Experts launch new Day Stay for mums with newborns in Port Kembla

"Breastfeeding in particular has been a challenge, and trying to navigate that in a very chaotic household with a toddler has added to my stress levels for sure," Ms Nero said.

"She's just kind of had trouble latching - and a week or so in the wheels kind of came off the breastfeeding, and it's just been kind of one challenge after another."

This is why she's signed up to be part of an Illawarra-first program, called Day Stay, which will launch in Port Kembla this week.

It's run by local doula Alyssa Booth, and midwife and lactation consultant Louise David, and is designed to support newly postpartum mothers with sleep, babywearing, settling and breastfeeding.

"It's basically five hours of a chilled, very relaxed opportunity for mums with babies under six months to come and relax, be loved on and get support," Ms Booth said.

"Both of us usually do one-hour appointments, and that's not usually long enough - because babies don't usually perform, for lack of a better word, in such a short time.

"So, by having five hours, we're more likely to get to see the issues and we have more time to listen to mums, see feeds and sleeps and try out different carriers in our baby-wearing library."

"We hope, by the end of the day, the issues are resolved or on the way to being resolved."

Ms Booth, who is also a babywearing educator, said she and Ms David had seen a gap in the market for affordable postpartum care in tough financial times.

She said to seek out individual support for various these parenting challenges would cost $1000 or more, and noted many existing options to get help included days-long overnight stays.

"We thought it would just be first-timers, but it's actually been a mix of first and second time mums," she said.

"We've got breastfeeding mums, mixed-feeding mums, and mums who already babywear but aren't quite comfortable, so it's a wide net of people."

Ms Booth said they hoped the program would help to address low breastfeeding rates - only 15.4 per cent of Australian babies are exclusively breastfed to six months of age - by allowing women to breastfeed for longer knowing they had support.

"Breastfeeding rates basically just get lower every month, and one of the things that comes up quite a bit in our work is mums talking about how lonely they are," she said.

"If we can have one of these quite regularly - about once a month - it creates a point for mums to connect."

Outside of getting help with breastfeeding, Ms Nero said she was looking forward to learning tips and tricks about babywearing and sleep to help Eden adjust to life in her busy household.

"I'm looking forward to having some time out to connect with other mums in the trenches, probably experiencing similar issues or who can at least relate to how hard it is," she said.

As a qualified babywearing educator, Ms Booth said she often spots parents out and about who are not quite getting it right.

"It's common, but not always done safely for babies or comfortably for parents," she said.

"But I can't just randomly go up to people in the shops and give them tips, so I want to have the opportunity to say to parents, 'Hey, great carrier, here's how we can do it safely, or here's a way that baby can be more comfortable so that you can actually do it every day'.

She said people often got advice off social media, or had trouble following the written instructions that comes with carriers.

"They've read the instructions, but in the depth of sleep deprivation, the way that computes is very different," she said.

"So I'll be giving people some easier ways to manage, or showing them an easier carrier to suit their needs that they may not have come across yet."

"We have a library that they can essentially go through throughout the day and try different carriers because every mum and baby are going to need a different."

"If we can provide a way where parents can have their babies with them but still eat, drink, hang out the washing, live their life, everyone will be much happier."

Details about Day Stay can be found via Ms Booth's doula business, Cherish Birth and the Illawarra Birth Classes website.