DD's latch -does it affect what milk she gets out?

[missrose]

Does DD's latch affect whether she gets enough hind milk? I've just noticed that when she latches on her mouth isn't as wide as it used to be. If she's not getting enough breast in her mouth does it affect the milk she gets out? I'm trying to rectify if and get back on track with the latch.

She's been doing a lot of green poos, maybe four or five a day for the last week and lots of little runny poos (Sorry ). I read somewhere that the green colour this meant she wasn't getting enough hind milk but does anyone know if this is correct? I asked the HV but she didn't seem too concerned by it and was certain it wasn't anything to worry about. I am quite concerned though as 10 dirty nappies a day seems a lot.

She's 22 weeks by the way, and teething.

Yes, it does - although there aren't two seperate hind/fore milks. A deep latch is needed to properly stimulate the breast ducts to help the release of fat molecules, so a shallow latch will mean she gets less fat in the milk - and this can cause green diarrhoea (pesto poop, we called it!). DD struggled with this at first.

Green poop doesn't always mean an issue though, let alone a fattier milk (fore/hind milk) issue. It could be due to the excess saliva from dribbling more when teething.

Is her weight gain okay? If it is, I'd be more inclined to put it down to the saliva TBH.

As babies get bigger, their mouths get bigger, so they don't have to open as wide.

If her latch is bad, then your nipples are likely to be sore, and to be mis-shapen at the end of a feed ...

Thanks for the comments.

Japhrimel That's so funny - I couldn't believe how much like pesto it looked! I'm not sure I'm ever going to be able to eat it again!

Weight wise she's put on 3lbs in two months (I don't know whether this is average or not enough?) and gone from the 75th centile to 50th. I don't normally pay too much attention to the centiles as long as she's healthy but it did seem like quite a drop.

NotQuiteCockney I am feeling a little bit sore. I'd put it down to DD bobbing on and off the breast a lot at the moment. She's more interested in everything around her than feeding. A feed can last as little as five minutes.

If she has a shallow latch and isn't feeding for very long is it possible she's not getting enough fat? However she is also very dribbly - I didnt realise that could also affect her at the other end too!

I think I'll pop into a breast feeding cafe next week for a bit of reassurance that the BFing is all ok.