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My son is 5 weeks, he just recently started latching (it’s been a long road), but his latch is painful. How do I get him to latch deeper?
Hi, Nakeshia -
I'm guessing you meant "will not latch"? When you give the bottle have you been pumping to protect your milk supply? It could be that your supply has been affected and so baby is less content at breast with slower milk flow?
I am still pumping
Is there anyway I can get him to latch back on
Has baby been latching ubtil now? Can you explain what happens?
He has not been latching for about a week now. So now I pump and give it in a bottle. When I put the nipple in his mouth he just does not suck to pull anything down
I would suggest pumping a few minutes to get the milk flowing and then trying to latch - hopefully the instant reward of milk will entice him to stay latched/sucking
Ok thank you
Hi, Kate -
When baby goes to latch you want to think about lining up your nipple with his upper lip or even his nose. Tease his upper lip and likely baby will tip head back and open mouth wide like a yawn -- that's when you guide baby on...
If baby latches and it's not as deep as it could be, one trick is to put your index finger on his chin and gently pull chin down a bit so he latches deeper.
I really like this latching resource from Stanford University for more helpful tips:
https://med.stanford.edu/newborns/professional-education/breastfeeding/abcs-of-breastfeeding/getting-started---position-and-latch.html
Good luck!
Thank you. We are trying but when I pull down on his chin he just pulls back and doesn’t open wider. Any other tips?
Was he premature? Have we ruled out a tongue tie?
Also is there an alternative to lanolin cream. He tends to not want the nipple the next time we nurse after the cream has been applied.
There is no tongue tie and he was born 9 lbs 1 oz. via c section he lost a lb in the hospital so I was bullied into supplementing with a bottle. As soon as he took the bottle he stopped latching. I’ve been pumping and trying to get him on the boob and last week he miraculously took the breast.
Great job persevering! Sorry it’s painful though. Sounds like it would be very helpful to have an in person lactation visit so they can o serve a feeding and help with latch. You can ask your pediatrician for a recommendation or search for someone local (certified as an IBCLC) here:
http://www.ilca.org/why-ibclc/falc
Thank you! Did you see my question about the lanolin cream? Are there alternatives?