Hello, my name is Stacey Mees and I am a student at the University Of North Dakota College Of Nursing. As I was reading through the many different posts on LACTNET about breastfeeding holds, positioning and latching, I ran into an article that mentioned a breastfeeding technique that I had never heard of. It was called the Teacup hold. After recently attending a breastfeeding class and never hearing this hold mentioned I decided to do some research on it and to find the most commonly used techniques resulting in a proper latch and successful breastfeeding.
According to Sinusas and Gagliardi (2001), the breast should be supported using the shape of the letter “C” with the thumb on top of the breast and the other fingers on the underside of the breast. Tickling the baby’s lips may help prompt the baby to open wide. The baby should be held close to the mother’s body with the baby’s ears, shoulders, and hips in a straight line. Latch should be obtained around the areola with the tongue under the nipple. Tait (2000) states that if a good latch has been obtained there should be little or no pain. She also reports that it may be important to reassure mothers that her breasts will adapt to vigorous sucking with proper latch that may be causing discomfort and the sucking will decrease in intensity once letdown has occurred.
While reading through many different articles concerning breastfeeding and latch, I found an interesting teaching tool that may be of interest to some breastfeeding mothers. Wiessinger (1998) refers to it as the “sandwich” analogy. Here is a brief description of her technique: 1. The mother is to imagine eating a large, thick sandwich. 2. With both hands forming a “C” on each side of the sandwich, squeeze it a little to make a more oval shape. 3. The bottom jaw drops as the underside of the sandwich is brought near. 4. When the sandwich reaches the bottom jaw, the top jaw is allowed to drop on the sandwich allowing for a big bite. By using this “sandwich” analogy the breast can be thought of as a big sandwich that the infant must contact. Wiessinger has demonstrated this approach using water balloons filled enough so that when squeezed the mothers fingers come together in the middle. In most cases, once latch has successfully been reached, there is no need to maint
ain the sandwich shape.
I am not sure of how effective this technique is, but it sounds promising to me. Considering all the different types of breastfeeding holds and positions, which one is most commonly used in your area of work and which one seems to work most effectively with breastfeeding mothers and infants?
Thanks,
Stacey Mees, S.N.
Sinusas, K. & Gagliardi, A. (2001). Information from your family doctor: tips for
breastfeeding success. American Family Physician, 64, 991-992.
Tait, P. (2000). Nipple pain in breastfeeding women: causes, treatment, and prevention.
Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health, 45 (3), 212-215.
Wiessinger, D. (1998). A breastfeeding teaching tool using a sandwich analogy for latch-
on. Journal of Human Lactation, 14, 51-56.
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