CLOSE
Whatever position you feed your baby in, you must hold them close and tuck them right in. This will help encourage a better latch (more breast in the mouth) and it will help you and them with their hands. Their little hands can at times get in the way and feel unhelpful but it is helping the baby find and guide its way to the breast. So leave their hands free and unswaddled.
Also when talking about close it is important that during the early days, you keep your newborn baby super close as much as possible. Lots of skin-to-skin as this will help promote all the breastfeeding hormones and it will also help ensure that you catch/ respond to the early feeding cues.
HEAD FREE
I always point out that adults wouldn’t like their heads shoved or held over food and the same applies here. Your baby’s head must be free to move and tilt their head back. This will then allow and encourage the baby to attach with their chin leading as they come to the breast. I know it feels a little against the grain as we are always told to support a newborn head but trust me on this one!
Next time you take a bite out of an apple pay attention to what you do! I can almost guarantee that you will tilt your head slightly back and take a great big bite….well, I do anyway. With the next bite hold your head neutral and look forward - you will get a much smaller bite. The way your baby latches to the breast is super important and having them free is a great start.
IN LINE
Whatever position you feed your baby in their head and body should always be aligned straight. For example, the baby shouldn’t have to twist their neck to feed (we wouldn’t want to eat with a twisted neck and the same applies here)!
NOSE TO NIPPLE
For many of us growing up, we grew up with bottle feeding being very much the norm. Aim the teat for the mouth and feed! Due to this many of us will approach breastfeeding the same. Aim the nipple for the centre of the mouth and off we go…..right…
Latching this way can lead to soreness for the mum and poor milk transfer for the baby.
Having your nipple positioned UP towards your baby’s nose/ nostrils encouraging their chin to lead and be firmly planted against the breast can help you and your baby obtain a more effective latch (in all positions).
SUSTAINABLE
This is the one that is often overlooked - but any position you feed your baby in needs to be sustainable for YOU (the feeding parent) as you might be there for a while!
Make sure you get set up with everything that you might need before you feed. Such as a glass of water, snacks, phone, TV remote, cushions, book, etc. Settle back and get comfortable.
It is so important to look after yourself and not just the baby. You will be carrying and feeding your baby for quite some time.
So when it comes to feeding always think CHINS - Close, head free, In-line, nose to nipple and sustainable. A lot of the above can also apply to bottle feeding:
When bottle feeding it is still important to keep your baby close for bonding and catching the early feeding cues. Rather than the head being free I’d encourage you to follow paced bottle feeding (I will do another blog on this). In-line will also still apply - we don’t like to eat kinked and the same applies to your baby. Like with breastfeeding, you want to make sure that the position you are feeding in is sustainable and comfortable.
If you have any questions on the above please feel free to reach out. I’m always happy to help. There are regular group parent preparation workshops covering everything from feeding your baby to having your first poo and caring for your possible stitches and wounds.
I’m also a qualified breastfeeding counsellor and infant feeding specialist and provide private consultations and support. Every feeding journey is different and I can support you to make informed choices and to meet your infant feeding goals.
Have a lovely day
Steph x