Any tips to get DS to open mouth properly to latch on?

[Daffodilly]

DS is 6 weeks old and we've been having on-going problems with BFing.

He was diagnosed with tongue tie 2 weeks ago, which we had snipped earlier this week - unfortunately it hasn't made the dramatic difference I'd hoped.

I think he (and me) has learnt a poor latch. He just doens't open his mouth very wide and I'm still getting very sore and pinched nipples. HV suggested waiting until he is really screaming for a feed, but I hate doing it and it doesn't work anyway. As soon as he is in feeding position he calms down and closes mouth.

Also tried pulling chin down with my finger and shaping nipple. Both help a bit, really I need to combine the two but don't have enough hands!

Any other ideas to re-train him to open wide?

no ideas, just bumping for you. And an encouraging chocolate muffin to keep you persevering

Hi Daffodilly,

Quick post as have impatient baby!!

Had similar probs but drs really bad and kept referring me to hospitals that don't snip tongue tie anyway bf-ing was very painful (awful awful) but perservered and now ds is 14 weeks and bf-ing is a dream

Don't know whether it stretched or whether it just took us longer to get to grips with bf-ing - maybe it would have been the same if he hadn't had tongue-tie?

Anyway, basically wanted to say stick with it you're doing fab!!! - hope it gets better quickly and hope some others come to give some ideas with the latch!

One thing that is supposed to help is looking at them and opening your mouth really wide and saying a key word like "open" - the idea being that they will copy you.

My DS had a bad latch too - in his case he would curl his tongue back as well as not open wide. I found putting my finger in his mouth and slowly pulling it out a couple of times immediately before trying to latch him was helpful.

HTH

Best tip I ever got was to squeeze my breast and offer it, sandwich type, to my baby. Thus ensuring he gets a good mouthful!

As he start to open remember to aim your nipple at his nose rather than into his mouth and bring him to your breast rather than the other way round.

We had this problem too, used a "key word" as wuglet said, dunno whether that in itself made a difference but things definitely improved so hang on in there. BF counsellor also showed me how to kind of "roll" her mouth on - so that her bottom lip kind of "stuck" to my boob, then she had to open the top one wide to get the nipple in. (very hard to explain, sorry!). Nose to nipple def good advice too, again they have to open wide to try to get the nipple then. Have you got a baby cafe or BFN group on near you? RL help def the best thing. Good luck!

Not sure this is much help, but my DD1 had real difficulties latching on. I thought we would be unable to b/f successfully. I remember every midwife and HV we saw telling me she wasn't latching on well, but nobody could get her to do it 'properly'. We persevered, though - through the physical and emotional pain barriers! - and soon enough it became second nature! In fact, she's now 3.3 years and we haven't stopped!

Good luck!

Rhubarb, I had a similar tip but the HV called it letter/ letterbox!

Unfortunately for other reasons I didn't continue bf for as long as I would have liked .

Thank for all those brilliant suggestions. I will try the key word as that is something we haven't done yet.

One side is suffering worse than the other, so today I've only fed from the better side and expressed on the other to give it a break. DH is going to then try a bottle for the bedtime feed (as a one off) to give me a further break and early night.

I did have latch problems with my daughter and remember it improved as she got older and we made it to 8 months in the end. So I am trying to hang in there and grit my teeth through the pain now.

I tap her nose, cheek and chin until she opens wide enough. Most important thing I found was speed! Get it in as quickly as you can once you have a wide mouth. It takes some practice to do it, even as a second timer, but it makes a difference

Daffodilly, I had this problem a few weeks ago and an MN member suggested biological nurturing positions (google it, there is a video of it on BBC news).

I found that my DD could latch on her own brilliantly like this but not when I held her (cradle hold). This seems to have "taught" her a better latch and she now opens her mouth wide in other poitions.

It definately helped us - plus its a nice relaxing way to feed your LO.

Good luck!!

Its just taken me a little while to find the video so I thought I would post it to save others hunting!

news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_6640000/newsid_6644700/6644725.stm?bw=bb&mp=wm

Sounds well worth trying the biological nurturing - though having read up on it, it sounds like the reflex stops around 6 weeks (which he just is now). Still I can try.

Ditsy - thanks for taking the time to find the link, but it isn't working for me. If you see this can you check it as I can't find it on the BBC site.

It was the underscores try this

My DS still has it at 4 months. It doesn't disappear that soon! If he lies between my naked boobs he will bob over in seconds and try to latch - in fact I have to be careful if he's hungry to stop him, so he doesn't damage me.

If you live anywhere near Oxford, try their specialist clinic? We've driven 2 hours each way several times - they're that good. They were so much better than any local help I had it was like a miracle - they latched him for me when that seemed impossible (still is, 90% of the time). They're amazing women and were the only people ever to succeed - I had a board certified lactation consultant spend 2 hours trying, and she left with my nipple all crimped, despite trying bnp - and every other hold ever known.

Are you keeping your boob rock solidly still? I used to move the nipple on his top lip to try to tempt him to open up. Doesn't work at all with a poor latch technique, in my experience. The baby's mouth needs to come to a still target. Moving him on to a completely still breast offers the only hope of success for me. The other thing is that tt babies have small mouths a lot of the time - symptomatically so - and that really improves as they grow. My nipples now fit in his mouth - before, I'd look at my breasts and then at this tiny rosebud and think, um.... how?! And if you do use a bottle, maybe try not putting it in intil they gape, so you train them to that way - without the damage to the nipples! That didn't occur tio me until Oxford said to try it, and it's helped.

I sympathise so much. The pain's cumulative, isn't it? The more you feed and it hurts, the worse it is. So much worse than childbirth, frankly. Apparently there are no myelin sheaths on the nerve endings in nipples, uniquely, which rather explains the pain levels.

Try taking your nipple and running it from the tip of the nose, past the lips and down to the chin a few times..then quickly grab head to nipple when he opens wide enough in an 'up and over' motion. Hard to explain, but it does work.