In this podcast episode, Katie Oshita and Avery young discuss the blinding focus on tongue tie and oral function that is leaving many families in worse shape after support. First by not know know to immediately stop breastfeeding pain, too many families are rushed to release by providers- Avery Young strives to change this by teaching other IBCLC's all about how to engage baby's feeding reflexes for a deeper, pain-free latch. Then many families are still treated in this mono-focused way with other providers who support oral function, but know nothing about how to see and care for a dyad. Avery Young has created a visual to try and bring awareness to the importance of prioritizing parental and infant wellness and breastfeeding relationship above oral function. Listen as this and much more is discussed.
Podcast Guest: Avery Young is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant licensed by the state of Georgia who is on a mission to help change the way we latch and feed infants. She has master's degrees in both Biology and Science Education and has been in private practice as a lactation consultant since 2014.
She spent the first half of her career teaching Biology to anyone who would listen, from middle school through college. She began her practice as a lactation consultant in 2014, after the birth of her second child, with the goal of helping to empower families with the resources and confidence to make decisions that were right for their own families.
Her own journey into motherhood and her quest to understand the needs of her own neurodiverse family led her to a deeper study of infant reflexes, neurology, and brain plasticity. It was during this study that Avery began to understand the significance of reflexes and she began to observe and learn from babies during the latching and feeding process.
She began to notice that babies have a highly repetitive and predictable sequence of behaviors that occur during the latching process. She quickly realized that those sequences of behaviors - which she calls the Cascade of Feeding Reflexes - have a far bigger role than just helping an infant to latch. They also establish the foundation of movement.
By helping infants engage their feeding reflexes she believes we can change the developmental trajectory of an infant for the rest of their life, and her mission is to help everyone understand what those reflexes are, and how we can use them to make feeding better.
When she is not working, or researching answers to her own questions, Avery enjoys reading, traveling, and spending time in nature with her husband and three children, in their hometown of Atlanta, Georgia.
Podcast host: Katie Oshita, RN, BSN, IBCLC has over 22 years of experience working in Maternal-Infant Medicine. Katie is a telehealth lactation consultant believing that clients anywhere in the world deserve the best care possible for their needs. Being an expert on TOTs, Katie helps families everywhere navigate breastfeeding struggles, especially when related to tongue tie or low supply. Katie is also passionate about finding the root cause of symptoms, using Functional Medicine practices to help client not just survive, but truly thrive. Email katie@cuddlesandmilk.com or www.cuddlesandmilk.com