looking for help please! Our 11 week old daughter’s latch has really deteriorated and she now just sucks up and down on the nipple, without really opening her mouth much at all. Not only is this getting really sore for me but the feeds take ages (an hour plus isn’t unusual) and soon after she finishes a feed she is hungry again so her latch (or lack of) clearly isn’t effective. I’m also getting blocked ducts regularly which I think is due to her shallow latch.
The deterioration in her technique has been gradual over a few weeks. We have been using nipple guards since birth and I’m trying to wean her off them (she is reluctant to part with them and a lot of screaming pursues) but even for the stints without them she has a really shallow latch. She is better at the night time feeds when she isn’t thinking and is feeding instinctively but even those feeds have deteriorated. We’ve tried the laid back breastfeeding position and seen a little improvement but not much, she seems to manage to decrease the width of her latch whilst on there somehow despite applying gentle pressure to her neck. Iv got a good amount of milk and She’s still getting lots of wet nappies and is tracking ok for her weight but it’s taking it’s toll on me with soreness and worry that as she grows she won’t be getting enough without feeding 24/7 and reversing the technique will be very difficult. She does use a dummy on occasion and I wonder if that is in part the issue with shallow patch. Any advice would be massively appreciated!