Breastfeeding moms, it’s time that this was written down in
black and white. It’s time that
attention was directed to a global phenomenon…to a timeless and shared
experience that we were never forewarned about:
The case of The Wandering Hand.
Are you nodding right now?
Are you perhaps gently re-positioning a soft baby hand away from your other nipple and towards
your neck, arm, face, hand…anywhere
but the other nipple?!
You are not alone.
It might be reassuring to know that The Wandering Hand stems
from a place of innate human development.
Because our babies are hard-wired to breastfeed…they are born with milk
on the mind, so to speak. And amazingly,
research* shows us that the seemingly random movements of tiny hands during
nursing is actually an instinctive way for infants to locate and attach to the
breast.
Clever babies.
For some babies, locating and attaching is simply not
enough…because they know (they just know)
that there are two breasts, with two nipples available. And this other nipple, termed across research
papers as the ‘free nipple’, is sometimes far too tempting for little hands to
resist. Because babies just love to rock
the boob…
Boob rocking is all well and good, yet for the mom with nursing aversion or painful nipples, The
Wandering Hand can sometimes feel totally overwhelming. But all is not lost!
Because there are, in fact, options out there that are a little less
crazy-making. Like breastfeeding
necklaces, for example. My own ‘free
nipple’ has been known to send a silent ode of thanks to KangarooCare on countless occasions. A sincere and heartfelt ode of thanks for
rescuing me from the depths of Twiddle Ville...
Thanks to the oak,
which provided the beads,
And thanks to the yarn, so diligently weaved.
Thanks to the mama,
who sat and who sewed,
Who had boobs on the
mind, from her head to her toes.
Thanks to this mama, who threaded the beads,
Thank you baby,
sat smiling at me,
And thank you
Universe, my nipple is FREE!
So there we have it.
The case of The Wandering Hand officially solved; with understanding of
instinctive human development and with gratitude to human ingenuity – because
we all need saving from Twiddle Ville from time to time…
Thank you to mama Jeanmarie for allowing me to feature her picture in this piece. For more photos in celebration of breastfeeding and motherhood, join the Mama Bean village on Facebook!
Like what you read? If you'd like to receive new posts from Mama Bean Parenting straight to your inbox, just click here
* Clinical
Lactation, “Facilitating Autonomous Infant Hand Use During Breastfeeding”,
by Genna,
Catherine Watson; Barak, Diklah
Clever babies indeed :-) Love that you named it Twiddle Ville - so true! This really made me smile <3
ReplyDeleteMy son has absolutely no interest in a necklace, toy, any other body part. He just wants that free nipple. :-/ persistent lil booger he is.
ReplyDelete