Need Help with How to Lie down to Breast Feed So I Can Get Some Sleep!

Hi J.,
I'm sorry you aren't getting much sleep! My daughter sleeps in her pack n play in my room, so I don't know how it works to roll over and feed them in the night. However, sometimes when I need a nap, I feed her lying down. I just lay on my side and DJ lays on her side (sometimes she is leaning more towards her back). I help her latch on, and then we're good to go. She doesn't have use any pillows. I usually don't have any pillows either. I kind of prop myself up on my arm. After she's been eating for a bit, I slowly start to lay my head down on my arm and off to sleep we both go!

Good luck!

Hi J.,
I've co-slept with all 7 of my babies and I've never missed a good night's sleep yet! We got rid of the crib entirely and have taken advantage of the consistency of having baby sleep in the same location at all times. I'm so thankful for this natural style of parenting that's been the norm since the beginning of time. I love the way it helps us all sleep well, the way it protects my babies from SIDS, the way it strengthens my marriage and increases my hubby's attachment to the baby, the way it makes mothering so easy...but most of all I love the incredible bond it creates, which I now enjoy with all my kids, even my teenagers. :)

I agree with you, the know-how doesn't just happen overnight. Co-sleeping is a learn-as-you go endeavor, and the more practical help and encouragement you can get from other natural mommies, the better.

I have always nursed in the side-lying position at night starting around 3 days after my baby's birth. For me, sitting up in bed to nurse would defeat many of the benefits of this amazing convenience. The side-lying position is not as tricky as it might appear. With a little practice, you'll be a pro in no time. (See Dr. Sears' best-selling The Baby Book for the most thorough information on positioning...the encouragement in this book is worth its weight in gold!)

Here's my step-by-step description of night-nursing in the side-lying position:

1)Position baby between you and the guard-rail (this is an important safety feature and allows husband and wife to cuddle).

2)Facing baby, lie down on side with lower arm under pillow. Adjust legs & alignment of body til you are 100% comfortable and relaxed (don't try to balance on side, but bend knees and angle body so that gravity isn't pulling you over)

3) Pull baby as close to you as possible, tucking her into your abdominal curves so that your two bodies melt into one. Make sure she is on her side comfortably with her arms free and facing you. I like to tuck blankets behind her for additional support.

4) Use top arm to help baby latch on to bottom breast, reajusting her body if necessary for a better angle and closer fit. Because the bottom breast is laying on the mattress, this should be enough support to hold breast even with baby's mouth.

5)Allow top arm to drape loosely over baby's bottom half or any other position that is comfortable to you. With baby tucked in around your abdomen there is little chance of baby dropping the nipple or having her nose blocked. You can relax and drift back to sleep.

6)At some point if you wake up and baby is wanting more, there is no need to move baby. Simply roll an extra 2 or 3 inches toward baby so your top breast is now aligned with baby's mouth. Tuck baby in and fall back to sleep. It's important that you start with bottom breast before top and not reverse the order because it's very uncomfortable to roll onto a full breast. Once the bottom breast is emptied and flattened, it is painless to roll your weight over it to use the other breast.

With consistent practice, this technique will become a no-brainer and you'll be sleeping easy once again. Some babies sleep more poorly when they're being moved around, so if you notice that being the case, simply ditch the crib and keep baby with you. The benefits are phenomenal.

God bless you and your little one!
L.

I'm not sure in what way you're trying it, but here's what I've done.
Baby's head on my arm so it's propped up and baby on his side. Mommy on her side, pillow under head, inbetween legs and supporting upper back (yeah, lots of pillows).

After a while, I don't like my arm in there so I take it out and then the baby is just lined up with my nipple (in whatever "natural" place it seems to be landing these days).

Gosh, I hope that helps. I looked at parenting magazines from the hospital that showed pictures of women doing it. I think that helped me. Perhaps you could find a picture on line.
Good luck. Sleep is precious!
B

Hi J.,

Here are my tips for nursing laying on your side, with large breasts, me too...

1. Practice first, lying tummy to tummy, when baby is not too tired.
2. Place a rolled up blanket/small pillow behind both your back and baby's. This keeps either of you from rolling over when you drift off.
3. I have a long neck and would place a small pillow under my head for support, sandwiched between my arm which is elevated and angled in front of my face/head.
4. When the babies were real little I also placed a pillow between my knees because I really had to stay straight on my side for the side BF position to work. As we became more comfortable with the side position then I could roll back a bit more. Otherwise, my hips would ache later on.
5. I also recommend placing a receiving blanket/towel under you and baby the first couple of weeks to absorb any leak/spit up. After making the our bed in the morning I automatically laid down a clean blanket for us to lay on later in the day. I could just carry the baby back to our bedroom and lay down. It was heavenly.
Happy BFing!!

I laid on my side w/the lower arm over my head. I found my larger breasts were an asset, as I could give them to her without leaning over too far and suffocating her. I could control how close she was because she could easily reach them. I also put a pillow behind my back. It really helped with the back cramps I would get.

Try it when baby isn't hungry, but wants to comfort nurse. That way you don't have such a desperate cranky baby. Great way to practice.

They say that many babies wake up a number of times when they have to go pee. One negative of nursing all night is they will pee more, so use a premium overnight diaper when you can. But my kids woke up about twice a night when they were young.
You'll get there!

Hi J.. Those nights are so hard. I tried co sleeping with my first baby and found that I woke up even more becuase I would fall asleep while nursing and the baby would fall asleep with out eating a full feeding. Either that or I was so worried about rolling on her and it also made my nipples get really chapped from that going on all night. I totally understand about wanting the sleep though. Try the book baby wise. It worked wonders for me and all three of my babies. If you don't want to read it, then I would recommend making sure your baby nurses a full feeding at night before bed and if she does wake up hungry then try to wake and offer another full feeding. If she's not hungry then she probably just wants her mom. Good luck!

I learned to angle the baby so that the baby's feet rest on my abdomen. We are more or less in a Y shape. Roll onto your side and let the breast fall where it may, and then adjust and arrange it until the nipple sit in a position that the baby can hold into. Baby on her side facing you, angle her in as I mentioned above. Experiment and tweak this position until you find what works for you.

This is in response to Natalie and J.'s questions:
I have the same problem with my son breastfeeding through the night and I'm not getting much rest and sometimes he wants to feed every hour and it seems like he's not getting anything out of me which keeps him up because he's hungry. So what I do is I give him a little bit of formula, just enough until he's satisfied. He seems to fall back to sleep faster and sleeps longer and I get my rest. This is only if your baby will take formula.
As far as lying down and breastfeeding, it's nice. But if your baby is not used to it, this could be hard. Sometimes my son has a hard time latching on when we're lying down and he gets cranky and impatient too. What works for me is I lay on my side but prop myself up one on arm, cup my breast and guide it into his mouth and once he's latched on, I lay down.

Hope this helps!

J.

The position for bf on your side in bed is as follows:
You lie down on your side and lay the baby next to you head under your armpit, babies belly toward your belly and feed from the breast on the side you lie on. Baby will find the nipple even in their sleep if need be.
G.
AZ BirthConnection
www.superdoula.com

When I nursed my son at night (my breasts were very large 36H) I used to lay on say my left side and give hime my right breast then lay on my right side and give him my left breast etc. because like you say it is very uncomfortable to position large breasts correctly doing it the other way. I hope this helps! Best of luck!

It took me a long time to get the hang of the side-laying position. I tried doing it exactly how the books say and how I was shown in the hospital, but that didn't work for me. You're supposed to lay with your arm under the baby's neck or straight up...yeah, not so comfortable. I lay on my side with my head on my pillow and then kind of tickle my son's mouth with my nipple until he gets a good latch...I also take the arm that he's laying on (his arm, not mine)and pull it forward so I'm not laying on it. I still have to hold my breast (and mine aren't that big!) in order for it to stay in his mouth, but I usually wake up at some point and realize that we have both fallen asleep (I try not to let him sleep with the nipple in his mouth). When my son is laying next to me I position him so that he kind of has to look up a little bit to get the nipple in his mouth; in other words, his mouth isn't completely lined up with the nipple, it's a little lower. For the first little while I had to do this all with a pillow behind my back so I wouldn't tip backwards (it can be a balancing act, but your body gets used to it). You also always nurse from the breast on the bottom. I usually have my bottom arm under my pillow so I'm kind of laying on it. When I hold my breast I hold it with the hand that is on top (so if I'm laying on my left side I use my right hand) and I kind of pinch the areola area so that it's somewhat flat and he can get it in his mouth better. Try not to stress out about it. You will find a position that works for you...even if it seems really weird in the beginning! It took me a lot of tries to finally find something that would work for us. Just relax and keep trying. Good Luck!

Breastfeeding while laying down is awesome, but takes some practice. I would try doing that for your feedings during the day until you get used to it. You can even try it when she's not hungry and just let her get used to it :). Good luck!

I had my husband put the recliner in our bedroom. Helped alot for all to get some sleep.

Also speaking as a hygienist, your daughter probably has 2 lower teeth, wipe her teeth and gums with a xylitol wipe (SPIFFIES) to prevent tooth decay.

Take Care!!