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enough boob? please help

My baby is 4 weeks old and we have struggled with breastfeeding from the beginning. his birth weight dropped quite a lot in the first week and we were admitted to the children's observation ward for tests to check there were no other problems, i was told to top him up with formula which i really wasn't happy about but wanted him to put weight on. I also developed mastitus during this time which was painful. Anyway, Dylan regained weight with lots of boobie milk and 1 x 2oz formula top up per day (which was pretty pointless because he brought most of it back up again) and once he was back to his birth weight i immediately stopped the formula.

What i really want to know, is how can you tell if your baby has enough boob in their mouth? I know he hasn't been latching on particularly well because i have extremely cracked nipples and the initial latch is uncomfortable but just a very slight tugging sensation.

Has anyone got any advice as Dylan is getting frustrated before a feed as i desperately try to get him latched on correctly and sometimes we lose so much milk due to my faffing around trying to ensure he is on right.

Many thanks, Jo x

Replies

  • I'm not brilliant at explaining but just wanted to say well done for perservering !!!!! Trying to anticipate a feed is good so that he finds it easier to latch on as when hungry and frustrated he will find it doubly hard to latch on (this gets much easier from 7 weeks onwards). Also make sure all of the aieoli (not sure if thats the correct spelling) but its the bumpy bits of the brown part of the nipple are in his mouth and check postion is correct. I do tummy to tummy and nipple to nose. Also if you rub nipple on upper lip it helps baby to open mouth wider and get whole of nipple in. You could also contact la leche breastfeeding helpline as they may be able to put you in touch with a group. Also yr health visiter should be able to send round a breastfeeding consultant who will give you help !!!
    Hope this helps and breastfeeding does get easier I didn't believe it but now at 8 weeks and a bit its much easier xxxx
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