my friend had a baby on friday and she is having some trouble latching on. Violet (the baby) will open her mouth around my friend's nipple but instead of sucking, will start to cry. If you stick ANYTHING else in her mouth, she will suck on it, but not her mom's nipple. She doesn't have any money, so i'm trying to help her, so she doesn't have to pay for a lactation consultant if at all possible. Does anyone have any advice? My baby latched on right away, except when I was engorged, so i don't feel very helpful. I have tried helping her shove as much nipple (and areola) in the baby's mouth as possible, and repeating it over and over, hoping for some sucking, but have only had luck a few times, and my friend is getting very discouraged and frustrated. HELP!
maybe(I'm not an expert but I have breastfed), while the baby is crying on her open mouthed on her breast she should squeeze a little milk out and let it drizzle into the babies mouth. The baby might calm down and realize then that mom is trying to feed her. Maybe she should pump her breast milk and put it in bottles to feed the baby for now. The baby is probably frustrated so forcing in her nipple probably upsets the baby more since she doesn't understand. Have her stop it as soon as the baby starts crying, calm her down and try again but be gentle, let her lead the way and talk soothingly to her. Good luck to your friend, I hope things work out well soon. MaggieSugar and Brighid could help you alot, maybe they will see this soon.
my baby took about a week to finally realize that there was milk there for her please tell you friend to not give up the baby might not be all that hungry it took me alot of time and PATIANCE and she did cry alot at first but i had to stick with it. even though the baby might knot understand, tell your friend to talk to her baby. me and my baby had to talk a bunch about nursing. the baby will prbly eat for couple seconds then pull away and cry right? my baby did that for a week or two. if it goes on for more than that then i would call someone about it. tell her TO NOT GIVE UP... it is the most rewarding experiance in the world. her baby will eventually teach her. i promise.
Green, I few weeks ago, I sent you a list of all the Registered Lactation Consultants in your state. PLEASE have your freind call one. Latch on difficulties are one of the hardest to diagnose and treat, it HAS to be done by a trained professional, and HAS to be done IN PERSON. If she can't "afford" an LC, then she absolutely can't "afford" not to breastfeed. A single LC visit usually costs about the price of about two weeks of formula, and that isn't counting the bottles, extra doctor visits and antibiotics non breastfed children also need. She can't "afford" not to call one. Most LCs will see truely low income womyn at a reduced cost, on a sliding scale. I personally only know ONE LC, out of a couple of hundred who does NOT do this. Also La Leche League is free. (although if it is a complicated or difficult problem, the LLL leader will refer you to an LC.) www.lalecheleague.org or 1800LALECHE or 1 847 519 7730. NO ONE can fix a latch over the phone or the internet, someone will NEED to see her. (Unless the problem resolves itself, and in most cases I wouldn't wait for that to perhaps happen, the problem gets worse, and she will need two or three LC visits instead of one.) Please have your freind call one. Blessings.
Where did she have her baby? Hospital? Home? Birth center? She should never have been discharged from care until the baby was nursing well. If she had a midwife, CALL HER! What was her birth like? A traumatic or difficult birth can cause the baby to feel pain in her neck, face and jaws, especially if there was a malpresentation. A chiropractic adjustment can help if this is the case. Chiropractors generally are inexpensive. Does Mama have yeast infections? The baby may have thrush, picked up during birth. Thrush can be quite painful. It looks like white spots that don't rub off. Mamas nipples will be quite sore as well. Has the baby seen a pediatrician? Have a ped look in her mouth for tongue tie. Tongue tie is a short frenulum, the "string" that connects the underside of the tongue to the floor of the mouth. That can make nursing difficult and needs to be clipped. Does Mama get WIC? WIC has free breastfeeding counselors on call. She can see one when she signs up, which she should do immediately anyway if she is short on money. Try a variety of position changes, football hold, cross-cradle hold, side lying, even getting on her hands and knees over the baby and nursing like a cow! Get baby sucking on Mama's finger and then do the ole switcheroo with the breast. Eryn had a great idea to dribble some milk into her mouth to taste. That can get baby interested. (Good thinking!) Has baby been urinating and pooping? If baby seems dehydrated, have Mama express some milk, either by pumping or hand, and spoon, cup or syringe feed her so she doesn't get dehydrated. A dehydrated baby will become lethargic and not want to nurse at all. I agree with Maggie, get some kind of professional help quick before baby gets sick! http://www.lllusa.org/MARIVT/Vermont.html LLL of Vermont http://www.breastfeeding.com/directory/states/vermont.html LC's of Vermont http://www.healthyvermonters.info/cph/wic/bfeeding/feeding.shtml Vermont WIC
I am so sorry to hear this. This happened with my first baby. It turned out that my nipples were 'flat'. They just wouldn't firm up properly and engorgement made it worse. She couldn't latch on. WIC sent a lactation consultant for free, who was associated with La Leche League, to my house. That woman tried and tried to get the baby to latch on. When my daughter was a week old I was in a baby-stuff store, and the clerk, who I didn't even know, asked me how nursing was going. I told her and she sold me a NIPPLE SHIELD. Normally these are for when nipples get sore and raw. It's just a little piece of flexible plastic that the mother places over her nipple. Reluctantly I bought it. I washed it, placed it over my nipple, tried once more to feed my baby, and SHE LATCHED ON! I was so happy I cried. We used the shield for about 3 months or so. One day I misplaced it and the baby was hungry, and she was able to nurse without it. My nipples had kind of adjusted. The lactation consultant said part of the problem was being engorged and having large breasts in the first place. The main problem, though, was flat nipples. That might be a little (or a lot) more than you wanted to know, but when it worked for me I was elated, and my baby was thrilled, too. With the second kid, no problems. I hope everything is fine now.
greenfiddler, how is your friend, and the baby?Everyone else gave really good advice. I would have your friend hand express her breast, use a pump, or have someone suck on it prior to feeding the baby to make sure that her milk is flowing, and her nipple is stimulated and erect. Maybe the baby is having trouble recognizing the nipple, if it is too soft and she can't smell/taste the milk RIGHT there. Good luck, I know how hard this can be.
thanks everyone for the advice - I'm sorry it took so long for me to reply, i don't have a computer of my own, so i only come on when i'm visiting my parents . My friend is doing okay, Violet will latch on sometimes, but not others, but my friend is perservering. She had a lactation consultant come, but i'm not sure exactly what happened (its hard for me to see my friend because her boyfriend is an asshole - the last 2 times i've called her cell phone, he's answered and then hung up - he doesn't like me because i don't agree with him that its "stupid to get married", i'm married and i think its wonderful and it works well for us), her nipples arent flat, mine are and the nipple shield made them crack, so lucky for my friend, her nipples are "normal". I think a lot of it is due to my friend waiting til the baby is STARVING to feed her. I know what its like to have a million people giving you unwanted advice, so i try to not be pushy, but at the same time, i think her baby is losing weight and she is 10 days old already......i dont know....
If your friend is waiting until baby is starving that can do it. baby is supposed to be put on breast as soon as they make noises to want to feed(as any breastfeeding mother knows*Or bottle whatever lol* ) Also with my oldest I had to SHOVE his head onto my breast becasue he wasnt latching on nor did he want to be on the left side...lol But I made him....His tounge was tied(it when that flap of skin makes your tounges tip look like a heart) that could also be a problem. If that baby is loosing weight unwanted ot not she needs to be told that she needs help and what to do. That isnt cool that her baby is loosing weight...its common that they do but only a few days after and then most babies take a few days to gain it all back and then some..>(mine both went above and beyond at a week) I hope she listens and gets the help.
