Unlock the best kept secret for a better latch.

If you’ve ever breastfed a baby, you know it’s all about that LATCH. You start working on this as soon as your baby is born, and for most parents, they will be actively working on improving it for many weeks, if not months. Welcome to your new full-time job!

Why is this so important? A good latch will:

✅ Be more comfortable for you

✅ Protect your nipples from damage

✅ Allow your baby to remove milk more effectively

✅ Help to establish and maintain your milk supply

So, yeah, it’s a big deal.

Without a good latch, there’s often nipple pain and damage and baby usually doesn’t gain weight well. If the baby is not latching well, they’re likely getting less milk. With less milk being removed, less will be made, so eventually your supply will decrease.

It’s hard to keep breastfeeding when your baby isn’t gaining weight or your nipples are bleeding. This is often why people stop breastfeeding.

Latching is often described by lactation professionals as either baby-led or parent-led. Parent-led means that the parent is in the driver’s seat, guiding the baby into position and moving them onto the breast. Baby-led is when the parent supports the baby, but other than that, baby is doing the work of latching.

There isn’t one right approach for everyone, but my position is that most newborns will latch better when they are leading the process. This works because babies are hard-wired to find the breast, latch and suck (all those newborn reflexes help them here!). Allowing the baby to do the work usually results in a deeper latch.

This is a win-win. More comfort for you, more milk for your baby.

I find that this approach is just easier for both parent and baby, at least in the early days, when its all brand new to both of you.

Positioning for baby-led latching

So, you’re ready to put your baby in the driver’s seat. Let’s talk about how to make this happen.

I want you to imagine those first few moments after you gave birth. You probably leaned back and brought your baby onto your bare belly or chest, when they were all wet and squishy and new. Whoa…remember all those emotions?! 🥺

Likely your baby was looking around, taking in their new surroundings, and eventually she started looking for the breast. You may have had a nurse help you with the first latch, or maybe your baby just did it by themselves. Those little squishes are pretty darn smart.

Often these first feeds are quite good. The latch tends to be deep, the baby stays on and sucks for a while. They may even end up feeding on both sides.

Why is this first feeding often so good? Part of it is positioning. Let’s review the positioning that we often see for the first feeding:

• Your body is reclined

• Your baby is tummy to tummy with you

• You are skin-to-skin with each other

So, if it ain’t broke, then why are we trying to fix it? Why, when we move to our postpartum room, do we start sitting upright to breastfeed? There’s no reason to do this and it just makes the whole process a lot harder.

I tell people “use your breastfeeding training wheels” by leaning back. Why does this help?

• You’re more comfortable, which baby can probably sense.

• Your baby’s body is more likely to be well-supported and baby will feel more secure.

• When your baby feels secure, they’re able to focus on the job of latching and feeding, instead of trying to figure out where the heck they are in space.

• Babies are whole body feeders, meaning that they use information from their head to their toes to help them feed. Having the entire front of their body against you will help give your baby the information they need to feed well.

• The baby’s chin comes into contact with the breast first, triggering a reflex to open the mouth SUPER wide. Wide mouth = deeper latch.

Here’s Nancy Mohrbacher, the author of “Breastfeeding Made Simple” and a leader in the lactation field, talking with a mom about laid back positioning.

So, ditch the breastfeeding pillow, lean back and place your baby on top of you, like they‘re having tummy time on your chest. It may help to learn this position if you’re topless and your baby is wearing just a diaper. By leaning back and relaxing, you help your baby tap into their innate behaviors and reflexes and you both have a much better experience breastfeeding.