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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

How on earth do you move while feeding?

24 replies

randomsabreuse · 02/09/2015 17:53

Prompted by the AIBU thread...

1st time mum to a 3 week old and have no concept of managing to feed on the move and even if I could I wouldn't have a hand free - she's not the easiest to carry one handed and that's only going to get harder.

Can just about reach to the other side of the sofa to grab the remote or shuffle pillows on the bed but even then it does not feel great - stretchy nipple sensation.

Presumably risk of flashing the world increases exponentially as well.

Would the fact that I'm approx a 34 J (probably heading towards 32K) add to the feeling of insecurity - half the time I need 2 hands to feed sat/lying down depending on location of cushions...

Her latch is good and she's feeding well but I've never gone beyond the basic cross belly type hold.

Tends to cluster feed in the evening then long late (after 11) feed but then (barring colic) goes until at least 4.30.

OP posts:
shoopshoopsong · 02/09/2015 17:55

Have you tried wearing a ring sling? Then you can loosen it to feed and it acts as an arm holding baby then just tighten back up to carry

Artandco · 02/09/2015 17:56

I just held baby with one arm, boob held itself. Could move around like that to answer door/ phone/ get water etc.

If I wanted to actually be hand free for longer and move I just put them in a soft sling, baby in breastfeeding position. And could walk miles feeding like that

mabythesea · 02/09/2015 18:00

At 3 weeks it's hard. I can't imagine how you'd safely feed a newborn in a sling tbh.

When the baby's a bit bigger it will be possible to move around while holding the baby in one harm, but not that comfortable for long.

PosterEh · 02/09/2015 18:01

I couldn't with dc1 but found it easy with dc2 so I think part of it must be experience. I'd hold him in place with the opposite arm - hand on back of his neck so head (a bit) free to move. Most of his weight on my forearm. Elbow coming round his bum.

Ie when she's feeding tuck your arm under her body a bit so it's supporting her weight. It helps when they get a bit of head control too. It might just be too early days.

mabythesea · 02/09/2015 18:02

I also wouldn't pay too much attention to the "I simultaneously breastfed three children while cooking a 4 course meal and never needed any help ever" - they're just trying to make a new mum feel bad!

madwomanbackintheattic · 02/09/2015 18:04

In three months you will read this thread and laugh Grin
At three weeks you are both still learning and everything still feels v precarious. In a few months time you will be frightening the postman because you forgot she was latched on and you can do anything one handed holding a feeding baby with the other arm.

Congratulations!

LizzieLou3 · 02/09/2015 18:06

My ds is 14 weeks old, a massive lump of a baby and I have just found today that I can feed comfortably walking around using my Close Baby Carrier sling. Problem is my back won't take the weight for more than an hour. Wish I had realised sooner that I could do this.

madwomanbackintheattic · 02/09/2015 18:07

Yeah maby, that's right. Most posters are just here to make a new mum feel bad
It's nothing to do with the fact that they remember feeling the same way at first, and are trying to be reassuring. Not at all.

SurlyCue · 02/09/2015 18:09

I just used one arm and got on with as much as i could with the other hand. Wish i had tried a sling as it would have made loads of things so much easier.

mabythesea · 02/09/2015 18:14

Have you read the AIBU thread madwoman? They aren't trying to be reassuring.

Original poster
randomsabreuse · 02/09/2015 18:23

Need to become ambidextrous otherwise only half the time will be useful!

Still worrying about her suffocating on extra bosom so can't even feed in the dark yet! Some angles spare hand required to ensure tiny nose not buried!

She was only 7.3 last week (born 6.11) so too small for the baby bjorn borrowed from SIL. Probably going to sling library next week so will look into ring slings as well as more solid options for long walks.

Would quite like to vary the nappy, feed, burp, feed, burp, hold upright for ages, repeat routine with some basic housework but learned the hard way that shortening the upright phase makes more work!

OP posts:
mabythesea · 02/09/2015 18:26

It's probably safer to wait until she has good head control to feed in a sling, as you still need to follow sling safety guidelines and ensure her airway is clear.

Artandco · 02/09/2015 18:28

Oh I wouldn't be about to feed in a sling like baby bjorn, they aren't designed for that and also kill back.

Look up baby Ktan, or close caboo for the type I meant.

It's not 'boasting' about doing it. When ds2 was born my eldest was 1 year. I had to be able to move around during feeds often to keep up with him

LatinForTelly · 02/09/2015 18:37

I only fed (a bit) on the move with babies 1 and 2, who were both tiny and light. I also have small boobs. Can't imagine doing it with a bigger baby, or bigger boobs.

OP, this is your first baby - presumably you are on maternity leave / not working? Sheesh, if ever there was an excuse to hole up in the sitting room with boxed sets and nice food, this is it! Don't feel guilty.

(BTW, feeding on the move notwithstanding, at 3 weeks, I considered it a productive day if I'd emptied the dishwasher.)

However, if you need a break, consider a swing. They don't work for all babies, but if your baby is soothed by one, it can give you 30 minutes 'off'.

RockingStones · 02/09/2015 18:42

OP, it does get easier when they can hold on with their teeth. Grin

Sorry, facetious answer! But it IS harder, IMO, to feed a baby early on when your boobs are large. Later, once you both get the hang of it, it gets easier to move about. Should you need to.

It can become essential if you have a toddler or two as well - I've done all sorts with baby latched on - clicked and unclicked Duplo pieces, held a book, sat on floor and done jigsaws, made cup of tea, answered door, phone. Not all the time, and not in the early days. And not if I haven't needed to! As the baby grows they tend to complain less if they become temporarily unlatched too.

Original poster
randomsabreuse · 02/09/2015 19:08

Wasn't expecting to feed in baby bjorn - generally only use it to move her at the same time as the moses basket/monitor stuff - otherwise it's a bit of a logic problem - where do I put baby while moving the only thing she should be unsupervised in/on.

Don't mind waiting for head control - but a better sling would at least free up the hold upright part of the cycle for some none hot chores! Cooking might have to wait a while... especially as she always wants a feed when dinner is ready - think it'sthe smell!

Being able to do more would make me feel so much more useful - OH is working really hard at work and around the house project it's unbelievably frustrating to take forever to fold the washing!

OP posts:
VikingLady · 02/09/2015 20:04

As they get older they can hold/adjust their own latch and positioning gets much, much easier.

VikingLady · 02/09/2015 20:07

Plus your boobs get softer and that makes it easier too!

34J is impressive but you'll manage one day. I'm 34H and find it helps with feeding my 5mo - he's a bit wriggly and likes to dig his toes into me, and I can angle him away a bit better! Plus it's cute when they fall asleep hugging it Smile

FoxesSitOnBoxes · 02/09/2015 20:12

I've got big old boobs- I think I'm a 34H and managed it a bit with both. It just gets easier and easier and the next thing you know there's someone at the door and your mid feed and you just stand up and get it with the baby still on there.
Congratulations! Flowers

PosterEh · 02/09/2015 20:20

I think mad might have thought you were talking about the posters on this thread (I did too at first read). If it's the thread I think it is you are definitely right. I read the first few posts and backed away.
OP there are loads of posters in AIBU who love to call pregnant mums/mums with pfbs "entitled" (they're the same ones who say "pregnancy is not an illness"). Then you have the "I'm pro-breastfeeding... but" brigade.

Obviously if you have several small children you just have to get on with it. But that is not an ideal situation and something that mothers of just one newborn should emulate.

Noneedtocry · 02/09/2015 21:27

For big boobs a tip I read on mumsnet was to use a silk hanky to create a "sling" for your boob - kind of angles the nipple higher. It worked for me and freed up my "boob holding" hand to allow access to phone / coffee / remote & basically transformed the BF experience. I used muslins not silk scarves!

VikingLady · 03/09/2015 11:58

With DD1 though I pretty much camped out in the sofa with a feeding cushion, and one of those invalid tables you can pull over the sofa with drinks, snacks, remote controls etc. that lasted a good few months Smile

Opening the door to postie with DD still attached was a good few months later!

Sparrowlegs248 · 04/09/2015 10:26

I have managed to feed on the move but really because i had to. DS does NOT like being put down and feeds a lot. I am home alone for 15 hours a day so its become an essential skill. I dont have to worry about flashing anyone and it must help having small boobs and a baby who is easy to feed, he matches on happily from any angle at all which is a godsend. He also had a very strong neck from the start which helps. :-)

Sparrowlegs248 · 04/09/2015 10:30

I hope that doesn't boasty, its not meant to. I'm very grateful for an easy to feed baby and small boobs.

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