how can i make him open his mouth wider???

[danipena08]

my son was born a week early, slightly jaundiced, and had low blood glucose so the first thing the nurses did was give him bottles even though i had been very specific from the beginning NO BOTTLES. his latch was fine at first but then the nurses and doctors at the hospital told me that the only way i could get rid of his jaundice is if i supplement him. i wish they would have showed me how to do it with an sns or something but all they did was give me a bottle. they were just not very supportive at all of my breast feeding. so it messed up his latch. im still producing because i pump all the time i just would much rather feed him than give him expressed milk. the thing is, his latch isnt terribly off because i bought breastflow bottles when i realized he wasnt nursing right. he only needs to open his mouth wider. thats all. i nurse him and then pump right after so i can see how much he got cuz i know about how much i make and he is only able to get like half of it out. if i could just get him to open his mouth wider everything would be great. my supply is mostly fine, i just need him to be able to get it out on his own. i know they say tickle his upper lip and hell open his mouth but he wont! im getting really frustrated. i know the point is to give them the breast milk cuz its best for them but i miss the bonding. i loved it so much and i hate hate hate giving him a bottle. i just wanna be able to nurse my little angel. i love him so much but im just getting so frustrated that i'll just cry. i dont understand why he cant just open a llittle wider. it would fix everything. does anybody know any way to make him open up?

[smpayne]

My LC litterally pulled down on ds chin to open his mouth, then quickly shoved his face to my boob. It seemed extreme and aggressive, but it worked and ds didn't complain.

[danipena08]

ive tried that i just cant get it in there fast enough before he snaps his gums shut on me me. it hurts! plus he fidgets really bad when i try to pull him open. what seems to be working is i adjust his lips after he latches, and it works but he still needs to be wider. hes doing it to where my nipple look like the tip of fresh lipstick...

[ewe+lamb]

You can demonstrate for him - I know, I know sounds ridiculous however, babies immitate our facial expressions and when someone smiles they will often smile back, when we open our mouths as wide as possible and stick our tongue out they will often do the same - you can certainly try that and see how you get on - don't give up if it doesn't work first time around, I much prefer taking that route than someone forceably making a baby nurse at the breast, also when placing him at the breast make sure that his ear, shoulder and hip are in a straight line tummy to tummy as close as possible, if you want to try something different look at this site for biological nurturing - www.biologicalnurturing.com - this may help you wuite abit, you could do this in the bath to go through a re-birthing experience which may give you a new start; low lights and nice and warm bathroom - along with the biological nurturing and it may just be the trick you need. Good luck.

[Amy@STL]

I am a new mom but faced same issue as yours. Couple of things that helps me - don't let him get so hungry that he becomes squirmy. It took me a while to figure out his early hunger cues. Crying is too late. When he is calmer, you may have better luck. Second thing, if he already crying, then you should have a wide mouth available. I just shove my boob in his crying mouth and he immediately starts sucking.

Good luck...I am totally with you in trying to find BF pleasurable