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Infant feeding

Biological nurturing - WTF??!!

17 replies

aliphil · 22/10/2012 18:23

DD (9 weeks) has recently had her tongue tie snipped and still tends to latch on with her gums because that's the way she knows. I went to the local breastfeeding cafe today and one of the suggestions was to try biological nurturing and letting her make her own latch; they said it would help with getting a deeper latch. A friend whose DD was tongue tied suggested the same and so have people on here.

So this afternoon I took DD upstairs, undressed us both and got into bed, propped on multiple pillows, for some nice skin to skin. She got hungry and began trying to latch on. First she slid down and latched on to my stomach, then when I tried to move her she went for my hand. Then she pushed herself right up and latched on to my neck, and then on to any part of my boobs except the right ones. By this time she was a bit agitated so I fed her sitting up for a while.

We tried again and she still couldn't find the nipple; even when I held it just under her mouth she just bobbed her head at it. I came to the conclusion that I have the wrong shaped boobs for this. They are big - JJ cup - so if I manage to get DD on top of me her nose gets buried and she can't breathe. And my nipples point outwards, roughly at ten to two. So to get them pointing up I have to tilt my body sideways, and then hold DD at a very funny angle so she doesn't slide off. Or else I have to tilt the other way and hold DD at a funny angle by my side. Either way it was very uncomfortable and not something I fancy trying again, unless anyone has any suggestions for making it work?

(And when she did latch on - in fact I had to put her on - she did it with her gums - why wouldn't she? It's what she knows. So what's this about BN and deeper latch?)

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madeuplovesong · 22/10/2012 19:52

Sorry I don't have anything useful to add other than the fact that your post really made me laugh! My experience of BN was exactly the same, boobs too big/wrong shape for it to work. Resulting in a similarly comical experience... I just didn't get, if your boobs point down and out, where the baby is supposed to lie once they latch on? Hopefully someone a bit more useful than me will be along soon!

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whenwill · 22/10/2012 20:21

after tt snip i thought dd would probably never change her latch as she was 7 months at the time but after two weeks i realised she was staying on and feeding more efficiently even though it took even longer to to get a better looking and feeling latch. Just had to re-concentrate on it. I found side lying and placing her lower than you would ever imagine facing your tummy really closely (i don't have big boobs though), she would then root upwards with head well back and wide open mouth for the first time ever. This helped her relearn. Or use a sling low down; so similar position but upright. Saw a gorrilla feed like this.

BN didn't feel right for us as poor dd had to work so hard as it was without needing to work against gravity to get the milk out (they do say BN works with it though???- don't get it cos they say use BN for forceful letdown). Hey, maybe i did it wrong. Anyway sometimes to help with milk flow i just hung over her like a cow! isn't that biological?

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Tryharder · 22/10/2012 20:33

Have you tried feeding her lying down on one side with her next to you. I have boobs similar to yours and fed very successfully that way.

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McBaby · 22/10/2012 22:53

I could have written your post! Having exactly the same problem with ten week old baby. TT snipped two weeks ago and although latch is a bit deeper still using gums and v painful for me! BN just resulted in a big milky mess and not sure how much she took but had to latch her on as with large breasts not sure how its would even be possible!

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Asmywhimsytakesme · 22/10/2012 23:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

McBaby · 22/10/2012 23:18

Will try side lying again. But any ones any tips on how to with large breasts?

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zgaze · 22/10/2012 23:28

I've got massive boobs (k cup!) and have fed both babies side lying from the word go. I actually feed from the top boob rather than the one next to the mattress. Hard to explain but with the bottom one kind of tucked underneath, baby curled up on side with head looking up. I'm not explaining it brilliantly but it's worked so well. Has the benefit once you've mastered it of being able to swap sides without moving or rolling over. I'm
all about the laziness!

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shouldIbecrossaboutthis · 23/10/2012 09:39

I'm a J cup and my baby is 18 days old & I'd also love to know how to feed lying down, it seems impossible!

I to tried BN, but my boobs are too pillowy, the baby gets lost & his nose gets squished!

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WhereAreMyShoes · 23/10/2012 14:12

Oh good, it's not just me then!
I'm feeding my 4week old daughter and fed my son till he was a year old and never got the whole let them climb up thing.
My boobs are too squashy and big for that business.
A good tip from a midwife a couple of years ago was to roll up a muslin and stuff it under your boob. It makes it point in a better direction for baby to latch on.
I find my daughter feeds and then sleeps much better after being fed lying on our side. In fact she sleeps on my bed all night and just gets a boob shoved in her face whenever she squeaks.
I will try just shifting round a bit and feeding her with the top boob now. I like the idea of not even having to move her or myself all night. I could maybe convince myself that I didn't even wake. Brilliant.
No advice about TT though. Just booby taming.

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aliphil · 23/10/2012 17:37

Nice to know it's not just me! Sadly I can't seem to manage feeding lying on my side either, probably because I've never found lying on my side very comfortable. But I don't see how it's possible for me and DD anyway, with one nipple pointing into the mattress and the other into the air!

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applecrumple · 23/10/2012 18:14

Phew I thought I was doing it wrong too! When I tried, dd just got her face completely squished by my boob (I'm GG) & it just all became way too much hard work for both of us. I just don't get BN at all!

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AngelDog · 23/10/2012 21:14

BN means my 9 day old often latches onto my areola, but he does get it eventually and it's a more comfy latch than usual. I'm not enormous, though - F cup.

He does look as if he's suffocating on there, but he seems to like it. It can take quite a while for him to manoeuvre into the right position though. IIRC it can take a newborn an hour to get into position.

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StarlightMcKenzie · 23/10/2012 22:10

My dd latched onto my nose at about 9 weeks.

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applecrumple · 24/10/2012 01:28

Did she get any milk out?!

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StarlightMcKenzie · 24/10/2012 08:41

I hope not.

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Softlysoftly · 24/10/2012 11:11

I do the folded muslin square thing under my boob when lying down sometimes 2 shamefully large boobs it works well to position.

To get a deeper latch I also watched the "flipple" on YouTube and do that. Someone on here recommended it.

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aliphil · 24/10/2012 15:37

I've tried the flipple but find it very difficult to do with an actual baby!

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