are within our field of expertise.

To provide the appropriate plan for a baby with a tube in place, this would strictly be a tube weaning booking. If you have booked a breastfeeding consultation, we will advise that this is the incorrect booking and will need to rebooked as a tube weaning consultation. Please note: We do not wean to breast, only bottles.

Any illness can cause reduced appetite and increased risk of dehydration. Baby needs to be physically well to do the program.

The stretching exercises recommend after tongue-tie release involve placing your fingers into your baby’s mouth (usually without his permission) and lifting his tongue to open the wound and prevent the raw edges from re-adhering. Doing this would likely upset your baby and could reinforce his feeding aversion. Therefore, it would be better to wait until the stretching exercises are no longer required before starting the program.

Vaccinations are notorious for adversely affecting a baby's appetite for several days, resulting in a drop in his total daily milk intake.

Ideally, you would plan to have scheduled vaccinations at least 5 days before starting the program or after completing the program. If your baby is due for vaccinations during the program, discuss with his doctor whether it would be okay to postpone these until he is over his aversion. If not possible to delay, then proceed.

Having vaccinations during the program won’t stop your baby from getting over his feeding aversion. Just be prepared for a drop in his total daily milk intake and decline in behavioral ratings for three to five days and avoid pressuring him to eat.

Our comprehensive assessment provides a thorough evaluation of your child's growth and development. We take into account their medical and surgical history, along with any previous and current health advice from professionals. Our focus extends to physical health, developmental milestones, and genetic predispositions through family history, ensuring a holistic understanding of your baby's needs.

We also assess feeding history, equipment, and behaviors, as well as sleep patterns, to create a tailored plan that supports your child's well-being and growth.

See our questionnaire here.

The email review option offers clients a convenient daily check-in via email for the selected duration, ensuring they receive personalized feedback and guidance tailored to their unique needs.

Unless otherwise agreed to between yourself and your consultant at the time of your appointment, support days are to be used as follows:

·   One email check in per day - for review of videos, feeding logs, overview of progress.

·   must be used within a two week period following the date of your consultation; and,

·   to be used as consecutive days.

·   Support days are non-refundable.

If the support days are not used within the 2 week period, they will be forfeited. This is largely because our consultants restrict the number of consultations each day, to accommodate support for their clients and support time is allocated to each day. Only in the event that a consultation is cancelled will support be refunded.

Support days are to be used for the issue consultation is booked. If any new issues, a consultation for relevant issue will be required.

Please note: Our company operates internationally, catering to clients across various time zones. While there may be occasional delays in email responses due time differences, we are committed to providing responses in a timely manner.

If you feel that you are needing more support, please email us and we can tailor a plan for you.

Yes, absolutely. Support can be purchased here.

All consultations are conducted online at a time convenient for you. When you receive your questionnaire, there will an option to select your preferred method of communication.

Your consultant will email you prior to your consultation with all the necessary details. Please be sure to check your junk mail.

If you need to cancel your appointment please email us at admin@babycareadvice.com

Please note the following terms.

More than 48 hours notice:

If you decide to cancel your appointment, you will have the option of a refund or reschedule. For all cancellations, a $30USD fee will be deducted to cover administration costs/ bank fees. Support days will be refunded in full

Less than 48 hours notice:

We will refund the full amount minus a late cancellation fee of $100USD to cover our consultant's time and administration costs/ bank fees. Support days will be refunded in full

Less than 24 hours notice:

We will refund the 50% of the consultation fee to cover our consultant's time and administration costs/ bank fees. Support days will be refunded in full.

No shows/ unable to proceed at time of call:

No refunds will be provided.

Very! But only if all other causes of feeding refusal and fussy feeding behavior have been either ruled out or remedied before starting the program. And only if the parent strictly follows my feeding rules and recommendations, which took Rowena over 10 years to refine. 

Based on over 3000 cases where Rowena provided bottle-feeding aversion consultations—which helped the parents to rule out other potential causes and clarify their understanding of the feeding rules, the success rate was around 95%. Of those who did not succeed, most admitted that high anxiety levels prevented them from following Rowena's feeding rules and recommendations.

In theory, I would say all normal healthy babies can enjoy feeding and eating. However, the source of the baby's fear needs to be identified and removed. Plus, the parents need to take the lead to make the experience of feeding and eating pleasurable for their baby. 

It’s not the baby who is incapable of getting over his fear of bottle-feeding, rather it’s the parents who find they are either unable to change their mindset that they are responsible for controlling how much their baby eats, or who are prevented from making the necessary changes to their infant feeding practices because of high anxiety levels triggered by the expected initial drop in their baby’s milk intake.

On average, feeding aversions in babies take about two weeks to resolve as they gradually adjust to a more comfortable feeding experience. While progress may vary from baby to baby, by consistently following the program, parents should begin to see noticeable improvements within the first three days. It is largely dependent on how consistently you stick to the rules, how long a baby has had a feeding aversion, temperament of a baby, as well as other factors.

Conditions that cause babies pain while feeding, such as acid reflux, milk protein allergy, mouth ulcers, sore throat, do not solely affect feeding. The pain associated with these conditions will also cause a baby discomfort or pain between feeds. A baby experiencing discomfort or pain will fuss or cry without the parent’s constant attention to soothe. He may also have bouts of inconsolable crying (where he can’t be soothed) both during the day and the night. Pain would also make it hard for him to fall asleep and stay asleep.

The distress that feeding-averse babies display is typically assumed to be due to pain by parents and health professionals alike. However, upon further questioning, most parents of feeding-averse babies claim their baby is happy except when feeding, or that he sleeps well at night, or feeds well in a drowsy state or asleep or when distracted. Such behavior would not occur if a baby was suffering from pain because of a physical problem or medical condition.

If a baby has a structural problem, such as tongue-tie, cleft palate, or other physical feature that might make it hard for him to feed, or functional problem, which can occur as a result of neurological impairment or facial nerve damage caused by birth trauma, he could experience difficulties latching to the nipple, sucking effectively or safely swallowing. This would be evident from the first time he breast- or bottle-feeds. He would experience difficulties at all feeds.

A tongue-tie does not necessarily restrict tongue movement. Many babies, children, and adults have some degree of tongue-tie without it negatively impacting on feeding or speech development.

If your baby has a history of feeding well, or he feeds well at some feeds, or feeds well when in a drowsy state or while sleeping, or feeds well while distracted or entertained, or he drinks water from a bottle without a problem, then a tongue-tie or other sucking problem is highly unlikely to be responsible for the appearance of uncoordinated sucking when feeding while awake. In these instances, the impression that a baby is experiencing sucking difficulties could be conflicted feeding behavior which is commonly associated with a feeding aversion.