feeding lying down

[Southwestwhippet]

hello,

I wondered if any experienced BF-ers could offer any tips for a good comfortable position to feed my baby with both of us lying down i.e. in bed. We are co-sleeping and it would just make night feeds more restful for us both.

DD is only 5 days - I'm putting no pressure on her/me at all, I just want to keep her happy and the milk going in! but if we could feed side by side it would be nice. At the moment we can get a latch but my breast is squished up against her nose so she cant breathe easily so I am holding it out of the way.

thanks!

I got some great advice on this earlier in the week. Let me see if I can find and link the thread.

OK here it is.

Thanks, thats fantastic. good old MN. Did it help you?

Yes; we're not fully there yet but we've had a few successes and I guess it is a matter of practice...

lying down was my abs fav position

I think the key is to get YOU comfortable, with pillows or whatever you need, then to bring the baby to the breast. I think they tend for find their own position once you're feeling comfortable and relaxed. Not sure you'll need to hold your breast out of the way, though.

(and maybe a towel or muslin underneath for drips - or were mine just messy?!)

Have baby on their side. Adjust the shape of your legs to alter the angle of your body. If you know how to do the recovery position, with one knee up to stop you going onto your front, it's like that. And you can choose the top of bottom breast whichever seems to fit. I think the bottom one is better for a fear of smothering because it is more underneath the baby.

Let us know how you get on.

Thanks everyone.

I will have a go at these ideas tonight.

I do the same as some of the above. DS lies on a pillow next to me with a muslin cloth under his head and I put my boob on the pillow higher up than he is. I also put a cloth on the bed next to the pillow incase he's sick. I pull him in towards me and tilt his head back to latch him on. This way I have both hands free as he can breathe without me having to hold my boob away from him. With my arm nearest the bed I text, go on the internet or play games on my mobile, mainly to stay awake - only at night-time feed of course when I don't want to interact too much. With my other arm I hold him to me, hold his hand, stroke his head, etc, Love it. Didn't start it until a few weeks in though as he felt too small to have next to me in bed at the beginning. Now he's more than sturdy!

i used to worry about the nose squashed in the boob thing but apparently that's why babies have squashy little noses - so they can breathe even when wedged up against the boob. i have BF 5 babies and always feed lying down if i can - i lie on my side with my lower arm in front of me, above the bay's head but under the pillow (so my hand is almost under my head). baby on side with tummy up close to my tummy and my legs are curled up a long way to get balanced. then i put the upper arm around him/her. can sleep together blissfully for hours like this. I think the only thing you have to watch is that you have a very light duvet and don't let it go over baby's head.

We had another couple of goes last and it went really well- thanks everyone. I think the squashed boob/breathing thing might be because my milk is still coming in and boobs are still quite big and solid - I found after a few sucks it settled down last night and she could breath fine.

It is also nice because she has to be a little bit more pro-active about latching on which gives me confidence in her

Thanks again, its a really lovely way to feed and so comfortable.

awwww, bless
well done you