# Side-lying nursing with a newborn?



## BMG580 (Jun 19, 2007)

I know this is an incredibly ignorant question but I am curious if it is possible to successfully nurse a small newborn in the side-lying position? I didn't figure out the position with my daughter until she was a couple months old and I think of all the sleep I missed out on getting up and sitting up to nurse all night long. She was just so tiny at birth, though, 6 lbs. and I wonder if her mouth would have even been able to reach to me breast in that position from the beginning.

Any advice?


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## prancie (Apr 18, 2007)

I nursed my 8 lb newborn side-lying. It's very possible, but a lot if moms seem to say that it got a lot easier a couple months in.


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## Momma Aimee (Jul 8, 2003)

my son was 5 pounds when he came home -- it took us months.

my younger son come home at 6 pounds and by day 16 is at 7 pounds ... we can di it SOME OF THE TIME ... i creidt ME being better at it ... but it still not 100% successfufl ... i still have to turn on a light and sometimes sit up with him ....

i do it now with C in my arm, not really laying on the bed, and his legs curved "up" in my hand and his heaed on my arm ...

still a challange


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## Maple Leaf Mama (Jul 2, 2004)

I wasn't able to with my first until she was about 3 months-mainly b/c I never really tried.
But this time I tried when DS was about 3 weeks old. He was 5-12 when we came home. Now he is 10lbs-and still can't.
He keeps popping off-it just doesn't work yet.


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## melibee (Aug 20, 2007)

All three of mine slept with us and nursed in bed from the beginning.


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## MotheringHeart (Dec 18, 2005)

I had a seven week preemie babe. She was 6 lbs when we finally got to bring her home and I had to have some blankets under her head (like a hard pillow) for her to side lying nurse for several months.

However, all my other full termers have been able to side lying nurse from the beginner. Just work with it and you'll be able to get it down!


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## Twinklefae (Dec 13, 2006)

Mine was 9lbs at birth and we started to figure it out around 2 weeks. (Although only on one side... it took a few more weeks to get both down.) It should be possible... the worst you can do is try, right? When we were first starting and having latch issues, I'd latch him sitting up and then layhim down while still latched. Don't know if that will help you, but I thought I'd mention it!


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## guestmama9904 (Jul 6, 2002)

i was able to nurse my son while lying down within the first couple days, a kind mama friend with four kids showed me the wonders of blankets and pillows as props, basicallly you want the baby level with yr breast and not being squished by anything, a few layers of folded balnkets or towels can do the trick, also propping babe on yr arm, circling tehir body works too, and dont forget the pillows for you, its nice to have one behind you in the begging weeks and one for yr neck and head.


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## merrijayne (Aug 31, 2005)

i've done it with the newborns. It can be helpful to cradle the haead in the nookk of your arm at first.


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## sparklett (Nov 25, 2006)

DS was six pounds when I started side nursing. I held his head on my arm at first, and even now he sometimes likes it that way. I don't know why we did it like this, but during the very first days, I would nurse him with my left breast while laying on my right side and vice versa. It was awkward, but for some weird reason, it made things easier when he was really tiny.


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## momtoKailee (Nov 18, 2007)

I am still learning how to breastfeed, but I was able to once get my 7lb newborn to eat in the side-lying position. It was great, and I want to get her to do it more often.


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## mom2alicia (Nov 30, 2004)

with my firstborn, i didn't try side lying until she was 9 weeks old. it went well. with my son, i decided to just do it from the start, although it is challenging get him latched well. it's hard to get him on and he pops off a lot. but it's convenient and it works well enough to get the job done at night. i think as he gets older it will get easier. he is only 3 weeks old now. i think with a combination of maturation and practice it gets better. once they get to a certain point, it is just really easy. i'm not there yet with my son though....


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## farmwife (Jun 22, 2006)

We didn't start side-laying nursing until about 2 months. We practiced during the day so it was easier at night. I was really frustrated because I had heard so many say their DC did it right way, but it took us some time.


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## janiecakes (Jul 4, 2007)

The side lying position saved my sanity in the first couple of months. We managed to figure it out when my son was about a week old, but it took a few days of trying only that position (unless either one of us got really frustrated) to get the hang of it. He weighed 8 lbs 7 oz at birth but lost about 10 oz in the first few days. I didn't use anything to raise him up - just a rolled up receiving blanket behind him to wedge him onto his side against me. He used to pop off when he was done and then take a snooze using my boob as a pillow. So cute! Anyway, I digress. One thing I remember my midwife telling me was that you should start out with the baby lower down then you'd think in order to get a good latch.


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## Llyra (Jan 16, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *merrijayne* 
i've done it with the newborns. It can be helpful to cradle the haead in the nookk of your arm at first.

That's what I did with the twins, until they got a bit of head control. I also sometimes put a rolled-up blanket behind babe to keep babe in a good position. It took practice, but we were doing it successfully by about five days old. I had to sleep with the light on, though, because I couldn't see to get them latched properly in the dark.


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## hubris (Mar 8, 2003)

DS1 was 6 lbs 10 oz. DS2 was 7 lbs 9 oz. I nursed both side-lying from the start.


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## lemonhead (Mar 27, 2007)

DS is 2w and we are still trying to get the hang of it. I usually try side lying for 1 or 2 nightly feedings then get frustrated and move to the rocker for subsequent feedings.


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## HappyFox05 (Apr 11, 2007)

So, do people have problems w/head control or being on the right level or what?


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## phreedom (Apr 19, 2007)

The only time I was able to do it was in the hospital with the assistance of a nurse to get me in that position and about 800 pillows propping getting us in positon. After that it was possible.

I tried to do it at home and would get so frustrated. She would pop off and I had get in uncomfortable positons so she could have access and she would flop over. DD was 7lbs 6oz and a pretty good nurser, and she still had those issues. It was just easier for me to use a football or cradle hold in the begining.

After about 3-4 months, as she got stronger sidelaying was our favorite position. It's what we did 80% of the time. I did find that elevating her with a pillow and putting a roll or pillow behind her to help her stay in that postion was helpful too.


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## Lady Lilya (Jan 27, 2007)

The first few tries, DS was kinda tucking his chin down and not getting the right angle to meet up with the nipple. He had head control from birth, and never tolerated his head being positioned for him or guided. To this day he screams if anyone touched his head because he feels restricted.

So, after a couple of failures, he refused to try the position again until he was 3 weeks. Then he had no problem. From that point on, i didn't get out of bed at night unless he was making a lot of noise and I wanted to spare DH the disturbed sleep. No sense having both of us tired. Who would take care of ds, then, while I napped.


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## Llyra (Jan 16, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *HappyFox05* 
So, do people have problems w/head control or being on the right level or what?

Yeah.










It was all that, plus trouble maintaining an effective and comfortable latch. Also, my DD2 used to get fussy nursing lying down, until she was a month or two old.


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