My Why -
Story Time!

After 6+ years practicing as a dietitian in corporate healthcare, I realized our traditional healthcare model was failing families. I remember the baby that was the breaking point for me.

• 3 month old infant, first time mom was desperately trying to breastfeed.

• They had been doing FANTASTIC until ~6ish weeks and now he was very quickly falling off the growth chart. He was losing weight, had green watery stools, and was an extremely fussy feeder.

• They were an evening/overnight admit so I didn’t get to see them until the next morning. At that point the medical team had diagnosed this baby with milk protein intolerance and switched him to an expensive allergy formula. No lactation or feeding therapy consult. No one even watched this baby try to feed. I was only consulted because his weight loss got him an automatic consult, not because anyone actually wanted my opinion.

• Within 15 minutes with this mom I knew her baby had a difficult latch and wasn’t transferring enough milk. Once mom’s supply had regulated at the 6 week mark, he had to work for his milk and he wasn’t able to.

• Mom sobbed to me about how important breastfeeding was and how much she didn’t want to use formula. I told her I was going to do whatever I could to support her in that choice.

• I asked the doctor (a late 20’s male resident) for a lactation consult and a feeding assessment by a SLP. He told me “no” and that the baby was “gaining on formula so we’re sending them home tomorrow.” They were discharged the next morning and their bed was filled by noon. I never saw them again. This is where the Time to Thrive Nutrition Program was born.

Welcome to my side of nutrition care where I’ve created the time to listen to parents, to learn childcare, and to see progress.