You may have heard people talking about the importance of good positioning and attachment when breastfeeding. But what does it mean?

Positioning refers to how the baby is held by you in order to breastfeed effectively! 

There are certain commonly used positions that you may have heard by name:

• Cradle hold 

• Cross cradle hold

• Ruby Ball hold 

• Laidback hold/Biological nurturing position

But these aren’t the only options. All of these different ways of holding your baby are aiming for the same things and if you can find other ways of achieving these, then go ahead (and give it a fun name while you’re at it like…the meerkat position….or the ‘trying to eat my cereal but baby has other ideas’ position).

Key positioning aims:

• Baby being close to you - with no room for a hand to get between your bodies. Try not to restrict baby's hands though as they can be a great help to your breasts at encouraging the milk to flow.

• Baby being in a straight line - nose, shoulder, hips and knees in line so baby doesn’t have to twist anywhere to reach your breast. Have you ever tried drinking a glass of water with your head tilted at an odd angle or direction to the rest of your body? Have a go! Swallowing can be a real struggle.

• Baby’s nose should be positioned so your nipple is aimed up the nostril

• Baby’s head being free to tip back so no cheeky hand or finger pushing babies head onto the breast

Ensuring baby is positioned with these in mind will help baby attach effectively to transfer milk from your breast to their mouth (and then tummy).