why has my month old 'unlearned' how to latch??

[pogface]

My now month old son has developed a worrying inability to suck properly - he loses suction again and again, each time losing a bit more nipple til he's right on the tip (v painful) or he comes off completely. i can hear and feel all the air he's swallowing and he has loads of trapped wind as a result (which he refuses to burp up)
he didnt do this in the beginning and some feeds are worse than others, though it doesnt seem to be anything i'm doing,and i cant work out why its happening. ive tried expressing first and feeding him when hungry/not hungry. any suggestions??

im pretty sure i might be responsible for all this cos of giving him a dummy too early on
the question is - can i undo the damage if i stop using the dummy now? wil he relearn good latching?

I usually burp him every time he comes off, or at least try to - he usually has a burp too! Could be 4/5 times a feed!

And with the dummy thing - I stopped using it and then didn't give him any alternative - no bottles or anything, then he HAS to re-learn. It was a bit distressing at first cos he kept crying, but he did it pretty quick (tho' I'd only used dummy for two days). the other thing I did was to wake him up early when that was happening, cos I read that if you feed them when they're not too hungry and a bit sleepy they might latch on better. When I researched nipple confusion they said they can relearn - they most important thing is, don't give them anything else, or they won't want to try. Just keep at it.

I also have one breast that has a fast letdown, and when I notice him spluttering I lean back which seems to help.

Mine has had the problem with wrestling and not finding the nipple right from the start tho' - and probably always will! I'm a first-timer so thought it was normal So your prob might not be nipple confusion - might just be him! maybe he was sleepier at the beginning. The difference with mine when he had nipple confusion is that he couldn't latch on even when he had his mouth around it, and kept pulling off and crying cos he wasn't getting anything.

HTH

oh the other thing is that I don't do the nose to nipple thing cos he doesn't really respond to that. He does better with stroking his bottom lip with the nipple.

bf babies can burp themselves or spit up later. If you feel he needs a burp though, a good way to gently try and bring wind up is to place your hand on his back with thumb separated from fingers in a V shape.

Press very lightly and the diaphram will hopefully release any "trapped" air.

If you are expressing he may be getting a bit nipple confused. Recommend like others that you get the position and latch check by a BFC.