The word 'latch' doesn't really describe what happens when your baby comes on to your breast

The word 'latch' can be misleading

It's not that it's bad to say latch! Everyone does!

It's just that the word 'latch' can trick us into thinking that the latch is a separate thing baby’s mouth does on your breast. But babies’ mouths don’t act in isolation as they come onto the breast. Really, the way your baby’s mouth comes onto the breast and sucks is dynamic, and depends upon lots of factors, many of which can be changed in this very moment if you choose to.

For example, what's often referred to as a shallow latch can be almost immediately changed to a deep latch by altering baby’s fit, in a way that gets rid of nipple and breast tissue drag. It doesn’t make sense to analyse what is happening with baby’s latch unless we're considering the whole of your baby’s body and your body coming together. This is evolutionary bodywork in action.

For me, the word 'latch' has something metalic buried in it!

The word 'latch' has, for me, a sense of something mechanical and unyielding in it, which doesn't properly convey how the sensitive living tissues of mother and baby interact together in breastfeeding. This is reflected in its aetiology. The word 'latch' derives from 'laeccan', an Old English word which means 'to seize' and which was originally Germanic. The Collins English Dictionary defines 'latch' as:

1. Noun. A fastening for a gate or door that consists of a bar that may be slid or lowered into a groove, hole, etc

2. Verb. To fasten, fit or be fitted with or as if with a latch.

Wikipedia describes a latch as "a mechanical fastener that joins two or more objects or surfaces together while allowing for their regular separation, often made from metal."

It's not surprising, then, given the word's derivations, that I personally hear a metallic ring buried in the word 'latch'! For me, latch seems to imply a seizing of the breast, a fierce fastening on, even an aggressive lock-on. I worry that the word itself makes us tighten up a bit, as if bringing the baby on is going to hurt.

Despite this aetiology, the word 'latch' is widely used in English as either a noun or a verb when discussing breastfeeding. In the Possums programs we are more likely to use alternatives from the table at the bottom of this page. These words not only feel more holistic to me, but are more respectful of the incredibly precious and tender human tissues (yours and your baby's) which are coming together.

The word latch is often used to wrongly blame the baby

I also don't like to use the word latch because it directs the focus onto baby's capacity to perform, as if your baby has something wrong with her if she is having trouble 'latching'. When we use the verb 'latch' or 'latch on to the breast', it suggests that baby is responsible for this act. Many phrases used by breastfeeding support professionals arise from outdated biomechanical understandings of suckling, such as

• “Baby won't latch”

• “Baby won't stay latched on”

• "Baby has a shallow latch"

• “Baby’s latch is causing you nipple pain”

• "Baby can't latch because his chin too small or retrognathic"

• "Baby can't latch because her lingual frenulum or upper lip frenulum is too tight or his tongue is too short or his palate is too high and too narrow"

• "Baby can't latch because the mother's nipple is flat or because her breasts are big".

Latch puts the blame on the baby for what he does with his mouth at the breast (or his failure to do the right thing). If the baby 'won't latch', either the baby's or mother's anatomy are blamed - as if our bodies are failing us.

But in fact, what your baby can do with his mouth at the breast is dramatically constrained by the way that little one is fitted into your body.

The way baby comes on to the breast depends on fit and hold

Often the problem is that baby's oral anatomy and function is being considered all on it's own, not as a part of a dynamic, interacting system.

The way a baby comes onto or fits into the breast is contextual and dynamic. Many factors interact and come into play. I am interested in functional anatomy, anatomy in motion, anatomy of both mother and baby responding to their changing contexts and I’ve looked for words that better capture this complexity. This is why Possums Breastfeeding & Lactation uses different language to describe women's breastfeeding experiences.

The word ‘positioning’ in breastfeeding also seems to imply something that the mother does to the baby. In the past 15 years, in reaction to ideas of 'mother-led' breastfeeding, there has been a trend to suggest that babies can self-attach for successful breastfeeding. However, what’s called 'self-attachment’ (if breastfeeding is to work) always involves the mother physically interacting with her little one and changing the fit and hold. The terms 'latch and positioning' or 'attachment and positioning' don't capture - to my mind - the dynamic interrelatedness of the multiple parts of a baby coming onto the breast.

This is why I coined the term 'fit and hold' instead of 'latch and positioning' or 'attachment and positioning'. Fit and hold refers to the whole of the baby interacting with the whole of the mother, you and your baby fitting your bodies together, supported by your arms. Fit is less specific than the mouth-focussed 'latch’. Hold refers to ongoing interactions which are more than just positioning done to the baby, but which allow for the baby's autonomy within your act of holding your baby and supporting him against gravity and in relation to your own body.

Words to use instead of 'latch'

Popular uses of the word latch in breastfeeding	Possums alternatives
Latch [and positioning]	Fit [and hold]
Baby's latch	Baby's fit
Baby is latching onto the nipple	Baby is coming onto the breast
Baby latches on	Baby takes the breast
Latch baby on	Bring baby on
Latch your baby onto the breast	Bring your baby onto the breast
Baby is latched on	Baby is suckling or sucking