This is an example of a mom who used the Cross Cradle Hold and her
baby lost weight.
Tracey:
-used Cross Cradle Hold
-baby lost weight
I grew up in the 70’s and was heavily indoctrinated that children prevent a woman from reaching her potential.
At 21, I gave birth to a daughter. It was now the early 90’s and in this decade, children no longer had to ‘ruin your life’. You just simply hand them over to complete strangers to raise (this is what we call daycare!) while you get on with your life.
Two years later we had a second daughter. The only improvement I made as a mother was to hire a nanny to care for my daughters rather than to warehouse them in a daycare center.
By the time I stopped blaming my parents for the miserable life I was leading and realized I was repeating the cycle on my own kids, infancy was long gone for each of my girls.
I desperately asked God for another chance at motherhood. I had many regrets about the infancy of my older children. Through my years of self-discovery I learned that many lifelong emotional issues are created in infancy.
My prayers were answered in March when I discovered I was pregnant.
I had promised God that I would do things differently given another chance.
God had done His part, now I needed to do mine.
‘Doing things differently’ was doing what was in the best interest of my child, not what was convenient for me.
After only a little research, I knew that nursing my new baby was the only option. While I did make an attempt with my first daughter, that attempt was unsuccessful due to a lack of information and appropriate support.
I was not going to be unsuccessful this time and began on a campaign to educate myself. I began attending LLL meetings about 5 months into my pregnancy. There, I was introduced to 'The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding' book.
Claudia's note: unfortunately, this book was changed to promote
the Cross Cradle Hold and currently, as of 2025, includes much
breastfeeding misinformation.
I loved this book. It represented exactly the type of mother I wished to be with instructions on how to do it! I quickly learned that nursing was a method of mothering, not just a feeding choice.
The next 4 months were preparation for mothering. I wanted to do everything within my power to ensure breastfeeding success.
My mothering bible suggested an unmedicated birth. I began a search for a doula. The first doula I contacted recommended I take a Bradley Class. She also referred me to Bradley instructor ‘G’, who was also in the process of becoming a certified doula. Instructor G was wonderful.
She was instrumental in involving my husband to a level I did not know was possible. While it was my intention all along, it was actually my husband who requested Instructor G attend our birth as our doula. We learned so much in our Bradley class.
One of our final Bradley classes included a presentation from local lactation consultant Janet, who gave us an introduction to the early days of breastfeeding.
She instructed us on the Cross Cradle Hold, suggesting this was the best way to have success in breastfeeding.
My midwife was becoming increasingly nervous about the size of my baby, but I insisted that I would not be induced, as I was with both of my previous births due to Gestational Diabetes.
My midwife respected my wishes up until the day before my due date. She instructed me to be at the hospital at 8:00 PM for an induction.
She recommended some castor oil if I wished.
To this day I don’t know if the castor oil was effective, but at 5:00 PM my water broke. My 11 LB 5 oz baby entered the world at exactly 8:00 PM.
The birth experience was perfect. Labor was short and tolerable until the end when my daughters’ shoulder became stuck. There was panic in the delivery room and the midwife shouted for help.
Finally, by the grace of God, she came out with no apparent problems, but a broken clavicle.
We named her Margaret. She seemed to latch on immediately and all appeared well.
On the second day of life, the day we were discharged from the hospital, she began crying incessantly.
The hospital lactation consultant told me that she was probably gassy, due to the spaghetti I had eaten the night before. She assured me that all was well.
Finally, by the fourth day of incessant crying both my husband and I were beside ourselves. I called my LLL Leader, who gave me some suggestions to calm Margaret. Both my husband and I began to think that she was hungry and against our better judgment, we gave her an ounce of the formula sample we were given in the hospital. She sucked it down in a hurry and went to sleep.
We called lactation consultant Janet. She observed Margaret nursing, corrected my Cross Cradle Hold positioning, then dropped a bombshell.
She told us that she had seen an increasing number of babies who were unable to transfer milk from the breast.
Margaret had lost over 15 % of her birth weight and was starving.
I was completely unprepared for what would become 5 1/2 discouraging, heart breaking and confusing months.
The prescription for our problem was to pump and feed Margaret via a finger and syringe.
She also suggested I see a doctor several hours from our home to begin ‘Cranial Sacral Therapy’.
Supposedly this was ‘the latest’ remedy for babies who would not nurse.
When I asked how many nursing couples this had worked for, I was told ‘for all who had hung in there’, but most it seemed had given up.
Well, I did not put in so much hard work for nothing. I was up for the challenge!
The recommended doctor, who was several hours away would not be back in her office until after the New Year. I was a little too impatient for this, since Margaret was almost a week old.
I had not experienced the joy of having my newborn nurse peacefully at my breast and I was married to a pump.
We decided to try the Cranial Sacral Treatment with a local woman, who LC Janet had just recently become acquainted with. This woman was wonderful. After our session Margaret latched, nursed and all seemed well.
LC Janet loaned me a scale to make sure Margaret was gaining weight, which I also used once to gauge how much milk Margaret was drinking. I measured a few ounces. I was confident that our troubles were behind us.
I was the proud mama at my first LLL meeting postpartum. I had overcome! Everyone congratulated me and I felt so good about the effort I had put in pumping and syringe feeding.
My world was shaken when I took Margaret for a weight check at the pediatrician. She had not gained even an ounce (although she also had not lost any!) I was devastated and called LC Janet.
She thought that perhaps their scale was off and that I should come to her office to weigh Margaret. We got the same results.
LC Janet instructed me to go home, nurse Margaret, pump, then introduce a bottle because this would increase the speed of the feeding. The first time I did this, I pumped out 3 oz. Margaret drank it happily.
LC Janet’s next solution was Cranial Sacral therapy again, but this time by the doctor two hours away. She suggested pumping and bottle-feeding for the next few days. When we went for our next weight check, Margaret had gained several ounces and was back up to her birth weight.
I went to an LLL enrichment meeting feeling like a complete failure. I was the only woman bottle feeding.
The topic of the meeting, again by the grace of God, was interventions that support breastfeeding and those that lead to weaning. Bottle feeding my baby was obviously a step in the wrong direction.
My LLL Leader, called LC Janet on my behalf, and was told that the bottle was merely a tool and that she should not involve herself in the treatment.
My LLL Leader reassured me that LC Janet was reputable and had helped her in the past.
Money was becoming very tight. My husband’s seasonal business had closed. We were waiting for snow to fall and a basement remodeling job to come through. The cost of Cranial Sacral therapy was $245.00 for the first appointment then $100.00, and my parents covered the rest.
We went for the initial appointment, but the results were naught.
Money was now non-existent.
I did not call LC Janet again because I could not afford her suggestions.
I continued pumping and bottle-feeding Margaret. I found a hospital-based LC, who agreed to see us and bill our insurance directly.
By the time we got our second opinion, we now had introduced a secondary problem, Margaret was not interested in my breast at all.
She had definitely developed a preference for the bottle. I was absolutely devastated. My goal of breastfeeding seemed to be slipping away from me.
I was determined to nurse Margaret. I refused to give up on her. I spent the next several months with support from an online ‘exclusively pumping’ board as well as several emails to prominent breastfeeding experts.
One did agree that some infants are unable to transfer milk but usually outgrow this by 8 weeks. He was disappointed that LC Janet introduced a bottle. He said my goal of holding my baby to my breast while nourishing her should have been met with a supplemental nursing system.
At this point I was furious with LC Janet. I trusted that her commitment to breastfeeding mirrored mine but came to find out after a visit to her website that her specialty is working and pumping. The only philosophy we seemed to share was a commitment to feeding babies breast milk.
The other expert suggested that I bath with Margaret. Have as much skin to skin contact as possible, co-sleep, etc. We had a victory one day when Margaret accepted the breast in the bathtub and happily nursed for about 10 minutes. This was the first time in months that I had any hope at all. I was on a mission again.
I emailed LLL for some suggestions. They sent the name and number of four leaders in the Chicago area who specialize in non-latching babies.
I called each name on the list with no luck in reaching anyone, except for the last name on the list which was Claudia.
Claudia told me she had worked with many women who experienced the same purported condition of not being able to transfer milk.
She told me she had even worked with another woman who was sent on the Cranial Sacral therapy train.
Claudia was like a breath of fresh air to me. She was the only person I had dealt with who actually shared my commitment to breastfeeding.
She told me my problem was the Cross Cradle Hold positioning, that I was taught to use.
She suggested I take a weekend, don’t pump at all and don’t give Margaret any bottles. I was instructed to use ONLY the Cradle Hold, which she taught me over the phone.
Initially I was fearful that this weekend would deplete the milk supply that I had worked so hard to maintain. After some consideration and the sincerity Claudia had conveyed in our phone conversation, I decided this was my last-ditch effort.
I determined that while I would still continue to pump and feed Margaret breast milk, I would not attempt nursing after this weekend (if Margaret didn’t nurse).
At first Margaret was unreceptive. Once she realized she had my nipple in her mouth, she spit it out and began to cry. I decided to try the nipple shield I was given by the hospital LC, since Margaret was not used to the feel of skin in her mouth.
After only a few tries, Margaret was happy to nurse with the use of the nipple shield, success! My baby was nursing with only a thin piece of rubber between us!! Was it possible that it was the position all along? Was it the Cross Cradle Hold that had destroyed my nursing relationship?
I called Claudia on Monday, so excited and grateful for her help.
After 5 1/2 months of feeling like a complete nursing failure it was great to share my success with the women in my LLL group.
The following week Margaret decided that the nipple shield was no longer necessary.
Since that weekend in June, we have not even had a bump in the road. At 21 months, we are still a happy nursing couple who use nothing but the Cradle Hold.
I shudder to think how many women and babies have had an abrupt end to their nursing relationship due to the Cross Cradle Hold.
In the midst of my ordeal, I met a group of women online who were pumping and bottle feeding, like me, due to latching difficulties.
The feelings we all shared were that while we were pleased that our babies were not being fed formula, we were all failures because we could not do what other nursing couples can.
At this writing I am pursuing some education so I can help other women know the difference between giving birth and being a mother.
Apparently, I am still a feminist but now in the truest sense of the word.
My 6-month ordeal will not have been in vain if this information will save just one woman a repeat of my experience.
