Okay, I seem to have a fair bit of searches on my blog about breastfeeding in the Manduca, and I have had some emails and comments in relation to my post about the Manduca as well. So I figured I might take a shot at explaining how it is done with some visuals.
So meet QT, the current baby in the older of the two Manducas I own.
QT sitting in normal mode
Breastfeeding on the go obviously is the best thing since sliced bread for a SAHM who goes out to have some me time to maintain some level of sanity. More so when QT is my second kid. Can I imagine having to sit in a nursing room with Ollie running amok and going bonkers? Yes I can imagine and I shudder to harbour any thoughts of it. Breastfeeding on the go also means more time for mummy to window-shop!
As you can see, 5mo QT is sitting a little too high in the carrier for me to feed. In order to lower him into a more suitable position, I unzip the back extension.
Unzipped back extension
And tadah! He is in boobies land. Snarfle, sniff sniff, snarfle. Yes, he does that when he is hungry. *cue drool and saliva all over my top thankewberrymuch*
Obviously not every baby is of the same height and they grow. Oh how they grow. So this is how you can adjust easily on the go as well. With the back extension unzipped, if baby is sitting too low to nurse, you adjust it with the straps on the shoulders.
Height adjustment
To bring baby up to a suitable height, you pull the straps down to shorten the straps.
To pull baby up, pull strap downwards
To drop baby down to a suitable height, you pull the strap adjuster upwards to release the straps, like this.
To drop baby down in the carrier; using fingers to pull bottom of adjuster upwards.
For smaller sized babies, unzipping the back extension may also “pull” baby further away from your body as they slouch. To bring baby closer to you, you will need to pull on a separate set of straps.
To pull baby closer to your body
To pull baby closer to you, pull on these straps downwards
To bring baby closer to your body.
To extend strap length and “pull” baby away from your body, IF baby/toddler is taller and needs to sit down further to be able to nurse, again you need to pull the strap adjuster upwards to release the straps.
Use fingers to pull adjuster upwards to extend strap length
The Manduca is designed to help mummies like us to use it with ease, or at least I find it to be so. Easily adjustable straps without having to take the baby/child out of it. So hopefully this tutorial helps moms who would like to try and nurse their child in the Manduca.
Good luck!