Advice on latch technique please

[pinguino]

My DS is 5 days old and I have been putting him on the breast since birth. He appears to latch on well ie with lip curled back, big mouthful of breast etc. I start off with him on my lap opposite my breast and have tried to get his lip in contact with my skin first as much advice suggests. I have also just quickly put him on the breast when his mouth is open wide. The position according to me, midwives at the hospital and my DH is that it is fine but my nipple always comes out wedge shaped and there is always some degree of pain during the whole feed. My nipples now are pretty sore. I have tried making several adjustments when he is on the breast and also tried slightly different positions but no joy. He seems to be getting enough milk though (plenty of wet/dirty nappies.)

Any advice on this would be much appreciated as baby cafe is not until Friday and seems a lifetime away!

Hi Pinguino, I'm sure there'll be thousands on here in a minute with better advice than I've got -

all I can say is that is EXACTLY how things went for me!! Blardy painful, isn't it! I kept going back for advice/help, and they all kept saying "yes it's perfect" and I was like, "SO WHY DOES IT HURT??!"

use lots and lots of vaseline, take paracetamol, grit your teeth, and by the end of the 2nd week you won't be feeling it any more! My ds is now 6m, thriving, and still bfing - I hope you will be able to hang in there.

Congratulations on your baby, and well done you for trying to get this just right.

If the nipple comes out wedge shaped then the latch probably isn't quite right - I'd try & phone for advice from a breast-feeding counsellor though the NCT or LLL.

Take your point about a 'perfect' latch still hurting, phd, but the wedge-shaped nipple suggests it's not quite there yet.

Pinguino, you're doing fantastically - slather on the lansinoh and check out this site - some good videos of babies latching both right and wrong.

You can also try doing the 'breast crawl' - lie in bed with no top on and ds in just a nappy face down on your tummy and let him find his own way onto the breast. Sometimes they get a better latch by themselves than they do with us helping...

(If the nips get really sore try sleeping with a teastrainer over each one to stop bra fabric rubbing them - sounds mad but apparently it works)

Breast crawl a great idea, I remember one of the best latches ds did as a newborn was when he was lying up on my shoulder dozing then worked his way down onto the boob & latched himself on, it was quite extraordinary!!

Wow! That was quick! Thanks for your replies. Will try breast crawl and see what happens and get a bf counsellor to check latch on friday. Really nice to have support especially in the dark hours of the night. It is just frustrating when it looks OK!

here

AGree to ring helplines.

What worked for me was the followig. Say you are going to offer the left side. Hold baby alonng your right arm, with his head in the palm of your hand. Hold your left breat with your left hand as if you were holding a burger {do you kow what i mean....} and move baby to burger.

I also found that aiming baby's ear for roughlyt the crook of your arm helped with positionig for me - but this may depend on size of norks
good luck

try looking at this site If you scroll down the page you will see video clips too.

You'll get through it -- it does hurt at first, but not for long.

I found a bfing cushion helped support baby so I could work on position. I also shaped my breast with finger & thumb and then shoved it in his mouth (not forcefully) to be sure he had enough of the nipple in.

Breathe slowly, relax your shoulders, drink plenty of fluids, keep lasinoh in your pocket for before & after, and take it all one day at a time.

I had exact same problem and although latch looked OK it wasn't. Nipple came out looking wedge shaped and looking like a used lipstick

Best advice I got from a LLL BF was to have DS2's head starting in the middle of my boobs, I always had him way too far over and too close to the boob I was feeding from and all she did was move him 3 inches away from it so he had to really reach for it - hope this makes sense! Basically, put his head where you normally do and then move him away from the nipple about 2/3 inches - it will feel like he is too far away and takes some practice, but the idea is to make them reach up and over the nipple, so that his nose is next door to the nipple not in front of it - really hope this helps!

i would concentrate on open mouth first and foremost
as wide as possible - push down forcefully on that little chin and then 'clamp'

i spent a while pumping off the sore boob only - to ensure it was fully fully healed before allowing the baby back on
the pump is gentle on the nips

a couple of days pump only did the trick

poor you it is not easy but will get better

HI pinguino - I too have latching problems. Both the bfc I have seen and a LLL counsellor have told me a wedge shaped nipple is a sign he isn't latched on properly. I'm getting the same thing. I've been persevering for four weeks, but I still haven't sorted things. If your nipple is wedge shaped it's because it's not far enough back in your ds' mouth. My problem is that my ds is very small and isn't opening his mouth terribly wide, and my boobs are very big, particularly the nipple. Is your ds small or was he prem? It could be that's the problem. That said, there's no easy solution. I suggested to my bfc that I could carry on as I was with a dodgy latch as he's gaining weight and has lots of yellowy nappies, the only problem is that feeds are taking over an hour. However she said the longer I leave a poor latch uncorrected the harder it will be to fix later when he's bigger. I hope you get it sorted soon, it's definitely better to sort out now and not do as I do and plod on with a bad latch assuming that weight gain and lots of dirty nappies were a sign of a good latch.

Let me know if you find a magic formula! My feeds are getting longer not shorter as the bfc has said I mustn't allow him to feed with a poor latch, so I have to keep taking him off and putting him back on again!

Thanks for your replies - there are a few new things to try and it helps alot to hear that difficulties have been overcome.

Kiskidee and Mears - Thanks for the links - it is good to see real photos and video rather than just descriptions in books.

MrsMar - sorry to hear of your experience. I am impressed you are sticking at it. My ds is quite small so it could be that this isn't helping. He is also quite sleepy and jaundiced so it is actually quite difficult to get him to open his mouth wide enough.

How are you getting on pinguino?

Hi Mears

I have had a couple of feeds which have been pain free (and no wedge!) which was great. Frustratingly, I cannot see what made the difference here! I am hoping he will learn that this is the best position for him! The other feeds are not as painful now apart from in the middle of the night (perhaps pain threshold is lower then!)

My ds is still sleepy so trying to give him EBM in a syringe after feeds but he brings most of this back up. He has not been feeding for any more than 10 mins at a time every 2-3 hours today but his jaundice seems to be getting better.

I am a bit worried that the feeds which result in a wedge shaped nipple are not providing enough for him. My MW thinks that my nipples just have to toughen up and also said that when she breastfed her 2 children her nipples always came out wedge-shaped therefore no big deal. When ds comes off he is dribbling milk everywhere which is reassuring! I am looking forward to the Baby Cafe tomorrow to see what they say.

Thanks for asking. I am finding the support is keeping me going!

If he is bringing milk back up it sounds as though he is getting extra he doesn't need.

Since you have had painfree, wedge free feeds you will crack it in the long run. Keep going - sounds as though you are getting there

Thanks very much! I am feeling more positive about it tonight.