Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Armpits and Breastfeeding

One thing I have to cope with while breastfeeding my daughter, is having her hand in my armpit. She likes to roll the back of her hand or sort of scratch my armpit which is not really painful but uncomfortable. Sometimes I feel like my skin will peel off because of her constant rubbing. Most often it's just one hand but there are times when both hands are busy in my armpits.

Both my kids tried nipple twiddling but I did not allow them to continue, so having a hand in the armpit is actually more of a compromise. Sometimes an errant hand gets lodged in my mouth but more often its the armpit that gets the honor of being given the loving attention.

I have read of this action being referred to as the free-hand habit. With no bottle to hold on to, the hands are free to explore and do things that could be soothing for a child. I can still remember clearly when I was about 3 years old and I love to twiddle my mother's nipple. She used to slap my hand so I will stop doing it.

I discourage my child from touching my armpit whenever I'm breastfeeding her. I usually remove her hand and put it somewhere else. Sometimes she whimpers, especially when she's very sleepy, but more often she allows her hand to be removed and slowly she'll place it back in my armpit when I'm not paying attention to her. Nowadays, it has become more of a game with her.

1 comment:

Mommy said...

My baby puts her finger in my belly button or touches my tummy while feeding.:)