What is Going on with These Hands?
This is part two in our series “Why Does My Baby Do That?!” This blog post will cover why are their hands in the way, why do they knead the breast, why are they eating their hands?
In our last post, we discussed a little about your baby kneading at the breast and the milk ejection reflex (M.E.R.) or letdown. Let’s revisit this topic in a little more detail. Remember when I said, babies are geniuses and that we’ve learned by watching them? Well, it’s true! Your baby was born to do this, we just need to offer support and stay out of the way in most cases. But what about those hands you ask? Let’s take a closer look by age.
Newborns: Your baby is trying (with really immature muscles) to get latched on perfectly. The nipple needs to be back pretty far in the baby’s mouth to activate that suckle reflex and to get the most amount of milk for all that effort, so the baby is trying to get a good deep latch. Just like when we use our hands to stabilize the breast, your baby may do the same. By using their hands to hold the breast, they can move their head to the right spot to get latched. When a baby gets their hands up to the nipple then brings them to their own mouth, the baby is trying to locate the nipple and get it to the right place for nursing. Did you know that babies don’t have great eyesight and their other senses are stronger to make up for it? A baby’s sense of smell is strong and you smell amazing to your baby. Their hands move from your skin and bring the scent of you to the baby’s mouth and then they move their mouth to the nipple to latch. When we cover their hands with mittens or socks, or pin them down with a blanket, we’re actually making it even harder for them to learn to latch. So trim or file the nails and let those hands stay free!
When the baby first starts sucking, it will be with short fast movements of the jaw to stimulate the milk ejection reflex (M.E.R.) or letdown. If it doesn’t happen as fast as the baby would like, you may notice some pounding on the breast, or kneading, before you see longer, slower, wider jaw movements and hear your baby gulping the milk. That pounding, or kneading, on the breast helps to activate the letdown or M.E.R., so your baby can get more to eat. Didn’t I tell you your baby was so smart?!
Older babies are also just really into touching everything, picking your nose, pulling on your necklace or shirt, or holding a lovey/soft toy. They really just love to have those hands doing something at all times, so bonus for them if their hand movements get them more milk, right?! All that moving around is developmentally appropriate for older babies as they start to become distracted by the amazing world around them. Everything is so interesting and they want to see and know what makes every sound. They also want to touch and pull and pinch and grab anything their hands can reach which just might be the breast their nursing from or the other side. Ouch, I know, I know. Gentle reassurance that they can touch with kind hands is appropriate even at a very young age so don’t be shy about setting boundaries with your little person. You get to decide how you are touched. Your baby needs to learn that and who better to teach them about respecting boundaries and bodies than you, someone who loves them unconditionally?! We’ll dive deeper into fidgety babies later in this series. Join the mailing list so you don’t miss out.
Quick recap; your baby is super smart and uses their hands to help them find the breast, latch, and get more milk. As your baby grows and matures, they can learn to use kind hands and your boundaries. If you feel like you just can’t deal with the hands, or you need a strategy for how to handle them, make an appointment with me! We’ll talk it through and make a plan that works for you. Stay tuned for part three in our series, “Why Does My Baby Do That?!” where we’ll discuss my all time favorite Lact-facts! Human lactation is AMAZING!