wider gape?

[magicfairy]

DS2 is 2 weeks old tomorrow and we are still having few latching on problems. i have got over mastitis and have been trying loads of differnet positions but i think the problem is that he doesnt do the classic big gape and just dives in with his chin down and nibbles away!
Any tips for getting him to open up nice and wide?

[Thinkstoomuch]

Not an expert but didn't want your thread to go unanswered. My DS2 is 12 weeks and also didn't do the classic wide gape, so feeding was often a little uncomfortable. I think I tried most positions and tricks and the only thing that worked a bit was to try to gently reach in and pull his lower lip down once he was on.
Now at 12 weeks he still doesn't do a big gape but does go on ok and it is no longer at all uncomfortable. HTH

[ChasingButterflies]

My ds did the same at first, not really opening his mouth far at all, which made things quite painful for me. We went to a cranial osteopath and it made a difference for us straight away.

[MamaChris]

can you see a bf counsellor in real life? i had a lot of help from local bf support groups. took patience, but gape improved. the key points were to move ds's mouth further from the nipple (not out from my body, just by moving him across my body). and to just wait, notletting him latch till he opened his mouth wider, then be quick to push him on before he closed his mouth.

but really, it would be best to see someone in rl if possible. there are telephone lines listed on the right on this site.

[minster]

I found rugby ball hold, making sure baby is nose to nipple rather than mouth to nipple & putting a finger under the bottom lip to gently pull the chin down as they latched helpful when my babies were tiny.

[PhDiva]

My mum, who used to be a midwife in 'the good ol' days' helped us by cupping the baby's head in one hand, and putting her thumb and fore-finger of the other hand on either side of baby's jaw - you know where the joint is near the ears, and pressing slightly. This made him open his mouth. I then pulled his chin down and clamped him on to the nipple - pushing as much nipple into his mouth as possible - making sure that his bottom lip made contact before the top, so coming at the nipple slightly from below, iyswim? Once we did that a few times, he got the hang of it and 16 months later, we are still going strong!

It really helped me to know that 'gently does it' was not going to get us anywhere, and that the baby was almost as clueless as I was, and we both needed actually physically showing what to do.

Good luck, and make sure you contact a professional who will show you what to do if all else fails.

[WilfSell]

Stroking downwards with your nipple, from nose to chin, slowly and gently 2 or 3 times, can sometimes help. sometimes you have to wait longer than you think for the really wide one, but it can be difficult because they want milk right now!

Good luck and hope you get some BF support in RL.