The 5 L’s of Breastfeeding: Understanding Early Feeding Development

Breastfeeding is often described as “natural,” but for many babies and parents, especially first-time parents, it is actually a learning process. Feeding requires coordination, strength, sensory awareness, communication, and patience between a baby and their caregiver. 

At Parkwood Clinic, our Infant & Toddler Feeding Development Program takes a developmental and responsive approach to feeding. One framework we use to help families understand early breastfeeding skills is called the 5 L’s of Breastfeeding: Love, Lick, Latch, Learn, and Leave. 

These stages help explain how infants and their caregivers gradually build the sensory and motor skills needed for successful feeding experiences. 

1. Love - Feeding begins with connection and regulation. Before babies are ready to eat, they benefit from feeling safe, calm, and close to their caregiver. This stage often includes: 

• Skin-to-skin contact
• Holding baby close with their face near the breast
• Calm talking and gentle touch
• Watching baby’s cues instead of forcing a feed

Skin-to-skin contact helps regulate a baby’s heart rate, breathing, temperature, and stress levels, which prepares their body for feeding. When babies feel calm and connected, they are more likely to be ready and interested in exploring the breast than when they are upset or dysregulated.

2. Lick - Before babies latch, they often explore the breast with their mouth. This stage may include:

• Rooting
• Nuzzling
• Licking
• Opening and closing the mouth
• Tasting small drops of milk

This exploration helps babies gather important sensory information about the breast. Smell, taste, and touch all play a role in helping babies prepare their mouth and body for feeding. 

Parents can support this stage by expressing a few drops of milk onto the nipple so baby can smell and taste it.

3. Latch - The latch is the action that many parents focus on the most, but it is actually one step in a larger developmental process. A comfortable latch often includes:

• A wide, open mouth
• Lips flanged outward
• Chin touching the breast
• A rhythmic suck-swallow-breath pattern

It may take several attempts before babies find a latch that works well for them. This is completely normal as babies continue developing strength and coordination. 

There are also anatomical factors that can impact a parent’s comfort with latch and a baby’s ability to effectively transfer milk, including tongue and lip ties (ankyloglossia). Our clinicians are trained to identify potential concerns and refer infants (and individuals of all ages) to appropriate professionals for evaluation and treatment when needed. We are passionate about supporting families with therapeutic readiness and post-frenectomy care during treatment.

4. Learn - Breastfeeding is a motor learning skill for both the baby and the  parent. Babies are learning how to coordinate sucking, swallowing, and breathing while also building oral strength and endurance. Parents are learning how to respond to feeding cues, adjust positioning, and support their baby during feeding.

Sometimes babies benefit from additional support as they develop these skills. At Parkwood Clinic, we often incorporate sensorimotor feeding strategies to support prefeeding readiness. These may include:

• Non-nutritive sucking on a finger

• Pacifier practice
• Bottle nipple exploration
• Practicing sucking at the breast when milk flow is low
• Gentle oral stimulation and stretches to increase sensory awareness

These strategies help babies improve motor planning, coordination, and sensory awareness, which are all important for successful feeding.

5. Leave - The final stage is learning when feeding is finished. Babies often show they are done feeding by:

• Releasing the nipple
• Turning their head away
• Relaxing their body and hands

• Slowing or stopping sucking

Recognizing these cues helps parents respect a baby’s internal hunger and fullness signals and keeps feeding experiences positive and responsive.

Breastfeeding involves much more than simply getting milk. It requires coordination of state regulation, sensory awareness, oral motor skills, breathing patterns, endurance, and both communication between baby and caregiver. 

It is also important to note that some babies move through these stages quickly, while others benefit from additional time and support

Our Infant & Toddler Feeding Development Program here at Parkwood Clinic supports infants and young children who are learning to feed. Our Speech-Language Pathologists have specialized training in infant and toddler feeding, responsive feeding practices, swallowing, and orofacial myofunctional therapy. We are passionate about helping families address challenges such as:

• difficulty latching
• poor feeding endurance
• positioning difficulty
• oral motor coordination challenges
• sensory feeding differences
• bottle or breastfeeding transitions

Our goal is to support both babies and caregivers as they develop confident and successful feeding routines while strengthening the infant–caregiver relationship.

If you have concerns about your baby or toddler’s feeding skills, our team is here to help.

Reference

Morris, K. (2026). Optimizing breastfeeding safety and outcomes in the presence of feeding and swallowing disorders. Northern Speech Services continuing education course.