help me fix this latch!

[hildare]

little one is 3 weeks old-- i used the shield for a while but we're done with it.

in hospital the lactation folks said he has a small mouth, no tongue tie and that from the outside it looks good.  he will tend to not flare out his lower lip but i can pull his chin a bit and fix that. 

what's happening is he is "lipsticking" my nipple, and i think what's happening is he is putting his tongue on part of it to stem the flow of possibly a strong letdown.  everything looks good from the outside, and we have tried several positions.

now i am getting weird blebs-- nothing horribly infected but i have found a few on my areola and also when he finishes a breast, i will press on the bottom or one of the sides to release the milk he didn't get.  it will stream out, too.  when he's finished on a side, most of it will feel soft but the bottom &/or side will have hard places (that i then massage to stream out the milk). 

he's not getting all the ducts, and he's not getting my whole nipple somehow.  i could pump when he's done,  but i want to fix this latch!  i don't know what else to do since it seems right from the outside and no one else could see anything wrong. 

can anybody help with this?  thanks.

[GuavaGirl]

My first thought is that it may just be something that improves as he gets bigger, especially if he has a small mouth (and maybe a short tongue?).  If a lactation consultant has checked it out and says it looks good and if he's growing well and having a good amount of diapers, those are all good signs.  I would continue to do what you're doing after a feed.  At that young age, I don't think it's abnormal for some ducts to need massaging and hand expression after a feed.  Have you tried massaging or compression while he's nursing? You can save the milk in the freezer for later.  You'll be glad you did.

It's hard to give latch advice without being able to see it in action, along with how you're holding your breast, so heading over for another lactation consultant visit could be a good idea. Maybe with a different place/person just to get another perspective (you can find private lactation consultants too)...especially to have those blebs looked at.  Are they painful?  

Have they looked in the inside of his mouth to see if he has a high palate?  Is that why the nipple shield was used?

I've read that a position where you're laying back a little bit and the baby is kind of on top of you may be helpful for this.

And good for you for breastfeeding.  I know it can be hard and thankless at times, but it's so important.

It will get easier.  Just keep asking for help as often as you need.  Don't hesitate.

Let me know if you have any questions about all of that.

[hildare]

it's getting better.  now he's a month old and we're able to do the side-lying position, which is really helping.  :)