How can I get her to open her mouth wider?

[Hiding]

My 3 day old , as with my sons, cannot seem to open her mouth wide enough to latch properly. We've spent 3 days feeding with her just nipple sucking, just like my sons did. I used shields for my sons and can see this happening for her too. I'm intending on using them today at least as I literally cannot give her my nipples again today, it's pure agony, toe curling. I took my sons to so many baby cafés for advice and did actually get some good help with my daughter in the hospital but we still can't get the latch right.

I'm desperate to get this right, as I always get a good milk supply and she is trying really hard to feed, but her mouth just doesn't seem to open up. She's been checked for tongue tie and all was fine.

Any advice?

 

[redlemonade]

Have you tried waiting until she yawns and the putting her to the breast? Nipple sucking is very painful but try to avoid the shields if you can and try waiting until she opens her mouth for a yawn/cry before latching on. If she still doesn't have a wide enough latch, gently push on the lips to open the up.

I'm just a FTM of an almost 4 week old though so hopefully someone with more experience can advise. Good luck, you're doing a great job!

 

[Mummafrog]

I'm guessing you've probably heard this advice from all the support groups etc but I hope you don't mind me repeating. Brushing your nipple against her top lip is supposed to make them open their mouth wide, then it is important to bring them to the breast by pushing gently and quickly between their shoulder blades which allows their head to tip back and keep that big gape and help get the nipple to the back of their mouth.
Once my girl has latched, if it's a bit shallow, what I do is gently pull her chin down with my finger and try and encourage her lip to curl downwards as it's supposed to which seems to work.
At first and still a lot of the time I need to keep my hand holding her shoulders towards me so she keeps a deep latch.
Sorry if you've heard all that. Wishing you loads of luck, hope it's different this time. You're amazing.

 

[angela98661]

Use your breast like a sandwich squeeze down with your hand like a cup so more nipple can go in.

 

[ButterCup17]

I used to try brushing my nipple on his nose but that never worked. Then I tried putting a finger on his chin and hour opened up wider then
What's wrong with using shields? There was a period of time when ds would pull away with my nipple in his mouth and it hurt like crazy. Made my nipples bleed after a few times. So I used shields until they healed.

 

[MiniBump]

Hi Hiding

If you watch the two videos at the bottom of this page, I think this is supposed to help because the baby's chin touches the breast first holding that in position and then folding (for want of a better word) the nipple away makes baby stretch its top lip to go up and over. Looks like it is done with a cross cradle hold (so if feeding on left boob, support baby with right arm and use left hand to adjust the nipple) Just make sure you support baby around the shoulders so the head movement isn't restricted. Don't know if it works but can't hurt to try! x

https://www.naturallatch.com/helpful-links.html

 

[luna_19]

Make a nipple sandwich and have baby take a big "bite" like you would a big sandwich, bottom in first then nipple in. Most newborns have a bit of trouble opening wide enough, that little mouth will grow soon enough the problem with nipple shields is they can cause low supply and milk transfer issues and can be very difficult to stop using because baby gets used to them

 

[Night Flower]

I have to use nipple shields. How do they cause low supply?

 

[luna_19]

They can potentially cause lower supply because baby isn't able to stimulate the nipple the same way as without one. Also some babies don't drink as much milk through the shield as they would without it and some of those babies may end up with weight gain issues. Some people totally need them and that is fine but it is good to be aware of the problems they may cause so you can catch them early

 

[AllyTiel]

Before people freak out, the new nipple shields do not affect milk supply. I wish people would stop fueling this myth. It was the only way I could feed my baby and I didn't have supply issues. They can still nurse as often as they want and they are extremely thin so they do not hinder nipple stimulation.