Feeding in slings/carriers
Guest blog by Zoe Woodman – The Sling Consultancy
Can I feed in a sling/carrier?
Yes is the simple answer! Whether it is via breast, chest, bottle or tube, feeding in slings/carriers can be really helpful!
Carrying or babywearing is typically used to describe the act of supporting your child on your body using fabric or other means, giving you your hands back. You may support them with your hands as well at times; this is called ‘in arms’ carrying. Essentially carrying is a tool and it is something that can be useful for everyone.
Newborn babies are born not being able to move themselves around and are dependent on caregivers for pretty much everything. Carrying helps to meet many of their needs and it also enables us to meet our own needs too. It doesn’t have to be one or the other, it can be both together.
Babies are not able to easily regulate their body temperature or heart rate, they find it easier to do this when in contact with another human. They know simply that they are more likely to survive when on someone else, being separate is extremely dangerous to a baby, they do not know they are safe, many of the items sold to parents replace this contact, replace us.
Carrying is the evolutionary norm and it is what your baby expects. Their brains are very primitive, working on the basics of survival rather than advanced thinking. If we can support their basic need for touch and contact it actually helps to support their growing brain connections, building the foundations for the advanced thinking that comes later.
It makes sense that carrying and feeding go together when we think of them as biological processes.
It is possible to do one without the other or both together, however you feed your baby.
Carrying can help feeding in a variety of ways, directly and indirectly-
Practically if you find positioning tricky, and feel like you need an extra hand, the sling/carrier can help give support.
Hormonally - by being in close contact, using slings even if not for feeding in, helps support oxytocin which is important for milk supply. A study by Pisacane et al. (2012) found that a group given carriers vs those not had higher breastfeeding rates. Used for at least 1 h per day during the first month of life, and were found to be more likely to be breastfeeding their infants at 2 months (72% vs 51%) and at 5 months of age (48% vs 24%), respectively. The intervention group infants were breastfed significantly more frequently than those of the control group. They concluded that the use of baby carriers in healthy term infants during their first month is associated with increased breastfeeding duration.
Responsiveness to cues, being close helps you to watch for cues and enables us to be responsive sooner, babies are less likely to cry as they don’t need to wait in order to have their needs met.
Carrying supports your baby’s body so it can make feeding easier in many ways as it means you don’t need to. It is crucial to support baby’s head/neck using your arm or hand as their head is very heavy and certainly until they have some head control they cannot hold it in place. This means breastfeeding is not going to be completely hands free at least not to start with.
There are many options for feeding in slings/carrier using different positions:
Across body
Image courtesy of @motherruckeruk
2. Rugby hold or under arm
3. Upright
4. Seated sideways (bottle/tube)
Image courtesy of Deborah @south_essex_slings
5. Facing away from you (bottle/tube)
Different methods may work better with different slings/carriers. And different body shapes etc, it may even vary from side to side so do experiment with this.
Safety is key when using slings/carriers. TICKS is a useful general guide.
This guide specifically for feeding from South Essex slings is a very useful resource.
In view at all times is super important for feeding, especially breastfeeding due to the squishable nature of our bodies, it is key to monitor airways and to do this you need to see their face, mouth, nose and ensure the back of the head is free of any obstructions.
Its key if they fall asleep during feeding to monitor their position as breast tissue is very soft and is a suffocation risk. Either move face away or adjust breast or reposition upright, whichever is the safest position as every body differs; so do the risks. If your baby is asleep and you are sat down you may not want to reposition them so make minor adjustments if needed and continue to monitor airways.
What you are wearing is a key aspect to think about when breast/chest feeding in a sling/carrier as you do need to access this area. The sling/carrier can mean pulling a top up isn’t that easy to do. So stretchy tops, feeding tops and wearing less is useful and means not having to wrestle with too many layers etc.
There is a myth that you need to be feeding well to try it in a sling and actually that isn’t helpful as the sling may provide support to help establish feeding, it can help instead of needing feeding pillows or props as the sling/carrier holds baby close to your body.
You can find your local consultant or sling library here. If you need support feeding there is a great course by Slingababy
Zoe is a trained and insured carrying consultant, based in the Surrey Hills, Supporting you to carry safely, comfortably and confidently. Sharing the science behind carrying, supporting infant development and parents/carers mental and physical health.
Zoe is available for consultations both in person and online to help you get carrying and runs workshops for professionals on infant carrying and the science behind it.
She writes and speaks on attachment, trauma, adverse childhood experiences and how carrying can be a prevention and intervention. You can book here online.
You can reach Zoe via her website and follow her on @theslingconsultancy on Instagram.
