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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

ds 26 days old, struggling to latch.... worried ....

7 replies

smk84 · 02/07/2012 08:41

since yest lunchtime, my ds has been bobbing around by my nipple and not opening wide enough to latch. he has been turning his head into the pillow and then crying, i suppose because he can't get on. his face sometimes goes red so i wonder if he needs to burp, but then i try to and he just keeps rooting, putting fingers in mouth, crying etc, so i try again to latch him. we do get him on eventually, but the latch often doesn't seem good and he may slip off/pull off after 5 mins. he has done a few good feeds in the last day, but this behaviour is really new and he is usually on like a shot. we did bath him yest when we had been struggling to feed, then he latched and fed brillliantly, then did a huge poo. i thought that might explain things but then he has been doing it again since. he does have a slight posterior tongue tie, being snipped tom, but we have never had latch probs before (in terms of the initial latch, but he does sometimes pull his head back , break the seal and re-latch in an awkward psn). tia for any advice, as it worries me what i will do if i simply cant get him on !!

OP posts:
smk84 · 02/07/2012 08:58

p.s any tips for how to get him to open wider?

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tiktok · 02/07/2012 09:13

sm, can you try biological nursing positions?

smk84 · 02/07/2012 16:04

not been able to latch him properly for an hour now. tried different positions, not working, things deteriorating very fast :(

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tiktok · 02/07/2012 16:23

sm, fighting the baby to 'get him on' is a losing battle :(

Just snuggle up with him, or take a bath with him, and have your breasts where he can see/feel/smell/touch them and you can help with minimal movements only.

Let him take control.

Unless he is poorly or otherwise vulnerable, or sleeping for ages and ages, the situation isn't urgent at present....he is getting his TT done tomorrow you said, so that's a good opportunity for real life help :)

smk84 · 02/07/2012 17:26

thanks for giving me a different perspective Tiktok, I will try snuggling up. I seem to be an incredibly nervous breastfeeder and worry about every detail. In the back of my mind I am worried about my supply - we have worked so hard and overcome so many problems to get here, but my constantly feeding baby now seems not to feed for long, is keen to go on but can't manage it very well, and comes off after a few minutes on my LHS. Thank you for reassuring me it's not urgent, as when it happens it feels like an emergency !

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tiktok · 02/07/2012 17:34

Being calm outwardly if you can helps.....you can't tell yourself 'don't worry' because what goes on in your head may take a little while to calm down, if you have had a difficult start. But you can hide what you're feeling from your baby who can be fooled because he's only little :)

So speak quietly and slowly to him with a nice calm voice. Don't say to him 'oh come on....why won't you get on....it's here.....please latch on....don't come off now!!!' (I am not sure if you do say these things of course but worried mothers do, sometimes!). Tell him what a lovely boy he is, and just let him take the breast when he wants to - not when you think he urgently desperately ought to have it.

If you can, try not to 'catastrophise' eg you said things are 'deteriorating very fast' - breastfeeding does just 'happen' if you don't feel it has to be under your control 24/7, and you let your baby be part of the 2-person team :)

smk84 · 19/07/2012 20:13

thanks tiktok :) things seem to have settled down a bit now he has reached 6 weeks , but still have my moments !

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