In the "new" cradle hold, the baby's head is rested on mom's forearm,
and her hand presses the baby's shoulders toward her body. Mom reclines
a bit, so that gravity helps baby to be snuggled to her trunk, with his
belly under her other breast. She brings baby down to her breast's
natural height. Her opposite hand can hold his bottom close to her, but
often gravity can do the job. The important thing is to have baby
snuggled to mom, with no space between them. Mom's belly is usually
sufficient pillow, but sometimes her anatomy means we need to use a more
diagonal position for baby.
In order to line the baby up well, mom generally slides her same side
arm across her body a little. For newborns, she can often even have her
hand on the baby's bottom (rump, bum), giving the baby whole body
support, but freedom to move his head back. She lines him up with his
chin *on* her areola, and her nipple to his philtrum (the ridge between
nose and upper lip), and lets him do all the rest.
I've been using this latch with great success for many babies in my
practice for the past few years. When it alone does not work, I pull out
the variations such as denting the breast, shaping the breast (mostly
from above, so as not to get between mom's trunk and baby), flipping the
nipple away with a finger to make the areola bulge out more ala Rebecca
Glover, or lifting the breast a little with a flat hand on the top of
the breast, whatever is needed.
Catherine Watson Genna, IBCLC NYC
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