Your baby’s breastfeeding superpowers.
We tend to think of newborns as helpless creatures. They can’t crawl yet, their head and limbs flail around wildly, and they’re completely dependent on adult caregivers for survival.
What if I told you that they’re more capable than you think? OK, so they can’t do laundry or make a sandwich just yet, but allow me to blow your mind with the skills they have AS SOON AS THEY’RE BORN.
In order to understand your baby’s skills, we need to talk about the incredibly important reflexes that they’re born with. These reflexes assist with the work of being a newborn. Stuff like eating, and finding safety and comfort.
These reflexes are unique to newborns. Meaning they’re present at the beginning of life, but go away soon after. Adults and older babies don’t have any of these skills.
Your baby has many reflexes, but let’s go through a few of the important ones for breastfeeding.
Rooting Reflex
You’ve probably seen your baby turning their head side to side, pecking at your body and full-body lunging to one side in an attempt to find food. That’s rooting.
Gape Reflex
This is the baby bird reflex. Mouth open wide, ready to receive food. A wide open mouth allows your baby to get a large mouthful of breast tissue when they latch, resulting in a comfortable and effective feed.
Suck Reflex
When something goes in your baby’s mouth, they automatically start sucking. They do it in their sleep.
The cool thing is that all of these reflexes, put together, help your baby find the breast, latch to it and remove milk.
If you place your baby on your chest facing you, and they suddenly start picking their head up, flopping it from side to side, bringing their hands to their mouth, and lunging over to a breast, that’s the start of the BREAST CRAWL.
The breast crawl is when newborns find their way to the breast and latch on by themselves. It’s something all healthy, full-term babies can do, but many parents never fully experience it.
Why is that? Well, because we tend to see breastfeeding as something that’s supposed to be initiated and led by the parent, with the baby being a passive recipient.
Often, the way breastfeeding is initiated is very much parent-led. We get ourselves into a seated position, cradling our helpless newborn in our arms. Then we take a hold of our breast, line the nipple up with the baby’s mouth and hope that the stars align and our baby magically starts breastfeeding in a comfortable and effective way.
As a labor & delivery nurse and lactation consultant who worked with thousands of new babies, I think there’s often a better way.
What I’ve seen work even better is a baby-led approach.
Lean back and get comfortable!
This means that you become the more passive member of the team, while your baby takes the lead.
What does it look like to have our baby take the lead?
Well, it looks very much like the breast crawl, where you lay back with your baby on your abdomen/chest, and provide just enough support so your baby can find the breast and latch.
With this approach, you’re allowing your baby’s reflexes to shine, and to lead them to do what they’re meant to do as mammals.
This can lead to higher rates of breastfeeding and a higher confidence level for the parent.
The cool thing is that if you didn’t get the chance to do this right after birth, you can do it later!
Your newborn will have these reflexes for a few months, so you’ve got time.
I recommend doing this in the bathtub with your baby, where you get the added benefits of skin to skin contact, warmth, relaxation, and the sensory reminder for your baby of the protection and safety of the womb. I know - it’s a bit woo-woo, but it often works!
Wherever you practice this, make sure that you’re leaning back, semi-reclined, and that your baby has easy access to your breasts.
This approach is great for all babies, but particularly beneficial for babies who are struggling with breastfeeding.
Give it a go and see that what your newborn is capable of!
Want to see the breast crawl in action? The video below shows a newborn finding its way to the breast and latching on with no assistance, right after birth.
Recently, I was a featured expert in an article in Parents.com on the breast crawl. The article includes information about how it benefits breastfeeding. Just click that button below.
For more help with latch difficulties, check out my free guide below.
