Breastfeeding Question

Twinkz

DS was steadily gaining almost an ounce a day while in the hospital and he definately meets the number of wet diapers and exceeds the number of poopy diapers in a day so it's not an "issue" more of an annoyance.  DS won't latch on at first.  Doesn't matter how fussy or not fussy he is.  He plays with my nipple for a few minutes - will latch, spit it out, toss his head back and forth, etc.  The nurses checked his latching while I was still in the hospital and said everything was fine and they helped me figure out how to breastfeed with my mammoth breasts but this wasn't ever addressed and since we've gotten home it's gotten worse.

Any suggestions or advice to get him to actually latch on and stay on the first time?  Trying to hold his head after he latches doesn't work, he just tosses his head harder or opens his mouth until I relax again.

mklove1984

I suggest meeting with a lactation consultant if you have that as an option.

desibee610

My DS does the same thing.  Sometimes (not often) he latches on right away, but most of the time it's an all out war to get him onto my boob.  I just keep at it until he gets it.  If he's having a really tough time, I'll switch to the other breast and he usually latches on pretty quickly.  If he gets super upset, to the point of crying, I'll give him my finger or his paci to suck on and calm himself down, and he's usually able to latch on after that.  Good luck and I hope some of this helps.

eeyoreem

I just met with the LC today, he has started to do this as well, she had me dribble some pumped milk onto my nipple shield so LO would smell it.  It seems to work.  He has latched on fairly consistently today but he has had some problems.

amy259

What hold are you using? I have decent sized boobs and are pretty mushy so I have to use my fingers to hold the boob down to let LO breath if I do cradle hold. I find the football hold is easier to get her to latch and see whats going on and she can breath. Do you have an overactive letdown? It might be coming too fast for him? 

Twinkz

I do both cradle and football hold depending on his mood.  The nurses told me to not let go of my breast while he feeds so he doesn't have problems with latch (my nursing bra is an I and a bit too small) - overactive letdown is a big possibility and I usually do try to let a little milk out first to try to get him to latch on... he's just a lil' stinker I guess

charley7

Mine does the same thing about 70% of the time.  I try a couple times and then just hold him and talk to him for a few mins and then I try again.  He will always latch on but I guess he wants to do it on his own time  The other thing with my LO is that I wake him for just about EVERY feeding...he is such a good sleeper...even at night. 

Rissalt

I had the same problem, it definitely got better. I had to use a nipple shield because of flat nipples, which helped with the latch. We also dribbled some pumped milk or formula. Something else we tried was giving the paci or a bottle with pumped milk and then did a "bait and switch" this really seemed to help get her suck going and latch on easier

MrsChelseaP09

My LO does the same thing every once and a while. I tell MH that she is playing with her food. Sometimes its annoying but most of the time I laugh at her when she does it. Shes definitely doing it on purpose, and its not that shes having a hard time getting it.

Phil&Corinna

My LO was doing that same thing, and our LC suggested leaning back a bit while feeding, so I'm in a semi-recline with my feet up.  This was to counter-act my overactive letdown, and it seemed to help a lot more.  I'm surprised your hospital wouldn't address that before you left!!

Twinkz

I think they didn't really address it because he was gaining so soon and because of all the other issues I had - they viewed it as a non-issue.

Thanks for all the advice ladies!!  I'll try everything to see what helps