Baby not latching properly

[arianwe]

Hi,

I've been breastfeeding my 9 week old using nipple shields since birth as my Daughter couldn't latch properly and I had really painful, cracked nipples. She is now mainly breastfed with couple of bottles of formula a day.

At my last HV appointment she said that my Daughter was really quite slight, and when I weighed her she had only gained 3 pounds since birth. I started to panic and thought maybe it was the nipple shields preventing her from getting enough milk so she started to breastfeed with no shields. One boob she is ok on, however the other one she will only take the nipple in her mouth no matter how hard I try.

Does anyone have any advice on how to get her to latch correctly?? Nothing seems to be working and she's getting really frustrated at the nipple and screaming. I've put nipple shields back on tonight and fortunately she has taken them fine as she wouldn't take them the last few days. Maybe I should just stick with the shields? I'm so close to just swapping to bottles, but I've tried so hard to breastfeed this time and would be really upset if I had to stop.

[LouiseTrees]

I’d stick with the shields. If you really need to you could trying expressing milk into bottles rather than upping the formula bottles. She is still gaining. What weight was she at birth/what percentile is she in for weight and height?

[CycleWoman]

It’s really hard to access breastfeeding support at the moment! But you can try the National Breastfeeding Helpline (have a Google for the number) and they will certainly be able to help.

[Vikingmamma]

Have you tried a sort of rugby hold on the side she wont take? Then it's like you're presenting her (position wise) to the boob as if she were on the other (good) side

[arianwe]

Thanks all.

I have reverted back to the shields and she is doing ok on them again.

She is on the 43rd percentile for weight, so could be worse? Just the way the HV said it was as if she looked shockingly small. She is small, but she just looks naturally petite to me.

I would love to manage breastfeeding without the shields so will look in to the suggestions. It's a shame you can't get a lot of support regarding breastfeeding at the minute.

[crazychemist]

If it works with shields, I’d stick with the shields for a few more weeks. They tend to get a lot more efficient at feeding at around 12-16 weeks, so that might be an easier time to make changes?

[arianwe]

Oh great thank you.

She is still getting frustrated at times with the nipple shields, but I'm going to keep trying.

[Iwanttobeinthesunshine]

Just in case it helps... Our DD had her tongue tie snipped privately and the practitioner who came out to us to do it was also a lactation consultant - so you might still be able access support in person that way. This site seems to have them listed: www.lcgb.org/find-an-ibclc/