Laid Back Breastfeeding
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Lay back and get comfy!
We are so used to seeing babies on their backs - while being held, while feeding and laying down to sleep. Because of this many parents are often taught nursing positions that place a baby on their back, and often below them.
For the baby, they feel like they are falling away from the person they most want to be next to - and then because they are unstable, they do things that make latch harder - flailing their arms, “breast boxing”, crying, head bopping, shaking their head back and forth, kicking their legs, arching away, and so much more. Sometimes people are told that their baby “doesn’t want to feed” because they are pushing or arching away. This is not true - babies are designed to be able to feed, it’s our approach that often makes it hard for them. The baby that is flailing is a baby that is desperately trying to use their instincts to feed. Very often they grab the nipple in a desperate attempt to hold on - ouch!
For the parent, many positions force them to use all of their arm strength to hold up the baby, or force them to lean over - putting strain on their neck, shoulders, arms and back.
There are a wide variety of nursing positions that can be wonderful (the link is my page devoted to the many nursing positions - cradle, cross-cradle, football/rugby, koala/straddle, side lying and more). This page is devoted to my favorite position of all:
Laid back feeding - the “training wheels” of breastfeeding
(That being said you may like it so much you may use it for a long time to come!).
Babies are hard wired to be tummy down - facing/leaning in to you, giving them more head and hand control, bringing their jaw/tongue forward, and helping them tap into more of their instincts and reflexes for a better latch. And, for you - it’s usually more comfortable if you can lean back (and not have nursing pillows to wrestle!).
Here are my favorite resources for Laid Back feeding
(also called Biological Nurturing or Natural Breastfeeding)
A wonderful article with the eye-popping title "Many Moms Have Been Taught to Breastfeed Incorrectly". And, from the same authors - a video on laid back feeding (it’s about 35 min, so if you are short on time, check out their YouTube clips.
A lovely video by Global Health Media called “Breastfeeding in the First Hours” - showing babies doing the breast crawl. It’s shown right after birth, but can be used anytime in the first weeks/months!