Can't feel baby sucking

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Hoping someone can offer some advice. My dd is 6 weeks old & I've been EBFing her for the last 5 weeks (she was in SCBU for 10 days & tube fed for 7 of those days). When she latches on, it is rare that I can actually feel her sucking & drawing down the milk; most of the time it's almost as if she's chewing on the areola (she's definitely feeding though as I can hear her swallowing & her cheeks are rounded). Only thing is BF feels uncomfortable from the chewing sensation (it's not actually painful though). She's putting on weight (8oz)/wk & has plenty of wet & pooey nappies. Can anyone tell me if this is normal or not? I've had my latch checked & apparently all seems fine but I'm worried that I don't always feel her sucking.

Thanks!

apple, not sure what you were expecting to feel.....she must be removing milk efficiently and happily or she would not be thriving :) It's brilliant you and your baby got over that difficult first week, and I wonder if you are still feeling anxious after that?

I would say that established, effective bf does not really produce much of a sucking sensation, so what you are feeling sounds pretty normal. There shouldn't really be any discomfort from 'chewing' though, so for your own sake, maybe you can get some help with that?

Thanks tiktok, yes quite possibly I am. Although I know her weight gain is good, I'm still worried because she was prem. anyway it's good to know that the feeding appears to be normal, but I will ask my BF counsellor about it. Thanks again

Hi. I've never felt much of a sucking sensation. To me its more of a chomping sensation if that makes sense?! Its never really hurt and I'm still successfully ebf a 91st centile baby at 7 months so something must be right. Was just thinking the other day how its more of a chomping action than sucking!

Thanks both, that's been quite helpful & reassuring. For some reason dd has today decided to clamp down on both nipples & now they're both v sore but hopefully that's just a temporary problem!