Hello, All. I find the cross cradle hold to be very helpful in getting many newborns onto breast appropriately. Newborns tend to bobble their head all over the place. They also have a tendency to lunge at the nipple and slurp it in as soon as their lips touch it. I show moms how to hold the lower back of baby's head to control it so baby can't slurp his way onto the nipple. *But* I stress that this is a *latch-on* position, not a *nursing* position. In cross cradle hold, the same-side hand supports the breast. I find that moms tend to hold that arm out to the side like a "wing." I explain that if they keep that arm out like a wing for 10-15 minutes, they are going to get sore shoulders. Then they start to hold their bodies "funny" in an effort to relieve the aching. This causes the breast to change position. Sometimes it rests too much on baby's chin and he gets tired from fighting the weight on his jaw. Sometimes mom kind of pulls back a bit in her chair and then the nipple gets pulled more towards the front of baby's mouth. This alone can cause nipple soreness, but if baby also then clenches in an effort to keep the nipple in the mouth, the soreness gets even worse. So I tell moms that they should only maintain the cross cradle hold until the baby has started sucking vigorously. Then they can pull baby in closer to their body with the arm that's behind baby, and quickly let go of the breast and move that arm into the traditional cradle position. Once that arm is in place, they can move the other arm around to the front of baby and use the hand to support the breast. I show them how to accomplish this maneuver quickly, and point out how much more comfortable they are sitting now. (If mom tries to switch arms before baby is sucking vigorously, baby is likely to be distracted by mom's motion and come off breast.) I find that when moms consistently control baby's head so that he can't latch until he has his mouth open wide enough, then in usually just a couple weeks, baby has enough "aim" control and knows to keep his mouth wide and mom can then use the traditional cradle hold as her "latch-on" position as well as her "nursing" position. Now I know that some moms with very heavy/large breasts have trouble with the switch maneuver because the weight of the breast pulls the nipple out of baby's mouth in that couple of seconds while mom is switching arms. I have discovered a nice product that I sell in my office called the Breast Billow. It is a sling for large breasts and supports the weight of the breast. I have seen it be a great help to moms whose wrist gets tired supporting a large breast and in cases where baby gets tired because the breast tends to rest on baby's chin in spite of mom's best efforts to support the breast. I don't have any stock in the company, so I won't make any money if some of you decide to start carrying it. I only mention it as another "tool" that can make breastfeeding easier for some moms. By teaching moms the cross cradle as a latch-on position and then showing them how to switch to the traditional cradle for the rest of the feeding, you might avoid some of the concerns about moms only being able to accomplish the (one) position they learn in the hospital. Dee Dee Kassing, BS, MLS, IBCLC Collinsville, Illinois, in central USA *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [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