Breastfeeding Difficulties... Anyone Else?

[KerriAZ]

Hi girls...

Just wondering if anyone else is having troubles? I did with my DD, too... But the difference is that a stupid nurse in the hopsital gave my DD a bottle and it ruined things for a while (Finally DID get her to nurse the right way after nearly two months...)... But this time, I just can't get Calvin to open his mouth wide enough! If he DOES start to nurse, he gets my nipple kind of between his gums and nurses which HURTS like CRAZY! I have been pumping and I got a nipple shield from Medela (a plastic-ish thing to go over my nipple) and he will nurse that way, but it is a pain in the BUTT to use because I have to get him into position, then place the thing on and hold it there and then to get him to actually START to nurse (because, of course, it takes a bit to get him to suck enough to bring milk out of the breast and into the nipple sheild) and then once he is done nursing, I have to have a cloth there waiting because there will still be milk inside the shield so I have to have the cloth there so that I don't get milk everywhere... (Makes it harder to nurse at night too! )

I just wish I could get him to nurse the RIGHT way! I am just getting frustrated... I mean, I realize that DS is not even 2 weeks old (will be on Sat.) and to give it time - I mean I had to with DD but she finally got it... But it is just frustrating! I have to pump before I go out (or else I have to use formula!) because using that dang shield is too much of a pain the in butt to use while nursing out!

Thanks for listening to my grumblings! I just wondered if anyone else was having troubles, too and was needing a group hug like those who didn't have their ideals births.... (Which I send HUGE to everyone in that spot!!)

Kerri

[adtake]

Kerri!!

It's tough when those little ones won't open up! Are you telling him 'Open for mommy' and making a big O face to him....sometimes that will get them to open up more...

And there is the nipple flip.... cup your breast in a C hand with thumb near nipple and fingers under areola...then using your fingers push down on his lower lip while telling him open wide..when you get him to open you flip your nipple into his mouth. It takes some practice, but once you get it it works great!!

hang in there!! thinking of you with every nursing!! i have a nipple sucker too..have to reattach sooo often!

luffs!!
s

[pique]

Oh yes! We had this too. Aiden is now a month (how did that happen?!!) and the problem has resolved itself but there were a few nights of complete pain and tears. Lansinoh on my nipples helped as well as having zero-tolerance on a bad latch - a football hold position helped a lot with getting everything right.

The worst part for me was that this is DS#3 and I had major problems with DS#1 (but not with DS#2) so I thought that I knew what I was doing. Guess not!

It does get easier! Hang in there.

[KerriAZ]

Thanks for the support, girls! I just have to wonder if there's something wrong with ME since I had troubles with DD, too!! *sigh* But I am still working on it and WILL NOT give up. I AM nursing now with the sheild (which is made of silicone - I couldn't think of the word when posting before! LOL) but like I said, it is a pain, but at least he's doing it and getting those wonderful benies from it!!

I will have to try that nipple flip thing. I have tried about everything else! LOL But I dunno if I can get him to do it with the football hold. He doesn't seem to like that. But I will try anything to get rid of that stupid shield! LOL

Thanks again!!

Kerri

[Carley]

I am having similar issues w/ my tiny Sydneybaby (meeting with a LN today!). My areola is huge! I was having problems getting her latched right & getting milk blisters. I found this diagram linked from kellymom the other night & it's helped us a lot... the "U" shape cup & lower latch helps her get on my areola more effectively:

http://www.wiessinger.baka.com/bfing...latchtalk.html

I'm also having issues with explosive green poo that burns her poor anus and makes her gassy/"colicky" for a few hours each day I read about lactose imbalances & am trying block nursing with her. She's a total snacker napper so it seems plausable to me though she's going in to her ped today also.

Her milkyface is what keeps me going... it's my favourite thing to see each day!

to you ladies!!

[Lact-o-Mama]

With my dd I also resorted to the Nipple Sheild. Once I was confident to begin getting rid of it, around 4wks, all I would do would begin nursing with it on (suggestion, put some lanisoh around your areola to help the sheild stay on) then after dd was getting the flow good, I would quickly remove the sheild and re-latch dd before she could even notice what I was doing. It took some failed attempts but eventually worked out well. I think the way the sheild would draw out my nipple really helped dd latch.

HTH

[AdinaL]

Hsving some green poops and gas here too. Latch is finally good, and then the green poos started. I know we will get it...but dang, so sad when she is gassy.

[duckat]

I'm so sorry you're having BF issues. It's so frustrating. DS1 and I had the hardest time getting a good latch going. He would get frustrated and SCREAM, then I would cry. It was sooo hard.
Finally, the nipple flip and saying "big open mouth, biiiig chomp!" while demonstrating, got us going. Plus it just gets easier as they get older, I promise.
It took DS1 and I a good 6 wks to work all the kinks out, but we ended up nursing for 30 months.
you can do it!

[KerriAZ]

Thanks so much, everyone! I tell ya, I must be all hormonal and sleep deprived because I am all in tears over all the support! Thanks so much!!!!! I'll keep you posted on how it's going!

Kerri

[AdinaL]

Right there with you on the bursting into tears thing. Just about anything will do it...tv, being hungry, being tired, holding the baby's hand, the baby crying....and I am in tears.

[aprilushka]

I had similar problems w/ DS, though didn't use a shield/ I think what finally worked was squeezing my breast with one hand into ths shape that matched the direction of his mouth-- that was always vertical since I had to hold his head to get him on and asymmetrical latch. There's an LLL article on their website for lcs about this that's very technical and has a lot of good tips-- from 2000 or 2001 I think

[Sydnee]

Hang in there, Kerri, it WILL get better! My first DD was a sinch to nurse, so when DD#2 came along, I thought I knew it all, boy was I wrong! I had a hard time getting her to latch on, got plugged ducts, mastitis, etc. But, what really got her going good, was to point my nipple to the roof of her mouth, and she seemed to get thte hang of it! Good luck mama, it's so hard to try and rest from the birth, and then getting them to breastfeed, it's all so emotional!!! Just remember, it does get better!!!

[hannahi]

I'm right there with you--my ds is just over 3 weeks old, and every time we solve one issue, another one comes up. But overall things are getting better. He is still sleepy at the breast, which is the main problem. Feedings have taken up to an hour, when I let him go at his own pace. Then his latch is not always the greatest. I was using a silicone nipple shield due to soreness, but that made it harder for him to latch when I stopped using the shield. I have noticed that he mostly has green poop that looks a little mucousy, so I wonder if he's not getting enough hindmilk.Hang in there, it will get easier!

[Wittyone]

to all you mamas hitting those bf-ing bumps...we're riding some of them out as well. Matthew doesn't open terribly wide, so we've been doing the "oooopen your mouth" and demonstrating a big mouth pre-latching - seems to be helping actually! I want to take him to my mom's PT who does craniosacral work to see if she can get his jaw to loosen up a little more.

I couldn't sit on my bottom the first couple of days and side-lying with a shallow latch was murder on my nipples. Fortunately they are just about healed with Lansinoh + breast shells (funky cups with holes that allow air to circulate and keeps material away from them).

Matthew was also quite tongue tied, so he physically had a lot of trouble getting a deep latch - fortunately our ped is on board with treating tongue-tie even if babe is gaining weight, so she just snipped his frenulum (the piece tying his tongue) in the office on his first visit. It took a couple of days to notice a big difference but he latches so.much.better (!) now

Dr Jack Newman's website (http://www.drjacknewman.com/index.ph...tpage&Itemid=1) has some videos on getting a good asymmetical latch (more of the lower areola in the mouth that the upper, nipple aimed at baby's nose or roof of mouth). Unfortunately they are not filmed from mom's p.o.v., but I found practicing our latching a few times in front of a mirror really helped.

Our latest battle is very early onset thrush He has a horrible diaper rash, and a white coated tongue. The mw phoned in nystatin for both of us but man I don't want to have to use it!! Dh is pretty freaked over the rash (though after googling yeast diaper rash for images I think we're catching it pretty darn early!!), and a day of constant airing and a few other tricks haven't done the job. I'll start acidophilus powder with the next change and see what we get...boy this is fun! But, like Carley said, that little milky face makes it all SO worth it

[Jaime]

i thankfully am not having any pain problems but boy oh boy does ds give me heck when its latch time.

he gets on eventually and has a good latch but he fights me pretty bad to get him to latch on

Most times i figured out he prefers my nipple stimulated before I offer him the breast and then i have to sorta lean into him and stuff it in there lol then he gets his latch and will nurse. But he will often unlatch and relatch if i move a certain way

my dd was a champion nurser easy to latch on after the initial weeks but she was a cluster feeder

ds isn't a cluster feeder but is such a pain to last, caused me a few mental break downs and he's a month old now

some days are easier then the others but I sometimes think I am so worn out from nursing my dd until i was 20wks pregnant with my current ds that I've only been bf free for 4 mos until I had to start to nurse him.

I almost gave up since it's so hard with a 2 yo hovering and helping mommy but i just can't bring myself to quit so I keep on trucking and tell myself that every day will get better!!

Hugs to all the momma's out there struggling like me

[Wittyone]

Just wanted to give all of us mamas kudos for perseverance Dh told me a couple of times when I was in tears from the pain that he was so proud of me for not giving up, and that helped...so passing that along to the rest of you! Thanks for doing what's best for these little ones, they deserve it

[KKmama]

After you get over the hump, you will be so glad you persevered! Hang in there, everyone! The babies get bigger, they get clued in. There *is* a payback to all of this hard work!

Adina, I'm popping in to say that green poops don't always indicate foremilk/hindmilk imbalance... in my boys (children #1 and #2) it was about dairy allergies (allergic to dairy in *my* diet that made it into my breast milk). Just keep it in mind. (And I'm just assuming that #3 has the same allergy, and I eliminated dairy from my diet in the 3rd tri.)

[AdinaL]

Yeah - I stopped with the dairy too. But after reading about some causes of foremilk/hindmilk imbalance- and the whole forceful letdown thing - I am thinking that is it. I changed my nursing pattern and we seem to be back in the yellow...and I had cheese last night. So I am watching both closely.

[aweynsayl]

oh, sweetie. huge hugs. fortunately for me, bfing is finally the ONE thing that IS going the way i'd wanted.

hang in there!!!
xoxox

[ZenMamaJen]

I feel your pain, literally. Every time I think I might be getting a good latch, I lose it. I don't know what's wrong with me. Sigh. My nipples are pretty cracked and PAINFUL! Ouch.

This too shall pass, right?