football hold-- palate problem?

[meowee]

DD (9 d.o.) has had a lot of problems with the initial latch, weak suck, and not staying latched (the nipple falls out of her mouth). Today I tried the football hold and voila, she latched on beautifully and stayed put. Is there a particular kind of palate or sucking problem that would explain this, why the football hold would be easier for her?

She was a little early-- 38 weeks-- and I keep wondering if that could explain her weak suck and latch, or if there actually is an issue with her mouth or tongue.

tia!

[bandgeek]

My DS had trouble latching onto my left nipple when he was first born. My left one is flat and my right is not so maybe that's why he only had trouble with the left. I discovered fairly quickly (thankfully) that he latched just fine if I used the football hold on that side. After about 3 weeks he was good enough at nursing that I could latch him on in the cradle hold just fine.

There's probably many reasons why babies have difficulty, but I'd be thankful you've found a solution and try not to worry too much about the "whys".

[tanyalynn]

I don't _think_ my 1st had palate problems, but latching on with the football hold was definitely easier--I think it took me a month (maybe more) to start using the cross-cradle somewhat regularly. So I don't think that this is a definite sign of a palate issue.

That said, I've read about a couple people who saw noticeable palate changes in just a couple (2-3) sessions with a cranial-sacral therapist. So that may be of interest.