Re: Will it get easier...?
Here's a short version of my story: At the beginning, I had some oversupply, ffld, leaking like a fountain, cracked nipples complete with vasospasms from his clamping down to slow the flow, plus a just generally shallow latch, his lip tie which only added to the latch issues, but he seems to have grown into. I couldn't even sit normally due to some really intense tearing from birth, so I ended up doing laid-back positioning, which helped with so many problems. I figured out side-lying and loved that, too. Over time, he got used to the fast letdown, and eventually stopped drowning/choking. Now it's finally to the point where we're not both drenched after a nursing. We've gone through rough patches here and there with him: only nursing lying down, only nursing udder style, not nursing lying down, testing out new teeth, wanting to nurse all the time, wanting to have nothing to do with me. He still fights me on being held to nurse because the world is just so interesting he can't seem to slow down. But there are times where he'll cruise over and tug at my shirt, hooting to get some milk, or he'll crawl into my lap and try to latch on, impatiently, through my shirt. He has good muscle control, but sometimes he seems to like to pretend he's a little newborn and goes all floppy as soon as he latches on. I'd say we have a enjoyable nursing relationship even if sometimes he makes me crazy with his antics. Maybe I wouldn't appreciate the good times as much if we hadn't had some really bad times, too.
Fussing during nursing is, unfortunately, quite common around that age. One thing that really helped me was nursing in motion. I would hold my son, and walk around the house, narrating; or sway back and forth, waltzing in circles for what felt like forever while he dilly-dallied and enjoyed his meal. I'd hope he was calm enough to try sit down to rest my aching arms and back, sometimes incorrectly and we'd start all over with the fussing and moving about. Some people swear by nursing in a baby carrier, and though it never worked well for us, it can be a real lifesaver for some.
Hang in there, mama.
mama to a little raccoon, born under the full moon, Nov '11