Breastfeeding in a sling - come and give me your tips please!

[IlanaK]

I am an experienced babywearer, currently wearing ds3 9 weeks old.

However, I have never managed to feed well in a sling. I HAVE fed him in a ring sling on occasion, but it was awkward and uncomfortable.

So, please give me your tips for bf little babies in slings. I use rings slings (zolowear) and also the close baby wrap. In the ring slings, I carry in a craddle position. In the close, I can carry in the cradle, but I tend to carry in the upright position.

If it helps to know - my breasts are on the large and flexible size!

Ditto

Bump for 'breastfeeding in a sling' experts.

Come on - there must be some experts out there!

Maybe all the 'sling breastfeeding experts' are all swanning around in RL...expertly breastfeeding their babies in slings whilst on the run...whilst we are stuck inside NAKing on Mumsnet

Ilana,

Have a look at Aitch's current thread as lots of sling feeding advice on there.

i have no help sorry, but have you looked to see if you have a local slingmeet? - you might be able to meet someone who could help.

good luck

this page shows how to bf in a stretchy (or non-stretchy) wrap.

could you maybe use it to adapt to the close carrier?

I am small in the breast dept so I can't give any tips there.

I cant find the thread with Aitch that you mention - can you link to it?

Ilana - I used a baby bjorn for ages, mainly on public transport. It was great as it gave lots of support to ds2 in a vertical position and, as my boobs weren't huge, he got very good at feeding like that. I now have Close carrier as he is 11mo and very big. Have never fed him in that, though I'm sure it would be god for smaller babies, given its structure.

I tried feeding in the ringsling tonight after watching a video on the zolowear website. It went ok just about. This is in a cradle hold though. I can't imagine feeding upright in the close wrap as my breasts are quite large.

Ilana - I am also fairly large and roomy and find a maya wrap ring sling does the job. It's trickier for sure when baby is teeny tiny though.
Probably obvious but I start off in regular feeding position with sling loose and tighten into a supportive position once feed is happening comfortably (rather than try and get feed to work in an already tightened sling).
I also find it easier if baby's head is at ring end.
The babywearer.com boards will have lots of tips too on this I'm sure.

Very impressed someone fed in a baby bjorn. I read on the box a loooong time ago it was suitable for bfing and thought 'pah - yeah right!' I was wrong!

Aitch's thread:some sling advice on here

I feed dd in the ringsling all the time. Actually she practically lives in it, because I also have ds to watch, and he's not a child who sits down quietly to play somewhere.

I have her in the cradle position, with her head on the opposite side to the rings. I find it helps to slightly loosen the sling around the head (only very slightly, mind, you don't want the baby falling backwards!) when it's time to feed, and gently move her head so that she is under the breast rather than sideways on, IYSWIM. In the beginning I used to have to indent on the breast with my fingers (obviously the hand on the same side as her head), but I've got the hang of it now. Just position the sling at the right height when you put it on, so that the head will be right at the breast (I have it towards the bottom of the breast, not quite under, if that makes sense).

I hope I haven't confused the isse. You'll probably find that you need to find your own position, anyway, this one might not be comfortable for you.

See what I mean about the positions - SamJamsmum prefers the head at the rings end, whereas I find it awkward that way!

You just need to try it and see what suits you.

Well, I tried feeding in the ringsling today as I was at a seminar and needed him to be quiet and discreet.

I put his head opposite the rings and this worked much better than when I have tried with his head at the ring end (which is how i normally carry him).

The only problem with this is that I am not comfortable carrying him in this position. So when he fell asleep I had to move him back to the position I normally carry him in which risks waking him.

I love the close baby wrap and will be at an all day conference thursday with him which i would like to wear the close. But I just don't get how I could feed him in this as I carry him upright.