7 weeks and still tough (XP/ BF)
desertmouse39
member
My LO is 7 weeks tomorrow. We have had some struggles with BF from the beginning, both with her latch and later, as I would realize, my supply. The supply issue is as "fixed" as it can be - I am pumping and nursing in order to supplement her formula/bottle feedings, so she can at least get some breast every day.
And for a day or two at a time, things go well; she latches great, we have nice solid nursing sessions 4 or 5 times a day. And then other times, we struggle a lot to get a good latch and lately she does this thing where after 5 or 10 minutes of nursing she starts to wriggle and stretch and move her head around, pulling my nipple in 100 different directions! Not only does this hurt, she pulls her mouth back to a very shallow latch, and I have to try to re-latch her. This is frustrating for me and ends up being frustrating for her.
When I squeeze my nips, there is still milk coming out so I don't think it's because the boob is empty. If I pull her away from the breast, she fusses and roots like she wants back there immediately, but then doesn't do a good job when I put her back.
A good nursing session is blissful for both of us but we can't seem to get there consistently each time. Anyone else have this issue? Thoughts or suggestions? We've seen three different LCs for the various issues and i feel like maybe we've exhausted that resource, but also, whenever we are in a consultation she does awesome and I can't really show the LC what the problems are, just explain them verbally.
Re: 7 weeks and still tough (XP/ BF)
She could just be becoming more aware of her surroundings and is curious/interested while nursing. Try nursing in a dark, quiet room and see if it improves.
You can video tape the issues to show to a LC. Don't give up on LCs, support is such a big part of successful BFg.
And don't quit BFg on a bad day. It is super tough at the beginning and before you know it it's better. You're doing great, keep it up!
Oh, my babe does this too. But if I sit her up she usually lets out a huge burp then a cry (cause the burp scares her) then goes back to nursing. If she starts wiggling around I make her unlatch so she gets the hint if she's messing around, the food souce doesn't mess around too
Good luck!
Thank you everyone! I'm going to try burping more often and see if that helps. And perhaps she will learn with repeated loss of the nipple when she's too rough with it - my right one in particular is pretty tore up right now : (