# Latch problems at almost 6 weeks....



## Boobs (Apr 17, 2004)

Ben has done really well breastfeeding up until a few days ago. He's still getting enough,but he's torturing me in the process. For some reason, he has started pulling down to my nipple, spitting it out, and sucking it back in. Just the nipple.







It hurts! He also won't open wide to latch on, which has been an issue from the beginning. But he has always had enough of the areola in his mouth. Now he just wants the nipple. What do I do?


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## barefoot (Aug 20, 2004)

:

Wish I had an answer, but this happened to me, too. I've tried many things (don't get me started), but so far, no luck. I just try to hang in there and be persistent about getting the baby re-latched. When I see him about to pull back on the nipple, I break the latch with my finger and then try to get him re-latched with a wide-open mouth. It's not easy, and it makes nursing in public almost impossible unless I don't mind constantly waving my nipple around.







: Mostly I just wish I could find the cause, but it remains a mystery.







Good luck -- I hope it resolves more easily for you!


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## 3girls1boy (Nov 20, 2001)

Boy, I don't have the answer either, but I can say that I remember my youngest doing this latching on and off from about 6 weeks till 10 weeks or so. I never figured out why and it just went away after a while.

Something I did with my first baby to help her latch on was once she got on my nipple, and was sucking, I used my finger to poke more of my breast into her mouth--it seemed to help with how comfortable it was for me.

(Could it be thrush? Does his mouth stay white on the inside long after he has nursed? I just mention this because thrush can make his mouth sore.)


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## newmomma2005 (Oct 16, 2004)

My little one does this sometimes and I keep breaking the suction and relatching and sometimes repositioning him. He likes to touch the back of his head as he nurses and rolls himself more onto his back. I find sometimes I have hunched over as he hasslid down, and bringing him up to the level of my nipple again is sometimes our problem. Good luck, don't get too frustrated.


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## lizabird (Jan 19, 2004)

I think it's right around 6 weeks that they consider the "threshhold" for the baby to learn proper latching on. My DS would fool around too, and of course I let him because I didnt' know what I was doing either. We finally re-trained each other around 6 weeks because my nipples were killing me. He would suck my nipple in rather than open wide and latch on.

So, what I was told my the local LLL folks and a few lactation consultants I talked to was that I should NOT EVER let him suck the nipple in. I should ALWAYS WAIT for him to open wide (and yes, I know, they will scream and cry because that's not what they expect), but they will also learn when you stuff the boob in their mouths when their mouths are wide open, that that's what they should be doing, opening WIDE. So it's really a learning experience for both mom and baby, and sometimes we (moms) find that as long as the babe gets the milk in the long run, that proper latch right from the beginning isn't so important, but that's just not true.

So, this was kind of long and confused, but the message I got from the lactation consultants was to basically start all over and wait (yes, even through much crying and frustration) for baby to open VERY WIDE before stuffing as much breast in his/her mouth as you can. Don't let them just suck the nipple, or suck the nipple in, or anything else that's not a good latch, or that's what they'll get used to.

It took us about a week before DS would always open wide for milk, but he did learn and it wasn't long before my nippes didn't ever hurt, so it was well worth the wait and frustration.

Good luck!!


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## newmomma2005 (Oct 16, 2004)

Thanks for that explanation. At least I know we are doing that part right, I just have to get my poor son to figure out he can't SLEEP there! He does open his mouth good, and then dives his little head right toward me. It kind of looks vicious and comical all at the same time!!!


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## mezzaluna (Jun 8, 2004)

my baby did this too! yanking and gumming my nipple... i'm pretty sure now that it was gas pain that he didn't know how to deal with. once i figured out that i had to unlatch him, burp him and try him again, things got much better! he outgrew the gas problems by around 10 weeks.

while he was a weak latcher, i also had to support my breast with one hand or a rolled up receiving blanket so that he wouldn't slip down to the nipple as easily. i would try to wait for him to open wide, but he really wasn't good at that, so i started correcting his latch after he was on... i would pull down on his chin with a finger once he was on. i think this helped him get the feel of how wide to open, and he started doing much better at it within a few weeks (and in the meantime i hurt less when i widened his latch this way).


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