Newborn Nursing Personality

Part of getting to know your infant is getting in tune with her newborn nursing personality. As you've probably already figured out, just as your baby has a unique cry and a unique way of curling into your arms, she also has a nursing style that's all her own.

But is your newborn's nursing style unique — or does it fit into the norm? Here are five major categories of nursers that can help you better understand your baby's style — and what to make of her newborn nursing habits.

Barracuda

Is your baby like a little vacuum, latching on tenaciously and suckling with all her might for 10 to 20 minutes at a time? If yes, you may have a barracuda-like baby on your hands (or at your breast!). Sure, there's no dawdling at the breast with this newborn nursing style, but the quick action that characterizes this type may cause you pain due to your infant's vigorous suck.

To prevent sore nipples, make sure your itsy-bitsy barracuda gets a good, deep latch. If you're in pain throughout the feeding, that's a sure sign that the latch needs some fixing. 

In that case, remove your hungry baby from the breast (break her suction gently and carefully by putting your pinkie in the corner of her mouth), and try the latch again until it feels right. Also, consider switching breastfeeding positions so that your baby doesn't irritate the same sore spots again and again.

Excited ineffective

You'll be able to tell if your baby is an excited ineffective if she's so thrilled to see your breast (and smell her next meal!) that she can't keep her mouth grasped around the nipple long enough to actually nurse. Once these newbie nursers lose hold of the breast, they end up screaming in frustration (which can be frustrating for you as you try to get the hang of breastfeeding).

Your goal with this newborn nursing personality is to keep your baby calm: Prevent your little one from getting too excited (and inevitably frustrated) by offering your breast at the first sign of hunger (such as rooting or sucking on her hands). You can also try putting some breast milk on your nipple or hand expressing so the milk has already let down before you latch. That way when the baby finally latches, she gets something. 

Then do your best to create a soothing nursing environment — sit in a glider and rock your baby while she breastfeeds, offer lots of skin-to-skin contact and, most of all, try to keep your cool so that your infant doesn't get even more wound up and off her nursing game. Also, rest assured that as your baby gets older and more practiced, she'll become a more-effective (and probably less-excited) nurser.

Procrastinator

Infants with this laid-back newborn nursing personality tend to be more interested in snoozing than suckling. If your baby is a procrastinator, make sure she gets needed nutrition and regular practice breastfeeding by putting her to your breast often even if she doesn't seem hungry. (Doctors recommend eight to 12 times a day for all newborns.) You may need to wake her up to feed her.

If it's time to feed and she's still sleepy, you can undress her so she's not as warm and cozy, perking her up a bit.

Don't stress about how much your baby is drinking — newborns need very little volume early on. You'll be able to tell if your baby is getting enough breast milk by making sure that her diaper output is on track and if she seems happy and content (or drifts back to sleep) after most feedings. Soon enough, your little procrastinator will probably get her nursing act in gear.

Gourmet

These future foodies know how to savor their milk, so if your baby is a gourmet, she tends to mouth the nipple, play with it, smack her lips and take her time tasting each mouthful of milk. There's no use in trying to hurry a gourmet, since you'll only make her angry and upset. 

Instead, your best bet is to go with the flow (so to speak), and let your little one take her time. Keep in mind that even the newborn nursers who eat for the longest stretches get quicker as they get older.

Rester

How can you tell if your baby has this newborn nursing personality? Resters like to nurse for a few minutes and then rest for a few minutes, or even nod off only to wake up and want to continue nursing again — which can be quite confusing to a new mom, who is eager to have some predictability when it comes to her baby's nursing schedules.

As with a procrastinator, you can do your best to try to keep your infant alert through feedings. To that end, try unswaddling or undressing your baby while she's nursing, or tickle her feet to keep her awake. You can also manually massage your breast in order to pump some milk into your newborn's mouth when she starts to slow down her suck-swallow pattern and drift off to dreamland. The good news is that as your rester matures, she'll start to get a more-regular newborn nursing pattern