Tips For Dealing With Breastfeeding Gymnastics

Baby girl is still breast­feed­ing and going strong. I have been very lucky to have a rel­a­tively easy expe­ri­ence this time around and she has been nurs­ing champ since day one. The only issue we are cur­rently expe­ri­enc­ing is the breast­feed­ing gym­nas­tics. You know, where your baby decides to do head­stands, cart­wheels and ran­dom feats of body con­tor­tion as if she is try­ing out for the local cir­cus. In fact, the morn­ings have been Mike bring­ing her upstairs & I nurse her while she does these very acts all the while she has made attempts to try to watch her Daddy get ready for work.  There is less motion once he sits with us on the bed where she can see him  in one place the less she moves and the more she eats.

I have, in essence, become her milk dis­pens­ing jun­gle gym. And I am pretty sure my breasts and nip­ples are not in full agree­ment with this recent devel­op­ment. By pretty sure I mean, no. No, they are not.

As a result I have begun to do some basics that I have learned from nurs­ing my other four babies to help min­i­mize her gym­nas­tics dur­ing our nurs­ing sessions.

Min­i­mize distractions::

The more oth­ers do, like Daddy, the more she wants to try to turn every which way to see what is hap­pen­ing. By qui­et­ing the room, turn­ing off extra light and sound, and hav­ing less move­ment by oth­ers she is able to focus more on nurs­ing.  Some­times this also means I will do noth­ing else but sim­ply nurse her. That means turn­ing off the T.V., putting down the phone, stop­ping myself from read­ing that book. Instead I focus on being in the moment. The more I do this, the less she moves.  She knows she has my full atten­tion and as a result I have hers.

Relax::

Some­times baby is mov­ing all over because we, as mom­mas, are stressed and unable to just relax.  If we are anx­ious or overly stressed out our babies can feel that vibe. It effects them. It changes their moods and they can­not get com­fort­able if we are not com­fort­able. The best thing we can do is relax {maybe a light a can­dle, put on some sooth­ing music, turn the lights down for you} and try to put our feet up for those few min­utes to be in the moment.

Be Patient::

Baby girl is not my first baby or my first nurs­ing baby and as I have learned with all expe­ri­ences patience will get you through these phases.  Whether the phase is with nurs­ing, learn­ing the potty or try­ing to get into a good rou­tine around the house with teens. No mat­ter the age patience goes a long way in the act.  Be patient with baby and remem­ber soon your lit­tle one won’t be nurs­ing any more and you might miss these days!

New Posi­tions::

It might be a new posi­tion will help. I found in the liv­ing room that if I nurse Baby Girl while I sit on the floor she is able to focus more on me and get­ting that momma milk.  She is less likely to try to look around and is often happy that when she is done she can then crawl right away.  Dur­ing the day these ses­sions are short, sweet and to the point. Breast­feed­ing Resources offer many posi­tions to help you!

Don’t Let Baby Swing From the Breast::

While you want to try some­thing new, let­ting baby swing from your breast like it the equiv­a­lent of a keg stand for babies won’t help you or baby.  Baby needs to be close to you, tummy turned to you, and feel­ing safe.  If your baby is turned out­ward from you, your breast will be taken with baby and that will hurt.  Dan­gling works for many other avenues in life, but not for your boobs or your nipples!

Have A Sense of Humor::

The real­ity is you may try every­thing and baby might decide to still move all around.  You have to just laugh at how silly the whole sit­u­a­tion is.  Some­times here at my house Baby Won­der Girl & her dar­ing feats of eat­ing while twirling her body around in 360 cir­cle whilst never once let­ting go of her food still go on, even with all my nifty tricks of the skilled breast­feed­ing momma trade. And to be hon­est I’m kind of impressed with the agility. Maybe there is a cir­cus show in it after all for us or the very least a gold medal for her dismount.

What are your tips for help­ing baby focus or mak­ing it through the days of breast­feed­ing gymnastics?

Tagged as: baby, breastfeeding, extended breastfeeding, feeding, humor, Momma, momma milk, motherhood, nursing