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[Nervous_1]

Okay, now I have a question.

My LO is five months old and still nurses every one-and-a-half, maximum two hours. Is that normal? She's doing great on the growth curves.

Let me add that it's extremely hot where we are at present (35degrees/100F?), and that sometimes, after she's nursed for a few minutes, she'll start protesting loudly and I'd have to pick her up.

Totally normal to be feeding this often, my lil one fed every 2 hours during the day til he was about 9 months. I think that's when he realised that solid food does indeed fill his tummy for a while

With regards to your lil one protesting, I'd say it's most likely down the heat. Wants a quick drink to slake her thirst and then gets hot and grumpy being held that close to you. I know that I had this problem when my lil one was about 6 months old last year.

I've had a really hot shower and hot bath today but still there's a lumpy bit. It's like a small ball. Think it's smaller than earlier but def still there. Grrrr, this is so hard. Am so fed up

You've been doing an awesome job so far.. I swear this gets better!
I'm hoping the lumpy bit has disappeared for you by now or at least if it's still there that it's not painful. It should be gone soon if it's not yet, just keep thinking positive thoughts and taking those warm showers and baths.

Thanks. I think it is better. However I now have another question!
Because I have been feeding from the affected side first for a week my supply now seems uneven and that side gets full quicker and can be quite sore. How do I sort this? Can I get it better so I can go back to normal again!

try doing 2 feeds on your normal side to one on the affected side for a day or two. I used to do this when my nipples were really sore and found it would really help

 

[LaRockera]

Thank you, Nervous! Makes sense. xx

 

[Nervous_1]

bleh, no for some reason I responded to your quote and it hasn't kept the text!!! I'll amend my post

 

[SHump76]

Not sure what, if anything, I can do for DD2. She turned 1 month old yesterday. She's had latching problems from the start. I had an ECS for medical reasons at 38+5. She weighed 6lb 15oz. My milk came in when she was 2 days old (I BF my other 2 for 18 months and 2 years, and I tend towards over production.) and she has never lost weight, but gained very consistently. At 4 weeks she weighed in at 8lb 13 oz.

The problems: Her latch is still bad most of the time. I have tough nipples, but they are quite sore most of the time (no cracking as of yet, though). She is REALLY windy and complains constantly, those orange flavoured drops don't help at all. She eats constantly. She gets frustrated easily, tugs, cries, lets go. Sometimes she gets a good flow going then pulls off and waits for it to stop (probably a good thing as she is almost certainly getting too much foremilk!) I suspected a minor tongue tie early on. her tongue dents in at the middle sometimes when she cries or sticks it out. One of the HV's at our weekly weigh in looked but saw nothing. My MIL (a nurse) took a look today and says she sees it, but it's not too bad, and looks just like the one my husband had/has. I imagine the NHS is going to pretend it isn't there or say it isn't worth treating, as she's gaining weight quite well, but she's miserable and I'm shattered from feeding her hourly between 2 a.m. and 9 a.m. every night/morning!!

 

[KerryGold]

I would recommend going to your GP and demanding to be referred to a tongue tie clinic.

My GP was reluctant as he "wasn't convinced about" my DDs lip tie. But I just insisted I wanted the experts to decide, not him. Say you have concerns about being able to continue BFing.

Also, have you had someone check your positioning to see whether anything could be improved?

xXx

 

[SHump76]

I would recommend going to your GP and demanding to be referred to a tongue tie clinic.

My GP was reluctant as he "wasn't convinced about" my DDs lip tie. But I just insisted I wanted the experts to decide, not him. Say you have concerns about being able to continue BFing.

Also, have you had someone check your positioning to see whether anything could be improved?

xXx

I haven't, actually. At the hospital, the consultant practically ran out when she found out I had two EBF kids already. I imagine she was busy and just assumed I'd be fine on my own? I need to find all the paperwork the HV gave me and see if there is a bfc's number in there somewhere. I'll definitely bring it up with our GP, though!

 

[AllyTiel]

So my baby girl was born Monday evening at 41+1 weeks and was 9lbs and 5 ounces. Ever since she was born she has been having latching issues for some reason. She's not tongue tied or anything! She just won't get a good latch. Her bottom lip goes under instead of over the bottom side of my nipple. I had many stressful sessions of nurses manhandling my boobs, squeezing the heck out of them, while crushing the sore spot from the ventouse on baby girls head to push her into my boob. She just screamed and screamed. She just refused to latch so many times and pushed away from my breast with her hands. Its so frustrating. I started crying my eyes out in the hospital cause I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I have normal nipples, now size C boobs. One nurse suggested a nipple shield til my milk came in just to help her latch. I so badly didnt want to use ANYTHING but my breast, but she wasn't eating so I agreed to try it. She latched on fairly quickly, and has been great on this. I hate using them though. I want to start breastfeeding for real. I do offer my breast at feeding first just to try, and she gets very frustrated. Even if I get my nipple in her mouth, she usually will not suck or latch on, and if she DOES latch on, she sucks for about 3 times and then stops. She wants to keep a very shallow latch on my nipple, and I don't think thats getting anything out. Im so upset. I want to stop using these stupid nipple shields. Why is this happening to us? I had no reason to beleive it wouldn't work out. She's perfectly healthy, good APGAR score and fully developed. Im losing hope and I don't want to be stuck with nipple shields forever. Im scared to keep trying just using my breast as I don't want to traumatize her into never wanting it, because she screams so much.
I've seen a lactation consultant, who wasn't terribly helpful. She tried positioning her different ways, but that never helped anything. Up until yesterday, she refused to nurse without laying beside me on the bed. She hated being in my arms and doing it. Im finally getting her to lay in my arms and nurse now, still will the shield though. any advice? Im getting desperate. Shes 4 days old, will be 5 days later this evening. My milk came in yesterday morning, and she is still being very stubborn.

 

[mistyscott]

So my baby girl was born Monday evening at 41+1 weeks and was 9lbs and 5 ounces. Ever since she was born she has been having latching issues for some reason. She's not tongue tied or anything! She just won't get a good latch. Her bottom lip goes under instead of over the bottom side of my nipple. I had many stressful sessions of nurses manhandling my boobs, squeezing the heck out of them, while crushing the sore spot from the ventouse on baby girls head to push her into my boob. She just screamed and screamed. She just refused to latch so many times and pushed away from my breast with her hands. Its so frustrating. I started crying my eyes out in the hospital cause I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I have normal nipples, now size C boobs. One nurse suggested a nipple shield til my milk came in just to help her latch. I so badly didnt want to use ANYTHING but my breast, but she wasn't eating so I agreed to try it. She latched on fairly quickly, and has been great on this. I hate using them though. I want to start breastfeeding for real. I do offer my breast at feeding first just to try, and she gets very frustrated. Even if I get my nipple in her mouth, she usually will not suck or latch on, and if she DOES latch on, she sucks for about 3 times and then stops. She wants to keep a very shallow latch on my nipple, and I don't think thats getting anything out. Im so upset. I want to stop using these stupid nipple shields. Why is this happening to us? I had no reason to beleive it wouldn't work out. She's perfectly healthy, good APGAR score and fully developed. Im losing hope and I don't want to be stuck with nipple shields forever. Im scared to keep trying just using my breast as I don't want to traumatize her into never wanting it, because she screams so much.
I've seen a lactation consultant, who wasn't terribly helpful. She tried positioning her different ways, but that never helped anything. Up until yesterday, she refused to nurse without laying beside me on the bed. She hated being in my arms and doing it. Im finally getting her to lay in my arms and nurse now, still will the shield though. any advice? Im getting desperate. Shes 4 days old, will be 5 days later this evening. My milk came in yesterday morning, and she is still being very stubborn.

Has she been checked for tongue tie? I know you said she wasn't tongue tied, but it could explain her finding the shield easier to feed from and the shallow latch on your actual nipple... How is her initial latch onto your nipple? Does she slip back onto the nipple or not latch fully in the first place?

Did the LC have anything to say about it, other than trying other positions?

The only other thing I can think of is whether she's got a sore neck from delivery? Nursing in arms might hurt somehow? Actually, if she preferred nursing laying down, do you think you have a forceful letdown/oversupply? Does she splutter or choke on the nipple at the start - or have you not got that far into a feed before she refuses to suck? Laying down will help her cope with forceful letdown.

Can you get to a bf support group? Or you should still be able to access bf help at your hospital maternity dept.

 

[mistyscott]

Not sure what, if anything, I can do for DD2. She turned 1 month old yesterday. She's had latching problems from the start. I had an ECS for medical reasons at 38+5. She weighed 6lb 15oz. My milk came in when she was 2 days old (I BF my other 2 for 18 months and 2 years, and I tend towards over production.) and she has never lost weight, but gained very consistently. At 4 weeks she weighed in at 8lb 13 oz.

The problems: Her latch is still bad most of the time. I have tough nipples, but they are quite sore most of the time (no cracking as of yet, though). She is REALLY windy and complains constantly, those orange flavoured drops don't help at all. She eats constantly. She gets frustrated easily, tugs, cries, lets go. Sometimes she gets a good flow going then pulls off and waits for it to stop (probably a good thing as she is almost certainly getting too much foremilk!) I suspected a minor tongue tie early on. her tongue dents in at the middle sometimes when she cries or sticks it out. One of the HV's at our weekly weigh in looked but saw nothing. My MIL (a nurse) took a look today and says she sees it, but it's not too bad, and looks just like the one my husband had/has. I imagine the NHS is going to pretend it isn't there or say it isn't worth treating, as she's gaining weight quite well, but she's miserable and I'm shattered from feeding her hourly between 2 a.m. and 9 a.m. every night/morning!!

Sounds similar to my LO - who was nearly 100% tt. He gained weight very well in the beginning but my nipples were sore as hell. As far as I knew, a heart shaped tongue was a sign of a fairly severe tt??

It also sounds like you've got forceful letdown and/or oversupply. Her pulling off sounds like she's struggling to cope with the letdown, and the wind could be caused by this too. This can also lead to a shallow latch, as another way of coping. You said you have a tendency to oversupply...how did your two other LO cope/manage? Could be just because she's a little bit early that she's having more difficulty?
Although my LO was 5days overdue and he took a few weeks to learn how to cope with my forceful letdown!

Eta: forgot to say, the only thing which really helped LO and I was time for his tiny mouth to grow - we had his tt snipped privately at 4wks but no real improvement in pain until 11wks or so.
HTH

 

[cranberry987]

@ally I'd second getting checked for tt and posterior tongue tie as well. I used shields for 10w and the thing which rly helped us was cranial osteopathy. If there's been a ventouse then she might have been knocked out of line a bit. I agree don't push the breast, just offer it gently and if she doesn't latch then no worries use the shield. I hated them too so I understand but they're just a tool to get you started. Lots of skin to skin as well might help.

@shump windy mess can be down to tt as well, it does sound like one. The important thing with tt isn't how much is tied but what the tongue can do/what effects it has. Posterior tongue ties are very small but can have as big effects as the usual tt. Worth getting a referral. You can also get them checked/snipped privately depending on where you are.

 

[Mrs W 11]

Hello, I am looking for some support as I am really struggling with bf. about a week ago the initial pain when my baby latched on started lasting through the feed and for a while after. It was a massive burning pain.i have been on antibiotics so thrush was diagnosed.

Lo didn't have it though. I had daktarin cream & nystatin for her. 4 days later it was no better so I had the tablet option on Thursday.

Now it still hurts when she latches, pain eases but can still be sore through feed. When she finishes my nipple is flat and the end is white!! It really hurts for an hour or so after and takes ages for the white line to fade. So now I don't think this is thrush?!

I feed her in the nursing cradle hold and am always comfortable. Our latch has been watched before and was fine. She doesn't open her mouth very wide but she dies take quite a bit in her mouth, bottom lip is curled out etc.

I feel like giving up its been so hard and I just don't know what to do or try next? Is there another position I should try? I've tried tickling her top lip and nose but she won't open her mouth wider. At birth they said she didn't have tongue tie.

If anyone can help I'd be very grateful. Baby is 3 weeks old today.

X

 

[summer rain]

Get LO checked for tongue tie and/or lip tie again because I was told categorically that my youngest didn't have tongue tie by both the midwife who examined him after birth and the paediatrician who did his post birth check before discharge. I also had a ridge on my nipple, a burning friction feeling and lipsticked nipples after feeds. One of the midwives who came post natally to my house immediately said 'don't you know he has a tongue tie?' despite being told he definitely didn't. The HV spotted it as well. I spoke to the local BF support team and they told me in this area they are told to turn a blind eye to tongue ties and specialists are told not to approve it being snipped unless a baby cannot feed well from a bottle or isn't gaining any weight at all. Thankfully unlike my eldest who was also tongue tied it didn't cause any issues with weight gain for my youngest and by 5 weeks BF was no longer painful or uncomfortable as his tongue stretched slightly and his mouth got bigger xx

 

[Mrs W 11]

Ok thank you, I'll have her double checked for it. I need to get to the bottom of these problems, can't take much more

 

[blessedmomma]

mrsw- sounds like what i have. i took thrush meds (and my son too) 3 times, but didnt have thrush. it took a while to be diagnosed correctly. finally i was diagnoased with vasospasms of the nipple and had 2 rounds of nifedipine. i still have an episode every now and then, but nothing like before. i may need another round but im toughing it out for now. usually only have a prob if i get really cold or if i get a bad latch (my son is top lip tied so i have to be careful to latch him good). take a look at these sites and see if it describes what you have. if it does i suggest b vitamins (it helped a little) or nifedipine. my nipples still turn white too, but it doesnt hurt near as bad.

https://nbci.ca/index.php?option=co...auds-phenomenon&catid=5:information&Itemid=17

https://kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mother/nipple-blanching/

 

[Mrs W 11]

Thank you! Well having read through, my nipple is fairly flat as it comes out of her mouth with a white stripe across and takes ages to turn pink, in fact the ends stay a bit yellow. So it reads more like its a bad latch but I've tried everything re that. Unless she is tongue tied.

Hmmmm. I never expected bf to be this hard

 

[SHump76]

Sounds similar to my LO - who was nearly 100% tt. He gained weight very well in the beginning but my nipples were sore as hell. As far as I knew, a heart shaped tongue was a sign of a fairly severe tt??

It also sounds like you've got forceful letdown and/or oversupply. Her pulling off sounds like she's struggling to cope with the letdown, and the wind could be caused by this too. This can also lead to a shallow latch, as another way of coping. You said you have a tendency to oversupply...how did your two other LO cope/manage? Could be just because she's a little bit early that she's having more difficulty?
Although my LO was 5days overdue and he took a few weeks to learn how to cope with my forceful letdown!

Eta: forgot to say, the only thing which really helped LO and I was time for his tiny mouth to grow - we had his tt snipped privately at 4wks but no real improvement in pain until 11wks or so.
HTH

@shump windy mess can be down to tt as well, it does sound like one. The important thing with tt isn't how much is tied but what the tongue can do/what effects it has. Posterior tongue ties are very small but can have as big effects as the usual tt. Worth getting a referral. You can also get them checked/snipped privately depending on where you are.

It's not heart shaped all the time. Her tongue looks normal, except when she sticks it straight out and when she really starts to cry, then it becomes heart shaped. I don't know if that makes a difference at all?

I've definitely got a fairly forceful let down and a LOT of milk. Always have. My other two children were also c section babies, one born at 38+6 and the other at 39 exactly. They both dealt with it by occasionally pulling off as well. TBF, my DS did not have a huge problem with it, he was a bit of a monster. LOL

My husband apparently had one that looked like DD2's and it was never treated, but then again, my MIL didn't BF him. She is capable of a good latch. There are some days when she does fine and I'm not sore at all, but I think it's just a lot of effort for her and a lot of the time she just doesn't manage, if that makes any sense? Funny enough, we had a great night last night. She went to sleep around 10:30, then slept until 2:30!! She nursed for about 45 minutes then slept again until 6! This is maybe the 4th time she's managed to have a night without a huge clusterfeed, so I'm feeling pretty well rested.

I'm definitely going to try to get a referral. I actually suspect that my son might have had/have a tongue tie as well (he's 4 1/2 now) and we muddled through with him even though it was really rough going the first few months. I'll do whatever I can to make it easier for her... and myself!

My first two were born in the US, and for some reason I'd never even heard of a TT. If I'd known my husband had had one (he didn't know either), we could have (possibly) gotten DS some help as well.


ETA: Thank you all so much for your responses. It's nice just to know that I'm not mad and my concerns are legitimate!

 

[KerryGold]

Heart-shaped when sticking it out is a classical sign of a tongue tie.

TBH, it's probably your big supply that has got.you this far. Imagine if she couldn't suck well and there wasn't loads of milk?

Good luck!

xXx

 

[SHump76]

I find myself thinking that my milk supply has been saving us on a nightly basis! lol

 

[blessedmomma]

Thank you! Well having read through, my nipple is fairly flat as it comes out of her mouth with a white stripe across and takes ages to turn pink, in fact the ends stay a bit yellow. So it reads more like its a bad latch but I've tried everything re that. Unless she is tongue tied.

Hmmmm. I never expected bf to be this hard

i didnt expect it to be so hard either hun! it took me til 5 months to enjoy it but i love it now! i hope you get it all figured out. my son has a top lip tie. i had the flat and sometimes lipstick shaped with the line down. i had his latch checked several times. i never fixed his lip tie, but it doesnt do that now. i think his mouth was just so small it effected it like that. his lip tie is pretty bad too.

 

[Mrs W 11]

Thank you! Well having read through, my nipple is fairly flat as it comes out of her mouth with a white stripe across and takes ages to turn pink, in fact the ends stay a bit yellow. So it reads more like its a bad latch but I've tried everything re that. Unless she is tongue tied.

Hmmmm. I never expected bf to be this hard

i didnt expect it to be so hard either hun! it took me til 5 months to enjoy it but i love it now! i hope you get it all figured out. my son has a top lip tie. i had the flat and sometimes lipstick shaped with the line down. i had his latch checked several times. i never fixed his lip tie, but it doesnt do that now. i think his mouth was just so small it effected it like that. his lip tie is pretty bad too.

Thanks! It's good to know things can get better. I'm going to call the Hv and ask if a bf specialist can come out to see us and there's also a bf support group locally that I'm going to on Wednesday. Fingers crossed. X