The Latch Revolution

IT FEELS LIKE TEETH When babies clamp instead of suck Why breastfeeding pain isn't always caused by the nipple. "It feels like my baby's gums are biting me." It's a phrase many mothers use. There's no wound. No crack. No teeth. Just deep bruising pain that doesn't seem to make sense. In this final episode of the Stop Guessing Series, Johanna Sargeant IBCLC and Katie James IBCLC explore babies with tight jaws and feeding compensations, explaining why clamping is often a sign that a baby is solving another underlying problem. Rather than treating the symptom alone, they discuss how recognising compensations can help uncover what's really happening beneath the surface. In this episode • Why some babies clamp or "chomp" instead of suck • The difference between bruising pain and nipple damage • How babies compensate when normal sucking isn't working • Why understanding compensation changes the way we support families Continue the learning journey Download the free Clinical Observation Framework for Babies with Sucking Difficulties. Inside you'll receive: ✓ The companion observation framework ✓ The complete Stop Guessing Series ✓ Clinical reflections ✓ Invitation to our live Clinical Q&A   Clinical reflection Think about a mother who described breastfeeding as feeling bruised, tight or like "teeth." Could that pain have been telling you something about the baby's oral function rather than the latch alone?   About The Latch Revolution The Latch Revolution creates practical education for healthcare professionals supporting babies with feeding difficulties. We believe better observation leads to better questions, and better questions often lead to better support.  

THERE ARE NO LAZY BABIES! Low vacuum explained Why long feeds don't always mean babies are feeding well. Some babies feed for an hour. They click. They lose suction. They fall asleep. Then they're hungry again. It's easy to assume they're simply sleepy or "lazy." But what if they're working incredibly hard just to maintain a feed? In this third episode of the Stop Guessing Series, Johanna Sargeant IBCLC and Katie James IBCLC explore one of the most commonly overlooked feeding challenges—low vacuum. Together they explain why understanding function, rather than simply watching the latch, can completely change the way we assess babies with sucking difficulties. In this episode • What low vacuum looks and feels like during a feed • Why clicking and losing suction matter • How babies compensate when they cannot maintain an effective vacuum • Why looking beyond milk transfer helps identify the real challenge Continue the learning journey Download the free Clinical Observation Framework for Babies with Sucking Difficulties. Inside you'll receive: ✓ The companion observation framework ✓ The complete Stop Guessing Series ✓ Clinical reflections ✓ Invitation to our live Clinical Q&A   Clinical reflection Think about a baby you've described as "sleepy" or "lazy" at the breast. Could they have been working much harder than they appeared? Coming next Episode 4 It Feels Like Teeth   About The Latch Revolution The Latch Revolution creates practical education for healthcare professionals supporting babies with feeding difficulties. We believe better observation leads to better questions, and better questions often lead to better support.  

WHY WON'T THIS BABY FEED? High palate clues Some babies seem to struggle with everything. The breast. The bottle. The dummy. Even your finger. Parents often describe a baby who gags easily, feeds for long periods, starts well but gradually begins to struggle, or suddenly plateaus in their weight gain. In this second episode of the Stop Guessing Series, Johanna Sargeant IBCLC and Katie James IBCLC explore how a high palate and oral sensitivity can quietly affect feeding, and why these babies are often misunderstood. Rather than focusing on the palate alone, they explain how to recognise the wider pattern of compensations and observations that help build a more complete clinical picture. In this episode • Why a high palate is only one piece of the assessment • The feeding behaviours that often point towards oral sensitivity • How finger assessment can reveal valuable clinical information • Why listening carefully to the mother's story is one of your most powerful assessment tools Continue the learning journey Download the free Clinical Observation Framework for Babies with Sucking Difficulties. Inside you'll receive: ✓ The companion observation framework ✓ The complete Stop Guessing Series ✓ Clinical reflections ✓ Invitation to our live Clinical Q&A   Clinical reflection Think about a baby who seemed to struggle with breastfeeding, bottle feeding and dummy use. What clues might have suggested that oral sensitivity or a high palate was contributing to the bigger picture?   Coming next Episode 3 Your Baby Isn't Lazy   About The Latch Revolution The Latch Revolution creates practical education for healthcare professionals supporting babies with feeding difficulties. We believe better observation leads to better questions, and better questions often lead to better support.

STOP CHASING TONGUE TIE - Look at the whole baby Why feeding assessments need a whole-baby approach. When a baby is struggling to feed, it's tempting to look for a single explanation. But what if feeding difficulties are rarely caused by just one thing? In this first episode of our Stop Guessing Series, Johanna Sargeant IBCLC and I (Katie James IBCLC) introduce the clinical observation philosophy that underpins our work with babies experiencing sucking difficulties. In this episode • Why isolated symptoms rarely tell the full story • The five areas that guide every assessment • Why curiosity is often more valuable than certainty • How better observation leads to better support Continue the learning journey Download the free Clinical Observation Framework for Babies with Sucking Difficulties. Inside you'll receive: ✓ The companion observation framework ✓ The complete Stop Guessing Series ✓ Clinical reflections ✓ Invitation to our live Clinical Q&A Clinical reflection Think about the last baby whose feeding "didn't quite make sense." What observations might you revisit if you stepped back and looked at the whole picture? Coming next Episode 2 - Why Won't This Baby Feed? - Hidden Clues of a High Palate About The Latch Revolution The Latch Revolution creates practical education for healthcare professionals supporting babies with feeding difficulties. We believe better observation leads to better questions, and better questions often lead to better support.

Season One may be over… but we’re only just getting started. We’re taking a short summer break before returning in August with a special four-part mini-series unlike anything we’ve released before. Together we’ll work through feeding case studies, taking you behind the scenes of our clinical reasoning. Rather than simply discussing symptoms or diagnoses, we’ll explore how experienced lactation consultants begin to ask better questions. What are the clues? What is the baby’s body telling us? Why is this feeding challenge happening? And perhaps most importantly… what are we missing when we focus on treating the symptom instead of understanding the cause? If you’ve enjoyed the conversations throughout Season One, this series will take you one step further inside the decision-making process we use every day with the families we support. If you’re a midwife, lactation consultant, speech pathologist, health visitor, doctor, paediatric clinician or anyone supporting breastfeeding families, we think you’re going to enjoy this one. We’ll see you in August. Until then… Thank you for listening, sharing the podcast, leaving reviews and being part of The Latch Revolution. Enjoying the podcast? Leave us a 5-star review, subscribe so you don’t miss the new mini-series, and if you’d like to support the show, you can join us on Patreon. Keywords The Latch Revolution, oral function, infant feeding, breastfeeding education, IBCLC, lactation consultant, midwife education, breastfeeding support, feeding assessment, sucking difficulties, oral assessment, tongue function, bottle feeding, breast refusal, breastfeeding challenges, case studies, Decoding the Suck, breastfeeding professionals