Re-latching 4 month old?

[HopefulPony]

Hello

My son is 4 months old and has never breastfed. He really struggled to latch after birth and used to scream when I tried. He was manhandled by some of the midwives who tried to force his head onto my breast and developed an aversion to it. A few weeks ago I noticed he was rooting on me which he hasn't done for ages so I thought I'd try him again. He is now happy to have my breast near him and will lick milk off my nipple but won't attempt to suck. I mostly have him laying on the floor and I let my breast dangle over him whilst chatting and singing to him so he thinks its fun. I try and spend lots of time topless as well. Does anyone have any tips or experience with this?

 

[sarahh]

I had to use nipple shields for 4 months. I tried lots of diff things to try and wean her off but without much success to begin with as like your lo she used to scream at the breast. I resigned myself to probably having to use the shields for the rest of our breastfeeding journey. I would try about once a week to latch her on and one day she just did it. I was very surprised. Since then we have not had to use them again. The latch wasn't perfect and I got a bit sore but used nipple cream and no pain anymore.
Have you been on Kelly's mum website as there is a page about getting back on the breast and being happy near the breast and then licking milk off the nipple are steps towards getting baby to breastfeed. Good luck

 

[HopefulPony]

Thank you yes I've bookmarked the kellymom page, I think learning to be happy at the breast is key. I wonder if I should try a shield, I do have some so maybe.

 

[sarahh]

It may mean that your lo learns that milk comes from your breast even tho there is a shield there as the shield is like a bottle teat. But it is another thing to wean off of. So I would weigh up the pros and cons of trying the shield.
If you do decide to try the shields you may have to try a few diff brands. The 1st one I tried hurt so got another brand and it didn't hurt. Also my nipples got a bit sore when I started using the shields (but i started using them on day 5 so they were still toughening up) so I had to use nipple cream.
Also when I was trying to relatch lo I would comfort her when she was upset or going off to sleep with lots of skin on skin at nipple level.