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Kristi Cortina - MPH, IBCLC

@every.drop.counts.lactation

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MPH, IBCLC | Infant Gut & Feeding Specialist
Helping you breastfeed through allergies & GI issues
Root cause > symptom management
👇 Work with me

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A feeding schedule can undermine the milk supply a parent is working so hard to build. As an MPH and IBCLC, I’m concerned by the Moms on Call recommendations shown here: withholding feeds until a designated time, delaying nighttime feeding through repeated crying intervals, and imposing a blanket 30-minute limit on feeds.

These instructions can interfere with responsive feeding and effective milk removal, especially in the early weeks, when milk production is being established. When feeds are repeatedly delayed or cut short, some babies may take in less milk, and less milk may be removed from the breasts. Over time, that can reduce production. For some families, the consequences can include inadequate intake and poor weight gain.

Evening cluster feeding is common. A baby who wants to nurse again before the scheduled bedtime feed may need another feeding. Keeping that baby hungry does not guarantee better sleep. And a universal time limit cannot tell us whether a baby has transferred enough milk. That requires looking at feeding effectiveness, swallowing, output, growth, and the whole clinical picture. Individual needs vary. Some babies naturally sleep longer stretches while growing well, and some parents maintain supply with fewer feeds. That does not justify telling every family to delay feeding or eliminate opportunities to nurse.

Parents deserve rest, practical support, and accurate information about how feeding decisions can affect lactation. If you followed this advice and your supply dropped, you deserve help without blame. You trusted guidance presented as expert advice. Before following a sleep program that restricts feeding, ask how it accounts for your baby’s intake, growth, and your milk production. Get individualized feeding support if those needs are being overlooked.

Your baby’s hunger cues matter and that’s what parents need to be taught, not to deny your baby food or comfort, even if it’s “ahead of schedule”

#ibclc #lactation #breastfeeding by @every.drop.counts.lactation

Haunted house, but everyone has an opinion about your baby’s food allergies. 👻

You’re reading labels, tracking symptoms, figuring out meals, and keeping a baby fed. Meanwhile, someone is confidently telling you butter isn’t dairy. 🫠

The scariest part is how casually people dismiss the work that goes into managing food allergies while breastfeeding. Believe parents. Respect their food boundaries. Keep the ingredient list.

Which one’s haunting you—and what did I miss? 😂👇

#ibclc #foodallergieslife #breastfeeding by @every.drop.counts.lactation

Yes someone actually said this to me. I rarely eat McDonald’s anyways but I was nap trapped with two kids and hungry 🤷🏻‍♀️

And before y’all come at me I KNOW breast isn’t made from the contents of our stomachs, save your fingers 😂😂😂 Also, Dr Pepper won’t increase your milk supply. Byeeeee #ibclc #lactation #breastfeeding #breastmilk by @every.drop.counts.lactation

Managing a non-IgE food allergy? Check the vitamins, too.
Food-derived ingredients can appear in supplements under names that don’t make their source obvious. Look beyond the vitamin itself. Review both Supplement Facts and Other Ingredients for carrier oils, capsule ingredients, fillers, starches, and flavorings. Ingredient names don’t always reveal their source. Vitamin E and mixed tocopherols, for example, may come from soy or other plant oils.

The source is worth checking—but it does not establish whether the finished supplement contains residual food protein or will cause symptoms. Non-IgE reactions can be delayed.
Depending on the condition, symptoms may include gastrointestinal inflammation, vomiting, diarrhea, or blood in the stool. Timing and a consistent exposure pattern matter. Symptoms alone cannot identify a particular supplement as the trigger.

Labels have limits. U.S. major-allergen labeling rules apply to supplements, but highly refined oils are exempt, corn is outside the nine major allergens, and “may contain” statements are voluntary 🙄 A label may not answer every question about ingredient sourcing or residual protein.

✅Ask the manufacturer directly.✅

“What is this ingredient derived from?”

“Could residual protein from that food remain?”

“Is the finished product tested for that protein, and what is the test’s detection limit?”

“What allergen cross-contact controls are used?”

For breastfeeding families, review the whole picture.
Your supplement’s ingredient source alone does not establish that your baby is exposed to a triggering amount through your milk. Review supplements alongside symptoms, timing, growth, and the existing elimination plan with your care team. Investigate with a plan, if a supplement is a plausible concern, discuss an alternative that still meets your nutritional needs. Change one variable at a time when clinically appropriate, and plan how you’ll assess the response.

Save this for your next supplement review!! Happy to help!

The first slide is Perelel prenatal vitamins!

#vitamins #prenatal #breastfeeding #allergies #IBCLC by @every.drop.counts.lactation

Sorry Tracy, I disagree with you. “Based on science” on the cover doesn’t mean every recommendation inside deserves a free pass.

These pages suggest that responding to your baby can interfere with self-soothing, and that waiting to respond gives them needed practice. That framing puts an enormous burden on parents: comfort your baby now, and risk making sleep harder later. Self-soothing does not require ignoring cries. Babies can practice settling with responsive support, and needing help calming down is not a parenting failure. (healthychildren.org)

The research also deserves more precise language. The long-term study referenced here found no significant differences in the outcomes measured after a particular behavioral sleep intervention offered at 8–10 months. That supports reassurance about those studied approaches. It does not establish that every version of “cry it out” is appropriate for every baby, or that responding to crying undermines development. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). Parents deserve help with exhaustion without being made afraid of comforting their children. They deserve information that explains what a study actually tested, what it found, and where its conclusions stop.

You are allowed to respond to your baby! A parenting book should help you understand your child, not make you second-guess every instinct to comfort them. @heysleepybaby have you seen this book?

#ibclc #breastfeeding #parenting by @every.drop.counts.lactation

I’m having ALLL of the emotions here 🤪🥹❤️ Cannot wait for this presentation!!!!! How to keep it under 45 minutes though 🤪🤪🤪 #breastfeeding #lactation #IBCLC #virginia by @every.drop.counts.lactation

When your baby outgrows their last food triggers 💅🏼💅🏼💅🏼💅🏼 #foodallergies #breastfeeding #lactation by @every.drop.counts.lactation

If you’re charging $750 to teach parents an infant treatment, asking for evidence is reasonable.

The Colic Doc’s course page links colic to a weak ileocecal valve, claims foods in a breastfeeding parent’s diet can weaken that valve, and promotes an at-home pressure technique. The page provides no linked clinical studies establishing those claims or validating the safety and effectiveness of this specific technique.

As an IBCLC, I’m concerned about what this messaging means for families: fear around nutritious foods, assumptions about overfeeding, and pressure to continue sessions even when a baby cries. Persistent distress deserves evaluation. Difficulty staying latched deserves a feeding assessment. Suspected food reactions deserve an individualized approach.

Parents deserve support that takes their concerns seriously and explains the evidence—and its limits. Testimonials can describe someone’s experience. They cannot establish why a baby improved or whether a treatment is safe and effective.

Swipe through for the claims and concerns.

Source: stoppingcolic.com/course.html, reviewed October 18, 2026.

#EvidenceBasedCare #IBCLC #InfantFeeding #BreastfeedingSupport #Colic by @every.drop.counts.lactation

Phone flashlight on. Diaper open. Wondering, “Is that mucus? Is that blood? Was it something I ate?”

I’ve been that mom, too. When your baby is uncomfortable, every diaper can feel like another clue—and another reason to question everything you’re eating.

As an IBCLC who has helped over 4,000 moms navigate infant food allergy concerns, I want you to know you deserve support with those questions. A diaper alone can’t tell us whether your baby has a food allergy. Your baby’s feeding, comfort, growth, and symptom history matter, too.

You don’t have to figure it all out by cutting more and more foods.

Sound familiar? Comment SUPPORT and I’ll send you details about working together. by @every.drop.counts.lactation

Yes and it’s probably going to piss some people off that you do. So here’s what is recommended 💁🏻‍♀️

Avoiding alcohol is the safest option.

CDC recommends waiting at least 2 hours after finishing one drink before nursing.

One standard drink means:
• 5 oz of wine at 12%
• 12 oz of beer at 5%
• 1.5 oz of liquor at 40%

A generous pour or strong cocktail may contain more than one drink.

Alcohol levels in your milk closely follow your blood alcohol level and decrease as your body processes it. Pumping and dumping doesn’t speed that up—time does. If baby needs to eat during the waiting period, offer previously expressed alcohol-free milk.

Plan for a sober caregiver if you’re impaired, and never bedshare after drinking.

You deserve accurate information to make an informed choice, without shame 💅🏼🍷🍻🍸🍹🥂🍾🥃🍺

#alcohol #breastfeeding #ibclc #lactation by @every.drop.counts.lactation

I forgot this happened LAST MONTH TOO!!!!! not pregnant, no bleed. #TTC #nopregnant #falsepositive by @every.drop.counts.lactation

Watch me get a false positive pregnancy test 😔😔😔😔 #notpregnant #TTC @birdbeco this one hurt. by @every.drop.counts.lactation