My Breastfeeding Chair Dream
I had the weirdest dream while on holidays. It was about two mums sending me a DM asking the exact same question – should I buy this chair to breastfeed in?
Not so weird so far.
But the chair in the messages in my dream was something out of Victorian England (probably, I am not so great on my historical periods). Straight backed, very richly patterned fabric, with hard, wooden arms.
It was a definite no about this being a good chair to breastfeed in, and my dream self sent responses back to these mothers saying it wouldn’t be ideal. My dream self also tut-tutted about the marketing that must have made this chair seem like the thing that they had to buy during pregnancy. However this isn’t just my dream self, I do it pretty often in my waking hours too.
Unless you have no comfortable couches or beds in your house, there is no need to buy a special chair to breastfeed in. If you really have no other spot, it might be nice to get something, but a lot of the chairs I have seen included in the nursery have been no so great for breastfeeding. They often have little ability to recline, and have reasonably hard, though padded over arms.
A lot of what I do when I am assisting someone to fit together with their baby to improve their breastfeeding success is get them to lean back to about a 45 degree angle with their trunk, sometimes further if they are comfortable. We sometimes need to use pillows behind their backs, but I find most lounge room furniture is suitable to achieve this. You need to be well supported and comfortable, but I also think mother and baby should be included in everyday life while a breastfeed is happening, not tucked away in a separate room. Sure, there are times when this might be nice, but when you are breastfeeding so frequently in the early days, you might go a bit stir crazy in one smallish room. So if you are wanting to buy a chair, I’d suggest picking something comfortable you like the look of so it lasts beyond breastfeeding, and not necessarily something that is marketed for breastfeeding.
And why are arms on a chair problematic? Newborns have a bunch of useful reflexes when they are born, one of which is the stepping reflex. When their feet touch a hard surface, they push off, as if taking a step. This is useful for the breast crawl, but not so useful if they are pushing off the arm of the chair when you are trying to get them to fit on your body to feed them. If this is happening in your chair, try the couch or bed with pillows around you for support.
One the subject of pillows, breastfeeding pillows are another item that has been well marketed in the past, and really is usually not necessary, perhaps with the exception of feeding twins at the same time. You postpartum body makes the perfect pillow for your baby, and you can use the multitude of pillows you used during pregnancy again to get comfortable during breastfeeding.
Anything I would suggest you buy during pregnancy for breastfeeding? There are a couple of things actually.
Breast pads. As much as I love a reusable product, I would suggest disposable initially when there could be a lot of leaks. You can move on to reusables once you find out how leaky you are and you have passed the early period when there can be nipple cracks if you haven’t nailed fit and hold or there are other issues with how you and your baby come together.
Something to hold the breast pads in place. A soft bra, crop top or breastfeeding singlet for example. Probably in a bigger cup size than you were in pregnancy.
Breastfeeding education. I cannot overemphasize this I feel. Learn about how breastfeeding works and how you and your baby fit together for the best chance of success. This might be at a class organised by the place you are birthing at, private classes, individually with a lactation consultant or through the Australian Breastfeeding Association education programs.
What about breast pumps, nipple creams and various other things? I’d suggest waiting to see what you need. You might never need to express your milk, and if you are needing to express a great deal in the early days, you might want to hire a bigger, more efficient pump than the single electric you might buy just in case during pregnancy. Most breastfeeding products are increasingly becoming available in pharmacies, through small businesses and even supermarkets, so you should be able to source what you need reasonably easily unless you live in a remote area. You will also find that a lot of mums will have what you need lying around unopened as they bought a heap of stuff while pregnant that they never then needed to use – ask around in mums groups to see what you can get if you find yourself in need.
What did you actually find useful, and what do you wonder why you bought?
Keep growing strong,