still not latching right??

[mommynow]

My DD is 10 weeks old and I know she still isn't latching right.  It hurts most times to feed her because she keeps pulling down on the nipple.

Does anyone have any helpful hints to improve her latch or is it to late?  I don't think I can take this much longer but I desperately want to breastfeed her.

p.s I've been to the lactation consultant 3 times and it hasn't helped

[jekholm14]

What did your lactation consultant say?  I've had issues with latch and let-down and supply....  :?  and have just felt comfortable with the whole situation since 12 weeks.  What I was told was my DS habituated himself to having a poor latch and because I didn't catch it soon enough there is nothing we can do.  That's frustrating because I saw numerous nurses who all said "That looks fine" or offered little help.  So even though I knew the latch was wrong, I didn't know how to fix it.  If I would have known, I would have hired an LC from the get go.  Do you have nipple trauma?  I think as long as baby is getting enough milk and you are not in pain you are OK.  That's the case with us.
One thing you can do is when the LO is pulling, pull her closer to the breast, so even if she comes off you will not be hurt.  Good luck and I hope things improve for you as they did for me!

[deb]

Step 1: find a different lactation consultant. I was lucky enough to have a good one when Josie basically tore me up. She had to come twice, almost a third time but Josie and I worked it out in the nick of time. When Natalie came home and I started feeling the familiar pain, I called her ASAP and she was there before Nat was 24 hours old and we nipped it in the bud.

As far as the latch goes, what helped me was:

-Before latch-on, make sure baby's head is LEVEL with your breast. At least at first, use pillows to bring baby up to YOU, instead of leaning over to baby. Once the two of you have resolved latch difficulties, you can tweak it as you see fit.

-Make sure baby's mouth is WIDE WIDE WIDE open before latch-on. Put baby's chin at aureole with nipple pointing UP towards baby's nose. This means baby's head should also be tilted back. Then, with your hand at the top of baby's back (not the head), pull baby's head TO your breast. DON'T lean your breast into baby's mouth. The hand goes on the back to ensure that the baby's head is tilting upwards. This way the nipple is pulled along the ROOF of baby's mouth instead of down the middle. This made it practically painless for me once I got the hang of it.

-If latch isn't right the first time, break the seal and re-latch. Do this as many times as you need to!!!!!

Hope this helps, and that I've explained it clearly enough. Email or PM or post back if you need something clarified.

[annamum]

This is a good website for breastfeeding, it has a lot of pictures and info on the latch: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/start/basics/latch-resources.html

Try this and check if you see what you are doing different or have your dh look at the pics and your latch, somebody other than you may catch what is wrong. Also, I recommend getting another lactation consultant. Very often a hospital you gave birth at has a lc on staff and it is free of charge for you. Or you can look for a La Leche League near you, they can be a good help too.

And yes, you can still fix the latch  .

Good luck!

[Chelsea's Mom]

I thought my 3 week old baby had a poor latch until I found out I had a thrush infection in my breast. (This can actually cause a bad latch and may make a clicking sound).  As it progressed I also had deep shooting pains and burning feelings in my nipples.

Especially if BF didn't used to hurt and it does now, it could likely be  yeast infection!  Also if it seems to be getting worse- this could also be a sign. There is help and you can beat it, don't give up!! Check out the post on "tips for beating thrush" and follow Dr. Newmans protocol if this sounds like you. The sooner you treat, the easier it will be!!