When Feeding Breaks You: Deena’s Raw Postpartum Story

After Bedtime with Big Little Feelings

Dear Media and Big Little Feelings

Big Little Feelings, After Bedtime, Deena Margolin, After Bedtime With Big Little Feelings, Kids & Family, Parenting, 105161, Kristin Gallant

4.7 • 5.7K Ratings

🗓️ 8 October 2025

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, Deena is back and she’s deep in the newborn trenches. From mastitis and clogged ducts to guilt, shame, and the constant hum of the pump, she opens up about the raw, unfiltered reality of feeding her baby and trying to stay afloat. If you’ve ever felt crushed by the pressure to “do it right,” cried over a bottle, or wondered when it’s okay to stop, this episode will make you feel seen, supported, and a little less alone. Because the truth is simple: a fed baby and a cared-for mom are what really matter.

This episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct, or indirect financial interest in products, or services referred to in this episode.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The following podcast is a dear media production.
0:05.2	Welcome back to another episode of After Bedtime.
0:08.8	Oh, I'm so excited for this one because Dina is back.
0:12.9	I'm slamming my hand.
0:13.9	Dina is back for a special episode about feeding, feeding her newborn.
0:20.7	Because if you are here and you have ever fed a newborn in any
0:25.7	capacity, you know that feeding is, quote unquote, supposed to be natural, right?
0:31.9	Breast is best, right? We read it everywhere. We see it everywhere. That's what the world tells
0:36.3	us. But here's the truth. The pressure, the guilt, the shame. It's crushing. And it's not just you feeling that way or having felt that way. Studies show guilt and shame around feeding aren't side effects. They're predictors of postpartum anxiety and depression. And when we don't talk about this stuff,
0:56.3	three out of four moms who struggle never get help. Today, we're pulling back the curtain.
1:02.8	Dean is going to share her raw, unfiltered journey of pumping exactly where she is today,
1:09.1	in the messy middle, where she's just trying to keep up and she's
1:13.8	trying to figure out should she keep pushing, should she switch to formula, what should she do?
1:19.6	A position that I think many of us have been in before. I'm going to bring in the stats.
1:25.5	I'm going to bring in the context. She's going to bring in her messy middle. She might cry a little bit. It's going to be very raw and real. Honestly, we're going to have the conversation that we all deserve because the real truth is a fed baby and a cared for mom is the best. But sometimes guilt gets
1:48.0	the best of us. Welcome to after bedtime, where the house is finally quiet, but the real noise
1:55.1	begins. The thoughts, the questions, the wondering if you're doing any of this right. We're Kristen
2:00.7	and Dina,
2:01.7	child behavior experts, moms and co-founders of big little feelings, and we're not here to give
2:07.1	you more pressure or perfect parenting energy. Nope. We're here to tell the truth, the unfiltered,
2:12.7	beautiful, brutal truth about what it means to raise kids and re-raise ourselves in the process.
2:19.3	Because parenting isn't just about sleep schedules and snack hacks.
	...

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