Five Popular and Effective Breastfeeding Positions for First-Time Moms

The admirable power of breastfeeding a newborn is one of the world’s greatest wonders. It is all about real love, caring, and celebrating the incredible joy of nurturing a new life. Every new mom’s experience is different, with some finding the process of breastfeeding quite challenging, while for some it is pretty easy to get accustomed to the age-old practice.

Breastfeeding your newborn is something that you start to learn as you indulge yourself in the act. In all feeding positions, it is quite important to position the baby comfortably according to the height of your breast. Leaning over during the feeding process can cause backaches, and neck and shoulder pains in a long run. We have curated a few easy-to-practice feeding positions, which can help you ease up the breastfeeding process.

Sleeping position

This position is also known as a side-lying nursing position which is also one of the easiest of all. If you are prone to regular backaches, this particular position can be helpful. In this position, you need to lie down sideways on the bed with positioning your baby in a sideways position as well next to you for an easy feeding process. For further convenience, you can also brace your baby with one hand for preventing the baby to roll over.

Laidback position

This is one of the most comfortable positions and also one of the easiest of all. This position also provides backache relief if you are prone to one. In this position, you lean on a semi-reclining position with the support of pillows under your back. You then need to position your baby on your belly and on the other hand elevate the baby’s head to the level of your breasts for an easy feeding process. For further convenience, you can also support your baby with one hand for added support.

Cross over position

This is position is similar to a seated position, but shouldn’t be practiced for long hours at a stretch on an everyday basis due to the possibility of backache issues. For feeding in this position, you need to sit comfortably on a chair. For further convenience sitting on a sofa chair with folded legs can be more helpful. Further, you need to position your baby on your thighs and add support under your baby’s head with one hand so that the baby’s head is elevated to the level of your breasts for an easy feeding process.

Seated position

This position is the most popular, but shouldn’t be practiced for long hours at a stretch on an everyday basis due to the possibility of backache issues. This position is more or less similar to the cross-over position with slight variations. For feeding in this position, sitting on a sofa chair with folded legs can be more helpful. Further, you need to position your baby on your thighs and add support under your baby’s body with both hands so that the baby’s head is elevated to the level of your breasts for an easy feeding process.

Football hold

This position is similar to the seated position, but shouldn’t be practiced for long hours at a stretch on an everyday basis due to the possibility of backache issues. As usual, feeding in this position, and sitting on a sofa chair with folded legs can be more helpful. For feeding in this position, you need to position your baby on your thighs add support to your baby’s underbody with one hand and elevate your baby’s head with a light grip to the level of your breasts for an easy feeding process.

If you are not confident, use a feeding pillow or regular pillow as support to position the baby at level with your chest area for an easy feeding process and to reduce the load from your shoulder. Always remember, as you hold your baby in the above-stated feeding positions, you need to support your breast with the other free hand. This helps in removing the extra weight of your breast from the baby’s face, for an uninterrupted breastfeeding process.

After your baby is positioned as per your comfort, you need to make sure your baby has latched on properly for the uninterrupted breastfeeding process. For further ease of use of a feeding bra & feeding, Kurti can come in handy. While breaking the suction, most babies will release the breast on their own. For your convenience, you can slip your finger into your baby’s mouth to break the suction with ease.