 Often women with large breasts don't find a lot of help from hospital lactation consultants(some do, but I have heard so many stories from women, that I think it's more of the exception than the rule). The default nursing positions taught are often very uncomfortable and nursing pillows may support the breast, but then there's no room for the baby!
Laid back nursing is making huge strides and is phenomenal when you have the time and the inclination to sit and relax. But when you want to be more upright and tend to other things? Maybe try out of few of these and see what you think. ——- Leg Supported Cradle For this hold, use your forearm to support baby’s head, and support his body weight with your thighs. Your opposite hand is free to support your breast or do other things. As baby gets bigger I find that it’s most comfortable for both of us to let his rear sit between my legs, so one thigh supports his back and the other his legs. This is one of my favorites, I usually have the laptop next to me and can work one handed. Or cuddle a toddler. Reclining This is the lying down position but on an incline. I really dislike lying flat or lying on the couch to nurse because it’s hard to see the other kids running around from that position. So I make myself a nest of pillows and then lie on my side at about a 45 degree angle, baby lies next to me on his side supported along the same 45 degree incline. Cross-legged For this one, sit criss-cross applesauce, or Indian style (depending on what part of the country you’re from) with baby’s head on your knee or lower thigh. If you need to you can add a pillow under that knee to raise baby’s head. I just sit up straight and I’m good to go. This leaves both of my hands free to fold laundry, read a book, write a blog… Opposite breast while lying down Simply move your body a bit away from baby and rotate towards the baby until your opposite breast is level with baby’s mouth. I usually end up almost on my stomach, which is nice because I’m a stomach sleeper anyway. This is great when there’s a toddler up against your back and switching sides will wake the whole family! Car Seat Nursing This serves great on road-trips, I got it pretty well perfected when Aedyn was about 8 weeks old when I learned that if the diaper doesn't need to be changed it's worse on everyone to take them out of the carseat just to put him back in. Baby is strapped into a rear-facing seat, just lean forward and let him latch. ***Please note that this is not a safe position while the car is in motion, crash tests have not been performed with 100+ pounds of adult leaning over the child, not to mention the safety concerns for mom! ——– You will eventually create positions that work for you and your baby, but sometimes it’s just nice to have somewhere to start. You’ll also find that as your baby grows, favorite positions will become awkward and things that didn’t work before are wonderful when they can hold their own weight or sit up alone. Nursing is a journey and unfortunately you can’t hit cruise control for very long; so just do what you need to do and don’t try to make your unique baby fit into a text book mold! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Do you have any holds that you invented? Or any tips to share? Many of the holds I mentioned aren’t limited to large breasted moms, have any not-so-large moms tried them? What did you think? Comments are closed.
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