My daughter is almost 3 mo old. About 2-3 weeks ago, her good latch turned bad. She will spack and cluck throughout almost the entire feeding. She alternates between this smacking and clucking and a good latch. When she is feeding well I stroke her and say good girl and in the next second, she will cluck. I take the nipple away when she does the clucking and smacking but sometimes she'll do it once and then latch good again. When she does it continously, I pull the nipple. This is very frustrating and painful on my nipple. Why has her latch changed when it was successful before? Any other ideas on how to get her to stop? I know my frustration cannot be good for her during the feedings. She also has had one of those little lip blisters- almost every week- from a hard suck since she was born. The books say these are not painful and are supposed to go away within a few weeks or months, but I'm wondering if maybe that's not the case and that's why she's letting up on her latch? Because she hasn't had one of those since this started...
Thanks for your help!
Thanks everyone for the advice and words of encouragement...sometimes it just helps to know others are in the same boat and there is an end in sight! I have tried some of your suggestions and she seems to have been doing better in the last day or so...less smacking and clucking...and less painful nipplies! I've also tried doing more nursing laying side by side and she seems to do better that way for now. I guess its just roll with the punches. I am going to see how she does over the weekend and if there is no improvement, call the LLL or the lactation consultant at my OBs office. Thanks again!
I would call a lactation consultant and get working on a fix soon. I had similar problems and had to pump to get my daughter to eat at all and then she wouldn't take the breast at all after getting the bottle so I pumped for 5 months - not ideal! I had to pump though or risk losing my milk supply...
I really doubt if that blister is the cause of her new latch... Perhaps it has something to do with the way her mouth is growing... Every part of you grows at different speeds. Perhaps her tounge and mouth are a bit out of sync at the moment... I would def call laleche and see what they say.
If the latch is bad then you must take her off and let her relatch. The pain of the result of a bad latch usually does not happen at first... But after a few bad latches the cracking and soreness are really painful.
Keep it up!!!
I would call your pediatrician and ask him she could have thrush. If thats the case you need to treat it before you get clogged ducts. Anothing too did you ever feed her a bottle she might have nipple confusion. Call you lactation consultant at the hospital you went to they can help bog time.
email me if you want the name/email of my friend who is a LLL leader
A similar problem happened with my son around 3 months old too! I called a lactation consultant and had her come to our house to help with some tips. She showed me different positions to try and how to detach him properly without upseting him. She was expensive but very helpful. She also said that it was probably a small phase of learning new things he could do with his mouth and she was right. It lasted for a few weeks and then he was back to breastfeeding well. I would call a lactation consultant and see if maybe they can help you over the phone or you could go to the hospital and see one. I hope this helps!
hey stephaine
it sound like your little one has picked up bad nursing habit .i would call a lll and see what they have to say great job on giving your baby the best start in life and keep up the good work . just remember breastfeeding take alot of work but it's way worth it
I had a lot of luck with this website:
http://kellymom.com/
I also liked this Dr.'s website:
http://www.drjacknewman.com/
Dr. Newman has a breastfeeding clinic that he provides online info for. He also shows videos of his techniques, which I found really helpful. Good luck. Right now, my 4 month old has moments when he is just not interested and will nurse for about 2 minutes on each side. Basically, I go with the flow. If he nurses for 2 minutes, that is all I do. I will distract him a bit between feedings and then nurse maybe 1/2 hour to an hour later.
Sometimes a baby will develope bad nursing habits for no apparent reason. You are doing the right thing by breaking her latch. Instead of pulling your nipple from her try putting your little finger in the corner of her mouth to break the latch...it shouldn't hurt when you do that. Also contact your local LLL Leader!
Blessings, K.
PS A friend of mine is a LLL Leader and I told her about your post and she was wondering if you or your baby have been on antibotics recently. She said that it could be thrush.
A lip blister is from the lip getting folded in during nursing.
Is she tongue tied? The smacking/clucking is a symptom of tongue tie...
S., I would recommend you call your labor and delivery floor at the hospital you delivered her at. Tell them you need the number of the lactation consultant there, because your having breastfeeding problems. Then call her and she will give you advice. She may even have you bring her there to watch the way she nurses. You really have to make sure you squeeze the breast and try to put most of the aereola into her mouth. They can make those clucking sounds if they don't have enough of the breast in their mouth. You got alot of good advice. I also recommend a book called The complete book of breastfeeding. By Marvin s Eiger M.D. & Sally Wendsos Olds. That book was a savior for me. Good luck!
Hello. I feel your pain- although my son lost his good latch earlier. I saw a lactation consultant and ended up having to use a nipple shield to help with latch, which he used until about 6 months- and has been fine with latch since (now almost 12 months). Now my issues are with biting!
I really recommend that you call and attend a LaLeche League Group. Look at www.llli.org for a local Leader and Group. There is also a lot of info if you click on Resources then look at the Answers section. There are 2 websites that have video clips of babies nursing and give a lot of accurate info. www.drjacknewman.com and www.gentlemothering.ca. Has your pedictrician checked to see if she could be tongue-tied? This can be clipped in the office very easily and should be done if it exists or there will be speech problems later. Easy to remedy if you find out she has it. Also, don't ever separate your baby and nipple by pulling. You need to break the suck with a finger in the corner of her mouth or by gently changing the shape of her mouth to disengage gently. Is she pulled in close to you and high enough? Supporting her and/or your breast with a pillow or rolled blanket/towel can be quite helpful. I'm sure you can find a solution. Please don't give up! You are giving her the very best you can by breastfeeding even if it's a bit aggravating right now. Good for you for making this decision! Every baby is different.
I would contact the county health dept. And meet with one of their nurse lactation consultants. They can give you hands on help free of charge. They were so helpful when my son had latching issues. Good luck.
I'm wondering if she might be starting to teeth. My oldest had 4 by the time he was 3 1/2 months. Sucking hurts when they are teething so maybe she is trying to find a way to eat without pain. Just another thing to consider. Doesn't give you a solution but at least a possible reason so that you can feel less frustrated.
Of course, as others have recommended, a lactation consultant would be able to figure it out and help.
Keep up the great work regardless!
Hi S.,
I'd suggest you get in touch with your local La Leche League Leader(www.llli.org). She can help you evaluate what's going on and offer tips on ways to resolve it. The meetings are free and open to moms and babies. If you have a local IBCLC, RLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant) she could help you as well. There generally is a charge for seeing an LC.
Maybe your little one is teething.
Good luck,
S.
Thank you for asking this question! My son nursed for 13 months like a champ, but my 3 month old little girl is giving me heck!! She's doing almost the same exact behaviors as your daughter. She went on a nusring strike last week after getting her DTaP vaccine and hasn't nursed the same since. In order to keep a decent supply, I've had to pump and she's had 1-2 bottles/ day. I can tell she would much rather have a bottle (instant gradification) but I'm not willing to give up and just pump! I think I will take everyone's advice and contact a lactation consultant.
Good on you for breastfeeding! It's the greatest gift you can give your little one!
It sounds like you're doing what you can to correct the latch, just try being a bit more gentle with your nipple next time. Instead of pulling your nipple from her mouth, slip your pinkie finger in the side and break the suction. You might have to wait there a second and get your finger between her gums but it's much better than just pulling your nipple from her mouth.
It sounds like she might be overly hungry, which could be causing her issues. She might latch on just fine and then get frustrated when the milk isn't there right away. Try feeding her at every cue she gives; sucking her hands, rooting around, etc. Crying is a late sign of hunger, so if she's gotten to that point it's more than likely she's been hungry for a few minutes and is about to be upset (I know! Oh, the horror of having to wait *a few minutes*! But it's like an eternity to them).
As for the lip blisters, that's actually a sign of a good latch. She wouldn't have that blister in the right area of the top of her lip wasn't rubbing against your breast. So take the lip blister as a good sign.
Give it a couple of days and see if with these techniques things don't get better. If they don't, go to llli.org and find a La Leache League meeting near you and try to make it to one. The ladies there will be able to help. If you can't make it to a meeting you can email a leader as well (I've done this before and she was very helpful).
Good luck!
