Your Newborn Can Crawl!

T his is one of my favorite little factoids that I found when writing Natural Birth Stories: Your newborn can crawl!

Brand new little babies are born with the instinct and ability to scoot toward their mother’s breast to latch on for their first breastfeeding. Isn’t that just amazing?!

But, specific conditions need to be in place at birth to make this amazing initiation of breastfeeding work as our Creator intended. Studies have shown that most babies are able to crawl to their mother’s breast and suck correctly IF a couple of key conditions were met. Here’s how to get your newborn crawling to breastfeed.

Your newborn can crawl! Babies are born with the instinct to scoot toward their mother's breast to initiate breastfeeding, but specific conditions need to be in place for it to work. Here's how to get your newborn crawling to breastfeed.

How to Get Your Newborn Crawling to Breastfeed

1. Mothers and babies needed to have immediate and constant, uninterrupted contact for at least an hour.

That means no separation for bathing, weighing, measuring, or other newborn examinations. Even a small interruption removes the crawling reflex.

2. A successful first breast-feed is much more likely if the mother didn’t have pethidine (brand name Demerol, a painkiller) during labor.

In studies, many babies that were sedated due to the drug exposure didn’t suck at all!

Other Benefits of Immediate Skin-to-Skin Contact at Birth

Other studies have shown that skin-to-skin contact after birth promotes bonding, infant health, and higher long-term breastfeeding rates.

The great thing is that there are no known risks to this practice. There are only positive side effects that promote the health and well-being of mother and baby.

Unfortunately, less than half of babies spend the first hour of their lives in their mother’s arms. Of those mother-baby-pairs only 70% experience actual skin-to-skin contact.

If you’re working on writing your birth plan, you may want to talk to your obstetrician or midwife about the practice of immediate and prolonged skin-to-skin contact with your newborn and avoid the use of drugs during labor that may sedate your baby.

For much more on preparing for a natural birth, click here to get 3 free chapters of my book Natural Birth Stories: The Real Mom’s Guide to an Empowering Natural Birth.

Where can I send your 3 free Natural Birth Stories Chapters?

I guarantee 100% privacy, your information will never be shared. Powered by ConvertKit

Your newborn can crawl! Babies are born with the instinct to scoot toward their mother's breast to initiate breastfeeding, but specific conditions need to be in place for it to work. Here's how to get your newborn crawling to breastfeed.

References:

What benefits have you experienced with skin-to-skin contact with your baby? What was your doctor or midwife’s standard practice?

shannon Clark, LIFE & FINANCIAL Coach

As a mom, I know what it's like to feel exhausted, overwhelmed by life, and inadequate to meet my children's needs. But I also know you don't have to stay there.

As an author and coach, I've had the joy of encouraging more than 9.1 million moms to find forward motion with their faith, family, and finances — without the frenzy.

Will you be next?