Breastfeeding Moms
Other info: ds now 1 month. We continue to struggle thru oversupply/OAL on 6-8 hr block feeding. He feeds for 10 min a session with a really bad latch - he breaks suction a few times a minute and often it seems he is just on the nipple, or maybe a tad more. He slips off very easily. If I take away boob and try 4 a better latch, as many times as the latch gets bad, he gets MAD and screams and won't latch at all.
I have a sense, but don't really know, that he is gaining TONS of weight simply by opening is mouth, doing a weak sucks, and letting my oversupply pour in his mouth . Obviously he is getting enough calories with what we are doing.
SO if my nipples are fine and he is gaining weight with his poor technique, do I have to keep trying to get him to latch better?
I guess the concern is in 4 months, if my supply regulates, will he b able to figure out latching and better sucking then?
Replies
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Fix it now. Seriously. Four months later it will be much harder. It's OK for him to get mad. That's good for supply anyway.
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My latch is not so good either she is 4 months if she not on good it feels like a pinch. So fix now -
Yes, Especially with oversupply, I fought mastitis SO bad for about 2 months, we had to correct DDs bad latch, that she was used to and comfortable with at that point so she would effectively empty the breast and I could get rid of the mastitis. You will be doing yourself and the kiddo a much bigger favor correcting it now while he's still not REALLY set in his ways. -
It is worth fixing because while it is all working out now...the OAL will likely resolve and the need for a decent latch will be so important and a pain in the rear to fix. Start working on fixing the latch now...it isn't worth the wait and see approach.
I actually had a child didn't become failure to thrive because of OAL. Once my OAL resolved her weight was a major issue...turns out she had CP and other medical issues that we were not aware of early on. She's 9 and still tube fed. The OAL resolving is what caused investigation into her medical issues. She had a good latch but a poor suck/swallow. So that OAL can give some false confidence in the early days. In my case, it masked a failure to thrive child. In your case, it is setting you up for possible supply issues down the road. So that latch needs to be fixed so that when the OAL resolves...you aren't left with other issues.
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Fix the latch now. Every time that he nurses poorly is that much less demand on your breasts which means that when your supply regulates it will be too low for his needs. When it is low and he has to work harder to get the milk out, he'll be unable to with an ineffective latch which means that your supply will drop even further. We've seen some babies within the last year end up FTT and on feeding tubes, with their lives in danger, because of the toll of a tongue tie on that supply/demand relationship.
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This!
Quoting K8wizzo:
Fix the latch now. Every time that he nurses poorly is that much less demand on your breasts which means that when your supply regulates it will be too low for his needs. When it is low and he has to work harder to get the milk out, he'll be unable to with an ineffective latch which means that your supply will drop even further. We've seen some babies within the last year end up FTT and on feeding tubes, with their lives in danger, because of the toll of a tongue tie on that supply/demand relationship.
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Expresss some.milk.before latching will help get the correct latch. Right now when you gave oal the milk just flows out so baby isnt suckinf that hard, but you dont want that to become a habit. So treat the oal, and make sure latch is good :) -
He probably learned the bad latch not from you, but from pulling off a bit to try and control the OAL. This is what my DS did too. I would relatch constantly, but he kept pulling off or down a lot making for a shallow latch. I think you're lucky if its not effecting your nipples badly! Keep relatching, but know that he will likely start to latch more correctly as your OS and OAL regulate. That's how it was with Nathan, anyway. Its still not perfect, but its much better. Also, your LO's mouth getting bigger will also help the latch. Our latch is 80 percent better than it was last month. :-) Just keep correcting.
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This is exactly what I was thinking as the cause of the bad latch. Everyone else is right that the bad latch can lead to poor milk transfer and low supply as the supply regulates.
Quoting amc103:
He probably learned the bad latch not from you, but from pulling off a bit to try and control the OAL. This is what my DS did too. I would relatch constantly, but he kept pulling off or down a lot making for a shallow latch. I think you're lucky if its not effecting your nipples badly! Keep relatching, but know that he will likely start to latch more correctly as your OS and OAL regulate. That's how it was with Nathan, anyway. Its still not perfect, but its much better. Also, your LO's mouth getting bigger will also help the latch. Our latch is 80 percent better than it was last month. :-) Just keep correcting.
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But it seems hard to fix as long as I have so much milk. I hand express after let down but it still seems to spray. Even mid feed-he only feeds 10 mins or so- my flow seems crazy fast.
So I try to fix his latch ,but it does seem like he has to back off to regulate flow himself. It is true, at the end of a block feed he can latch a little better for the thicker stuff. But when I'm on a new boob for a block, often the whole first feed seems too fast for him.... Ideas?
Quoting aehanrahan:
This is exactly what I was thinking as the cause of the bad latch. Everyone else is right that the bad latch can lead to poor milk transfer and low supply as the supply regulates.
Quoting amc103:
He probably learned the bad latch not from you, but from pulling off a bit to try and control the OAL. This is what my DS did too. I would relatch constantly, but he kept pulling off or down a lot making for a shallow latch. I think you're lucky if its not effecting your nipples badly! Keep relatching, but know that he will likely start to latch more correctly as your OS and OAL regulate. That's how it was with Nathan, anyway. Its still not perfect, but its much better. Also, your LO's mouth getting bigger will also help the latch. Our latch is 80 percent better than it was last month. :-) Just keep correcting.