Baby Led Attachment

Our babies are clever little people, capable of much more than we usually give them credit for. Newborns know the sound of their mother's voice, and often their father's, or those of others who have been close to their mother during her pregnancy. They cannot speak, but express themselves through facial expressions, body language and cries. A newborn baby learns the smell and taste of his or her mother's breastmilk, and prefers it to all others. And, if we trust our babies and ourselves, they can help us learn to breastfeed.

Poor attachment is a common difficulty experienced by breastfeeding women in Western, developed countries. Poor attachment can lead to cracked, sore nipples, which in turn can lead to a host of other problems, such as mastitis. Good attachment is important for a long and happy breastfeeding relationship with your bub, but what do you do with conflicting advice (often from people with the best intentions!), or when you feel something is not right, but you're not sure what?

Baby-led attachment is the term given to the process where your baby follows a pattern of instinctive behaviours to get to the breast. This can be for the first breastfeed or at any time when the attachment is not correct or your nipples are damaged.

For the first breastfeed, this involves the baby instinctively “crawling” up the mother’s abdomen, to the breast, where the rooting reflex allows her to locate, and attach to the nipple. Any drugs the mother has had during labour may slow this process, as the baby will also have the drugs in his or her system.

With baby-led attachment, patience, trust, and support will allow the baby to attach in their own time. We need to trust that our baby instinctively knows what to do, given the time and support needed. We need to resist the temptation to try and speed up the process, to assume that we know better just because we are bigger and older.

To support a baby in attaching to the breast, there are a few important steps to follow. These include starting with a calm baby and a calm mother, having skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby, and following the baby's lead. This is usually achieved by placing the baby, naked or just wearing a nappy, on the mother's bare chest, between her breasts. Then comes the time for patience and trust, as the baby may not seem to be doing anything! She (or he) is doing something- smelling, tasting, feeling her surroundings. Some babies may start to move fairly quickly, some may take half an hour or longer. When the baby is ready, she will start to wriggle, squiggle and squirm her way towards the breast. Support her, but don't interfere. Let her find her way! It really is amazing.

For more information, try http://breastcrawl.org
http://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/bfinfo/bla.html
http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2009/05/31/breast-crawl-baby-led-attachment/
http://www.breastfeedingbyheart.com/establishing-breastfeeding/baby-led-attachment

Our group also has a DVD available to borrow, featuring baby-led attachment with older babies. Contact our group leader, Jeanette, or group librarian, Amy, for enquiries about this.