Breastfeeding positions

When you’re learning to breastfeed, it’s best to start with baby-led attachment. Sit up and get comfy, with pillows for support. Lie baby between your breasts, skin to skin, supported by your arms. Baby will move towards one breast and start feeding.
If you’re comfy and relaxed and baby is attached correctly, it will be easier. Try a chair with good back support, and cushions or pillows to prop up your arms. Rest your feet on a footstool to keep them flat.
If you’ve had a caesarean, you can still do baby-led attachment. Encourage baby to lie more to one side of you, supported on pillows but angled away from your wound. Keep baby’s feet supported.

Once you’re going well with breastfeeding, you can try different feeding positions.
This is the classic front hold or cradle position, often used in combination with mother-led attachment.
Here’s the underarm position or football hold. Tuck your baby close to your body. You can feed twins together in this position. It can also help if you have sore nipples.
The lying down position is good for night feeds. But be careful you don’t go to sleep with your baby in this position.

In the first few weeks, it can be easier to feed twins separately. But once you’ve got the hang of it, you can try feeding them together in the twin hold. Some mums feed separately, others together, and most do a mix.
If you want to breastfeed when you’re out, you could practise first at mothers’ group, or with friends and family. It is your legal right to feed your baby in any place at any time.
If you feel self-conscious about breastfeeding in public, try using a scarf or cloth to cover your baby when feeding.