Do you need to support your breast when feeding?

[lizzytee]

I spent a lovely afternoon yesterday with a good friend and her newborn dd. Her ds was very premature and although she did breastfeed him in the face of many challenges this is her first experience of establishing bf-ing with a baby not a pump. All seems to be going well - little girl feeding regularly, filling nappies, milk coming but friend is worrying. We did work a little on her posture (she was complaining of shoulder pain and was leaning forward, bracing her feet against the chair and generally looking tense and uncomfortable) but she was supporting her breast during the feed which meant her arm was in a very unnatural position for quite long periods. What I am not sure about is how many people do this - I don't think I ever did but I (like my friend) am small of norkage when not bf.

Any thoughts?

Does she use a cushion? It's possible that she was told to hold her breast by an idiot well-meaning HCP or mw. I remember being told that i need to push my breast away from ds' nose as he would suffocate! My mw told me that if i did that i'd get a blocked duct!!

If her supply is building she'll hopefully relax soon.

I'm a MW with big norks. I support my breast to keep it in the right place and so that DD doesn't suffocate from having her nose covered over

I've seen other people do this. I never did though, I also am also small of norkage though.

I used to fed a lot lying down as it was more comfortable for me. I had a CS and my back hurt for ages afterwards, so I would often just lie on the sofa and feed DD that way

It's hard when it's all so new, it took me a while and lots of experimenting with different positions to figure out what worked best for me and DD.

I found that feeding cross legged or supporting ds on my knee worked well for us too.

I did until son was bigger, cushions are good too. It felt weird if I didn't support them. Ungainly but okay!

I have comedy sized bosoms at the best of times, even more so when bf. I found it easier to support my boob, especially in the earlier days. I also did the leg crossing thing that Urban describes.

i need to support my (fairly large) boobs or else DS slips off onto the nipple. It's a real pain, particularly when feeding in public.

Yes - I needed to too, but am big of nork. Maybe try raising her feet - stick a couple of phone directories under them (not really useful when out and about though).

I had/have bigger boobs - I had to hold my breast when feeding most of the time - also to get DS latched on it was essential.

I have huge GG norks and never supported them, would just lay DS on my arm and he would feed away no probs.

I am same as Liz79 (except the mw bit and was taught in scbu to support boob and make a sandwich for ds to latch on to. All fine, although I have never had a hand free when bf. Kept it up for over 7 months so far though adn am about to wean, so am beyond worrying about it.

Thanks everyone, I too thought it was one of those optional extras. Friend's issue is that because her boobs are relatively small and quite perky she has to pull her arm quite far back to support her boob. Her dd's latch is good - mouth wide, chin deep into the breast and she didn't seem to slip at all.

Raising her feet was pretty much the first thing I did and worked well for her. I never cracked the feeding lying down thing so didn't feel able to show her. Is it something that you really need help with the first time?

TBH the lying down thing never worked with me until dd got older and expert at latching on.

at the small and perky boobs. I did support mine in the early days, with a rolled up sock stuffed underneath. Just seemed to get em in the right position.

at ds. Human ingenuity knows no bounds.

I found feeding lying down didn't really work for me until DS was a bit older - 3 or 4 months maybe? I tried it when he was newborn but couldn't really get comfy and he would latch on, take one suck and doze off (not great for a jaundiced baby...). The only tip I would give for lying down feeding would be don't try to put the boob in the baby's mouth, more put it near and let them latch on by themselves, seemed to result in better positioning.

I have got the most massive of boobies at the moment and quite often have to push boobie out of dd's nose!

Someone from infant feeding support team in hospital showed me how to feed lying down. I wouldn't have know how to do it otherwise.

It was very useful in the early days when I was in pain from CS.

How about a rolled up towel underneath the breast?

or even changing positions?

rugby hold?

i have large, saggy boobs when BFing and have to support them to get DD2 latched properly.

I did. My boobs weren't huge (D-ish whilst bf) but DD3 just kept slipping off whilst feeding within 2mins of me dropping my boob.