This is an example of a mom that was taught to use the Cross Cradle Hold with her first baby, and nursed less with subsequent babies because of it.
Susan:
-4 children
-nursed each baby for shorter periods of time because of the Cross Cradle Hold
-imprinted with the first hold she learned, could not switch to a different hold
I am eager to share with you information about my nursing experiences that may help new nursing mothers.
I have four children (ages 11, 9, 7, and 2), and I nursed them all.
My oldest was born in 1990, and that is when my nursing story begins.
The most important part of my story - and this is the part that might help new mothers - concerns the nursing hold I was taught in the hospital when my first child was born.
That hold is called the Cross Cradle Hold, and while it worked for a short time, the Cross Cradle Hold inevitably made it impossible for me to nurse any of my four children for any length of time.
I wish my nursing experience had been different.
Upon the arrival of my first child in 1990, I was completely unprepared for the mechanics of nursing. Neither my mother nor my mother-in-law had nursed their children. None of my peers had children yet - I was the first.
My oldest sister had nursed successfully, but she was a thousand miles away.
I had other obstacles as well - I am a very fair-skinned red head, with fair skin surrounding my nipples, and one slightly inverted nipple.
Despite all this, I was very eager to nurse. I had done my research and was truly committed.
As blisters and soreness developed even within 24 hours of my child’s birth, I became anxious to find a way to nurse without pain.
The hospital staff showed me the Cross Cradle Hold. I immediately took to the Cross Cradle Hold because it allowed me to hold my breast with one hand. That act of holding on to my breast somehow, in my mind, eased my pain and soreness.
Here is the heart of my story for new mothers - once I learned the
Cross Cradle Hold and used it over and over in the first weeks of my child’s life, it was imprinted in me, and I could never let it go.
I could not take my hand away from the breast on which the baby was nursing.
I simply could not. And as a result, I always had to nurse sitting down in a chair with pillows arranged in such a way as to support that hold.
That was inconvenient with one child, but as I had more and more children I nursed for shorter and shorter periods of time. I could not be a busy mother and be tied to a chair with a certain arrangement of pillows.
The Cross Cradle Hold made nursing a production, and I looked with longing at the mothers I saw nursing at the library or the park (using the Cradle Hold).
I could not do that.
And I cannot exaggerate how hard I tried to flip my babies around into a simple Cradle Hold so that I could free my hands.
In my experience, I felt a strong, almost biological bond to the initial hold I was taught to use.
I think imprinting is a very good term to describe this phenomenon.
As a result of my experience, I feel the information about the difficulties with the Cross Cradle Hold is crucial for new mothers. I wish I had been told how limiting this hold would turn out to be.
Actually, I wish that no one had ever shown me the Cross Cradle Hold.
I was so desperate and in so much pain in the first few days of my firstborn’s life, that I was going to try anything. I needed to be instructed about proper latching on, and not told about the Cross Cradle Hold.
I nursed my third and fourth children for just three months each.
I am convinced that with the Cradle Hold, I would have nursed them nearly a year. Moreover, I think the nursing I did do, would have been much less intrusive on the rest of my family - it would have been more natural - with the proper hold. I hope you will share my story with your group.
Sincerely, Susan
CAUTION - The Cross Cradle Hold often causes soreness
in the nipples, wrists, shoulders, and back. Pillows
reduce some of the symptoms but not all.