08/01/2025
How Letting Your Newborn Practice the 'Breast Crawl' Helps With Breastfeeding
Here's how to try it out with your infant.
ByWendy Wisner Published on July 29, 2025
Fact checked by Sarah Scott
Key points
"A new study has highlighted the benefits of the "breast crawl," or letting your newborn tap into their instincts and move to the breast themselves for feeding.
The breast crawl has many positive effects for both the parent and child.
There are other alternatives to the breast crawl in the event it isn't right for you.
Most of us have heard about the benefits of skin-to-skin time with our babies soon after birth.1 But there’s another strategy to consider, especially if you are hoping to breastfeed. It’s a little something known as the “breast crawl,” which is essentially allowing your baby to tap into their instincts, move to the breast, and latch on by themselves.
A new study is shedding light on some of the benefits of the breast crawl, and we connected with some experts in the field to understand more about what this study means, how the breast crawl can be used, and what to know if you aren't able to try it (hint: it’s really fine if you don’t do it!).
What the Study Found
This new study, published in June 2025 in Maternal & Child Nutrition, looked at a group of 295 birthing parents. These parents were divided into two groups: parents who tried the breast crawl with their babies, and parents who did conventional skin-to-skin time.
The study found that, compared to the skin-to-skin only group, parent-baby groups who tried the breast crawl:2
Had higher rates of exclusive breastfeeding at 24 hours, three days after birth, and one month after birth
Had higher success rates of initial breastfeeding
Had their milk “come in” sooner
Had more stable forehead skin temperature
Had improved anxiety and breastfeeding outlooks
According to Sharon Berger, RN, IBCLC, labor and delivery nurse and lactation consultant at Our Milk House, this study shows that allowing newborns to tap into their instincts and reflexes helps set them up for breastfeeding success. “What begins as a reflex becomes integrated into the muscles,” she says. “Essentially, babies develop a ‘muscle memory’ of how to effectively breastfeed.”
Importantly, it wasn’t just whether or not doing the breast crawl led to breastfeeding success, but the fact that it instilled confidence and agency for parents and babies. The study showed that when infants are given space to latch on their own, breastfeeding parents “are more likely to see their infant as a capable participant in breastfeeding,” Berger says. It also typically results in more comfortable and effective feeds.
All of this means that breastfeeding parents “are more likely to perceive the breastfeeding relationship positively, which will reduce anxiety,” Berger describes.
What Is the “Breast Crawl”?
So what exactly is the “breast crawl” and how do you do it?
If you have a newborn, you’ve probably heard about newborn reflexes. These are intuitive muscle responses to stimulation. For example, if you put an object near a newborn’s mouth, they will likely start to suck (sucking reflex). If your infant hears a sudden or loud sound, they’ll startle (startle reflex). Infants also will start to make stepping motions if you touch their foot to a firm surface (step reflex).3
Specifically, newborns have in-born reflexes which guide them to the breast and help with latching and sucking. “These are full body reflexes that are triggered by stimuli such as cheek and chin contact with the breast, and pressure along the front of the baby’s body, especially when in skin to skin contact,” Berger describes.
Together, these reflexes help orchestrate the breast crawl, “which is when a baby orients to the breast, positions its mouth just under the ni**le, tips its head back, opens its mouth wide, latches and begins sucking,” says Berger.
How to Attempt the Breast Crawl
In most cases, doing the breast crawl means placing your baby on your abdomen soon after birth, skin-to-skin with you, with your baby on their belly, resting against you. Then you wait (as patiently as possible!) for your baby to migrate up to the breast, sniff around, and start to suckle.
“The breast crawl is one of the most absolutely beautiful things that can occur after a birth,” says Emily Spaeth, PT, DPT, IBCLC, doctor of physical therapy and lactation consultant at Be Well Baby PDX. “It is the first time that a newborn has to contend with gravity—and something amazing happens.”
As Spaeth notes, there are actually nine steps that a baby goes through during the breast crawl. “Some people don’t realize that it can take up to an hour for a baby to really explore you and figure out latching at breast,” she says.
Though you may not notice each distinct step (and you will likely be in a bit of a post-birth hormonal daze), most babies work their way through these nine phases as they make their way to the breast. These steps, as outlined by Dr. Ann-Marie Widström in her research, include:4
Birth cry
Relaxation
Awakening
Activity (moving head, arms/legs, rooting, hand-to-mouth)
Crawling
Resting
Familiarizing (rooting at breast, licking ni**le, massaging breast)
Suckling
Sleepinghttps://www.parents.com/how-letting-your-newborn-practice-the-breast-crawl-helps-with-breastfeeding-11778473
