Responsive Feeding
Responsive feeding.
Back in the day, we had to stress to the midwives in hospital that we wanted to Demand Feed. Otherwise they would presume our babies were on a feeding schedule: 3 hourly feeds until a certain weight, then 4 hourly feeds.
Demand in this context was later reframed as Feeding According to Need. Demand came with some negative connotations and also put too much responsibility onto babies who might be too sleepy to demand very much at all!
Later again we talked about Cue-based Feeding which is now also referred to as Responsive Feeding. Which is what was being talked about all along, it just took several decades to get the language right!
Mothers and their breasts respond to behaviour in the baby signalling they need to breastfeed. Generally this signalling begins as they come to the end of a sleep cycle and are in a light sleep stage.
Presuming baby is in the natural state against their mothers upper body, they will begin to "nuzzle" and seek the nipple. If it is right by their mouth, they can attach quickly and often without audible sound. This is most likely when they are being held skin to skin or breastsleeping alongside the maternal body.
The more distance between mouth and breast, the more effort required to find it. Initially the head will make small sweeping movements, expecting to brush against the nipple. The hands will become active and the baby might suck on them during the search. As they continue seeking the nipple, the head movements will cover a wider area and they might even twist or turn the body. The mouth will open and close in gaping motions and sucking on the hands increase in intensity.
As the baby begins to sense the breast is not where it should be, they will move from soft cooing noises to louder grunts and sounds before crying begins. Initially the cries are short bursts of alarm but soon move to continuous distress, increasing in volume.
The baby does not have any awareness their mother is a separate entity. She is their habitat. If the breast is not there then they have no capacity for survival. Their crying will increase as they become red in the face and completely distressed. They feel abandoned.
