[gottaknit]

Hi. DS is eight weeks old and until now we haven't had any trouble breastfeeding. But the last week or so he has become very lazy with the latch technique. He kind of licks the nipple and looks around at whatever else is going on, then grabs on really hard and fast like a little animal, without really opening his mouth much. Ouch!

I've tried holding his head away from the nipple and waiting until he opens his mouth wide, but then my milk lets down and starts squirting all over him, which makes him really mad and squirmy. I've also tried opening my mouth wide and saying, "Ahhhhh" to get him to mimic me, but he just laughs his head off

and continues with the alternating licking and grabbing. Help! My nipples are killing me!

I also seem to be producing waaaay too much milk lately. He chokes and sputters a lot. I'm wondering if the lazy latch habit is because he doesn't even really need to latch on to get a good meal. The milk just squirts out anyway....

 

[Quirky]

Have you tried addressing the overproduction by only using one side for three or four hours, then switching to the other? If you run a search on oversupply here and go look at http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/fast-letdown.html you will find a lot of great information. He may be clamping down to try to control the milk rush. If you let down and catch it in a cloth diaper or towel and then try latching him on when the firehose action has stopped, you might find he has better manners.

I would definitely work on getting a really good latch, though, so you don't get nipple trauma, thrush, and other issues.