[mom2maddie]

Here is my BF story...
At hospital I didn't get too much support because there was only 1 LC and lots of babies. So she gave me a nipple shield to get the baby to latch on. The worked ok for a little bit. Fortunately Maddie decided for herself that she didn't want it. She pulled at it and would fight with me about nursing. So for about the past 3 days we have been BF without a nipple shield, but my nipples are SO SORE. She seems to get a good chunck of the aerola in her mouth. I think that she does not put her tongue along her gums and I think that is what is causing my pain. Here is what I found on Dr. Sears website...."Baby's tongue is between the lower gum and your breast. If you pull down gently on baby's lower lip, you should be able to see it. With a good latch-on, baby's tongue extends over the lower gum, forming a trough around the nipple and cushioning pressure from the jaw."
How do I get her to put her tongue there. I try taking her off and putting her back on over and over again. Finally I just say deal with the pain because I want her to nurse. We have been to the pediatrician's office 2 times (the LC there is so nice) but I didn't get a chance to work on latch when we were there yesterday. Maddie hasn't gained weight (she's down a 15 oz from birth weight), but she has good BM's and pee diapers, so the LC isn't concerned.
Any suggestions to get her tongue in the right spot. I really want BF to work. Also, I have been feeding her every 2-3 hours (sometimes for 1 hour at a time). I almost always have to wake her up. This morning we only fed for 20 minutes because she was done. LC says to keep a schedule until she gains weight. Do you think it would be better to feed on demand? I am concerned that she would go for too long of a stretch, especially since the other night she went 4 hours (3 hours from when feeding finished).
Thanks for your help.
I am going to wake her up to eat now. Wish me luck.
Liz
ETA: Sometimes after a particularly long feeding she will have milk come out her nose shortly after burping. Does that mean she ate too much?

[srs]

Congrats on your new little girl! Glad to hear that you are committed to bfing. Latch is a hard one to give advice about online, as you really need hands on help. If you can go back to the nice LC, then by all means I suggest you see her and spend as much time with her as you need. You can also check out LLL and go to a meeting, where there will be lots of people to watch you nurse and help with the latch. As for the soreness, does it get better within a few minutes of nursing? If so it might just be the adjustment to bfing and it will subside soon. I had extreme soreness for a few weeks that did get dramatically better after then. To get some relief you can use lanolin or there are cool packs that I think Gerber makes that might help (never used them, but I wish I had).


Actually, I just remembered something about latching. If it hurts, you can always take her off and try again until you are comfortable. It's better for both of you if she's in a good position with a good latch. Speaking of positioning, make sure she's up high enough so she's not pulling down on your nipples and making them more sore. I still use a boppy just so I don't have to support with my arms as much. For a newborn, the football hold is sometimes more comfortable than the cradle holds.

Let us know if it gets any better/worse, and welcome to the board!

[andi2284]

It could very well be a latch or positioning problem, but like Sara said, that can be hard to give advice on over the internet. When DD was a newborn, I don't remember being able to see her tongue between her bottom lip and the breast. I don't really know if there's anything you can do to make her stick it out more, if that's the problem. The nipple sheild may be the cause of her poor weight gain, because nipple sheilds can prevent a baby from enough milk. Also, using a nipple sheild is similiar to a bottle, and how she sucks on it will be different. There's a good tip on this page:
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/...an-shield.html
It says before each feeding, to put your pinky in her mouth, nail side down and let her suck on it a few minutes. Another tip on there is one all moms can use with thier newborns. If you're holding your breast, put your thumb and finger on the top and bottom of your areola and squish it to be as flat as you can. This helps your baby take as much of the nipple into her mouth as she can.
We used a sheild for a few days and I remember the pain being worse when I took it off. Many moms have pain in the beginning while their nipples "toughen up" as they call it. Using the sheild, you wouldn't have noticed it as much.

[LadyLi22]

one thing i had to do with arianna was have her suck on my finger and push her tongue into that position. once she got it then i put her to the breast