Problems with latching on

[wawa]

My boy is 2 weeks old now. He has no problem with latching on for the past 1 week plus, usually able to latch on almost immediately.

However, for the past few days, getting him to latch on is like fighting a war. I would need to put him on for at least 20 times or more before he is able to latch on. He seems frustrated whenever he is unable to latch on, sometimes he would scream. I also feel frustrating as well when I do not know what's wrong.

The way I support my breast, carry him and hold his head has not changed so I really have no idea what make him unable to latch on.

By the way, he's sucking pacifier during the night as he cries a lot during that time (even right after feed). So I gave him a pacifier and he sleeps soundly. Does this have any connection to him not being able to latch on now?

 

[Amulet]

from wat i guess, it could be nipple confusion.. coz the way to suck a pacifier and the way to latch on a breast is totally different.. its recommended that pacifiers and teats are only introduced after 6weeks...

 

[wawa]

from what i guess, it could be nipple confusion.. coz the way to suck a pacifier and the way to latch on a breast is totally different.. its recommended that pacifiers and teats are only introduced after 6weeks...

Oh my.. What should i do? stop giving him pacifier? will it let him re-learn how to latch on again?

Feel so lousy everytime when it comes to feeding time. Seeing him cries and scream makes my heart aches and there are times i feel like giving up and bottle feed him instead.

 

[Amulet]

Oh my.. What should i do? stop giving him pacifier? will it let him re-learn how to latch on again?

Feel so lousy everytime when it comes to feeding time. Seeing him cries and scream makes my heart aches and there are times i feel like giving up and bottle feed him instead.

yes.. stop the pacifier.. he will learn to relatch soon.. like within a few days la.. my girl whn through something like that too.. put up a fight and stop all teat.. she scream and strave, but back to latchin ard 24hrs later..

 

[uddermummy]

my girl has prob latching on whenever she's used the pacifier and i've been exclusively bfing her.

perhaps you can try to soothe your bb without using pacifier? Cos for pacifier, they need to suck real hard to prevent pacifier from falling out, and they are only sucking the teat.

b4 you latch your bb, maybe you can squeeze some bm onto the nipples to entice bbb?

 

[wawa]

i have stopped giving him pacifier for 2 days and of course he has been crying every night, seems to be searching for it. :embarrassed:

Still struggling to latch him on, hope that few days to re learn will be here soon.

 

[Amulet]

i have stopped giving him pacifier for 2 days and of course he has been crying every night, seems to be searching for it. :embarrassed:

Still struggling to latch him on, hope that few days to re learn will be here soon.

soon he will be fine de.. good luck k.. jia you!!

 

[uddermummy]

when bb fusses and cries, maybe you can soothe him with the breast instead?

that's what i do when i'm at a loss. If bb is quite full, then i will offer her an 'emptier' breast. if it's nearing feeding time, i will just offer her the fuller one.

 

[Amulet]

when baby fusses and cries, maybe you can soothe him with the breast instead?

that's what i do when i'm at a loss. If baby is quite full, then i will offer her an 'emptier' breast. if it's nearing feeding time, i will just offer her the fuller one.

:tlaugh:thats wat i did.. anything i 1st shove my breast to her 1st.. lol..

 

[uddermummy]

hahaha. me too.

whenever i have no idea why she's fussing, i'll just take the easy way out and offer her my breasts.

my girl's really funny; when she's not hungry and is just fussing, she won't refuse the breast but she'll lick the nipple, push my breast away, lick the nipple again, before finally latching on for comfort sucking! hahaha. It's like she's savouring her treats!

 

[wawa]

2 weeks had passed and he still can't latch on without fighting with him!!!

Nowadays he will use his hand to push my breast while his mouth searching for it, making me harder to try to latch him and when his mouth unable to get to my breast, he will start screaming on top of his voice.

I feel so depressed, i don't know where did I go wrong? why can't he latch on as smoothly as the first few days of birth?

Sometimes he will take as long as 10mins just to latch on and made both of us so stressed and frustrated.

Many times I just wanted to give up on bf.. :bsad:

 

[uddermummy]

you're not doing anything wrong! *hugs*

my girl is like that also. actually i don't think it's because they don't want to latch but because their arms get in the way. They still haven't learnt to coordinate their movements.

i will always just push dd's hands away or give her something else to grab or pin them down somehow.

at night, when i lie down to feed, i will swaddle her cos it's so much easier to feed her. If not, she will also push with her hands but her mouth will still want to suck.

 

[wawa]

Thank you uddermummy for your hug, I really need it. I will try to swaddle him later and see if he can latch better but I really hope he let me do it as he hates his hands being tied. :embarrassed:

 

[wawa]

I realise my boy sometimes takes 1 or 2 tries and he is successfully latch on but sometimes it will take forever before he is able to latch on. Is this normal? I dont understand why he can latch on so fast at times while he cant at other times.

 

[uddermummy]

when you say successful, you mean your boy can latch on correctly, or just latch on?

It took my girl some time to get the latching correct. Her suck is v strong since birth but somehow the latch will be v painful even if she gets most of the aereola into her mouth and her lips are curled like fish lips.

It's only in her third month that both of us managed to get the latch right most of the times.

I realised that it helps to push the bb's body (tummy and legs) nearer to my tummy and waist, and use my free hand to push bb's chin nearer my breast. Somehow bb's mouth opens wider and the lower lips spreads further under the aereola.

 

[wawa]

I mean latch on correctly. Most of the time if he doesnt manage to latch on mean he's only trying to latch on but unable to. That's make me confuse.

Why there are times he is able to latch on(correctly) so fast and there are times he is taking forever just trying to latch on? I thought if one knows to latch on correctly should use the same technique every time but why my son dont do that?

 

[uddermummy]

I mean latch on correctly. Most of the time if he doesnt manage to latch on mean he's only trying to latch on but unable to. That's make me confuse.

Why there are times he is able to latch on(correctly) so fast and there are times he is taking forever just trying to latch on? I thought if one knows to latch on correctly should use the same technique every time but why my son dont do that?

don't worry. it took me and bb abt 3 mths before we can get the latch right most of the time.

try to make the mouth open wider? you can also try to see if he latches better when he's sleepy or wide awake?

 

[wawa]

dont't worry. it took me and baby about 3 mths before we can get the latch right most of the time.

try to make the mouth open wider? you can also try to see if he latches better when he's sleepy or wide awake?

i thought babies supposed to know how to latch immediately, guess every baby is different. Will continue to monitor him and hopefully one day he will become a latch on expert, haha..

Come to think of it, he seems to latch on faster when he's wide awake.

 

[uddermummy]

then you prob will have to always latch him on when bb is awake.

nooooo, bbs don't necessarily know how to latch on and we still have to guide them.

but my dd is a v good sucker tho! hahaha.

i enjoy watching her jaws move and her ears twitch when she feeds!

 

[Frenchkitty]

My DS initially also had nipple confusion and prob latching on because since Week 2 of life I EBM and feed him using bottle so my MIL n Hubby can help out with feeding also.

Later on, I realise my supply dwindled because no matter how long I pump still same amount whereas bb's demand increasing..

so i tried this method - I didnt EBM,, I waited till my breasts were engorged n leaking and when he is hungry I quickly latch him so milk is always "free flow".
After 1 day of trying (the latch on, pull off cycle), now he knows how to suckle from the breast again