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Saturday, February 12, 2011

Breastfeeding 101: Latching on a newborn

I took this short video when Dio was about 10 days old. In it, you will see
  • a baby showing very obvious signs of hunger
  • a cross-cradle hold that transitions to a cradle hold once he is latched on well
  • me explaining the basics of an asymmetrical latch
  • the suck-pause-swallow sequence of a nice, deep latch
  • and some other things incidental to breastfeeding, like me taking out the nursing pad before we begin!


Also viewable in HD.
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18 comments:

  1. Mrs. Schaible2/12/11, 2:00 PM

    I really need a refresher on breastfeeding a newborn. I totally did not know about the asymmetrical latch.
    I am so excited to have a nursling again!!! Thanks for posting!

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  2. Kate2/12/11, 2:06 PM

    LOL at the end!! Ohh but we are SO glad you DID post this! What a great video, definitely sharing it on the forum I moderate (christianfamilyplanning.net) as well as to a soon-to-be mommy who really wants to breastfeed!

    Maybe I will do something like this with a 2nd baby.

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  3. Unknown2/12/11, 2:08 PM

    This is so sweet. Its great to see you in person again, even if long distance. i also cant help but notice that in my 4 hospital born babies, the lactation consultants were alwasy very into my baby having tons of upper areola in their mouths. hmmm. Lame.

    anyways, super cute baby Dio super helpful, really liked this! (Maybe I should post one with 2 old kids fighting over who can see the TV when tandem nursing!!! LOL! Wish I was kidding!

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  4. Anonymous2/12/11, 3:01 PM

    Great video!

    I always share http://www.drjacknewman.com with expecting or new moms. He has several videos of different type of latches. Both good and bad. I've found them very helpful.

    He also shows the difference between eating and snacking, or nursing for just comfort.

    A 1:1 suck swallow ratio is great, even a 2:1 suck swallow ratio. Any more sucking than that and they're not actively eating.

    But I'm sure you knew all that. lol

    /rambling.

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  5. Jessica2/12/11, 3:52 PM

    I love watching babies eat...


    and now I have a baby itch. :)

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  6. Cherylyn2/12/11, 4:17 PM

    Thank you so much for posting this! So helpful and beautiful. It makes me really miss breastfeeding when my babies were tiny like that.

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  7. Alice2/12/11, 5:59 PM

    Great post. I am awaiting my first born - any day now (8 days overdue!!) and can't wait to breast feed. It's great to see on video what books and antenatal classes can only describe with pictures, words and toys. Thanks for sharing this.

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  8. Deena Blumenfeld2/12/11, 9:27 PM

    Wonderful video! Thank you so much for posting! Having a good, simple video to teach moms about proper latch is key. I'd love to share this with my students (I'm a Lamaze educator). May I?

    Thanks in advance.

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  9. Melissa2/12/11, 9:37 PM

    Beautiful video! Thanks for sharing.

    My son would never latch on like that, but somehow we managed to power through it. Still nursing at 18 months.

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  10. Janie2/12/11, 10:15 PM

    I should do one of these videos for plus sized moms!!

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  11. Rebecca2/12/11, 10:37 PM

    I love that you can really hear the swallows! Thinking about adding a viewing of this to the BFing classes I teach if that's OK.

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  12. ~Aimee~2/13/11, 12:43 AM

    I'm a mama that has already nursed two little ones with very minimal trouble, but that video had some great pointers for me. I will have to make sure and review it again in a couple months, when my third is about to come too!

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  13. Robyn2/14/11, 8:59 AM

    I'm really glad you did post this, it's a great video and explanation.

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  14. Rixa2/14/11, 9:18 AM

    You're all more than welcome to share this in your CBE classes, with doula clients, etc. I'm glad it's helpful!

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  15. Desiree2/14/11, 11:04 AM

    What a great video - you make it look so easy! :-)

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  16. Curls2/14/11, 1:05 PM

    thanks! It can be hard to find good latch videos, I've been looking at lots since I'll be breastfeeding my first soon.

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  17. au coeur2/14/11, 10:41 PM

    Thanks for sharing; I think it's so important for breastfeeding mamas to support one another and talk about breastfeeding! That was a good latch. :) Do you think it was a little shallow though? It looked like there was dimpling in his cheek, but it's hard to tell with the light.

    http://aucoeur.wordpress.com

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  18. Rixa2/14/11, 10:50 PM

    Yeah, he does have a dimple, but it's a real dimple (not just one from a shallow latch). I remember that my midwife (who is an IBCLC) commented on his dimple and said that in his case, his latch was great. Good observation, though.

    Dio's latch and suck was way more efficient that Zari's ever was. He almost always only nursed on one side at a time, and was done much more quickly, whereas Zari always took both sides and took about 45 minutes per nursing session. I also got tons of plugged ducts with Zari, whereas I had none with Dio. So interesting to see how much different depends on the baby!

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