What Is Wrong With 'Brexting' Or Texting While Breastfeeding?

Moms who hold their smartphones next to their babies while breastfeeding are said to be "brexting". It was a term coined by the media following psychologist Katayune Kaeni, who explained why it could turn out to be bad for a baby.

"When babies are first born their vision is only basically from the breast to the mother's face," Kaeni said in her interview with the Southern California Public Radio. "That's as far as they can see. So babies do a lot of staring and bonding in that way."

A mother holding a smartphone while breastfeeding "could be missing cues that they're full or they're still hungry or their latch isn't secure or if they are having trouble swallowing," Keani adds.

The texting tends to hold up the bonding time. "If baby is trying to make contact with you by noises or smiles and they can't and they learn over time that they can't rely on you to respond, it runs the risk of them becoming either anxiously attached to you or insecurely attached to you and they will ramp up their behavior until you pay attention," said Kaeni, according to HNGN.

However, many mothers defend the brexting habit.

"I 'brext'. A lot. I do divide my attention between breastfeeding and texting; finger painting and Facebook, and sand-pit supervision and tweeting. It's not just words that can be blended, thoughts and activities can too, perhaps especially if you're a woman, born as we are to multi-task," wrote Milli Hill via Telegraph.

Another mother says that by brexting, she is kept awake, as she would have been kept awake all night by him. "My son couldn't care less if I'm paying attention to him while he is half asleep breastfeeding, and I need something to keep me awake. When my arm drops even a little it scared him so I need to be kept awake. Lol. I guess people can judge me. Oh well," the mother said, according to Made For Mums.

"I think it's important to look at bonding over the full 24 hours of the day. It doesn't happen just at certain points or during certain activities," said Anna Quenault, a lactation consultant. "If a mother has spent time interacting with her baby by singing, massaging, babywearing and playing, then I can't imagine that catching up with emails or Facebook while having a breastfeed is too detrimental."

However, it is important to be balanced, said Quenault. "I don't think we should be putting more restrictions on mothers who are trying to do their best. It can be pretty stressful trying to be a perfect mum."