latching tips

[beanerlynn22]

hello ladies, i have a quick question for all you experienced breastfeeders!  i breastfed my daughter but it's been quite some time and i'm having trouble remembering the latching techniques.  my cousin is having to try breastfeeding after having formula fed for the first 3 weeks.  her daughter is allergic to formula but is used to drinking from a bottle and now she simply can't get her to latch on.  i'm going over in a couple of days to try to show her how to latch her daughter on, but i can only speak from my own experience.  i was hoping you ladies could pass along some tips we can try while i'm there.   thanks everyone!

[gdiamante]

There are a whole bunch of images on breastfeeding.com.

First thing...brush baby's lips with the nipple in an up and down motion. When baby opens her mouth, shove the nipple in. Expect to unlatch and relatch frequently, to the point of insanity. Especially since baby is getting bottles.

[beanerlynn22]

great tip, i forgot all about that, thanks!

[cali4niachef]

When Latching

Latching video clips

[katznkt]

cradle the baby close to the breast. When the baby is nice and alert. tickle the chin or cheek of the baby with the nipple held between the thumb and forefinger. When the baby's mouth opens wide (natural reaction) insert as much of the WHOLE nipple as possible.You want all of the colored part in the mouth. Then expect the first few min to hurt a little (at least for the first couple of days) but pain should subside pretty quickly. If it doesn't insert a pinky in the corner of the mouth and break the suction and try try again.

Since the baby probably has nipple confusion, DONT give in and give the bottle. When the baby is hungry enough it will take the nipple. In the mean time she should be expressing milk to build up her supply.

I know what it is like to have allergies. My daughter (we found out at 6 months, thankfully she had always been bf) was highly allergic to milk, soy, wheat, eggs to name a few. So, I had to breastfeed her almost exclusively for the first year. Now that she is 14 months and has more teeth she is starting to take in some solids, but we are still bf for calcium and the other nutrition she can't get.