Trouble with latch?

J+O

At first I thought maybe I wasn't use to it and that's why it was painful, but I just BF Jack and it hurt so bad I couldn't finish, he nursed for 25 minutes before I couldn't take it anymore. ?Now my nipples are throbbing.

?It looks like he's covering the whole nipple, but he doesn't have the "duck" lips that I read about. ?I read something about being possibly tongue tied, but how do you know?

Any suggestions? ?How do make sure we get a proper latch?

adhenash

as long as the bottom lip is turned out. the top one doesn't need to be. i had this same problem and it turned out that dd was clamping down here and there throughout the feeding! (you couldn't really tell by looking at her and first time bfer, i don't know what it's supposed to feel like!!)  well, after trying everything, we took her to a chiropractor/craniosacral therapist. (i can not spread this news fast enough!) she is no longer biting and we are pain free!!

turns out she had some issues with the left side of her jaw, completely better in 3 sessions!! 

i think everyone should take their babies to one!! bfing problems or not, it's amazing!!

J+O

That could be it, whenever we stop my nipple is flat like he's been chomping down on it.

adhenash

yep! that would happen or i would get a white crease across the top!! seriously consider a cst or chiropractor that specializes in infants!! lifesaver!!

J+O

I will! ?Thanks for the advice... but what do they do that helps them so much? ?How many times did you have to go before you noticed a difference?

b&r2006

Your pedi can tell you if he's tongue tied. DS's latching issues were mostly because he would also suck on his lower lip while trying to eat. You can gently pull it out while he's eating, just tug on his chin a bit.

spaz06

if it hurts check your baby's lower lip - if it is not turned out you can use your finger to lighly turn it out - this tends to help with the clamping.  Your nipple should look rounded after a feeding,a ny other shape is a problem with the latch (per my LC).

 

If it makes any difference, some babies are just more vigorous feeders.  I kept feeling like I was doing soemthing wrong because BF was uncomfortable, but after doing what AI could to remdey the issue, latch, etc I am still sore, I felt better after my doc told me that BF does hurt (to a degree!) no matter what you do I kept hearing it shouldn't hurt if done right but that apparently is not necessarily the case.  Made me feel better to know it wasn't just me:)  GL!

adhenash

3x she was better!  there was improvement after the first visit though! it's inexpensive, if your insurance doesn't cover it (they should) it's usually less than $40/ visit!  they just hold different points on your baby to help them release. our dd loves going!! she gets all relaxed, it's so cute!!

adhenash

oh, and ours told us that babies try to correct the problem themselves through bfing...so they will bf a lot harder to help work out whatever kinks they got going on!!

stina022

I had latch trouble at first as well. I went to an LC and she helped me fix the problem. If your nipple is flat, that is a sign that the latch is wrong. The baby shouldn't just be sucking on the nipple, they should open wide enough to get as much of the areola as possible. What helped me the most was changing the position I was breastfeeding in. The LC had me hold the back of my son's head with one hand and hold my breast in a C hold with the other. When he opens wide I push his head onto my breast. Because I'm holding the breast in the C hold, it helped him get more into his mouth.

 I would really recommend seeing an LC. I hated BF at first because it hurt so much. Now that the problems I had are fixed, I love it and it doesn't hurt.

Good luck!