Help needed re breast feeding..........clucky when feeding....shallow latch?

[daisyandbabybootoo]

My DD is five and a half weeks old and is BF. She latches on well, but within seconds start to make clucking/smacking noises. I take her off, start again and she does the same. She seems to be latched on OK, is getting plenty, I have loads of milk and it isn't painful (although I did have a blocked duct at the weekend which was nasty and sore). She does get quite windy though.

Is this due to a shallow latch, and if so, what can i do to rectify it?

Occasionally she won't make those noises and I notice my nipple is more elongated when she comes off.

She also has a habit of pulling back throughout the feed till she is just chomping on the nipple. It doesn't matter how many times i take her off and reposition her, as soon as i let go of her head she does it again.

HELP!

Have you checked for a tongue tie?

I can't really tell, but I don't think she does have.

Sorry, it's a little bugbear of mine. ds2 had one, he had the classic heart-shaped tip to the end of his tongue (if dd is smiling, you may notice it best then) and it made his latch poor, made him click, made him windy, made him keep coming off, shaking his head... I didn't notice ds2's until he was 6w (even though I have one and my dad has one, I forgot to check ds2 ), and his feeds were getting worse as time went on (this is common with TT s your let down gets less forceful and they have to work harder for their milk).

It probably is a red herring, as I say just a bug bear of mine

i've just had a look and her tongue does look heart-shaped at the tip , but I can't see the frenulum (sp?).

She has her six week check next week, I'll get them to check it out.

OK, hope it works out. BTW some of the health professionals I came across tried to say ds2's tongue tie wasn't terribly severe as he could stick his tongue out a little (abaout as far as his bottom lip). But the conultant paed (who specialises in TTs) said it's the up and down movement of the tongue that is important in bfeeding and ds2's just didn't do that at all so his TT was actually classed as severe. In other words, it's not only about how far forward the frenulum is, it's also about how short height-wise it is and how tethered the tongue is. If it's starting to hurt your nipples tho get help ASAP as some hospitals have long waiting lists for this. HTH

a friends son had a severe tongue tie. she said they snipped it there and then, it didn't even bleed and he's been fine since.

oops..should have said ta muchly

No probs

bumping for further advice, pleeeeease

DD2 made a clucking noise around this age and it was to do with a v strong letdown. She was getting drowned in milk and was quite windy afterwards.
In my case I was advised to feed on one side for two feeds and then swap over.
I would get advice from either a breastfeeding clinic or phone of the helplines.
Good luck - oh and if this is the problem it died down around 15 wks and I now feed on one side for each feed - if that makes sense!

Daisy - agree with shivs, my DD did the same on my right side for about the first 12 weeks when my let down was fierce. My inlaws came to stay and poor MIL got sprayed on the other sofa try and express a little in to a tissue when lo starts to "cluck" as it will release the pressure a bit. You may need to repeat this several times in the feed. HTH

thanks for that...shivs, did that not make the other side really engorged, or did it settle down.

the BF advisor at the baby cafe who i saw last thursday thought it might be to do with my letdown, as she does seem to get a right gobful and can come up choking, but I don't squirt everywhere when she pulls off though. She does it even towards the end of a feed or if she wants more (I usually do single sided feeding anyway) when the breast is relatively empty. I don't squirt everywhere when she pulls off though.

I've tried underarm feeding as suggested at the baby cafe, but that didn't make any difference. If i keep hold of my breast through the feed she's generally better, but as soon as i relax and try to rest her head on my arm...cluck cluck. It's very frustrating.

bumping for the day shift

Iagree it sounds like tongue tie. Dd is also tied on her top lip too (the bit of skin that sits above her top lip) and that caused a rubbish latch. But because she was feeding ok, nothing was done. Hideous colic though as a result of all the air getting in. She had infacol til she was 12 mths

Daisy - personal q here - but are you quite big in the boob department? I am and found a pillow on my lap allowed her to be supported so I could use my hand to hold my breast at a better angle for her to feed. She still clucked a bit but it was better.
The downside of this is that she was so cosy she would fall asleep and I let her. I ended up with a feeding to sleep problem. It is worth a try but make sure you are putting her down awake whenever possible.

my ds does this after 16 wks I now am certain it was his way of coping with over supply, he gained well, had little wind.
He still makes the odd clicking noise now but it is much better as he has learned to adapt to the flow.

Do you find sleepy feeds are quieter?

big boobs here too btw

my dd clicked and it turned out i had a copious over supply of milk & she in turn didn't have to work very hard to get it & her latch wasn't that great. the bfn counsellor told me to reposition her each time she clicked & it solved the problem quickly.

cheers for all the comments.

we've had a good look in her mouth and she doesn't appear to have a tongue tie.

yes i'm big of boob, and she does seem to struggle with breathing at times.

she often has a bit of a rest in the middle of a feed and it does seem better for the second half and she seems to do it less if I'm not too engorged or she's not desperately hungry. she can get quite frustrated if my boobs are emptyish when she goes on, probably cos she needs to work at it a bit more.

haven't noticed a difference with sleepy feeds

the bf counsellor at the baby cafe seemed to think i had loads and loads of milk (for the first five weeks she pooed every nappy, about 12-16 times a day) so it may be that she doesn't have to work too hard.

it sounds like i just need to persevere with her and be strict about taking her off and re-positioning.

thanks for all the advice...makes you wish you could see inside her mouth to guage what's going on

saw a bf counsellor this morning, who says no tongue tie, and thinks the problem is fast let-down so she doesn't have to try particularly hard.

bf cousellor suggested taking her off and re-latching her till she gets it right or until the problem resolves itself when things settle down

so, i've been trying this afternoon to do tat and she has been on again off again all afternoon and instead of getting it right, gets fed up and stops feeding. so she's fed every 45 mins as a result of not getting enough in one go.

getting quite frustrated with it, and can feel the blocked duct i had last weekend hurting again.

help!

DS2 is the same with the clicking. From what I have read and from what I can tell it is fast let down as the others say (milk sprays all over when I take him off and he sputters so I know the let down is pretty fast).
But I dont think the clicking itself is a problem. DS2 seems to get plenty of milk and is growing well. SO I just let him get on with it, clicking away, and just feed one side per feed to hopefully help with the let down.
Can you try the same and not worry about the clucking?
It sounds like your DD is getting plenty of milk, so as long as it is not painful for you I presume having the perfect latch and no clicking are not really too important?
I think I found info on Kellymom re fast let down, so prob worth a look for you?

Here you go, good article
www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/baby/clicking-when-nursing.html

thanks pannacotta ......i've not been too bothered about it as she is growing well (boy is she growing well) and i'm not in any pain, altough it kind of tickles a bit towards the end of a feed. however I've been advused that she may not be liking the breast properly and my blocked duct last weekend backs this up. my main worry is the long term effect on my supply

I'll check out kellymom.

don't know why i didn't look there as i've pointed others towards the site in the past, LOL

kellymom has given me a few options for why this mght be happening.

We have been giving her a dummy since 4 weeks and in hindsight the clucking has gotten worse since then, so I'm going to knock the dummy on the head for a bit and see if the situation improves any. She only uses the dummy to get off to sleep and then we take it out anyway so hopefully she won't have got too attached to it.

Hi - just seen your reply.....no, it didn't make me horribly engorged. I did hand express a few times in the shower to get "the worst off" but it soon settled down. I found the info on kellymom really useful esp as she was so windy, possety and I was getting through muslins like there was no tomorrow.
Hope this helps! Good luck - oh you could always freeze some of the "excess" milk if you have to express some off......