Ways of brealing latch amd widening mouth required!

[MumOfTwoCats]

DS is nearly four weeks old and after a rough start to bf including hospitalisation for weight loss we are finally on both breasts with no shields.

Due to the shields my ds has got used to clamping the nipple which hurts! I have been breaking his latch by using my little finger but worry about hurting his lips. Is there another way?

We are also trying to mime a wide mouth to him to
get him used to that before feeding as he has a small mouth.

Any advice on widening his mouth or breaking the latch is appreciated!

Congrats on still breastfeeding after the rough start! I had problems too for about 6 weeks so I feel your pain. My DD (who is now 21 months) had a small mouth and I had a flat nipple so you can imagine the pounding it got at the beginning.

I hope someone else comes around to advise you because only one response is probably not enough but I for one can't think of a better way to break the latch than by inserting your little finger. I don't think you could cause him pain by doing that. Babies are pretty sturdy and you would have to do something pretty drastic to hurt his lips.

One thing that I kept thinking that helped me going is the knowledge that your baby is growing and his mouth is in fact getting bigger everyday, small comfort though it might be at times I know!

As for the 'miming a wide mouth': at 4 weeks I don't think your baby's eyesight and understanding is developed enough that he will have any clue what you're doing!

Hi, I agree it is unlikely to hurt a mouth by breaking the latch by putting your finger in, just keep doing that if ds us clamping

My dd (now 7mo) never used to open her mouth wide. She would sort if Hoover my nipple in, and I could never get her to open her mouth. I found that if I let her Hoover it in, as she started to feed I would tease out her bottom and top lips until I had made her have the wide open latch you need. This worked until she learnt to do it properly (about 4mo) and I never had sore nipples doing this. Dd was ebf with this method as well.

Good luck.

i also cant think of another (gentler) way of breaking the latch than the little finger. have you tried stroking the side of his cheek to encourage a wide gaping mouth?

do you have any breastfeeding groups nearby you could go to for support?sounds as though you are doing a fab job so far

I also suggest getting checked for tongue tie. My LO clamped for a till the tie was cut.