Correcting poor latch

This site is amazing--there's always great information. I need some help...

Is there a way to correct a poor latch? My 5 weekers (2 weeks adjusted) have had an on and off latch. They are not drawing out/down their tongue (does that make sense?) so they are just padding me on the nipple with their tongue so that the nipple is flat on one side and misshapen after nursing. This is very painful during nursing, makes me sore afterward despite lanolin and I'm sure they are not getting adequate milk.

They consistently get one bottle a day and use pacis after nursing to soothe. I'm not prepared to give the bottle up as it give me a break at the end of the day before bed. Sometimes they get another bottle if I need it; I think this flexibility keeps me BFing.

But, is there something I can do? Thanks! Diana

 

QUOTE(dmw @ May 24 2009, 10:19 AM) [snapback]1326321[/snapback]
This site is amazing--there's always great information. I need some help...

Is there a way to correct a poor latch? My 5 weekers (2 weeks adjusted) have had an on and off latch. They are not drawing out/down their tongue (does that make sense?) so they are just padding me on the nipple with their tongue so that the nipple is flat on one side and misshapen after nursing. This is very painful during nursing, makes me sore afterward despite lanolin and I'm sure they are not getting adequate milk.

They consistently get one bottle a day and use pacis after nursing to soothe. I'm not prepared to give the bottle up as it give me a break at the end of the day before bed. Sometimes they get another bottle if I need it; I think this flexibility keeps me BFing.

But, is there something I can do? Thanks! Diana

I totally get where you coming from in the bolded part. If I hadn't given my boys the end of the bottle of formula, I would have lost my mind. My DH and I worked out a pretty good supplementing system from 2-6 months. It involved a bottle of breastmilk at the 6AM wake up, and a bottle of formula before bed. I usually pumped two to three times to get them the AM bottle.

As far as the latch goes, I think it may be too shallow. You need to try to get them to open wider and make sure your nipple is turned toward the roof of their mouth.

I also like the finger suck technique for improving latches--here's a description.

 

Are they tongue tied? I would ask your pedi or LC to check for that! All of mine had to have their tongues clipped to correct their latch.

I also used finger sucking to train them to latch b/c mine had a high palate as well as a shallow latch. I would let them suck on my index finger (pad side up) for several minutes to establish a good pattern and then latch. It also helped to roll my nipple gently between my thumb and index finger to make it easier for them to latch.

 

There was a piece of advice in this forum when I first started BFing (so 10 months ago) and I have no clue how to find it, but someone described a great way to do it...sounds kind of like what Rachel said, but I had never heard it and it worked wonders for these two (I also had the squashed nipple issue for the first couple of weeks). When offering the breast, bring your nipple above the upper lip and stroke down, and then as they open, make sure it's pointed to the roof of their mouth because they'll need to open really wide to get it. My LC had told me to stroke the side of their cheeks but that just didn't make them open wide enough. I wish I remembered which TSer posted it because she explained it so well!

 

I've found this poster very useful -- http://www.rebeccaglover.com.au/graphics/attachment_big.jpg

The key is putting the breast against their chin, nipple almost up to their nose, then when they open up their mouth, swing their head up - the nipple should slide under their top lip and down.

 

QUOTE(Rebekah J @ May 25 2009, 11:58 PM) [snapback]1327906[/snapback]
I've found this poster very useful -- http://www.rebeccaglover.com.au/graphics/attachment_big.jpg

The key is putting the breast against their chin, nipple almost up to their nose, then when they open up their mouth, swing their head up - the nipple should slide under their top lip and down.


This was exactly what I was trying to explain that someone had posted before! Thanks for adding this, I did a painfully bad job of describing it It helped me tremedously, much more than anything my own LC told/gave me!

 

I also had nipple confusion issues and supplemented as well as BF. One thing that helped was to try different kinds of bottles. I had one in particular that didn't latch well and I found a bottle that she didn't really like, but it did train her and helped her latch better. I also said somewhere recently, my SIL feed her a couple of times, which helped her figure out what to do with the breast.