head bobbing at the breast

[busymama77]

Does your LO do this? My NB - 12 days old - seems to do this mainly at night. Does anyone know why this would be? He'll bob, latch on for a few seconds and the pop back off. When I tried to guide him to my breast or guide the breast to him, whichever the case may be, he'll fuss a bit, then latch back on. Could I just be empty on that breast and he's just fooling around?

[linchi]

I get this too!

[song_of_the_soule]

His head control is not developed yet. All my children did this as well. It also sounds like he is tired, it is harder to hold his head up when he is tired.

[Heba]

Congratulations, mama!

Head bobbing is normal newborn behaviour - if feeding in a laid-back position (as in Biological Nurturing or Baby-led attachment), the bobbing can actually help baby attach. If it's becoming a problem (you don't say that it is), you might like to try BN or BLA.

[HappiLeigh]

Hi Busymama!
Both my kids did this. (The little one still is, obviously.) They also will shake their heads from side to side sometimes before latching. I think both are just normal baby behaviors. When my DD started to get water from a sippy as an older baby, she also used to do this before "latching" onto the cup. Cracked me up!

[averlee]

I think the bobbing is part of the rooting behavior.