This is an example of how the Football Hold led to weight loss in baby and bottle feeding.
Marie:
-was taught to use the Football Hold, used nipple shields
-baby lost weight, mom pumped, and bottle fed
-when she learned the Cradle Hold, baby latched effectively and thrived
-used Cradle Hold with her second child from birth with no problems
Before giving birth to my daughter, I had planned to breastfeed her.
In preparation, I took a breastfeeding class at Prentice Women's Hospital in Chicago.
Immediately after delivery, I began a long month of failed attempts to breastfeed. It started with being told that the Football Hold would be the only hold that would work given my breast size.
The first lactation consultant that came to help me at Prentice came in the middle of the night, 10 hours after I gave birth — after 48 hours of labor.
In an exhausted state though eager to not give up, I took the opportunity to consult. She reinforced the Football Hold and suggested that I use a breast pump for 5 minutes every time before I nurse because she said my nipples were inverted.
The hospital had no pumps for me to use. After another 24 hours of trying this without much success, I requested to see the consultant one more time right before I left the hospital; she provided me with a nipple shield.
When we got home from the hospital, my daughter was losing weight and our pediatrician suggested that I hire a lactation consultant. Hundreds of dollars later, she had me weighing my daughter before and after each feeding. She also told me to continue using the nipple shield and suggested that I pump after each feeding because the shield was blocking my body from knowing how much milk to produce.
At this point, I was fearful that my daughter wasn’t getting enough nutrition from nursing and thought it was my fault because of using the nipple shield.
I also grew exhausted of nursing, then pumping and then by the time it all ended, and I got everything cleaned, it was time to repeat.
I attempted breastfeeding less frequently and soon switched to exclusively pumping and feeding my daughter from a bottle.
This was never my plan, but I felt that breastfeeding was failing my daughter, and I was obligated to make this choice.
A few weeks later, Claudia, a friend of my mother's, stepped in and provided advice that changed our lives.
Claudia taught me the Cradle Hold. My daughter latched. Simple as that.
No more pumping. No more nipple shield. No more pump parts to wash. The stress around pumping and producing enough milk was immediately replaced with the most important thing in the world: Bonding with my daughter.
I went on to nurse my daughter for a little over a year and stopped when I was pregnant with my son. When my son was born, nursing came naturally because I immediately started off with the Cradle Hold. I also nursed him for a year.
Being able to nurse both of my children was one of the best gifts of my life. This allowed me to bond with my children and comfort them and feel fulfilled in being able to do that for them.
The Cradle Hold Position is effective and comfortable from birth until weaning.
Caution - The Football Hold often causes problems that lead to an insufficient milk supply.