Often when other moms discuss breastfeeding, they only share the difficulties they endured.
We hear stories about expensive lactation consultants, strict breastfeeding diets, and long nights spent in frustration.
What many of us fail to realize is that babies are born with a beautiful and innate ability to breastfeed, which is very instinctual for them. Because of this, many experts believe that beginning your baby’s life by physically placing him or her onto your breast will omit a lot of the earliest stages of breastfeeding.
These early stages are thought to help contribute to breastfeeding success. Though many babies latch successfully when placed directly on the breast, many others need to engage in each step in order to truly transition into successful breastfeeding – this is referred to as Baby Led Breastfeeding.
How, then, does a new mother establish Baby Led Breastfeeding? What steps should she take? First, skin-to-skin is essential to your baby for many different reasons, one of which is to properly establish breastfeeding. Your baby should be held mid line between mom’s breasts, facing upright. If your baby is interested in breastfeeding, he or she will migrate independently onto your nipple. If the baby is sleepy or not quite hungry yet, he or she will remain in place, skin to skin.
When the baby is ready to nurse for the first time, they will squirm and twist their body while looking into mom’s face. Your job is simply to keep your baby comfortable so they can follow through on their instincts. Help support the baby’s neck and hips, avoiding the desire to place him or her directly onto the breast. The baby will migrate downwards towards the mother’s breast, turning towards it thanks to the rooting reflex. The baby will then press his or her chin to the breast and open their mouth, getting a deep mouthful of breast tissue before latching and beginning to drink.
With Baby Led Breastfeeding, the optimal position for your baby is tummy-to-tummy with mom, facing each other. Mom can then recline and relax, making breastfeeding a more comfortable experience for all. In the early days, many babies have trouble with an overactive letdown as mom’s milk comes in, but Baby Led Breastfeeding will avoid this issue and allow your baby to breastfeed more comfortably and effectively.
What if you’ve already established breastfeeding and it isn’t going well? Baby Led Breastfeeding isn’t just for newborns! If you’re having trouble with breastfeeding, consider using this method to help get you back on track. Sometimes babies – and moms! – begin to develop negative feelings towards breastfeeding, which could mean that a short break is in order.
Some lactation consultants will recommend using a breast pump and giving pumped breast milk for a few days while your baby takes a break from feeding directly, then re-introducing breastfeeding once those feelings have had time to dissipate. If you are not able to respond well to the pump, speak with your provider about using baby formula. Always make sure you reach out to a lactation consultant before making a plan, as she will assess your own individual situation and help you determine which path is best.
Similar to Baby Led Breastfeeding, Baby Led Weaning is the mindset that we will follow our child’s lead on when he or she would like to wean from the breast. This is not to be confused with the term Baby Led Weaning that refers to baby feeding habits of solid foods over purees. Just as you would with other parenting milestones such as potty training, the child is not expected to endure this decision alone. When it comes to weaning your baby, this is a personal decision that should be made with both of you and your baby’s needs in mind.
Breastfeeding is beautiful and natural. It is incredible what our babies and our bodies are capable of when we simply relax and let nature and instinct take over. Remember that if you are struggling to breastfeed, there are always resources in place for you to utilize, such as reaching out to your midwife or lactation consultant for breastfeeding tips. If you used a doula for your birth, consider reaching out to her, as well, to see if she has experience helping moms troubleshoot breastfeeding issues. Giving your baby milk from your body is a beautiful sacrifice that will provide lifelong benefits to both you and your baby – keep it up, mama!
Sometimes we make life complicated ourselves, and since the introduction of so many sophisticated tools we seem to have forgotten to let nature take place. Did you let your baby lead the way to breast, did you find that it helped?
