In prenatal classes I teach expectant parents to watch for:

"squirming, stretching, squeaking....sucking, smacking, searching"

for the newborn, any of these are early signs of readiness for a feeding,
babies learn how to BF, take advantage of these early opportunities to
practice while baby is patient with learning, crying is a late hunger sign, we
likely missed the early signs, may be more challenging to practice..........

All "S" words seem to help them remember early cues.

When I see some of my prenatal class participants in the hospital, often at
the 10am BF class, they smile and nod knowingly when I get to the "squirming
stretching squeaking sucking smacking searching" part. I also have these words
included also on a BF eval that we use as an outline for class - " Feedings
are in response to baby's early cues: squirming, stretching, squeaking,
sucking, smacking, searching".

Deborah Tobin
RN BSN IBCLC LCCE
Springfield, Virginia USA
In the suburbs outside the Washington DC beltway
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