Babywearing at the Big Latch On!

During August 1-7, the D.C. metropolitan area (and beyond) was abuzz with a number of activities to celebrate World Breastfeeding Week. Healthcare professionals, community organizations, parents and local government agencies gathered for events like “Big Latch On” gatherings, a 3K run/walk, and a community health fair.
Needless to say, many of the parents maneuvered to and around the celebrations by using a great tool that can make breastfeeding easier—baby carriers!

One way that babywearing helps facilitate breastfeeding is by allowing a mother time to easily have some skin-to-skin time with her new baby. Lactation consultants and other professionals often advise taking off a baby’s onesie and carrying him to the mother’s bare chest in order to stimulate the hormones that influence a mom’s milk production. Skin-to-skin time also encourages a baby to feed by allowing him to smell his mother and her milk. Skin-to-skin with a dad is helpful for babies too!

Babywearing also helps facilitate breastfeeding by keeping the baby close enough so that mom can quickly respond to a hungry baby who may want to feed frequently. It’s preferable to nurse a baby who is just beginning to show hunger signs. On the other hand, it can be a challenge to first calm a screaming baby in order to get him to feed.

Of course an older child or toddler is not as dependent on nursing as a source of nutrition. However, babywearing still comes in handy for those hot days when a bigger kid instinctively knows that it’s important to stay hydrated. Or maybe a child just needs to reconnect after being hurt in a little accident or after being emotionally overwhelmed in some way.


 
Finally, babywearing helps with breastfeeding simply by allowing a mom the double convenience of carrying on with her daily activities while still having her child nearby. Making use of a carrier means that a nursing mom can be on the go (for errands, social events, volunteer work, etc.) without leaving her nursing child behind. I , for one, love to limit using my breast pump for those times when I have no other choice.

Babywearing Triplets: Feeding in a Carrier

Baby carriers are great tools for bonding with your baby and maintaining your busy life while meeting your baby’s needs. This is especially true when feeding our babies. Whatever your circumstances, a baby carrier can be helpful when your baby starts to let out those hunger cries! 

Many moms choose to nurse their babies. With a little practice it can be easy to nurse your child discreetly in a baby carrier. Any carrier can be adjusted for a baby to nurse in; however I find two shouldered carriers tend to be the easiest. As a new mom I often used a stretchy wrap because I could easily wiggle the wrap down a little and let my child nurse. The amount mom needs to wiggle the wrap is dependent, of course, on how well endowed mom is! The more blessed you are, the more you may need to wiggle.  If you are wearing a mei tai you can easily loosen the straps to lower baby down to nursing level. I often used an oversized sun hat on my baby to completely cover us from any peering eyes if I was in a public place and no one ever seemed to notice.

For many reasons, some moms use a supplemental nursing system. This can be useful for brief periods of times for small nursing problems, or for long periods of time for other situations, such as adoptive parents, babies with more serious feeding difficulties, or moms of multiples. Basically, a supplemental feeding system allows the baby to nurse while receiving extra nutrition. When using the supplemental feeding system I like to adjust my carrier slightly to the left or right so that the baby’s head is not in the middle of my chest where the feeding system rests. That way he or she does not knock into the supplemental feeder. Also, if you have an older baby, you will find that they love to grab the tubes of the feeder. I try to keep my babies’ arms at their sides when I put them in the carrier to nurse. That way it is harder for them to grab the tubes and rip them off. Otherwise, simply adjust for nursing and go!

Of course, not everyone nurses and many moms use bottles. When we first started using bottles I was surprised by how much more inconvenient they are than nursing. I had to hold baby in one hand and the bottle in the other hand which left me no free hands for eating, gesturing at my older children, or for posting on Facebook! I found it easy to put my babies in a carrier to bottle feed and to then have one or two hands free. To bottle feed, place your baby in a carrier and lower him or her just enough to give space for the bottle. If I am holding the bottle I find it most comfortable to place my hand underneath and up into the carrier to hold the bottle. To go hands free I give just enough slack that the bottle can lean on my chest while my baby is eating. It simulates nursing well and we can gaze into each other’s eyes, or I can wipe Orajel off of my 3 year old’s face, or assist my 6 year old in researching the state flower of Virginia.
Most importantly there are many ways we can feed our babies in a loving way and still accomplish all the tasks we need to throughout our day. Do try this at home, or better yet, stop by one of our fabulous babywearing meetings for demonstrations and assistance.

Bottle Nursing: Feeding in a Carrier

Eating in a carrier: This is really, really easy. Put baby in carrier, put food in mouth; best accomplished without super-hot or splashy food that might fall on the baby in the carrier... what?  Oh!  Um, strap baby to chair with carrier, feed baby... no?

Oh, right – feeding the baby while in a carrier on an adult! Yeah, I knew that. Chalk it up to “mommy brain.” Many women are back on the breast-feeding bandwagon, as well they should be (heck, it’s my preferred method too!), but not all of us are fully equipped for that task, whether they be fathers, mothers, grandparents, sitters, or other family. But we still need to be able to go about our lives, doing chores, chasing after older siblings, feeding ourselves, and that lump of love still needs to eat - all the freakin’ time.

 

So back to the beginning: Feeding in a carrier, with a twist, or a bottle.  When I wasn’t able to breastfeed the first time around, I didn’t even think about feeding in a carrier – I was too overwhelmed with guilt, and relief, frustration, and a jumble of other emotions. The second time around, knowing what was coming, I wanted to be prepared. I poked around on a few sites and started threads in some forums asking if it was possible to bottle feed in a carrier.  The only positive responses I received were “Yes, I did that!” and “good luck, you can do it” types. I was lost, trying to conceptualize where to stick the bottle that would be easy, mimic breastfeeding, and not wrench the poor kid's head back so he’d be in need of chiropractic services every day before his first birthday.  Once he was here, just after Valentine’s Day and with 6’ snow drifts still upon the ground, I made a few half-assed attempts and gave up. Sad but true, I was too tired dealing with both a new born and toddler who suddenly learned to climb, and it was too much of a hassle with our driveway covered in a sheet of ice.


But then, when the baby was about 6 weeks old and most of the snow had melted away, we were able to attend a local baby wearing meeting on a Saturday, to introduce the little guy and check out some more options. There my good friend Rachel asked if she could hold the baby in a ring sling, and of course, I pretty much threw him at her. And then he was suddenly hungry again. “Would you like me to feed him?” I got out a bottle and the dear gal fed him one handed in the sling.  Eureka!  That was our beginning.

We started by mimicking Rachel, and I’d feed him one-handed in a semi-upright position in a ring sling (keeping in mind avoiding the chin-to-chest issue, baby C was almost 2mo when we started this). Once he grew larger and progressed to larger quantities, and thus larger bottles, we changed tactics. I’ve found that it’s actually not too hard to feed him hands-free in a Mai Tei or wrap, by sticking the bottle under a strap by my shoulder with a slight downward slant (front wrap cross carry works well for us).  Some days I still have to use one hand, the positioning just doesn’t always work, but it’s still much better than being stuck on the sofa while the toddler scales another bookshelf.

There’s a bit of a learning curve, just as there is with learning to wear your baby safely, breast feed, riding a bike, eating while driving or anything else. But we took it slow, and found that it’s possible.
Bottle nursing in this fashion can help bottle feeding be more like breastfeeding and can help baby to bond with caregivers when breastfeeding doesn't work, isn't possible, or isn't the right choice for a family.  Just because you don't have milk in your breasts, doesn't mean your baby can't enjoy the bonding benefits of being held while nursing.  And just because you want to hold baby and bottle nurse doesn't mean you have to give up accomplishing others tasks like chasing the toddler around the playground.

Safety tip:  Bottle propping for hands free bottle feeding should wait until baby is 4mo or so and is consistently able to keep up with the flow.  Baby should of course be monitored at all times while feeding in a carrier whether it be by bottle or breast.

Contributed by: Lureta

Tutorial: Ring Sling - Threading, hip carry, & nursing

In this video, Ellen demonstrates threading a ring sling and then doing a hip carry with a baby.  Ann Marie also  demonstrates nursing in a ring sling.  One thing Ellen never specifically mentions, but DOES during the video is that when adjusting the sling with a baby in it she lifts the baby's weight off of the sling before tightening.  This keeps the fabric from twisting in the rings.  Another tip to remember is that when you finish, baby's bottom should be lower than his/her knees and his/her bottom should be about level or slightly above your belly button. 

Finally, in the nursing portion, covering for modesty with the tail is mentioned.  I STRONGLY recommend not covering baby's head with the tail, only cover your body.  As you can see, even without using the tail, there is nothing showing when I'm nursing in the sling.  You would be amazed at how often someone comes and sticks their whole head in to see the baby without realizing I'm nursing, and I never cover her head.  Covering the baby's head makes it impossible for you to see if she is having breathing distress.  The few moments between you "checking on" the baby under cover might mean the difference between a baby having a moment of distress and a baby smothering accidentally.  I would never cover my baby's face out of a sling, I think the same should apply when baby is in the sling.  Like all nursery products, it is important to monitor your baby at all times.  Another note on nursing, most moms find a nursing top or a V-Neck t-shirt is easier to nurse in when using a carrier.  I have to fish the whole top up through the carrier which isn't as convenient.