Latching on tips please!

[MarchSurprise]

Hello, I've brought home my little boy and I'm really struggling to get him to latch on for breast feeding. I'm currently having to express what I can to give him in a syringe to top up anything he manages to get the few times he does latch on.

Please can anybody help with advice on the latch? The hospital really helped but we are still struggling! Thanks

Firstly don't stress at he will pick up on it. Secondly if you are just home midwife should be visiting daily....ask her to show you. Secondly look for local la leche group, or BF support group ....they often have drop in 'cafe' where you can go for help. How old is baby? If still less than 24 hours they do sleep a lot. Then start to eat more and more. Keep at it you'll get there.

Firstly try and relax as baby will pick up on your anxiety. Remember that crying can be baby's last attempt to request food so give him access to your boobs as often as you can when he's calm.
Things that worked for us were laid back nursing positions with advice videos from here breastfeedingmadesimple.com
I would also suggest that you could potentially contact an IBCLC www.lcgb.org/find-an-ibclc/ who could support you face to face.
Best of luck. You sound like you're doing a great job already.

Grab some snacks and a big pint of water and take your top off and get comfy, have skin to skin and offer your breast when baby searches. He will smell your milk and his latch will get better and better with each attempt. Don't forget he is learning too and he will get there I promise.

Aim your nipple for the roof of his mouth. Try laying down next to him on the bed - x

Breast shaping if necessary, so squeezing the breast tissue in the similar way you hand express can help with latch. Pick up on those early cues as a PP said and skin to skin as much as possible. It's a learning process for you both but before you know it your DS will just latch on instinctively.

What do you mean by struggling to get him to latch? Do you mean he won’t open his mouth at all? Do you mean he goes on and then comes off? Do you mean it’s painful once he’s on? Or something else?

Do call your midwife ASAP x

We contacted the maternity ward when I was having trouble and they arranged for a brilliant breast feeding expert nurse to visit. Not sure if that service is available for you. As others have said, squeeze boob a bit and put whole nipple in the top/back of babies mouth. I was told to listen to their breathing to see how often they are swallowing (i.e. they exhale through their nose after each swallow.) They should not be doing it too quickly because they won't be taking enough milk in each time they swallow. Should be a long, deep suck each time followed by a swallow. Hope that makes sense. Good luck. It can be really hard to get it sorted and you are doing a great job.

One of the most helpful things I learned was "tummy to mummy" is not just a direction, it's an indication of how close you should be holding baby to you so he feels snug and secure; I was also told about CHINS positioning (Close, Head free, (so support shoulders not head or neck) In line -baby's head, neck etc in a nice straight line- Nose to nipple, Sustainable i.e. get yourself all comfy first).
My poor forceps bashed baby really didn't want to latch at first but from about 14 weeks (we were a bit slow) was targeting the nipple like an exocet missile...

Yes why don’t you tell us a bit more about the sort of difficulties you are having and we can try to help?

I’ve found this YouTube clip helpful

I always found it easier to get them to latch on using the American Football hold where they're tucked under your arm, as (at least it used to be) suggested if you'd had a section. It got them in a better position for shaping the nipple and surrounding tissues to get more in, rather than the tiny bit the eldest would practically nip off (oh, God, how that hurt me) if I tried the usual position.

And it made it easier to shrug my shoulders to help the letdown reflex and have a drink at the same time.

Thank you so much everybody! I'm currently waiting for the breastfeeding help lady to come out and see us, but we've had a few successful feeds from the breast now so I'm hoping we are getting there - at least on one side!

Our main struggle is he is reluctant to open his mouth wide enough and tongue down/forward to latch. He has done it a few times now so I'm hoping we will get the hang of it more often soon. My milk is definitely starting to come through more so I think he feels it's worth the effort more now, he is a bit lazy in general bless him!

Good to hear you are getting help and it sounds like you are both doing brilliantly.

As DS matures the gape will get better and you are right, him getting milk now will reinforce the positive feedback loop around feeding.

Remember going ahead that there will be times when he's demanding more (sometimes seems like they want to feed constantly!) but this to normal and helps to increase your supply to his demand.

Well the breastfeeding lady came out and I feel like the worst mum ever, she sassy I've not been giving him enough milk expressed, but I'm giving him all I'm getting out. We are only on day 2 and I have to say I completely get why women give up on breastfeeding. I've not been able to get him to feed from the breast since this morning, he searches for it but then cries rather than latches on.

I’m sorry she made you feel bad, you are doing your best and breastfeeding is really hard at first.

Is your little one gaining weight and having enough wet and dirty nappies? That’s the first sign things are going ok.

My DD ended up in hospital on day 5 as she hadn’t been taking enough milk. She was jaundiced and dehydrated so we were told to keep breastfeeding but also give formula top ups. She had a tongue tie which was snipped and once my milk had come in properly she started putting the weight on and now we are back to exclusive breastfeeding. Don’t be afraid to use some formula in the early days if you feel your baby isn’t getting enough milk from you.

I didn't/couldn't get a single drop out of myself when attached to a pump with DD2, so don't feel too bad about that. With DD1, I could just about get something eventually - but once my milk came in (which was dramatic - I looked up, looked down again and my boobs had suddenly inflated to football sized), I didn't have any problems once I worked out that having a drink and shrugging my shoulder set the reflex off. Fed DD1 until she was nine months.

You can do this if you want to - and if you don't, well, that's fine, too - your DS has got your colostrum, which is the most important, if I remember my five minute BF Counsellor appointment correctly.

Good video merename.

Dont give up op. The more baby is on the breast the more milk will come.