Breastfeeding Stories - Breastfeeding Positions
Any mum thinking about breastfeeding for the first time realises soon after she begins her wonderful journey that it's not just a matter of putting baby to the breast and sitting back as baby gets on with it.
Before too long it becomes apparent that both mum and baby have a preferred breastfeeding position.
And often when breastfeeding problems such as mastitis and blocked ducts rear their ugly heads, the first thing mums are asked by other breastfeeding mums or health consultants is whether the baby is positioned correctly.
Unbeknownst to me first time around, and I'm sure this is the case for most first-timers, there are quite a few "set in stone" breastfeeding positions to choose from and ways to ensure that the baby is latched on correctly, thereby avoiding the aforementioned problems.
Positions such as The Cross-Over Hold, The Clutch or Football Hold , Reclining Position, The Cradle (or cuddle) Hold and others are commonly suggested and recommended to new mums...
But what about the positions that babies create for themselves as they get older?
Well, recently as I browsed the web looking for inspiration for this story, I stumbled upon Lexicon of Breastfeeding Styles, by Tania Krueger, over on Breastfeeding.com.
It reminded me that as I breastfed my own son recently, my daughters were rolling around laughing at his new "Acrobatic" style of breastfeeding. This is when he straightens his legs, lifts his bum in the air and wiggles it whilst guzzling away happily!
Then I started thinking about all the other techniques he has mastered along the way:
There's the TV Head Roll where he tries to breastfeed and watch television at the same time;
The Rhythm's Gonna Get Ya where he hears music and starts vigorously nodding his head to the beat;
the Let's Talk when he babbles and giggles as he feeds and waits for a response;
the Only Joking where he starts feeding, then stops, gets up and toddles off;
The Head Butt where every time I sit at my laptop he comes up behind me and uses the crown of his head to open a space between my back and my arm trying to get between it to his feed;
and The Smack where out of the blue he slaps my face as he feeds... to name but a few!
The article made me realise that my little boy's behaviour is very common and just as we adults like to have a different meal every evening, eat out at a different restaurant occasionally or sit in a different chair sometimes so too do babies!
Does your baby have a preferred style of breastfeeding?
Sinead
(Website Owner: BreastFeedingMums.com)
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