Terrible newborn latch- update p 2 - Page 2

[GoBecGo]

My DD1 clicked, even with a deep latch, until she was about 9 weeks old. Despite all the warnings that it meant she had a poor latch she gained well. I think her palate is very high - i have that too and my dad told me i used to click at the breast. Food for thought...

[bri276]

I plan to see an ibclc so I'll make sure they checkjust in case.

two more things-

the insides of her lips look whitish or pale after nursing

she's pooping but not peeing much.

I'm worried. She nursed in 10 minute blocks at 10, 10:40, 12, 12:40,and then just did 20 minutes at 2, but I really wonder if she's able to get more than drops (despite my milk starting to come in). If she doesn't have a good pee soon I'm going to have to give her the pumped milk.

[GoBecGo]

Originally Posted by bri276

I plan to see an ibclc so I'll make sure they checkjust in case.

two more things-

the insides of her lips look whitish or pale after nursing

she's pooping but not peeing much.

I'm worried. She nursed in 10 minute blocks at 10, 10:40, 12, 12:40,and then just did 20 minutes at 2, but I really wonder if she's able to get more than drops (despite my milk starting to come in). If she doesn't have a good pee soon I'm going to have to give her the pumped milk.

i think this is a good sign - my dd2 gets this, from the mucus membrane getting slightly "soggy" from contact with milk.

can you hear/feel/see swallowing? i have a friend in germany whose babies never fed for more than 10-12mins (dropped to 2-3 when they got older!) and gained fine. it depends so much on the baby-breast combo.

ETA - is she in cloth nappies? my friend made me put 3 tablespoons of water on one so i could see what "enough" pee looked like. it doesnt seem much - in a disposable i couldn't tell at all without squidging the gel!

[jecombs]

I had latching issues with both of my LOs right after they were born. My nips were red, bruised, cracked and incredibly painful. I don't know if this was the right thing to do or not, but here's what worked for us... I pumped and syringe-fed LO until my milk came-in. Once it was in, I was able to use nipple sheilds to assure LO got a good, deep latch and my nips were protected from further trauma.

With my DD1, we were on the sheilds for about 2 mo. before I weaned her off them. She went on to nurse (very successfully) for 26 mo! With DS, we were off the sheilds by the time he was 2 weeks old. He's now 4 mo. and still EBF.

My nips are flat/inverted and my breasts are pretty large, which makes it hard for LOs to latch, especially when their mouths are so tiny. The sheilds made BFing soooo much easier and they did not affect my supply at all.

[bri276]

Yeah, I'm really considering it. I talked to an ibclc today and even she said they used to recommend against them but with the thinner material they're made out of today, it's less of a risk. The other advice, as always, is to get her to open wide and I just CAN'T. She only opens wide while crying, and I've been told not to let her latch while crying. But she cries quickly when she wakes up hungry!! I feel like I can't win, it's either a bad latch or no latch.

My milk is in, big time, and she's still just chomping and clamping away. It's not that I can't stand the pain, but it's not even an effective latch that's going to really help her get as much milk out as she can. Maybe I'll do every other feed or so with a shield just to see if it helps her get the idea. My nipples aren't exactly flat, but it takes a while of pumping/nursing for them to really evert and be a good length, so I don't think that's helping, either.

At least she's peeing a bit now.

can you hear/feel/see swallowing?

For the first time this morning, yes, now that my milk gushes out of my boobs whether anyone is nursing or not!

ETA- I tried the nipple shield- she latched on worse to that than she does to my real nipple. Would barely take it in her mouth.

Has been sleeping 2 hours and I NEED her to wake up, I don't want to keep pumping! ugh I feel like there isn't advice out there to help anymore. Getting her to open wide to roll my nipple in and get her to keep it there instead of push it to the front with her tongue just is not happening, no matter how many times I try, and I saw on Jack Newman's site NOT to unlatch and relatch repeatedly as it causes more damage, yet this is what LCs tell me to do. I'm at a loss!

[ShwarmaQueen]

Did the LC check her palate? Posterior TT? Your troubles sounds remarkably similar to ours, and yes, to this day, DS will NOT open wide and take the whole nipple, because of his high palate. But he clamping was partially an attempt to control the fast flow from let down, and partially because he couldn't use his tongue...the reclining position helped us a little but he still wouldn't take the whole nipple.

[Mama2Kayla]

Just wanted to offer up our experience...as soon as my milk came in, my dd became very efficent at nursing even though she was only a few days old. She wouldn't nurse longer than 5-10 min and only on one side.

She also made a clicking/poping noise and the LC we saw said it was how she controlled the flow of milk since my let down was on the strong side.