Mel - Many off putting messages, yet breastfeeding and bed sharing for 18 months as she trusted herself deeply

02/12/25 • 58 min

I’m joined today by Mel, who takes us through how she navigated early struggles when her milk took almost a week to come in, and the overwhelming pressure from professionals to supplement with formula. A lactation consultant even told her she might never be able to breastfeed at all as her boobs were too small– so how did these seeds of doubt impact Mel’s feeding experience?

With family doubting her supply, she stood firm, trusting her body and her baby. Bed-sharing from day one became a lifeline, despite the judgment, as she woke every two hours—sometimes even every 30 minutes—to keep feeding on demand.

As her baby grew, she kept going, following her instincts despite feeling the pressure to night wean by 12 months, and her own mum telling her that breast milk wasn’t beneficial past a year. Mel is still breastfeeding on demand at 18 months, and aiming for two years.

We’ll also be talking about the societal rush to push babies toward independence far too soon. Why are we so quick to be separate from them, to make them sleep alone, to expect them to self-soothe before they’re ready? As Mel says, this isn’t spoiling them—it’s setting them up to be secure, functioning human beings.

And importantly, we discuss how framing motherhood as a season—with its ups and downs, challenges, and joys—can help explain to others that even though we may be tired and stretched thin at times, it’s not something we want to change. It’s simply part of the journey, one that twists and turns, but one that we can embrace and even enjoy along the way.

All this and lots more invaluable insights.

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Pregnant or in the first few weeks after birth: The Feeding Couch
For health professionals and birth workers: Breastfeeding & Lactation: the fundamentals online course

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All this and lots more invaluable insights.

Send us a text

Get 10% off from Katie's Feeding Couch pregnancy preparation course with code POD10

Get 10% off Katie's courses - use code POD10 at checkout

Pregnant or in the first few weeks after birth: The Feeding Couch
For health professionals and birth workers: Breastfeeding & Lactation: the fundamentals online course

Please support the show!
Leave a review and BuyMeACoffee

Previous Episode

Sophie Walker: Three Babies, Three Journeys: Breastfeeding, Sleep Deprivation & Trusting Yourself

In today’s episode, I have a special guest—someone you probably already know and love. Sophie Walker, the incredible founder and host of Australian Birth Stories, joins me to share her personal breastfeeding journey. With a Master’s in Public Health, Sophie is passionate about helping pregnant women and their support teams actively prepare for birth and postpartum. Her podcast was born from her own experiences—after a first birth filled with intervention and trauma, she went on to have a redemptive, empowering second and third birth. Now, she’s on a mission to share real, raw, and honest birth and postpartum stories.

In this episode, Sophie opens up about her three boys and three completely different breastfeeding journeys—from the initial feeling of “it’s all on me” to learning how to trust herself as a mother. We talk about the realities of being left in the hospital to figure it out alone, navigating outdated advice from well-meaning grandparents, and the exhaustion of those first six weeks. We cover cluster feeding, sleep deprivation, and yes... co-sleeping (and pretending we weren’t doing it!).

But we also cover the turning points—the power of skin-to-skin, finding support through the Australian Breastfeeding Association, unwavering love and support from grandparents and knowing when and how to wean on your own terms.

If you’re in the thick of it right now, feeling overwhelmed or wondering if you’re doing it “right,” Sophie has some beautiful words of wisdom for you. So, grab a cup of tea, get comfy, and let’s dive in.

Find Sophie and the Australian Birth Stories podcast here

Instagram @australianbirthstories

Send us a text

Get 10% off from Katie's Feeding Couch pregnancy preparation course with code POD10

Get 10% off Katie's courses - use code POD10 at checkout

Pregnant or in the first few weeks after birth: The Feeding Couch
For health professionals and birth workers: Breastfeeding & Lactation: the fundamentals online course

Please support the show!
Leave a review and BuyMeACoffee

Next Episode

Claire: Feeding twins, raising 5 & training as a midwife: The journey through NICU, sepsis & postpartum exhaustion and depression

In this episode Claire joins me; a mum of five and midwife, whose feeding journeys have been anything but straightforward. After breastfeeding her first baby with ease for a year, she assumed it would be the same with the rest—but life had other plans.

When her second baby needed surgery just days after birth, she found herself expressing around the clock. Then came her third, who struggled to latch for six long weeks due to an uncoordinated suck reflex. And just when she thought her family was complete, peri-menopause masked her usual menstrual cycle and she found out she was pregnant with twins—whilst in her final year of training to become a midwife. Born premature and during the height of COVID, her twins needed naso-gastric tubes and weeks of careful feeding, all while she juggled three young children at home.

We talk about the exhaustion of trying to keep everything going when there’s no time to stop, how sleep deprivation crept into every part of her life, and the moment she realised her mental health was spiraling. Claire shares the raw reality of feeling like she was just surviving hour by hour, how COVID restrictions left her isolated, and the overwhelming relief of being admitted to a mother and baby unit with her twins—a place where she could finally breathe after four sleep deprived months.

Claire also opens up about the emotional toll of pumping, how the sound of the pump became almost unbearable. We dive into the idea of enough—how pumping for six months with her twins had to be enough, even when it didn’t feel like it. And how, despite everything, she found a way to move forward, making peace with a journey that didn’t go as planned but still led to deep connection with her babies.

All this and so much more in today’s episode. So grab a cuppa, snuggle in with ya bubba, and let’s dive in.

Send us a text

Get 10% off from Katie's Feeding Couch pregnancy preparation course with code POD10

Get 10% off Katie's courses - use code POD10 at checkout