help getting lo to latch on properly

[mum2beagain]

hi connor is 4 days today and up untill now has lways seemed to latch well but past 24hrs he only seems to take the tip of my nipple he just doent open his mouth wide enough i have quite large boobs and my areola has grown alot since having him too lol is tere ny trick to getting bubs to open his mouth wider to get more in than just he tip of my niple as im worried they will get too sore and ill give up like i did with my dd

 

[lynnikins]

check how you are holding him so your nipple is more level with his nose so he has to tip his head back to get the nipple in his mouth and then he will take more of the areola into his mouth

 

[snailien]

also move him not your boob. i found moving lo in circles slightly around the boob helped whilst holding the back of her shoulders. if you're having problems phone you're midwife or the local bf counsellor tho, they'll be happy to help you. good luck, it can be stressful but try and relax, he will do it. my lo still needs encouragement sometimes at 4 weeks old. xx

 

[katy1310]

I have been having real problems getting Sophie to latch on properly - she was 13 weeks premature and has just been breastfeeding for the past 3 weeks or so. I was using a nipple shield because she had a weak suck with being so early, but I want to get rid of that as I've heard they are only for short term use. She has been doing exactly the same as your LO lately and I was starting to think we'd never get the hang of it.

However, the past few days I've been doing quite a lot of snuggling with her and she has actually started latching on herself and when she does that she latches on perfectly! Try just spending loads of time snuggling and let your baby nuzzle around the nipple and you might just find he latches on himself. I find that if I hold Sophie against my chest, she makes her own way down and can latch on totally by herself. She kind of bobs her head around and opens her mouth really wide and just goes right on with no help from me.

I was also reading last night - I think it might have been on La leche League website - that there was this breastfeeding group where several women were having latch problems, and they were told to hold the baby between their breasts and tickle/rub their feet and every single baby latched on perfectly on their own. Might be worth a shot!

 

[mum2beagain]

thanks all weve had a little better feed this evening it only seems to be the right side that he has a prolem with i found that if i hold him in the rugby hold on the right side he feeds better and he fed for a whole 20 mins and normally he only feeds for 10 mins so it seems to e going ok

katy i rememebr when u had sophie glad to see shes doing well when did she come home? xx

 

[muddles]

I had trouble with the right side too at first. Rugby hold definitely helped, as did one of those widgey pillow things. Also making sure baby has 'tummy to mummy and nipple to nose' helped too. I remember the midwife said if baby wasn't opening his mouth wide enough then to keep breaking his latch (with little finger) until he did latch properly and also to try hand expressing a tiny bit of milk onto the end of the nipple so he can taste it then he would open his mouth nice and wide.

 

[katy1310]

thanks all weve had a little better feed this evening it only seems to be the right side that he has a prolem with i found that if i hold him in the rugby hold on the right side he feeds better and he fed for a whole 20 mins and normally he only feeds for 10 mins so it seems to e going ok

katy i rememebr when u had sophie glad to see shes doing well when did she come home? xx

Hi - Sophie came home 2 weeks ago yesterday at 12 weeks old, 6 days before her due date! She is now 5lb 14 and doing really well Congratulations on your little one!

xxx