The Science of Latching
Reading Time | 7 minutes
Latching and infant feeding is as much an art as it is a science.
Human milk feeding directly at the breast allows for an amazing amount of creativity and exploration. There are no rules to human milk feeding, which can be both frightening and liberating depending on who you ask.
But human babies are mammals, and like other mammalian babies, they are born to feed.
All babies have a set of steps they need to do for effective feeding. These set of steps also called a neurobehavioural program, is similar among all baby mammals and ensure that they are competent in finding the nipple and feeding without much help from their parents.
I know it seems weird to think that your baby has the skills they need to find and attach to the breast the minute they come out, but it's true.
Your baby was literally born to feed!
One of the primary reasons why latching can be stressful for parents is because instead of working with our babies innate abilities, we unknowingly interrupt their efforts. We are taught what we should do to facilitate breastfeeding, but we're not taught about our baby's role in infant feeding and how to better support them.
This post sets out to provide a deeper level of understanding of infant latching. Something that takes place in a second or two requires a fantastic amount of coordination and skill, as well as, the perfect foundation to allow for success.
Stability
Latching basics start with a stable base. It may be easy to think that all the action happens in their mouth area, but feeding is full body experience.
Young babies need postural stability to allow better control of their neck movements and to improve their jaw and tongue movements. The postural stability comes from the prone position (belly laying) NOT from laying on their backs. The gravitational input from resting their weight on their bellies optimizes their feeding reflexes, leading to a more comfortable attachment. Prone position limits other reflexes, such as the Moro (startle) reflex can commonly be seen, and sometimes interferes with, latching in the more traditional "back to the wall/ground" positioning.
Additionally, when a baby's whole body is stabilized, and they can move freely, equally on both sides of their body (symmetrical movement), they are more able to focus their attention on their mouth and the breast.
Providing a stable base (midline stability) is why biological nursing, also called laid-back nursing, is so successful. It's also why every video you see of the breast crawl shows a baby latching on in a belly-down position!
Orientation
Speaking of the breast crawl, let's outline all the steps babies do to self attach to the breast.
Hand to mouth movements
Tongue movements
Mouth Opening
Focusing on the nipple
Crawling to the nipple
Massaging the breast to evert the nipple
Licking
Attach to the breast
These steps are sequential, meaning babies follow these steps in order. Older babies may be able to skip over one or more of these steps without issue, but younger babies use each step to orient to the breast before moving on.
I often find that parents, in an attempt to speed up the attachment process unintentionally hurry along this process which creates stress and confusion for their babies, making latching stressful for both parties!
For example, Parents often swaddle babies or move their hands out of the way because they feel their baby gets distracted or frustrated by the hand placement. Moving a baby's hands away from their face may make latching easier for parents, but it disrupts their natural orientation process and the bit of stability the hand by face posture offers.
Attachment
Similar to the orientation process, babies have a set sequence of steps they need to accomplish to attach to the breast. Regardless of the position your nurse in, your young baby will:
Orient themselves to the nipple using the rooting reflex
Extend their neck and lead with their chin
Open their mouth wide using the gaping reflex when the nipple stimulates their philtrum
Bring their tongue down to the floor of their mouth and extend their tongue over the lower gum and lip
As they close their mouth, the front part of their tongue (anterior tongue or tongue tip) will cup the breast, and the rest of their tongue will form a groove to conform and hold it
Begin to suck
It's not uncommon to try to speed up (parent-sped latching) or lead (parent -led latching) your baby's latching efforts. There is nothing wrong with these approaches, and many babies may need to have guidance. But it is critical to ensure that you're working with your baby's reflexes and not against them.
Some ways that parents often interrupt this process include:
Not providing postural stability that allows for secure attachment
Accidentally stroking the cheeks, face or mouth while attempting to latch on. Babies will root towards any stimulation, including away from the breast. A baby initially heading toward the breast may get off course if their rooting reflex is stimulated.
Trying to latch a crying baby. It's better to calm your baby down and then attempt to relatching than to keep trying to latch them while they're upset.
Stuffing the breast into baby's mouth before they have had time to lower their tongue
Pressing on the back of their babies head causing the chin to tuck towards the chest. Flexion is the enemy of easy and pain-free latching. Also touching the back of a baby's head can elicit a reflex that results in them throwing their heads backward and popping off the breast.
Once a baby is attached to the breast, they start the suck-swallow-breathe process which requires a different set of steps and skills. I will cover each process more in-depth in future posts.
Latching is a stressful aspect of feeding at the breast in the early weeks. It is not always possible to allow babies to self attach at every feeding, and as I mentioned above, some baby's need a more parent involved approached.
I've created a complete latching guide available for download, which will provide you with the information needed to understand latching and help you work WITH baby's natural abilities, which will result in less frustrating and more comfortable latching.
If you find that nursing is painful despite proper latching techniques and allowing baby to take the lead, I would encourage you to
read this blog post to understand better what may be causing pain and
seek out lactation help. There's no good reason to continue with painful breastfeeding
without getting help.
If finances are an issue, even seeking assistance through your local La Leche League or Breastfeeding USA chapters can be immensely helpful. They can provide counseling and encouragement on basic latching techniques that may be helpful as you sort out how you can get professional help.