Latch problem in a 13 month old. If her ability to latch is gone is there anything I can do?

[suiledonne]

DD2 stopped breastfeeding during the day months ago but is remaining loyal to her night time and early morning feeds.

Lately though her latch is getting worse and worse and my nipples are starting to suffer. I keep trying to reposition her but getting no where. She will not open up wide enough to do it properly. She has a mouthful of teeth (having got her first 2 at 3 months old) and probably more on the way.

Is there anything I can do?

I have tried to cut out the nightfeeds completely but she is not co-operating on that at all.

Thanks.

I'm sorry to hear that the feeding is not going so well.
If you have tried cutting out the nighttime feeds, it sounds like you wouldn't mind weaning her completely, which would be perfectly reasonable at 13 months. Cutting out night feeds is not too easy, but isn't too hard, especially as she is no longer feeding during the day and therefore 'knows' that she can live without it. When I cut out night feeds with my DCs, I went to them, changed their nappies, offered them a drink of water (always refused)and then cuddled them back to sleep. For the first 2-3 nights this was a little hard with tears, but after that they stopped expecting a feed and just went to sleep. Would that work with your DD?

This is quite common suiledonne - it's not a loss of latch but a certain laziness of latch. The trick to getting her to open her mouth wide is to ensure her head is slightly back, so she has to gape to get to your nipple and then bring her on quickly. It's easy to assume with older children, they will just get it right, and of course they don't. Alternatively you might try lying down to feed.

you may also like to check to see if she is cutting molars. she could change her latch because of gum pain.

lanisoh after feeds.

yeah, just keep perseveringg with getting a good latch. show her a big open mouth and she may copy you
but don't be afraid to keep on taking her off until she latches on properly. I think if you let it go on too long then it'll be harder for her to "re-learn" how to get a good latch

What is your local BF support like? They will be happy to help you and give you some tricks, to help you sort this out.