[WeasleyMum]

I read something interesting that suggested that just-born babies that are left to find their own way to the breast-- i.e., put on the mother's belly and allowed to sort of "skootch" (sp?) their way up towards the breast, following their sense of smell (!) (apparently nipples smell like amniotic fluid?) and latching on, themselves, upon arrival, end up with a better latch than babies that are placed in mother's arms and offered the breast.<br><br>
Sounds weird and fascinating to me. and I suppose that if one didn't want to cut the cord before the placenta is delived, then placing the baby on the lower belly would be in keeping with that as well.<br><br>
Do any of you mamas have experience with this? Is it true? How long does the skootching take, would the baby get cold, would you be impatient? Would it affect the nursing relationship long-term?

 

[KurumiSophia]

I can't say that I have experience w/that. My baby was born by c-section and I didn't get to see her for 2 and a half hours after she was born. Though when I did put her to the breast, she took to it quite naturally.

 

[Dandy]

I think there is a video of it somewhere, called the baby crawl maybe?<br><br>
I had a similar experience to the PP, thankfully. (good latch in spite of c-section)

 

[PatioGardener]

Did you see the video? <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/love.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="love"><br><a href="http://breastcrawl.org/video.htm" target="_blank">http://breastcrawl.org/video.htm</a><br><br>
They don't have to be new newborns either - I've seen older babies (1-2 weeks) do it too. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/love.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="love">

 

[ZZsMama]

When ds was born, after a long tiring labor, I was so excited to meet him I forgot that I was planning to start bfing immediately. Timing is deffinitely a blur, but he was placed on my belly, as I had indicated in my birthplan <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/orngbiggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="orange big grin"> and I was just hanging out patting him and marveling at how amazing he was. I think he must have skooched his way to the breast himself, cause I remember thinking, oh yeah I wanted to nurse him immediately. He took to it really well and barely stopped nursing at all for the first few months. No latch problems here. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/love.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="love"><br>
I think there was a sheet over him at least a littlle, and sharing body heat kept him warm.

 

[Maple Leaf Mama]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>PatioGardener</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/10264284"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">Did you see the video? <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/love.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="love"><br><a href="http://breastcrawl.org/video.htm" target="_blank">http://breastcrawl.org/video.htm</a><br><br>
They don't have to be new newborns either - I've seen older babies (1-2 weeks) do it too. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/love.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="love"></div>
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OK, am I the only one who watched this and was crying by the end?<br>
Simply amazing!<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/love.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="love">

 

[NaomiMcC]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>WeasleyMum</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/10263993"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">I read something interesting that suggested that just-born babies that are left to find their own way to the breast-- i.e., put on the mother's belly and allowed to sort of "skootch" (sp?) their way up towards the breast, following their sense of smell (!) (apparently nipples smell like amniotic fluid?) and latching on, themselves, upon arrival, end up with a better latch than babies that are placed in mother's arms and offered the breast. ...</div>
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Worked for me and I had an emerg. c-section. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/orngbiggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="orange big grin"> I had watched a video on you tube earlier in the month and decided I would give it a whirl...it works! And ... no bf'ing latch problems at all. I truly believe that if left alone without a whole bunch of intervention...babies know what to do.

 

[PatioGardener]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>NaomiMcC</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/10296178"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">Worked for me and I had an emerg. c-section. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/orngbiggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="orange big grin"> I had watched a video on you tube earlier in the month and decided I would give it a whirl...it works! And ... no bf'ing latch problems at all. I truly believe that if left alone without a whole bunch of intervention...babies know what to do.</div>
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<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile"> What a wonderful story - thanks for sharing!<br><br>
Do you mind describing how it happened? Did the baby go right onto your chest while they were stitching you back up, or was it after you were out of the operating room? Is your hospital pretty open minded about these things, or did you have to push for it? I'd love to hear more!

 

[Samjm]

Yeah, babies will find their way to the breast by themselves. And the very cool thing is that if they are put back on mom's chest when they're done nursing, the next time they want to eat they find their way to their other breast.<br><br>
It assumes skin to skin contact and no interferences.

 

[TattoMomK]

My 5 week old is still doing it! It's amazing, I can't believe how strong he is. I just sort of laid him on my belly a few weeks ago trying to get adjusted and here he came a'crawlin! I had sen the film of the crawl so I just let him go for it, kinda spotting him on the side so he didn't roll off of me.<br><br>
However I would not say his latch was better. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/innocent.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="shy"> Maybe if he had done it right at birth maybe, but he just grabs on now, so I usually have to reposition him. I haven't done it for a few days, I should see if he'll still do it!<br><br>
OH GET MY DH TO FILM IT TOO! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/thumb.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="thumbs up">

 

[NaomiMcC]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>PatioGardener</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/10297472"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;"><img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile"> What a wonderful story - thanks for sharing!<br><br>
Do you mind describing how it happened? Did the baby go right onto your chest while they were stitching you back up, or was it after you were out of the operating room? Is your hospital pretty open minded about these things, or did you have to push for it? I'd love to hear more!</div>
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I was completely knocked out for my surgery and we made it very clear to doctors that we were breastfeeding so no bottles/formula etc. So she didn't have her first feed until she was around an hour and a half. She sucked on dad's pinky until then. We brought her in, the nurse left, I put her on my belly/chest and let her do her thing. Worked like a charm!!! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/love.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="love"> The nurse came back and was like "oh! she's doing just fine!" I was like "yup...it's all natural. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/orngbiggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="orange big grin">"

 

[DreamsInDigital]

Oh wow, I've never seen the breast crawl video before. That was amazing.

 

[MettaSutta]

Yes, it's true! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/love.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="love"><br><br>
My daughter was placed on my abdomen and she found her way up to my breast in no time! She was latched on and nursing before her placenta was delivered! I have an amazing photo of her holding on to my nipple just minutes after her birth... she looks so alert, I just love it!<br><br>
I don't know if having her crawl her way up and latching on herself is the reason she has such a great latch, but I suspect that's part of it. My LC told me that she's rarely seen such a perfect latch. She even asked me to take some photos of my daughter nursing so she could show Mamas what a great latch looks like.<br><br>
Anyway, we were skin to skin and she had a hat put on her right away and then a blanket was thrown over the both of us. She nursed while the placenta was delivered, and continued to nurse while I got my stitches. Then I nursed her side-lying and I don't think she's let go of my nipple since! (We are nursing right now!) <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/lol.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="lol">

 

[KimProbable]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>MettaSutta;10304287<br>
I don't know if having her crawl her way up and latching on herself is the reason she has such a great latch, but I suspect that's part of it. My LC told me that she's rarely seen such a perfect latch. She even asked me to take some photos of my daughter nursing so she could show Mamas what a great latch looks like.<br><br>
[URL="<a href="http://flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/2198790184/in/photostream/" target="_blank">http://flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/2198790184/in/photostream/</a>"</strong></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">So I did[/URL]. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile"></div>
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That really is a great latch. Look at that bottom lip!<br><br>
I love the little hat too, BTW. So cute!<br><br>
I've never had experience with baby-led latch but I've heard some truly incredible stories. It can also be useful with an older baby when dealing with various problems like oversupply, poor latch, low weight gain, etc.

 

[LemonPie]

Yep. Kittie Frantz and Christina Smilley have done some really interesting research into this. I saw their video at the LLLI conference this summer. They reported that they'd seen babies as old as 3 months latch themselves under the right conditions, even when they hadn't before.<br><br>
It seems like baby-led latching is something that is starting to really catch on. For a healthy, full-term, unmedicated baby, it makes a lot of sense. I always cringe when people talk about manually opening their baby's jaws, shoving a breast in their mouth, etc. etc. etc.<br><br>
Jen

 

[PatioGardener]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>NaomiMcC</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/10303749"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">I was completely knocked out for my surgery and we made it very clear to doctors that we were breastfeeding so no bottles/formula etc. So she didn't have her first feed until she was around an hour and a half. She sucked on dad's pinky until then. We brought her in, the nurse left, I put her on my belly/chest and let her do her thing. Worked like a charm!!! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/love.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="love"> The nurse came back and was like "oh! she's doing just fine!" I was like "yup...it's all natural. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/orngbiggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="orange big grin">"</div>
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Thanks so much for sharing this - it is inspiring! You and your DH were really pro-active, congratulations!

 

[wombjuice]

I'm not a mama yet, so I have no experience with this...but I definitely want to do this! I have a question though...I do not plan on cutting the cord until the placenta is out. Can this still be done? Can she crawl to the breast still attached to the placenta?

 

[MettaSutta]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>feminine_earth</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/10307794"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">I'm not a mama yet, so I have no experience with this...but I definitely want to do this! I have a question though...I do not plan on cutting the cord until the placenta is out. Can this still be done? Can she crawl to the breast still attached to the placenta?</div>
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We didn't cut the cord until the placenta was delivered either and she was able to do it. I would guess that your only limitation would be if your cord is too short to have her reach your breast. If that was the case your baby could still be placed on your abdomen until the cord was cut and then she could crawl up unencumbered!

 

[Shelsi]

I had thought about it somewhat after seeing the video but dd was screaming and wouldn't stop screaming when she was born so I immediately was trying to cuddle her and shhh her. She wasn't interested in nursing immediately (although she did within the first 30 mins...I think the first midwife arrived about 25 mins after her birth and I'm pretty sure I was already nursing by then...it's all a blur!). I did let her sort of play around, suck her hand, grab my breast/nipple, etc. We didn't have any major latch problems. I did have bad latch issues with my first and he was a typical hospital birth, taken to the warmer first and cleaned up etc, and then slammed onto my breast.

 

[Shelsi]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>MettaSutta</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/10310360"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">We didn't cut the cord until the placenta was delivered either and she was able to do it. I would guess that your only limitation would be if your cord is too short to have her reach your breast. If that was the case your baby could still be placed on your abdomen until the cord was cut and then she could crawl up unencumbered!</div>
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I've read that the baby's feet pressing against your abdomen as they climb helps the uterus contract down which I imagine might also help deliver the placenta quicker?