Hey everyone,
Welp, we're at 11 weeks with my newest little guy, but I'm still having some issues. He still has a shallow latch and I'm not sure how to fix it. He gets the nipple and most of the areola in his mouth but his mouth doesn't seem to be super wide, certainly not compared to the deep latch videos I've seen online.
When I go to latch him, he kind of chomps at the nipple. At night, when he sleeps longer stretches, he ends up frantic to feed and dives at my breast so I don't have a chance to adjust at all. But most of the time he just doesn't open his mouth all that wide. I do the "nipple sandwich" when I go to latch him, but even with that he doesn't seem to be latched on very deeply. I feel my nipple rubbing against the inside of his mouth, which gets uncomfortable if not painful after awhile. Although when he's hungry, he'll often latch better (once he's calmed down from his initial frantic-ness) and I hear him gulping - it's when he wants to comfort nurse that it's painful, maybe because he gets sleepy/relaxed and slips off?
We've been working with a lactation consultant since a few weeks after he was born, and she's said the latch isn't terrible and he seems to be doing everything he's supposed to, but once he's on it still seems shallow. She and I have both tried to tug his chin down to open his mouth a bit more once he's latched on and it doesn't really go anywhere. She seems to think this is more or less as good as it's going to get for now until he gets bigger, and suggested that when my nipples get sore to just pump and feed or use a nipple shield to give myself a break.
We have our share of challenges: he was born 3 weeks early and was tongue-tied (I've had the tie clipped) and my nipples are "puffy"/flat. He's gaining well - finally - averaging about an once or so a day, although it's been a couple weeks since we had a weight check. When I pump in place of a feeding I get about 3oz, so my supply is good enough. It's really just a comfort thing for me.
So much of what I've read has said that the discomfort should resolve within the first month, so I'm a bit disheartened that it's still causing issues at 11 weeks :/ Any advice?
