SESSION DESCRIPTIONS
(breakouts subject to change)
Friday, May 1st: Health Care Provider Day
8:30-10:00 a.m.: General Session: Sleeping Together: History, Biology, and Politics, Diane Wiessinger (1.5 R CERPs)
Is sleeping with a baby risky? A look at primates, our past, electricity, definitions, settings, research, and the critical differences between breastfeeding and bottle-feeding mothers and babies. Bottom line: There’s no one-size-fits-all. For many babies, bedsharing is as safe as a crib… and a whole lot cozier.
10:15-11:45 a.m.: Breakout Sessions
Breastfeeding the Premature Infant, Chris Clark (1.5 L CERPs)
The challenges a mother faces breastfeeding her premature infant are abundant and varied, yet the research is clear regarding the risks of not breastfeeding. To be effective helpers we must connect and partner with the breastfeeding mother, remove or address barriers, and supply practical sustainable solutions. This workshop will equip you with the information and tools you need to make a difference. “Do or not do, there is no try.” Yoda
Tweets and Teats: Social Media for Breastfeeding Pros and Peers, Tiffany Gallagher (1.5 R CERPs)
Social media can be used to keep in touch with friends and family, but can also be leveraged to grow your business, increase your influence, and provide support for families. In this session, we will explore the basics of blogging; social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest; and how to protect your intellectual property and that of others. We'll also cover best practices for sharing content and and touch on the ethics of providing support online. For an interactive experience, please bring a smartphone, tablet, or laptop; connect to the hotel's wi-fi; and create/log into your Twitter account at www.twitter.com before the start of the session.
Evidence-Based Support for Breastfeeding Families, Jen Mason (1.5 L CERPs)
Anecdotes, been there done that, and “oh, this happened to me!” are great for conversations between friends. As health care professionals, we can empower families to meet their goals using evidence-based information and maternity care best practices. We will walk through a number of challenging breastfeeding cases including how to efficiently gather relevant information from parents, key signs of what to look for in a nursing baby, and putting all the clues together to make a plan. Includes tips on the best of the best resources and staying current and up-to-date with the latest information in the lactation world.
12:45-1:45 p.m.: Breakout Sessions
Tigers Through Hoops: The Baby Who Won't Breastfeed, Diane Wiessinger (1.0 L CERPs)
The baby’s normal, the mother’s normal, but something’s going on in that baby’s head that keeps him from breastfeeding. Some creative ways to persuade the “psychological non-latcher” that he wants to breastfeed.
How Practices During Labor and Birth Affect Breastfeeding: Special Emphasis on the Midwifery Model of Care in the Home Birth Setting, Emme Corbeil
How babies are born and what occurs during the labor and birth has a tremendous effect on the breastfeeding relationship. Come and explore how common and seemingly safe birth practices directly affect breastfeeding and how the midwifery model of care practiced in the home birth setting assures breastfeeding success.
Teaching Without Touching: A Hands-Off Approach to Breastfeeding Support , Liz Abbene (1.0 L CERPs)
In today's high-tech, fast-paced world, it can be helpful to slow down, step back, keep our hands to ourselves, and let breastfeeding unfold in a calm, relaxed, low-pressure environment. Discover how to provide lactation support using techniques that promote comfort, relaxation, and effective feeding, while capitalizing on the instincts and reflexes and mamas and babies.
2:00-3:00 p.m.: Breakout Sessions
Freed to Feed: Laser Lip and Tongue Release: Diagnosis, Treatment, and After Care, Dr. Darcy Rindelaub (1.0 L CERPs)
This presentation will lead to a better understanding of the influence of oral restrictions, specifically lip and tongue ties, on the oral function of breastfeeding. We will review the different diagnostic criteria and rating systems for lip and tongue ties, and the various methods for accomplishing a release. A clear understanding of the after care required and expectations following a release will be covered.
Calming Colic: Supporting Parents of the Fussy or High Needs Baby, Vickie Albright (1.0 R CERPs)
This session will explore the world of parenting a baby who is "needy," "demanding," "can never be put down," "cries all the time," and "can't self-soothe." Parents' perspectives and expectations can play a large role. Breastfeeding can also impact the experience for both baby and parents. We'll look at strategies that best support parents who are struggling to enjoy their baby.
3:30-5:00 p.m.: General Session: Watch Your Language, Diane Wiessinger (1.5 R CERPs)
Our word choice often promotes formula-feeding. Even the researchers get it wrong! Learn how words like “still”, “but”, and “ideal” can undermine breastfeeding, look at how research outcomes change when the focus changes, and begin to develop a new and truly supportive language.
Saturday, May 2nd: Family Day
9:00-10:30 a.m.: General Session: The Safe Sleep Seven, Diane Wiessinger (1.5 R CERPs)
LLLI’s new book, Sweet Sleep, promotes seven clear criteria that can help a breastfeeding mother who bed-shares to be as SIDS-safe as a crib, and can help every mother make informed choices for her family’s nighttime sleeping arrangements. It’s a middle ground between the never-bedshare policies and the reality: Most mothers fall asleep with their babies at times, and all mothers need to know how to do it as safely as possible.
10:45-11:45 a.m.: Breakout Sessions
Positive Parenting for a Happy Family, Maureen Campion
Positive discipline is based on trust and having a secure relationship with your child. From the first time you have to move their hands or tell them no, you are providing discipline. This workshop will provide some great ideas and practical tools for beginning to provide clear guidance to your child in the early years.
Import/Export: How Partners, Family, and Friends Can Support the Breastfeeding Dyad, Angie Sonrode
This session will cover how one simple rule can help partners, family, and friends support the nursing dyad. Let's face it, even with the most dedicated partner sharing the load, a breastfeeding mother is still going to put in the bulk of the parenting work. Rather than lamenting this fact, let's embrace it and focus on how we can all better support her and keep things running smoothly. You will learn ideas and strategies for involvement and how to incorporate your village of support.
Experience an LLL Meeting: Why Meetings Matter, Sarah Schwabel
For many moms, the internet is their first line of support when it comes to breastfeeding their child. However, according to a study by the CDC "Systematic reviews of peer support programs have found [such programs] to be effective in increasing the initiation, duration, and exclusivity of breastfeeding." During this session, La Leche League leader Sarah Schwabel will facilitate an actual LLL meeting and discuss what brought and kept her coming to her local La Leche League meetings. Whether you are a new mom looking for breastfeeding support, or an experienced mom willing to offer your experience and insight to others, you will find "your people" at an LLL meeting.
Weaning Gradually, With Love, Ingrid Kaufman
All breastfeeding relationships come to an end, sooner or later. This session looks at different ways weaning happens. We will explore reasons for weaning, methods for weaning, weaning at various ages, and effects of weaning on mothers and children.
12:45-1:45 p.m.: Breakout Sessions
Developmental Spurts and Sleep Regressions, Ingrid Kaufman
Many of us are familiar with growth spurts, those times when your child has a seemingly endless appetite and sleeps a ton or maybe not at all. A few days later you realize none of his/her clothes fit. Did you know babies (and older children) go through similarly predictable periods of brain growth? These "developmental spurts" can wreak havoc on sleep and other behaviors and leave parents feeling sucker punched, coming as they often do, on the heels of periods of peaceful sleep and sunny behavior. This talk examines the most common developmental spurts in the first two years, what is going on in the developing brains during each one and what parents can do survive and help their babies thrive during these exciting, though often exhausting, periods of intense brain growth.
Pumping 9 to 5: Strategies for Working While Breastfeeding, Tiffany Gallagher
Working or attending school after having a baby is a common experience in the United States, and it is possible to continue breastfeeding and providing milk for your baby when you do so. In this session, we'll talk about feeding strategies for babies when the breastfeeding parent needs to be away, including ways to minimize separation and maximize pumping output. We'll cover the technique of paced bottle feeding and ways to ensure that your care provider is helping to protect your breastfeeding relationship. This session is appropriate for parents who wish to feel more prepared, as well as professionals and peer supporters who would like to learn more about pumping.
Breastfeeding After Cesarean Panel, Anne Ferguson
A cesarean birth can sometimes create extra challenges to getting breastfeeding off to good start. This panel of moms who have successfully breastfed after a cesarean birth will share what they've learned to help other mothers overcome any challenges and meet their breastfeeding goals. We will discuss both planned and unplanned cesareans and what families can do before and after their birth to make sure breastfeeding goes well.
After the Breastfeeding Years, Anne Casey
Breastfeeding is many mothers' #1 tool in the early years: it's great for bonding with and nurturing our children as well as feeding them. After the months and years of breastfeeding are over, what other tools do we have in our parenting toolkit? All parents are welcome to join us for a discussion about maintaining that close, responsive relationship with our children as they grow into independent young people.
BONUS SESSION: Family BrainDance, Jessica Heinz
We will learn and move through 8 movement patterns that healthy human beings naturally move through in the first year of life and then create dances based on these patterns. Fun for babies, children and adults. Happening in the Children's Room.
2:00-3:00 p.m.: Breakout Sessions
ScreamFree Parenting, Deb Roberts
Based on the book of that name, ScreamFree Parenting is a revolutionary approach that says that parenting is not about kids, it is about parents. The only behavior we really can control is our own. We will look at how emotional reactivity causes us to act based on fears rather than operating from our highest principles. With this approach, we can calm down and connect with our kids, be more effective parents and enjoy parenting more.
Advocating For Your Family And Connecting With Your Community, Jen Mason
There is no one “right” way to give birth or parent your child. Doing your homework and comparing the myriad of options begins during pregnancy and continues on throughout childhood. Learn how to be your own best advocate for yourself and your child, including questions to ask and the key phrases to use to be respectful but firm in your philosophies. Make smart choices on when to engage and when to smile and say "this is what is working for us right now." We will also discuss local pregnancy and parenting resources and how to find your parenting tribe.
Nursing a Toddler Panel, Anne Casey
There's no one way to nurse a toddler, but in our culture we don't often get a chance to see many breastfeeding toddlers. This panel of experienced mothers will discuss the wide range of normal toddler nursing relationships, the positives and negatives of nursing toddlers, and the experience of tandem nursing.
Giving Back to LLL, Deb Pladsen
Has LLL played a part in helping to support your breastfeeding relationship? Have you ever wondered what you could do to help the organization grow in your area? Come hear about all the different ways LLL could benefit from a bit of your time and talents!
3:20-5:00 p.m.: General Session: What Would Mammals Do?, Diane Wiessinger (1.5 R CERPs)
What happens to infant feeding when mammals are deprived of their chosen place, time, and sensations of birth? What if the birth is too hard… or too easy? The not-so-surprising implications our mammalian ancestry has for how we give birth and begin the process of mothering in modern America.
(breakouts subject to change)
Friday, May 1st: Health Care Provider Day
8:30-10:00 a.m.: General Session: Sleeping Together: History, Biology, and Politics, Diane Wiessinger (1.5 R CERPs)
Is sleeping with a baby risky? A look at primates, our past, electricity, definitions, settings, research, and the critical differences between breastfeeding and bottle-feeding mothers and babies. Bottom line: There’s no one-size-fits-all. For many babies, bedsharing is as safe as a crib… and a whole lot cozier.
10:15-11:45 a.m.: Breakout Sessions
Breastfeeding the Premature Infant, Chris Clark (1.5 L CERPs)
The challenges a mother faces breastfeeding her premature infant are abundant and varied, yet the research is clear regarding the risks of not breastfeeding. To be effective helpers we must connect and partner with the breastfeeding mother, remove or address barriers, and supply practical sustainable solutions. This workshop will equip you with the information and tools you need to make a difference. “Do or not do, there is no try.” Yoda
Tweets and Teats: Social Media for Breastfeeding Pros and Peers, Tiffany Gallagher (1.5 R CERPs)
Social media can be used to keep in touch with friends and family, but can also be leveraged to grow your business, increase your influence, and provide support for families. In this session, we will explore the basics of blogging; social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest; and how to protect your intellectual property and that of others. We'll also cover best practices for sharing content and and touch on the ethics of providing support online. For an interactive experience, please bring a smartphone, tablet, or laptop; connect to the hotel's wi-fi; and create/log into your Twitter account at www.twitter.com before the start of the session.
Evidence-Based Support for Breastfeeding Families, Jen Mason (1.5 L CERPs)
Anecdotes, been there done that, and “oh, this happened to me!” are great for conversations between friends. As health care professionals, we can empower families to meet their goals using evidence-based information and maternity care best practices. We will walk through a number of challenging breastfeeding cases including how to efficiently gather relevant information from parents, key signs of what to look for in a nursing baby, and putting all the clues together to make a plan. Includes tips on the best of the best resources and staying current and up-to-date with the latest information in the lactation world.
12:45-1:45 p.m.: Breakout Sessions
Tigers Through Hoops: The Baby Who Won't Breastfeed, Diane Wiessinger (1.0 L CERPs)
The baby’s normal, the mother’s normal, but something’s going on in that baby’s head that keeps him from breastfeeding. Some creative ways to persuade the “psychological non-latcher” that he wants to breastfeed.
How Practices During Labor and Birth Affect Breastfeeding: Special Emphasis on the Midwifery Model of Care in the Home Birth Setting, Emme Corbeil
How babies are born and what occurs during the labor and birth has a tremendous effect on the breastfeeding relationship. Come and explore how common and seemingly safe birth practices directly affect breastfeeding and how the midwifery model of care practiced in the home birth setting assures breastfeeding success.
Teaching Without Touching: A Hands-Off Approach to Breastfeeding Support , Liz Abbene (1.0 L CERPs)
In today's high-tech, fast-paced world, it can be helpful to slow down, step back, keep our hands to ourselves, and let breastfeeding unfold in a calm, relaxed, low-pressure environment. Discover how to provide lactation support using techniques that promote comfort, relaxation, and effective feeding, while capitalizing on the instincts and reflexes and mamas and babies.
2:00-3:00 p.m.: Breakout Sessions
Freed to Feed: Laser Lip and Tongue Release: Diagnosis, Treatment, and After Care, Dr. Darcy Rindelaub (1.0 L CERPs)
This presentation will lead to a better understanding of the influence of oral restrictions, specifically lip and tongue ties, on the oral function of breastfeeding. We will review the different diagnostic criteria and rating systems for lip and tongue ties, and the various methods for accomplishing a release. A clear understanding of the after care required and expectations following a release will be covered.
Calming Colic: Supporting Parents of the Fussy or High Needs Baby, Vickie Albright (1.0 R CERPs)
This session will explore the world of parenting a baby who is "needy," "demanding," "can never be put down," "cries all the time," and "can't self-soothe." Parents' perspectives and expectations can play a large role. Breastfeeding can also impact the experience for both baby and parents. We'll look at strategies that best support parents who are struggling to enjoy their baby.
3:30-5:00 p.m.: General Session: Watch Your Language, Diane Wiessinger (1.5 R CERPs)
Our word choice often promotes formula-feeding. Even the researchers get it wrong! Learn how words like “still”, “but”, and “ideal” can undermine breastfeeding, look at how research outcomes change when the focus changes, and begin to develop a new and truly supportive language.
Saturday, May 2nd: Family Day
9:00-10:30 a.m.: General Session: The Safe Sleep Seven, Diane Wiessinger (1.5 R CERPs)
LLLI’s new book, Sweet Sleep, promotes seven clear criteria that can help a breastfeeding mother who bed-shares to be as SIDS-safe as a crib, and can help every mother make informed choices for her family’s nighttime sleeping arrangements. It’s a middle ground between the never-bedshare policies and the reality: Most mothers fall asleep with their babies at times, and all mothers need to know how to do it as safely as possible.
10:45-11:45 a.m.: Breakout Sessions
Positive Parenting for a Happy Family, Maureen Campion
Positive discipline is based on trust and having a secure relationship with your child. From the first time you have to move their hands or tell them no, you are providing discipline. This workshop will provide some great ideas and practical tools for beginning to provide clear guidance to your child in the early years.
Import/Export: How Partners, Family, and Friends Can Support the Breastfeeding Dyad, Angie Sonrode
This session will cover how one simple rule can help partners, family, and friends support the nursing dyad. Let's face it, even with the most dedicated partner sharing the load, a breastfeeding mother is still going to put in the bulk of the parenting work. Rather than lamenting this fact, let's embrace it and focus on how we can all better support her and keep things running smoothly. You will learn ideas and strategies for involvement and how to incorporate your village of support.
Experience an LLL Meeting: Why Meetings Matter, Sarah Schwabel
For many moms, the internet is their first line of support when it comes to breastfeeding their child. However, according to a study by the CDC "Systematic reviews of peer support programs have found [such programs] to be effective in increasing the initiation, duration, and exclusivity of breastfeeding." During this session, La Leche League leader Sarah Schwabel will facilitate an actual LLL meeting and discuss what brought and kept her coming to her local La Leche League meetings. Whether you are a new mom looking for breastfeeding support, or an experienced mom willing to offer your experience and insight to others, you will find "your people" at an LLL meeting.
Weaning Gradually, With Love, Ingrid Kaufman
All breastfeeding relationships come to an end, sooner or later. This session looks at different ways weaning happens. We will explore reasons for weaning, methods for weaning, weaning at various ages, and effects of weaning on mothers and children.
12:45-1:45 p.m.: Breakout Sessions
Developmental Spurts and Sleep Regressions, Ingrid Kaufman
Many of us are familiar with growth spurts, those times when your child has a seemingly endless appetite and sleeps a ton or maybe not at all. A few days later you realize none of his/her clothes fit. Did you know babies (and older children) go through similarly predictable periods of brain growth? These "developmental spurts" can wreak havoc on sleep and other behaviors and leave parents feeling sucker punched, coming as they often do, on the heels of periods of peaceful sleep and sunny behavior. This talk examines the most common developmental spurts in the first two years, what is going on in the developing brains during each one and what parents can do survive and help their babies thrive during these exciting, though often exhausting, periods of intense brain growth.
Pumping 9 to 5: Strategies for Working While Breastfeeding, Tiffany Gallagher
Working or attending school after having a baby is a common experience in the United States, and it is possible to continue breastfeeding and providing milk for your baby when you do so. In this session, we'll talk about feeding strategies for babies when the breastfeeding parent needs to be away, including ways to minimize separation and maximize pumping output. We'll cover the technique of paced bottle feeding and ways to ensure that your care provider is helping to protect your breastfeeding relationship. This session is appropriate for parents who wish to feel more prepared, as well as professionals and peer supporters who would like to learn more about pumping.
Breastfeeding After Cesarean Panel, Anne Ferguson
A cesarean birth can sometimes create extra challenges to getting breastfeeding off to good start. This panel of moms who have successfully breastfed after a cesarean birth will share what they've learned to help other mothers overcome any challenges and meet their breastfeeding goals. We will discuss both planned and unplanned cesareans and what families can do before and after their birth to make sure breastfeeding goes well.
After the Breastfeeding Years, Anne Casey
Breastfeeding is many mothers' #1 tool in the early years: it's great for bonding with and nurturing our children as well as feeding them. After the months and years of breastfeeding are over, what other tools do we have in our parenting toolkit? All parents are welcome to join us for a discussion about maintaining that close, responsive relationship with our children as they grow into independent young people.
BONUS SESSION: Family BrainDance, Jessica Heinz
We will learn and move through 8 movement patterns that healthy human beings naturally move through in the first year of life and then create dances based on these patterns. Fun for babies, children and adults. Happening in the Children's Room.
2:00-3:00 p.m.: Breakout Sessions
ScreamFree Parenting, Deb Roberts
Based on the book of that name, ScreamFree Parenting is a revolutionary approach that says that parenting is not about kids, it is about parents. The only behavior we really can control is our own. We will look at how emotional reactivity causes us to act based on fears rather than operating from our highest principles. With this approach, we can calm down and connect with our kids, be more effective parents and enjoy parenting more.
Advocating For Your Family And Connecting With Your Community, Jen Mason
There is no one “right” way to give birth or parent your child. Doing your homework and comparing the myriad of options begins during pregnancy and continues on throughout childhood. Learn how to be your own best advocate for yourself and your child, including questions to ask and the key phrases to use to be respectful but firm in your philosophies. Make smart choices on when to engage and when to smile and say "this is what is working for us right now." We will also discuss local pregnancy and parenting resources and how to find your parenting tribe.
Nursing a Toddler Panel, Anne Casey
There's no one way to nurse a toddler, but in our culture we don't often get a chance to see many breastfeeding toddlers. This panel of experienced mothers will discuss the wide range of normal toddler nursing relationships, the positives and negatives of nursing toddlers, and the experience of tandem nursing.
Giving Back to LLL, Deb Pladsen
Has LLL played a part in helping to support your breastfeeding relationship? Have you ever wondered what you could do to help the organization grow in your area? Come hear about all the different ways LLL could benefit from a bit of your time and talents!
3:20-5:00 p.m.: General Session: What Would Mammals Do?, Diane Wiessinger (1.5 R CERPs)
What happens to infant feeding when mammals are deprived of their chosen place, time, and sensations of birth? What if the birth is too hard… or too easy? The not-so-surprising implications our mammalian ancestry has for how we give birth and begin the process of mothering in modern America.