Sore nipples due to tongue tie and poor latch - OK to try a bottle?

[Daffodilly]

DS has been diagnosed with mild tongue tie - off to see a consultant next week re: snipping it. He has also learnt a poor latch as a result.

Nipples are now v sore, esp on left side. I'm considering only feeding on right and expressing on left over the weekend to give it a chance to recover a bit. Would it be OK to then try DS on a bottle with the EBM(added advantage that DH can do a night feed!)? Or is that a bad idea when his latch technique is already poor?

[cmotdibbler]

I think that it wouldn't help things at all, and as you'd have to express to replace the night feed, you wouldn't get any extra sleep.

Are you really applying loads of Lanisoh ? It works marvels.

I know some ladies have found using the exagerated latch technique useful with tt babies - worth a google

[Daffodilly]

Thanks for that - kind of what I was worried about the bottle making latch problems worse (the last thing I need).

Have googled latch technique and have some new ideas to try, thank you. Anything is worth a try to help. Will up the Lanisoh applications too.

Why can't it be easy!

[FoxyLoxy1]

I had really bad sore, cracked nipples with DS2 so can sympathise with you there. What helped me was to latch him on using the rugby hold. This way he was latching from the other side and of the nipple and this seemed to give the cracked side the chance to heal. DS2 was also better at feeding from the left breast (my right was more damaged that the left). When feeding him in the rugby hold on the right hand side, he was latching the way he would on the left boob and seemed to get a better latch because of it. I hope that makes sense.

The downside was that I couldn't feed him t his way discreetly.

I found that as he grew, his latch improved as his mouth got bigger. I ended up breastfeeding him till past his first birthday.

HTH. Mandy.

[Pruners]

Message withdrawn

[HumphreyCobbler]

I didn't find lanisoh helpful - jelonet worked better for me.

[Daffodilly]

Thanks for that. Foxy - makes sense about giving them the same orientation by using rugby hold on other breast, though I find it tricky. We certainly seem to have more problems on left than right (I seem to recall the same with DD so maybe it is me!)

Deep latch technique seems to be helping a bit. It takes me ages to get him latched on properly - but makes a difference when I do. I just need to keep calm and patient. Temptation is to just accept sub-optimal latch and get going. But know in the long run I need to get it right.

[Kiki123]

You could try downloading the Easier Breastfeeding guided visualisation from www.hypnobirthingdownloads.com - it's an english (not american) recording, lovely to listen to and will really help you to relax and make feeding easier and more comfortable. They also have some Stress Release recordings if it's all getting a bit much. Hope this helps and good luck with it all.

[Mummywannabe]

Not sure i should offer an opinion as i onlly breast feed for 4 weeks but had similar problems and did try bottle. Ds then would not breast feed (thinl bottle was too easy for him!) and i gave up (wish i had asked for help at the time and now bitterly regret giving up

So i would get some professional help and listen to the wisdom of MN. Hope it gets easier for you soon.

[Qally]

Glad you got diagnosed, and glad it's a mild tie.

I'm going to be a bit controversial here.

There's actually a study which is cited in the LLL Book of Breastfeeding Answers, which found that bottles HELP a tt baby learn to suckle correctly. My son was unable to pull the nipple back at all, even after his first division - he just licked it, and was starving - until we used a bottle. Wham, a miracle - he began to suck the nipple back, too, because he worked out that was what he was meant to do. (This was contradicted and refused as a possibility by every professional I saw locally, until one bothered to check her own manual, so to speak, and went, "ahhhh... tt babies are different, it seems...") The bf clinic at the JR in Oxford - who Dr Jack Newman recommends - confirm that a bottle can be a useful training tool. They say that nipple confusion is a frequently repeated theory, but unproven. (In fact the SCBU lactation specialist there, when I called in desperation, told me that "protecting the equipment" is key, with oral abnormalities!) Bottle preference happens, but not as often as is claimed. My son at 4 months feeds both ways very happily. Bottles are his preference if screamingly hungry, because he has such an immobile tongue he can't get much from the breast at any sort of speed, but he still prefers boob if not at a pitch of desperation. It's nicer to have Mum.

I absolutely hear and believe that bottles can be a disaster for some mothers and babies, and I don't mean to deny their experience. But I also believe that not using bottles is a disaster for others, because the pain and frustration takes all the mother has until she gives up altogether, and the baby goes on formula. Bottles kept me going, and expressing kept my supply up. Bottles are why my son is not on formula.

Finally, I see your midwife says tt babies need to learn a new technique after cutting, and that he has learned a bad latch. Mervyn Griffiths says he has seen a lot that can instantly suckle perfectly, right after being cut - a miracle cure is actually pretty common, especially in women who've fed other babies so know what they are doing. My boy didn't, but he's my first, and I didn't latch him well as the methods I'd been shown weren't the best for us - and most importantly, he was still restricted. There's nothing wrong with his instincts now. Just his tongue. Your mw may be mistaken. I really hope so - and good luck!