Help please

[@llli*lpapa7]

Hi, I have a 5 week old and I am still in tremendous amounts of pain while nursing. I went to see the hospitals lactation consultant today to asses baby's latch. She said latch is perfect but he is not nursing in the rhythmic circular motion as he should be, he is nursing just up and down (almost like biting). She suggested either pumping and seeing a occupational therapist. Wondering if anyone else has had this and if there is any way I can continue to offer him the breast instead of a pumped bottle.

[@llli*mommy2lilah]

Have you looked for an IBCLC (international board certified) in your area? I would get a second opinion. I have never heard of that before - not that I'm an expert, by any means. The latch can look good from the outside, but still not be good. Is there a local La Leche League chapter near you?

How is your baby doing with weight gain and wet/dirty diapers?

[@llli*aphimama]

DD1 did something similar and massaging her cheek gently during feeds seemed to assist. I would still follow up with an IBCLC but in the meantime, the only other suggestion I have is the gentle cheek rub, in circles. I'd just use a thumb and softly rub her cheek in a circular motion and it helped her suck more efficiently.

[@llli*lpapa7]

The lactation consultant I met with is IBCLC and that was her thought on his latch. Unfortunately I live in a smaller community and she is the one and only lactation consultant within 80 miles of me. I attended my local LLL meeting and really didn't get any help from anyone there. I emailed the group leader and she still has not responded (I sent the email on Friday afternoon)! Weight gain is great, he gained 2.5 lbs in his first month and diaper output is good. He still has stool with almost every diaper change. I so wish that there was another resource for me, I just really don't want to give up.

[@llli*djs.mom]

Did you ask for help at the LLL meeting? Was the leader there? It's normal to not hear back from a Leader right away as they all volunteer their time. But you could try calling. But I am unclear as to how no one would look at your latch at a meeting unless you didn't mention it.
However, if your weight gain and diaper output is good I wouldn't start pumping. Is it extreme pain the whole time? Or just when the baby latches?

[@llli*lllmeg]

Is the issue ‘only’ the pain, or are you finding you have any issues related to poor milk transfer-for example, engorgement and plugged ducts, or, conversely, low supply/baby not gaining well? Is your nipple injured and/or mishapen after nursing? Even if it is ‘just’ painful, of course that is very serious and requires immediate attention but, it is important to know if other issues are occurring.

Lots of moms experience a painful latch and some are referred by IBCLCs or midwives to various therapies for additional help. Personally I have never heard of a problem described in this particular way, but I am not a lactation consultant.

Sometimes hospital based IBCLC are under time constraints that make working on tricky, time consuming latch issues difficult. How long was your appt? If it was less than an hour, can you go back for a longer one? Did she offer any other tips for assisting baby in latching more deeply, suggest suck training ideas. etc? Did she assess baby for tongue tie or other physical issues? (or refer you to a pediatrician or ENT or dentist for this?) did she do a before and after weight nursing weight check?

As far as the additional therapy-is that feasible for you? Was the IBCLC able to refer you to anyone specific and does your insurance cover it/can you afford it? Did your IBCLC explain how the physical therapy will help? If not, perhaps you could talk to the therapist ahead of any appt. and ask them how what they do will assist with latch/success rates etc.

If nursing is too painful for you to continue, pumping in order to keep up your supply and of course to have milk for baby until you figure things out would be needed. But full time pumping is very difficult, you would have to pump about 10 times a day, and use a hospital grade rented pump. But it sounds like the LC suggested that as an alternative to working with someone to fix the latch -so, she must think latch is fixable?

For getting more help-with latch issues it does help to have one on one assistance, of course. But very often even talking to a Leader on the phone helps. You can call any LLL Leader anywhere for phone assistance, if one is not helpful or not reachable, try another. Phone is typically much more effective for this than e-mail, so if you have a Leader’s phone number, call her. You can then discuss easily what is happening and get real time suggestions as you nurse.

If you would like a second opinion from an IBCLC, are you sure there is no one else anywhere around? I just discovered that my hospital provides free out patient lactation assistance which I never knew before. Make sure you have exhausted all possible resources. Have you looked to see if there are private practice IBCLCs anywhere within reach? Have you Contacted your local WIC, (even if you are not on WIC) or whatever women’s health service you may have near you (make sure to ask for lactation assistance, it may be a different number or office than general services) your pediatrician, your OB, local or state breastfeeding coalition etc?

Here are some ideas/videos/articles for latch and positioning. Sometimes latch is helped a good deal by the positioning.


http://www.llli.org/docs/00000000000...astfeeding.pdf

http://www.biologicalnurturing.com/

http://www.llli.org/faq/positioning.html


http://www.llli.org/llleaderweb/lv/lvfebmar04p3.html

http://www.ameda.com/resources/video

http://www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=...id=6&Itemid=13