Video of a newborn baby’s breast crawl
The Magic of A newborn’s breast crawl
Swedish researchers whipped out their cameras and filmed 10 moms and their newborns right after they had a natural birth without any medication.
What they found was pretty fascinating!
They noticed that all 10 babies did some pretty similar stuff, and they did it around these specific times:
At 6 minutes old, they opened their little eyes.
By 11 minutes, they were already massaging their mom's breast.
At 12 minutes, they started exploring by putting their hands to their mouths.
Around 21 minutes, they instinctively started rooting around for the breast.
At 25 minutes, they'd moisten their hands and touch their mom's breast, making her nipple perk up.
By 27 minutes, they'd stick out their tiny tongues and start licking the nipple.
And finally, at 80 minutes old, they were ready to dive into breastfeeding.
Now, if you've had a natural birth and you're curious about this whole "breast crawl" thing, here's the deal: Get skin-to-skin with your baby and let them do their thing. Resist the urge to interfere or guide them.
It might take a while, maybe even up to an hour or more. But during that time, your little one will go through moments of rest, alertness, and discovery.
They'll discover their hands and fingers, explore their new surroundings, and maybe even find their way to your breast all on their own. It's a beautiful process, but it's one that needs time and space to unfold naturally.
Sometimes, birth interventions can mess with this natural process. So, if it doesn't happen exactly like this for you, don't sweat it. Seriously, don't feel bad or beat yourself up over it. This ideal scenario just shows us what's possible, but every birth is different, and that's totally okay.