> I found > that breastfeeding in the rockingchair that my in-laws have in > their attick was very > uncomfortable as the arms were in the wrong place. The arm placement is the key to whether or not a rocking chair will be helpful in bfing or not - the chair arms must come to the mother's arm at the level she is holding her baby. For women of short truncal stature, this will be a different rocking chair than for women with long trunks. Likewise, women who have unusual length arms (short or long for their height) will also have a different need. Also, the chair seat depth must be long enough to come completely under and fully support the thighs - ending somewhat behind the knee, but not mid-thigh. At 5'10", I am not comfortable holding a baby in most rocking chairs - the arms are usually too low for me, and the seat ends mid-thigh (makes my legs go to sleep after a short time). IME, Boston rockers are most likely to suit bfing, but only if the mother's measurements match up. Rocking chairs are highly personable chairs - in early American history, the husband would make a rocking chair when his wife became pregnant, probably customizing the seat and arms to his wife. Which reminds me, there is a special rocking chair from the 1700s where a cradle was attached longwise off the side of the rocking chair (think of lining up the rockers of the chair with the rockers on a rocking-type cradle) - then the mother/father/grandparent could rock the baby while rocking the chair and doing something else (playing with a toddler, sewing, napping) -I thought it pretty nifty. Katharine West, MPH, MSN, RN Sherman Oaks, CA mailto:[log in to unmask] *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html