Latch help

Omg I just learned today that the reason my baby has been having the WORST cluster feeding is all because of my latch !! I was letting him just suck on the nipple and dealing with the pain, but my lactation consultant told me today that his chin should rest against the bottom of the areola and when he opens his mouth wide to shove his head really quickly onto the whole nipple for a deeper feed. I was scared of hurting him but she promised it's safe and that when he's strong enough he'll be shoving himself just as hard on his own (plus, he's being shoved into a boob. Can't imagine that hurts at all lol) We practiced a few times and when I finally got that full latch, I felt a rush of that happy hormone!! He usually is up every 10-30 minutes to eat again and never burps after, only spits up a scary amount. After switching to this method, he slept for THREE HOURS with almost NO spit up and burped multiple times all on his own!! I haven't tried it in the football position, but it works wonders in the cradle position!! Who knew how much updating the latch game would change my life. My baby blues are almost completely gone now that I can rest and bond with my baby without the pain of a bad latch

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Ahh I’m glad your breast feeding journey has got so much better ❤️

Idk if this is just me but I was having a hard time too with my baby latching. So every time she cries I use that as my way to get her to latch and shove my nipple into her mouth since it’s open already and it has been working for me. Yes my right boob still hurts when she sucks on it because somehow she can’t latch good on it but my left she’s pretty good. Some times I get scared to do it because I hate feeling the pain in the beginning but after it’s immune to me and doesn’t hurt. I try put my nipple against her nose down to her chin but it doesn’t work she doesn’t open her mouth wide enough for me to put my nipple inside her mouth to get a good latch.

@Rachel you can always use your finger to kind of fishhook her cheek and push the rest of the nipple in! When you pull your finger back, give her a minute to suck and she will hopefully pull it in more so it won't hurt as bad

@Robyn thank you! I know a lot of nursing moms are struggling so I want to post as much advice as I can

But I’m very happy you are experiencing your breastfeeding journey very well! I hope it goes smoothly for you.

@Star wow! I never knew that?

I’m glad you’re having an easier time! ☺️ the lying down position is also great for getting a good latch. When my nipples were sore from a bad latch I used to feed my son lying down on my side and it helped loads.

@Levi I wish I could, but I have a huuuuggeee chest and there's no way for me to feed lying down without the weight hurting him 😭 Luckily though he likes to be belly to belly and will latch that way sometimes

I heard something that helped a lot with our latch! I was told to imagine myself eating a big cheeseburger. If the cheeseburger is too big to take a bite of most people squeeze it down with their hands! Your boob is like a giant cheeseburger to your baby 🤣 if you squeeze your boob a little before your baby latches on, they will be able to get more in their mouth and the latch will be much deeper. GAME CHANGER!!! I'm so glad to hear your journey is going more smoothly! It gets easier every day ☺️

@Brittany definitely need to try that! He's got such a tiny mouth 😭

@Star whenever I do that I squeeze right outside of the areola so that it's close to her mouth but my fingers aren't in the way!

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