Is a shallow latch always a problem?

[Froggy93]

I have an ebf 5 week old and we've been so lucky with feeding. She gained her birth weight back quickly and seems to be doing well.

Early on I was really diligent about getting a deep latch. I still aim for the same now but, after a few sucks, she pulls her head back and makes the latch shallower. It isn't at all painful. She still has a decent amount of tissue, just less areola. My nipples don't get misshapen, I can hear her swallowing, there is no clicking noise and she isn't especially gassy.

The only thing is she does feed very frequently. Every 1.5 - 2 hours for 20 - 40 minutes. Every hour on especially fussy days.

Is this worth bringing up with an LC or is it okay as long as it isn't painful and she seems happy.

That sounds ok if everyone is happy. Mine has a shallow latch because i have tiny nipples. I spent ages trying to get him to suck like the advice and no one i asked pointed out the obvious to me!

With the 20-40 minute feeds, is she actively sucking and swallowing the whole time? Are you swapping sides?

I always offer both sides- sometimes I switch a couple times with longer feeds. Honestly with the shorter feeds, she swallows the whole time and is clearly hungry. But sometimes she is just suckling. Again since it's not painful and settles her - I do tend to let her. I hope it's not too bad a habit!

Mine always had a shallow latch - sometimes it would start out deep but she would pull back so it was shallow again. I brought it up with the LBC and they suggested some things, but it came down to “are you comfortable” and “is baby gaining weight” and the answer to both was yes, so they weren’t concerned. It was only a worry when baby was jaundiced and sleepy and wasn’t taking in enough but on her shallow latch she became super chubby!

BF advice has changed loads since my last one 9 years ago. The recommended hold (leaning back with baby lying on their front), the flange size of the pumps (smaller than you’d expect), and the language around the latch (deep still encouraged but if everyone is happy don’t worry about it).

The amount of feeding sounds normal for that age. I probably would only worry about it if she’s having green nappies. Where I live there are baby scales in the pharmacy so I’d probably weigh her a little more often to find out how things are going, but this may not be as easily done where you are.

It sounds okay to me. My first never had a good deep latch and she made a clicking sound too. Also fed frequently and for a while.

Her weight gain was good though and we were ebf for 18 months.

Feed frequency normal for 5 weeks. If not painful and gaining weight, all is ok.

As with all other baby development, your baby didn't get to read the manual first. If it is working for you both, there is no issue with it not looking like the perfect textbook example. I remember tying myself in know about not doing it ""right" despite my kids gaining weight and doing fine.

If it’s not painful and she’s gaining weight then it’s fine. Perfectly normal (sorry! ) frequency for that age. Well done.

No I don't think it's a bad habit. Sometimes they feed for hunger and sometimes for comfort, both are fine and normal.
So long as she is able to feed efficiently, you're comfortable and she is happy, alert and gaining weight then sounds fine.