Latch On

This superb video was made by Ameda, who make breast pumps. It's wonderful to see a commercial company make the effort to hire excellent and well qualified people to produce a high quality marketing video that is informative and exhibiting Best Practice. Well Done Ameda!

We can't reccomend this video highly enough, but although Ameda make it available for file share on the site (presumably they are happy with viral replication - it is a marketing tool after all!) we can't get it to load properly.

We urge you to go to the site and see all of it:

http://www.ameda.com/breastfeeding/started/latch_on.aspx

The site also contains excellent breastfeeding support advice.

The pity of it being somewhat speeded up here, is you can't get a sense of the wonderful 'bobbing' motion that the baby is doing, as it signals to the mother that it would like to breastfeed, as it's getting hungry.

This 'bobbing' is an excellent cue to get baby onto Mum's breast asap. Learning your baby's feeding cues will save a lot of anxiety. Baby escalates up to starting to cry and get distressed as hunger kicks in (it's never felt hungry in the womb, so hunger is a new and powerful feeling for it. Powerful feelings are quite scary for small babies - they haven't a clue what's going on.)

A good resource on feeding cues can be found here:

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/start/basics/hunger-cues.html

The latch info in the animation is so good, it doesn't need any comment from us. There are a whole list of latch links that complement this video on "First Latch":

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox8ht-EVnQA

If you have already got nipple problems because of a shallow latch, there are links to help on "Poor Latch Good Latch":

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=IQYThWMHgjI

The sheer competency of this five day old baby, as it seeks to latch itself to the mother, is just so wonderful to watch! This is another baby that knows exactly what it is doing, and Mum is doing a great job in supporting and helping baby.

However, as we explain in 'Breast Crawl', not all babies come out ready and willing to latch like this as modern birth practices can get in the way. If your baby is sleepy, disorganised or refusing the breast, the info and links on 'Breast Crawl' will help you:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=G3K87l9hNOE

Before we go - we are only reccomending this video, and the excellent breastfeeding advice on the Ameda site - not their products. None of us have ever used them, so we cannot comment.

Do go to the site, however, and watch this baby find that nipple and self latch! :-)

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Breastfeeding
• Positions
• Latch
• Baby
• Led
• Latching

[bibifckenstar]

I'm scared to breastfeed :/

[BreastfeedingBabies]

@bibifckenstar Many women feel scared, as they hear so many horror stories. Luckily, your baby knows what to do, and you may end up like loads of women - taking to it like a duck to water. It's important to find yourself some good support. I'm not sure where you are - but you will find a good breastfeeding support group just about anywhere. La Leche League is very good, and invite you to their free meetings during pregnancy, so you can ask questions. Find others! :-) Good Luck!

[JenDiggityDirt]

I hear from so many of my friends and family who have recently had babies that it HURTS BAD! Why is no one giving them this information??? Such a disservice to women and babies. I know someone who is still pregnant with her first child and is already planning to only breastfeed for the first month or so and I'm sure it's because a)she doesn't know how inferior formula is and how much risk it puts her baby at and b) all the horror stories. Such a shame.

[BreastfeedingBabies]

Because the needs of women and children are not high on our culture's priority. Formula/bottle feeding allows mothers and babies to be seperated, in order for the mother to work in industry, or to be available for her husband, in all senses. A breastfeeding baby and mother, require society accepts and allows mothering in public spaces. The Victorians sent the children to the Nursery, our culture likes to keep them there. It's political. Feminism is lagging behind on this one...

[pinkygirl1999]

I'm having trouble getting my boy to latch on. My breastfeeding got interrupted during my exams, my mother insisted on formula milk. Since I'm still producing breastmilk I'm trying to get to to suckle but at times he absolutely refuses and throws a fit. He's 10 weeks old today and we got interrupted when he was 4 weeks for 3 weeks. I love breastfeeding but so far it's not going to well.

[BreastfeedingBabies]

You need some help. It you google 'kellymom' you will get an excellent info site on breastfeeding. Also do the same for 'La Leche League'. La Leche League have a group in Belgium, and give free breastfeeding informationand support - you can access their info in Flemish on their site, on in English on the LLL International site. Please get some support!

[tinawoman]

I used to do the "breast grab" to decide which breast to use next...since i wasn't always good at remembering which i used last. just grab your breasts and you can FEEL which is fuller...then use that one for that feeding. easy peasy! :)

[Drandon]

Great video! Thank you so much. My 2 week old son has a very poor latch and I think this will help us a lot.

[yxu08]

Thank you so much for this vedio! I have extreme pain breastfeeding my baby for 3 weeks since he was born. I just tried the skill and it really works! Many thanks!

[iloveshinz]

Thanks for uploading this vid! It's so helpful...I'm not so nervous now, thanks a lot! :)

[arachniabat]

Love this! My baby is almost seven weeks old and I've had a lot of problems with my right breast. In the hospital, they taught me to position the baby then guide the nipple into his mouth and every time on the right side he inevitably gets a shallow latch, then he gets frustrated and angry when I have to try to re-latch, often resulting in a worse latch. My right nipple is in constant pain as a result and has had a small amount of blood a couple of times now. I'm going to try this method!

[MissTSuperstar]

i love this video sooooo helpful!!! thank you!

[analossolana11]

i LOVE this video!!

[AJBiddle7]

Thank you for this video. I really want to breastfeed my baby, and am trying to be as informed as I can be before. A good book that I've found so far is "The womanly Art of Breastfeeding" from La leche league, but nothing has mentioned the part on the hardpalate/soft/comfort zone. Thanks