August is National Breastfeeding month. Breastfeeding may be a wonderful experience for many mothers, but for others, breastfeeding can be a source of stress, guilt or disappointment.
Feeding is one of the most common challenges related to a child’s growth and development that our early intervention services assist with.
At Partners in Child Development’s Early Intervention Services, we are here to help. Our services are provided at no direct cost to the families we work with; costs are covered by insurance or the Department of Public Health.
Our Early Intervention (EI) Services team includes registered nurses and lactation consultants as well as physical, developmental, and occupational therapists who work with families to help parents, caregivers, and families with nutritional concerns for infants, usually due to the baby not gaining weight as well as helping moms efficiently and successfully breast feed.
Our services are typically provided at the child’s home or childcare, where a member of our team will meet with the family and the child to listen, learn, and observe. If the mother is breastfeeding and it is time for a feeding, she will offer to observe. Our experience has shown that often with support and small changes breastfeeding becomes successful and the moms are less stressed.
The solutions to helping an infant feed are often not complex. It may be:
- Adjusting the mother’s positioning
- Adjusting the baby’s positioning on the breast
- Improving latching by using a nipple shield
- Creating a relaxing and comfortable environment for both mom and baby
- Assessing whether there is a lip/tongue tie that may be affecting the baby’s latch and how the baby is nursing.
All team members are highly skilled and experienced in working with families and caregivers applying a family-focused coaching approach model.
A medical referral is not needed as any family can reach out to us for a free evaluation for families and children living in any of the following communities:
Greater Lawrence
Andover, Lawrence, Methuen, and North Andover
Greater Lowell
Billerica, Chelmsford, Dracut, Dunstable, Lowell, Tewksbury, Tyngsborough, and Westford
Our goal is to assist you in addressing your concerns with respect to feeding so that you have the peace of mind that your child is getting the nutrition needed to fuel their rapid growth and development.
We have helped many families throughout the area to address feeding concerns including breastfeeding. Below are just a few examples.
- Feeding and our EI Services for Premature Infants. Read the article.
- Early Intervention: Essential in the growth and Development of Twin Girls
- Premature Twins – Forever Grateful for Early Intervention Services
- Mason’s Story. From the NICU to Meeting Developmental Milestones in 10 Months
We encourage you to reach out to us for a no cost evaluation if you have feeding concerns, whether for an infant or a child up to three years old. We welcome the opportunity to discuss your specific concerns and see how we can help you.
