Newborn nursing in a wrap . . . cradle carry
4 days old, Nursing in a Hip Cross Carry
I began by nursing Annabelle in the cradle position. With a newborn, I found that intuitively I used the wrap to hold her against me in the same position that my arms held her when we nursed on the couch: cradle.
This was easier than I expected. I recommend doing it sitting down and using a front cross carry, front wrap cross carry, or hip cross carry–whichever method you are most comfortable and familiar with.
I’d begin wrapping around my baby, whom I held in the crook of my arm, then would latch her on before tightening and tying. I did find that I almost always had to adjust it again once, sometimes right away, sometimes a few minutes later.
1 week old, nursing FWCC
It usually worked best if the cross that goes over the shoulder on the same side she’s nursing on is bunched up behind her head. It can be spread across the baby’s body, but where it comes around baby’s head, bunching it behind provides a real sturdy support to hold the baby’s head at just the right angle.
And my baby, anyway, doesn’t like having anything covering her head, she prefers the behind-the-head method! You can see in the photo above that the wrap on my left side is going around and behind her head, rather than over it.
I’d find that while nursing was essentially hands free in that I could remove my hands from the baby and still be nursing, it felt more comfortable if I kept one arm around her holding her on. Luckily, it did not take long to observe that when I held her up with my arm, that made some slack in the wrap that, when tightened, replaced the function of my arm. I just took the slack out while holding her, retied, and then my arm was redundant and I could put it to use on other projects–like actually getting myself a peanut butter sandwich!
4 day old Annabelle Nursing
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