Nursing in a Mei Tai

[mrscompgeek]

How do you do it? I am due in october and plan to nurse and I have a mei tai but cant figure out how to nurse in it?? I have used the mei tai to carry the newborn I babysit and I tried to lay her in the mei tai in a cradle hold and I could get it right?? Her head and legs stuck out both sides. . . What am I doing wrong? Is it possible to nurse in a mei tai? How do you do it?

[MsHiss]

I nursed my dd in one. I put her belly to bellywith her legs in 'froggy' position and it worked fine. Maybe you could find a video on You Tube. Good luck!

[chase_mommy]

I never done this and I am sure someone will hop in here soon and give better advice. I think that you loosen the top straps and lower babe down to breast level pull up/down shirt, re-tye straps, latch and nurse.

[pammysue]

I was going to come post the same thing.

Originally Posted by chase_mommy

I never done this and I am sure someone will hop in here soon and give better advice. I think that you loosen the top straps and lower babe down to breast level pull up/down shirt, re-tye straps, latch and nurse.

I tried that and I could not get DS low enough and he is by no means big or tall.

[RunnerDuck]

I have done it but didn't really feel like it benefitted me in any way, other than then being able to say afterwards I had done it...

It was when my twins were itty bitty and I was having supply issues, I thought if I wore one and let her nurse as she wished it would help... I *think* I just wore the mt with no shirt? Maybe I just pulled it up... That's the problem IMO - the shirt is in the way... so I don't know how I'd pull it off in public or why I'd want to, really... Anyway she was froggied up and facing in and nursed as she wished over the course of a few hours (the other was sleeping...)

It was cool to be able to say I did it but I never did it again.

[baturay]

Keep in mind that not every mama is able to breastfeed in a mei tai, because it depends on breast size (too big and it's not possible, too small...not going to happen either). Because you need to breastfeed upright when in a mei tai. I've been able to do so and it's worked well for me, by wearing the baby low and at my breast level and then I just lift or lower my top to breastfeed. It just happens that my breasts aren't that big or that small and so I can do this, but if I had large breasts, it would be harder or not possible to nurse upright in a carrier.

[Bee21]

I nurse easily in my mei tai. The shoulder straps are tied below her butt. I just loosen those straps and bounce her down a bit, and when she's done I pull them tight again.

I did not get my mei tai until she was 5 months old though, so I have no experience with nursing a nb in one.

[Kiara.I]

I love nursing in a mei tai, but I've found that nursing in most carriers doesn't work well until the baby has a good idea of how nursing works. Some newborns know right away, others it takes a few weeks until they can nurse well in a carrier (ie until you don't need to be guiding them on and monitoring their latch and...and...and....)

You loosen the straps, have the child sit lower in the mei tai (but upright) and then nurse. If you find pulling up a shirt too awkward, nursing tank tops are a good route to go, you just unlatch them near your shoulder and then drop the one side down. You don't have to fuss with as much clothing that way, but it does tend to uncover a lot of skin at the top, so if you are worred about that you may need to find a nursing shirt with a half-layer on the front that you can lift without disturbing the rest of the shirt, and it won't uncover the top of your breast either.