Feed the Bub

✨I’m excited to share that I’ll be running a breastfeeding fundamentals workshop at the .sabras Bump to Baby workshop in Tel Aviv next week ✨

The workshop is designed so that women giving birth in Israel feel supported, informed and empowered in navigating the prenatal and postnatal journey.

We will prepare you in what to expect with maternity system in Israel, the labor process, breastfeeding fundamentals, postpartum pelvic floor care and a chance to connect with other expecting mums and ask any questions you have.

Go to for registration information, and if you can’t join this event, follow for more information and great events like this.

✨Limited spots- sign up now
✨ Food and drink provided
✨Take home with a goody bag

I look forward to seeing you there!

Deb x

✨Are you expecting, and a Miluim Mama?✨ Join me for a FREE prenatal breastfeeding prep session! Navigating birth and breastfeeding in uncertain times is stressful. I would love to help you feel prepared and confident for when your baby arrives. Limited spaces available, DM to sign up now!

Switch nursing, combined with breast compressions, are two excellent techniques you can use to keep your baby actively eating, larger quantities, and for longer at the breast. Often, babies who are small, sleepy, and who are experiencing a slow milk flow tend to fall asleep during their feeds in early days and need extra stimualtion in order to keep breastfeeding.

When you notice that your baby's sucking strength and frequency has slowed down it is a great time to take them off the breast and switch them over to the other side. Moving them to the other side will provide them with a stronger flow, from the now fuller breast, and this stronger flow will encourage them to continue to breastfeed actively and effectively, ultimatley helping them drink more milk at every feed!

When you are switch nursing dont look at the clock in terms of how long their are on each side in order to "even" out the feed, follow your baby's lead. When you see that your baby is no longer feeding consistently and needs some help that would be the time to move baby over whether it has been 2 minutes or 10 minutes on that side.

Keep switching until your baby seems satisfied from the overall feed. Emptying your breasts by switching back and forth increases milk flow which will increase your milk supply as well as give your baby a fuller feed.

✨✨Mother's Day Giveaway✨✨

In honor of Mother's Day I am so excited to be giving one lucky mum (or mum to be) a ***Free Prenatal Breastfeeding Session OR a Post Birth Consult****

For those of you who know me, you know I am so passionate about supporting mothers to achieve their best breastfeeding outcomes and I strongly believe that preparation is key to ensuring a smooth start!

Our prenatal session will teach you what it means to breastfeed your baby. From feeding basics, practical techniques and ways to avoid the most common breastfeeding challenges this session will give you the skills and confidence to breastfeed your newborn, whether it’s your first or if you’ve done this before.

The lucky winner can use this special gift for YOURSELF and if you’re not a pregnant or nursing mama, you can gift it to a FRIEND!

How to enter:
1. Like this post
2. Follow me
3. Tag 2 mums
4. Share this post to your stories (don't forget to tag me!)

Winner will be drawn on Mother’s Day, May 14th ❤️❤️❤️

(This consultation will be in Jerusalem or can be done by phone or zoom if not located in Jerusalem)

Deb Rabinsky on Instagram: "For 10 months your baby is nurtured inside of you. The sound of your voice, your heartbeat and your warmth is all that they know. Now that your babe has entered the world all they want is to feel happy, safe and warm... Deb Rabinsky shared a post on Instagram: "For 10 months your baby is nurtured inside of you. The sound of your voice, your heartbeat and your warmth is all that they know. Now that your babe has entered the world all they want is to feel happy, safe and warm in the most familiar environment they kno...

Pumping can be challenging physically, emotionally and logistically and often comes with it’s fair share of stress. There are different things to you can do to ensure you are best equipped to collect as much milk as you need to give your baby a good feed. Here are a few quick tips that can help your milk collection go the extra mile:

1. Look at pictures of your baby- if your baby isn't with you, pictures of your bub will give you that warm and fuzzy feeling which will trigger the release of oxytocin which will stimulate your letdown and increase your overall collection of milk.

2. Pump at the same time each day- your body will adapt to this schedule quickly and be more likely to meet the need to produce milk as you demand it.

3. Hands free pumping bra - practically, this will change your life! Make sure it’s well fitted and comfortable.

4. Use the let down setting to stimulate milk production multiple times if you have to- if you find that the flow gets weaker and trickles out in the middle of your pumping session, reset the pump to start again using the let down setting. This will stimulate another let down which will encourage another round of stronger flow.

5. Get yourself a properly fitting fl**ge - don't automatically use the fl**ges that come with the pump but make sure it fits properly. A poor fitting fl**ge will not suction the milk effectively and may leave a lot of milk in the breast.

There you have it, a couple of quick tips to help your pumping session be more effective and hopefully less stressful.

Do you have other tips that have worked for you?? Feel free to share!

Sick babies are no fun at all. Feeding a baby who has a congested nose can be really rough for your baby who can hardly breathe and for you having to watch and listen to them struggle through spluttering, snorting and screaming, not to mention the constant stop-start of feeding and desperate wanting to feed despite the unsuccessful attempts.

Nasal congestion interferes with your baby’s ability to breathe which affects the natural suck, swallow, breathe reflex required for feeding. However despite this challenge, your breast milk is especially important for your little one during this time as your body can sense when your baby is unwell and tailors your breast milk to provide the vitamins, antibodies, and other essential nutrients that he or she needs in order to get better.

Here are some tips you can try to help your baby feed a little more effectively, this applies to both bottle and breastfeeding:

⭐️Keep your baby as upright as possible while feeding. Congestion is often relieved when upright.

⭐️Use saline drops and/or a suction contraption, otherwise known in my household as the “snot sucker”, to remove congestion from your baby’s nose before feeding.

⭐️ Use a humidifier in baby’s room to keep the air moist and ease your baby’s cold symptoms while they sleep.

⭐️ Run a hot shower and feed your baby in the steam-filled bathroom. The steam can help relieve congestion.

When a sick baby won’t nurse or take a bottle at all, you can instead try giving them breast milk with a syringe, dropper, or cup.

Another important aspect here is for mum is preventing sudden engorgement or a drop in your milk supply. If your baby is not eating as regularly as usual or draining the breast completely during a feed, you should pump to ensure you empty your breasts as needed to maintain regular function.

Mama, while having a sick baby is exhausting, remember that this is only temporary and hopefully within a few days your babe will be back to his or her usual happy self!!

Does your breast leak milk when you hear, see or think about your baby? Do you leak from one side while feeding on the other? Do you suddenly feel full and then a tingling sensation in the first few minutes of a feed?

That’s your let-down reflex working it’s magic and being triggered in all the right ways.

The let-down (or “milk ejection reflex) usually occurs when your bub sucks at the breast and triggers tiny nerves in the ni**le. By triggering these nerves, hormones are released into your bloodstream. The 2 main hormones which control the let-down reflex are prolactin and oxytocin. Prolactin works on the milk producing tissues in the breast, creating the milk. Oxytocin causes the let down of the milk from breast to the baby.

The let-down can sometimes take a little longer than usual if you are feeling stressed, tired, upset, in pain, drinking alcohol or smoking.
As you need to have a let-down in order for your milk to flow both during a feed and/or pumping the best way to encourage the let-down is to try relax and feel happy in order to stimulate the oxytocin which will trigger the milk to flow.

If you are having trouble having a let-down cuddle and kiss your baby, listen to music that makes you feel calm and happy, take a warm shower and pretty much do anything that will help you relax and feel comfortable and happy.

If you are pumping think of your baby, have the baby or your baby’s clothing nearby for their smell and don’t look at the bottles to measure the output as this can sometimes be stressful and actually prevent the let-down - just sit back, try to relax and let the milk flow!

If you experience a strong and overwhelming let-down which makes it difficult for your baby to feed be in touch and we can discuss ways to manage it ❤️

As busy mums we often find ourselves snacking throughout the day, grabbing at snacks but not finding enough time to properly prepare nutritious meals. If you are breastfeeding, now more than ever, you require vitamins, minerals, calcium and folate in higher amounts, even higher than during pregnancy.

Most vitamins and minerals are passed through breast milk to your baby, but if you aren’t getting enough for both of you your body will pull from your stores to ensure there is enough in the breast milk, putting you at risk of deficiency. A diet containing, fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, beans and lean meats will help ensure that you are getting enough micronutrients for both yourself and your breastfeeding baby.

It’s also important to make sure you are getting plenty of calcium each day from calcium-rich foods such as milk, yogurt, cheese, and dark green leafy vegetables. A calcium supplement is worth taking on the days that you haven’t consumed enough calcium-rich foods as prenatal vitamins usually only contains about 200 mg which may not meet your daily calcium requirement.

By taking your prenatal vitamin you will fill in any vitamin and mineral gaps that you may not be receiving from you daily diet so continue taking it or an alternative multi supplement while you are breastfeeding to ensure you stay strong and healthy.

2021 was a good year- I started my Lactation Consulting business and met many strong and empowered mamas both privately and at the hospital. I was also blessed with our third child, Eitan Lev, (quite convenient for practicing some techniques on 😊) and my family is healthy, happy and thriving.

I want to thank all you mums out there who reached out and invited me to assist you on your feeding journeys, it is truly an honour to be a part of your special moments and to be able to help provide solutions when times are tough. You are all warrior mums. I’m in awe of the lengths we mamas will go to give the best to our babies.

My message going into 2022 is this; Don’t compare your journey with anyone else’s. Don’t compare your milk supply, how much milk you manage to pump in a session, how long you breastfeed for, how many bottles you give, how many hours your baby will sleep through, or how many rolls of fat your baby has under his chin- none of that really matters. What matters is that your baby will get exactly what s/he needs one way or another. The most important thing is that they have the unconditional love that you give them that they get the very best of you.

So with this I wish all the mums and dads out there a year of calm, good health, freedom, cherished moments, growth and joy.
I look forward to growing with you 2022.

Is your baby a champion breastfeeder but when it comes to the bottle will downright refuse? This can be extremely stressful and frustrating if you meed your babe to take the bottle.

The first thing is to figure out why your baby is refusing the bottle. It could be because they know that you are nearby and they prefer to nurse, the bottle flow could be too slow; or too fast, they don’t like the feel of the ni**le in their mouth, the milk temperature doesn’t suit your baby or a variety of other reasons.

Here are a few tips to help get your baby to take the bottle.

🍼 Try having someone other than yourself offer the bottle. This will help long term as your baby will learn milk can come from other people in different ways.

🍼 Adjust the flow to suit your baby. For babies used to a slower flow, a bottle with fast flow will overwhelm them. However, if you usually have a faster let down you’re baby might prefer a faster flow ni**le. Regardless of which flow your baby prefers always pace-feed so your baby is in control.

🍼 Try offering the bottle when the baby is not very hungry, this way baby is calm and focussed.

🍼 Try different positions. Breastfeeding positions and bottle feeding positions are naturally quite different. Try with your baby propped up or facing outwards.

🍼 Try walking around the room or gently bouncing or swaying.

🍼Allow you baby to latch onto the bottle ni**le herself rather than putting it directly into her mouth. Encourage a latch onto the wide base of the ni**le and not just the tip, as she would when breastfeeding.

Depending on your baby’s personality it might take some time until they accept the bottle. Don’t force the bottle in your baby’s mouth when they refuse, wait, and try again. Take the time, try stay calm and switch things up. You may need to try one of these techniques or you may need all or even others. Try different times if day, different positions, different milk, temperatures, different bottles (breastfeeding friendly bottle), and practice, practice, practice!

Did you deal with bottle refusal? What method worked for you? Share any tips you have with fellow mums going through this!

Whenever I've encountered a mum who is suffering from engorgement or a clogged duct (yes there is a difference, I will write about in a different post) and I've explained to her that the most important method to relieve the engorgement is to move the milk out of the breast by feeding the baby as much as possible and/or to pump for as long as it takes to relieve the feeling of milk build-up, her response is, "Wait, what?? Doesnt pumping mean l will produce more milk and make the engorment worse." Fair question, it's confusing... but the answer is no.

Breast engorgement happens when there is a build up of milk in the breasts. It can happen at any time but is quite common in the weeks after your baby is born before a natural breastfeeding routine has been established. It can happen for a few reasons, you could be making more milk than your baby requires, your baby is not adequatley draining the breast or your baby missed a feed or feeds infrequently.

Here are a few tips that will help treat the engorgement:

➡️ Feed your baby on demand until they have had enough. Let your baby finish the first breast before starting on the second.
➡️ Offer your baby the more painful breast first.
➡️ Apply heat (warm shower, towel, or compress) for 5 minutes before feeding, this will help the let-down and milk flow during the feed.
➡️ Between feeds you can apply cold compresses to the breast to help relieve pain.
➡️ In addition to the treatments mentioned above, if you are feeling pain you can take pain relief.

IF you are still feeling engorged after a feed, you should use a manual or electric pump to release the milk that has built up in the breast tissue. Do no pump any longer than you need in order to feel relief. Once your breast feels softer and more comfortable stop pumping- you dont want to pump too long as this can cause your breasts to produce more milk than required.

Remember, the key to treating, and preventing engorgement, is to feed your baby as much as possible and if there is uncomfortable milk build up, pump it out!

Oh, and for the mums who haven’t experienced engorgement, this is not a sign of low supply- incase you were wondering ;)

The question that most mums of newborns want to know, can I get my baby on a feeding schedule?? In early days, there is no benefit to try to get your baby to go for longer stretches between feeds or to be on a schedule. Newborns have no sense of time, and trying to hold your baby off till next feed will only add stress to both of you. There is also no harm with feeding too often, your baby will not be “spoiled” by frequent feeds and it is not setting a bad habit. As your baby gets older and his stomach grows and can hold more milk, he will naturally become more regular in his feeding patterns. The best thing to do in early days is feed on demand and listen to baby as he tells you what he needs ❤️

You’ve just finished a feed and instead of your baby blissfully going to sleep or relaxing, your poor babe is spitting up, squirming, hiccuping, crying and way too fussy to sleep or play. Not to mention the piles of extra laundry you find yourself doing. If this sounds familiar your baby may have reflux.

Infant reflux usually starts before a baby is 8 weeks old and gets better by the time they are one year old. Reflux is fairly common in babies and occurs because the digestive system is not yet completely mature and therefore can’t always keep the food down. The good news is, as long as your baby is healthy and growing, reflux is not a cause for concern and usually gets better on its own.

Here are a few tips to help ease reflux for your baby:

➡️ Feed, and hold baby after feed, in an upright position keeping baby’s head higher than the stomach, helping the milk flow and stay down in the stomach.

➡️ Ensure that the baby has a deep latch in order to avoid swallowing air while feeding.

➡️ Offer shorter feedings, more often (every 1-2 hours) to minimize the volume of milk that is sitting in baby’s stomach before being digested.

➡️ Offer a pacifier as sucking increases saliva and downward contractions of the esophagus, helping the milk stay in the stomach.

➡️ Ask your doctor about a probiotic to help encourage good gut health.

If your baby is not gaining weight or producing dirty and wet diapers according to age, speak to your doctor to investigate further.

Be kind to yourself. Having a baby who is suffering from reflux can be really exhausting, demanding and emotional. Remind yourself that your baby’s digestive system will mature and they will eventually grow out of this. You are doing your best to ease the discomfort for your baby and with time this too shall pass.

Important announcement: your baby’s feeding patterns is not a reflection of your milk production. Often, especially in early days, it’s easy to believe that if your baby is eating in irregular patterns and is demanding frequent meals (aka feeding non-stop!) that you must have a low supply that simply can’t keep up with the demand of you’re baby’s growing appetite.

The truth is that your baby eating frequently, especially in early days, isn’t a sign of poor supply. To avoid falling into the “top-up trap” you can learn some signs that show that your supply is good and that your baby is getting the milk s/he needs.

➡️ Stool color - if breastfeeding is going well, your baby’s stool will turn from black to green by about Day 3 and green to yellow by Day 4 or 5.

➡️ Diaper output - if your baby has wet diapers, at least 6 times a day and the number of poops reach around 3 a day (24 hour period) from about day 3 this is a good sign.

➡️ Weight gain - this is the best way to gauge your baby’s milk intake and your supply. Once baby reaches their low weight on day 3 or 4, expect a weight gain of about 30g per day. Weight gain is the gold standard of healthy milk intake and milk production.

These are the main indicators we use in early days to tell us that baby is getting the nutrition they need. Frequent feeding and wanting to nurse and be close to mommy doesn’t mean your baby isn’t eating enough, it just means he wants to be close to you, be comforted by you and be in a familiar place that makes him feel warm, safe and loved.

Did you doubt your supply in early days because your baby was wanting to feed constantly?

Contrary to popular belief, there is no magic number of minutes your newborn is supposed to breastfeed for. The focus should be on the quality of the feed, not the length of time your baby spends at the breast. As a guiding rule, most babies need to breastfeed at least 8 to 12 times every 24 hours and rather than looking at the clock you can look for signs including ongoing active sucking and swallowing, listening for swallows and gulps, feeling emptying of the breast, noticing baby becoming more relaxed and unclenching their fists.

Whenever your baby shows hunger cues (increased activity, rooting, fists to mouth, clenched fists, crying), you can assume it’s time to breastfeed, even if your baby is showing cues shortly after their previous feed. Don’t worry about overfeeding and don’t consider it a reflection of your milk production, this is just what newborns do. This is how your baby helps you build a healthy milk supply!!

In short, you don’t need a clock to make breastfeeding work. Sometimes too much focus on the clock can even shift your attention away from what really matters and distract you from noticing the cues your baby is trying to communicate with you.

September is here! With that comes a bag of mixed emotions, especially for moms who are ending their maternity leave and returning to work. Feelings of anxiety, excitement, relief, sadness and nostalgia are raging, now add pumping, maintaining supply, introducing bottle and supplementing to the mix and it can be very overwhelming.

Be kind to yourself and remember that its a big adjustment from being a full-time mother to working again. You now have two important jobs that need to be blended, but you've got this!

Here are a few tips to help make the transition as easy as possible:

➡️ Try to pump as often as your baby would nurse. If not possible, pumping every 2-3 hours should maintain your milk supply and will help prevent you from becoming uncomfortably full.

➡️ Make sure you have a fridge at work to store your pumped milk, well label the milk bags and find a clean area to wash and dry the pump parts.

➡️ When pumping while stressed you may find it more difficult to have a letdown. If so, take some deep breaths, disconnect from your work and think about your baby. This will encourage the letdown.

➡️ Don't judge your overall milk supply by the amount you are able to pump, your baby is able to extract more milk by breastfeeding than a pump can.

➡️ Wear a a hands-free bra to allow you to pump while busy at work and loose fitting tops which are more comfortable for pumping.

➡️ Discuss with your baby’s caregiver how to pace bottle feed. This method maintains and encourages your baby‘s ability to breastfeed, which in turn, will help your supply.

➡️ Expect that your baby may feed more often in the evening or at night to make up for the time away for you. Your baby will miss you. Try breastfeed as many meals as you can when you're with your baby.

Most of all, recognize the emotional adjustment you are experiencing- it is normal to miss your baby and its also completely fine if you feel relief to have part of your independence back. Whatever you are feeling is legitimate. Be kind to yourself and give yourself the time to adjust and adapt to your new normal.

How is your first day back?? Share your experiences, tips and any questions you may have here!

It’s so common for us to believe that we don’t have enough milk in the first few days. I mean, when seeing colostrum appear only in drops after birth, mums often think that they dont have enough milk and as a result offer supplements to ensure baby gets a “fuller” feed. In reality, these drops are the perfect amount for your baby and will provide them with the nutrition that they need, in the quantity they need it.

It can take 3-5 days for the recognizable white flowing mature milk to arrive. The time it takes will be influenced by the type of birth you had, the frequency you feed your baby in the first hours and days and the physical closeness you maintain with your baby.

The most important thing to remember is that colostrum IS breast milk, it is the perfect first food for your baby and, unless there may be underlying medical issues, there is enough of it.

If you feel that there is something wrong with your initial quantity of colostrum ask the hospital LC as a quick check can determine where you and your baby are at!

I remember the frantic feeling and calling a lactation consultant about 3 weeks after my baby was born thinking that my milk supply, which I thought was so great, was suddenly not enough!! My baby wanted to nurse all the time, why?!?! Was he not getting enough? Was I starving him? What had suddenly gone wrong?

Well mama’s, the most important thing to know is that cluster feeding is a normal newborn behavior. It is when your baby wants lots of feeds in a short period of time. Unlike I had assumed at the time, it is not an indicator of low milk supply or that your newborn is starving or that you need to offer a supplement .

Cluster feeding is especially common in the first weeks and few months of life. While we don’t know exactly why babies cluster feed it seems they cluster feed for comfort, during sickness, during developmental milestones, when there are dips in your supply for example having your period or going back to work and during growth spurts - it’s their genius way of increasing your milk supply. It helps your baby regulate emotionally and neurologically, and if you bub cluster feeds in the evening, which is most common time, they tend to sleep longer at nights. That’s a win!!

So what can you do to get through what feels like a feeding marathon? Stay hydrated, feed on demand, try be patient and calm, be kind to yourself and don’t worry that there’s a problem with your milk, rest when you can, reach out to your support people and remember while it’s so tough now, it will pass within a couple of days. You’ve got this mamas!! 💪

As a rule, breastfeeding shouldn’t hurt. Mother’s say to me way too often, “it hurts, but I can manage the pain because my baby is eating well and that’s the most important”.

Meanwhile these mothers, with the very best of intentions, are nursing with their bodies in fight and flight mode with their shoulders up, holding their breath and biting their bottom lip. They are nursing through pain from bleeding ni**les, skin abrasions, bruises, breast infections, thrush, and the list goes on. While these issues can unfortunately happen quite easily, they are so preventable with just a few small changes to positioning, an explanation to better technique or better understanding of how to avoid these situations.

The most common reasons that breastfeeding may cause pain include:

▶️ Your baby is only latching to the ni**le and not deeply around more of the breast tissue
▶️ You are leaning down towards your baby while nursing instead of bringing baby to breast, baby is more likely to slip off or pull at the ni**le from this position
▶️ Baby may have tongue tie, low muscle tone, high palate or other other oral issues
▶️ You are experiencing engorgement or mastitis- untreated engorgement can lead to painful breast infection
▶️ Thrush infection, without visible symptoms

So please mamas, if you are feeling pain while breastfeeding seek help, there’s no need to pay a price for breastfeeding and suffer through it.

Breastfeeding on an airplane. It’s summer vacation time and the skies have (kinda) reopened.
Let me tell you a something... my kids feed non-stop on airplanes, I have literally fainted from dehydration from continuously nursing a 4 month old on a flight from Israel to NY. So what is it that makes babies so in need of extra b**b time while flying??

Dehydration- the lack of oxygen in the cabin dehydrates us. When flying we are thirstier than usual, the same applies to our babies. Be sure to feed on demand to ensure your baby stays well hydrated BUT with this advice I say make sure you stay well hydrated too to avoid headaches and fainting and so you don’t run out of fuel!!

Comfort- your baby is likely to be out of routine and less comfortable when on a flight. Any sleep schedule that they may be used to won’t apply when flying which could make them want to feed or have more contact with you for the sake of comfort.

Ear ache- ear pain due to changes in cabin pressure during take off and landing is a real thing. The swallowing action physically helps reduce the pressure build up in the ears and relieves the pain. When in pain your baby will look for comfort and connection and as a result may want to nurse more, especially during take off and landing.

If you find that your supply decreases during or after a flight this may be due to dehydration or infrequent feedings. Try to drink as much as you need, during and after the flight, and offer frequent feeds which should bring your supply back to normal.

Enjoy your vacation and have a safe and happy flight!!! ✈️