After spending A LOT of time in my feeding chair the past few weeks, it got me thinking about the feeding space and what has saved me from going bananas. A fun fact…Breastfeeding for one year is approximately 1800 hours… That’s a full-time job with 3 weeks annual leave… No matter how you’re feeding your baby, you’ll be doing many feeds, cuddles, settling and sleeps here too! It’s important to be comfortable and have some things around that brings you joy because your body can get sore quickly, frequent feeding/ settling/ soothing/ contact napping can make you feel trapped, dehydrated, tired and lonely.   Please spend some time thinking about your feeding/settling/ sleep corner/ space/ room! It’ll do you good My tips when considering your feeding set up:

• Feet flat to the floor.
• A small foot stool is a great prop to support your feet
• Avoid a deep seat. The back of your knees should be snug against the seat.
• High supportive back rest helps maintain good posture
• Look for a chair with low arm rests so they don’t get in the way of optimal feeding positioning and attachment
• Consider pillows for added support and comfort to you and your baby
• Rocking chairs are romantic, however I find them to be quite deep and due to their reclining nature, they can impact posture for the purpose of feeding.

Key items to keep within an arm’s reach:

• Side table/ caddy
• Dim lighting
• Water bottle or two
• Lip balm
• Snacks
• Nipple balm, burp cloth
• Phone charger

And lastly, look after yourself:

• Good posture applies for all feeding areas – side lying in bed, sitting on the couch, crosslegged on a picnic blanket or sitting in a waiting room.
• If your’e experiencing discomfort, consider where you feed, posture and position
• Movement and massage

I’ve had a good book that I’m slowing getting through, my kindle, air pods, lip balm, drink bottle all on my side table next to my feeding chair, I even completed my IBCLC Lactation Consultant pre exam whilst contact napping the other night (ps not a recommendation, I had a two hour time limit 😵‍💫 so it had to be done) For more information, inspiration, tips and tricks, please follow me @calmbirthwithamy Amy x