If you’ve come along with a friend, it’s easy to walk in to a new setting, knowing if it’s awful you can make an excuse, leave and laugh about it afterwards. But so many mums look us up because they don’t have a breastfeeding bestie, or their situation is beyond what their friend can help with. Maybe you email us, look at some chat on LLL forums online and you see a post about, or we invite you to come along to, one of our meetings.
Series Meetings – they sound a bit serious, right? And a Breastfeeding Coffee Morning conjures up images of sit-com scenes where sleep-deprived new mums accidentally add their expressed milk to their cuppa in a haze of baby-brain. So what does one of our meetings actually look like?
Our tried and true model for our coffee morning goes a bit like this…I say a bit, because we are always fitting each meeting to the needs of the mothers attending, so they are fluid and ever changing!
But the outline goes…
10am Drinks and mingling. Sounds like a cocktail party - in actual fact, it’s a chance to chat to other mums and catch up on what you’ve been up to since the last meeting while grabbing a drink – tea, coffee, decaf, herbal, we have a selection! Meanwhile, Leaders and group helper mums set up the group library, welcome newcomers and encourage everyone to sign in so we have contact details in order to keep everyone up to date with changes or extra events.
10.30am Circle time. Introductions, where we all say who we are and who our little ones are, followed by a chance for any mum who has brought a ‘burning issue’ that she would to share to throw it open to the group. Other mums give their tips, share their similar experiences, point out things they have read or heard and offer support while Leaders can signpost to information on the subject or offer practical support if needed (e.g. with things like latching or positioning). We’ve had laughter, tears and tangents in these sessions, and this mother-to-mother support is what LLL is known for. This section goes on for as long as is needed to allow each group mum her chance to feel heard, and take away ideas that might work for her and her family.
11am IF we’ve had a shortage of burning issues (which happens rarely - when passionate mums chat about breastfeeding, we often have plenty to say!) we go on to a themed discussion. These interactive discussions are designed to help mums to learn more about breastfeeding and related topics (challenges, weaning, sleep, nutrition, behaviour, work etc) by encouraging everyone to think about it and share their thoughts within guided activities or games, or small group chats with Leader input.
11.30am Social chat time for mums – a chance to continue the conversation topic mum to mum, without Leader moderation, or browse our books or info sheets, or grab another cuppa. One to one time for mums who would like to speak to a Leader rather than share their concerns with the group. Sometimes this one to one time becomes a small group session, at other times it happens as a pull-out during the main discussion as babies feed to their clock, and not to ours!
Noon – Leaders and (hopefully!) some helpful mums pack up and we head out.
Mums arrive and leave as needed throughout the meeting and we work around it, so don’t be put off by the idea of a ‘start time’ or two-hour commitment!
LM
Series Meetings – they sound a bit serious, right? And a Breastfeeding Coffee Morning conjures up images of sit-com scenes where sleep-deprived new mums accidentally add their expressed milk to their cuppa in a haze of baby-brain. So what does one of our meetings actually look like?
Our tried and true model for our coffee morning goes a bit like this…I say a bit, because we are always fitting each meeting to the needs of the mothers attending, so they are fluid and ever changing!
But the outline goes…
10am Drinks and mingling. Sounds like a cocktail party - in actual fact, it’s a chance to chat to other mums and catch up on what you’ve been up to since the last meeting while grabbing a drink – tea, coffee, decaf, herbal, we have a selection! Meanwhile, Leaders and group helper mums set up the group library, welcome newcomers and encourage everyone to sign in so we have contact details in order to keep everyone up to date with changes or extra events.
10.30am Circle time. Introductions, where we all say who we are and who our little ones are, followed by a chance for any mum who has brought a ‘burning issue’ that she would to share to throw it open to the group. Other mums give their tips, share their similar experiences, point out things they have read or heard and offer support while Leaders can signpost to information on the subject or offer practical support if needed (e.g. with things like latching or positioning). We’ve had laughter, tears and tangents in these sessions, and this mother-to-mother support is what LLL is known for. This section goes on for as long as is needed to allow each group mum her chance to feel heard, and take away ideas that might work for her and her family.
11am IF we’ve had a shortage of burning issues (which happens rarely - when passionate mums chat about breastfeeding, we often have plenty to say!) we go on to a themed discussion. These interactive discussions are designed to help mums to learn more about breastfeeding and related topics (challenges, weaning, sleep, nutrition, behaviour, work etc) by encouraging everyone to think about it and share their thoughts within guided activities or games, or small group chats with Leader input.
11.30am Social chat time for mums – a chance to continue the conversation topic mum to mum, without Leader moderation, or browse our books or info sheets, or grab another cuppa. One to one time for mums who would like to speak to a Leader rather than share their concerns with the group. Sometimes this one to one time becomes a small group session, at other times it happens as a pull-out during the main discussion as babies feed to their clock, and not to ours!
Noon – Leaders and (hopefully!) some helpful mums pack up and we head out.
Mums arrive and leave as needed throughout the meeting and we work around it, so don’t be put off by the idea of a ‘start time’ or two-hour commitment!
LM