Breast Feeding Basics

Proper latching and unlatching techniques are crucial to the success of your breastfeeding experience. Done improperly, your baby will not be able to nurse correctly, and you will end up with sore nipples. Here is a short tutorial on how to latch and unlatch your baby from the breast.

1. Position baby next to the breast. You can choose a cradle hold, like I am in this picture, a football hold, or a side-lying hold, depending on your circumstances. Make sure that baby can move their head around, while leaving their head rested on your arm, almost touching the nipple. Make sure your baby’s lips are positioned level with the beast and not chin to nipple or nose to nipple.

2. Your baby may swing their head around, find the nipple, lick it and then start sucking, latching on their own without help. Then you can just let them nurse. If your baby has difficulty doing that, you might need to tickle their mouth to encourage Baby to open wide and latch on properly. Just try not to do this unless you have to; you don’t want to cause frustration, because your baby probably won’t enjoy the teasing.

3. Check to see if the latch is correct. Your baby should have as much areola as possible in their mouth, and this amount will depend on how big your baby is. You especially want the lower portion of the areola against the tongue. You do not want them to be sucking exclusively on the nipple, or you will be sore, and they will not empty the breast properly.

4. Unlatch: usually, your baby will stop sucking and unlatch on their own, but if you need to be the one to disconnect them, you will want to break the suction gently, to prevent trauma to your nipple. Gently press against the corner of their mouth with the tip of your finger, or press against one side of your nipple until you feel suction stop. Then you can remove your breast from their mouth without doing any damage.

If you would like to watch me demonstrate the latch and unlatch technique on a short video, so you can get a better idea of how it should look (especially the unlatch), then sign up for my breastfeeding newsletter by clicking here. Once you confirm your subscription, I’ll send you the link to view the video.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 7th, 2008 at 7:56 pm and is filed under Breastfeeding Techniques.
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