Chomping instead of sucking
 

A friend of mine has recently had her first baby and she emailed me
that he has never learned to latch properly. They have stumped four
lactation consultants so I thought I'd try here. Basically the
problem is as it says in the subject line, he chomps instead of sucks,
although he will suck on a finger. For the past three weeks, they
have been using a finger feeder, and nursing at the breast 1-5 times a
day, hoping that the problem may correct itself as he grows. She is
pumping and luckily has plenty of milk so he is getting no formula.

Any thoughts?

TIA,

Leslie

Chomping instead of sucking
 

Leslie wrote:
A friend of mine has recently had her first baby and she emailed me
that he has never learned to latch properly. They have stumped four
lactation consultants so I thought I'd try here. Basically the
problem is as it says in the subject line, he chomps instead of sucks,
although he will suck on a finger. For the past three weeks, they
have been using a finger feeder, and nursing at the breast 1-5 times a
day, hoping that the problem may correct itself as he grows. She is
pumping and luckily has plenty of milk so he is getting no formula.

has she tried contacting a local la leche league leader? Ours has
definitely had experience getting babies to latch when local lactation
consultants have failed, some haven't managed it but she doesn't just
stop there, she has contacts with occupational therapists who can
diagnose and treat suck issues, some babies simply don't manage to get
it all together and need some training. I'm not sure there is much
anyone on here can help with, you need to be face to face. The only
thing you didn't mention is have they tried nipple shields, they can be
a very useful tool in some cases. She's doing great, it must be hard to
juggle all this. As a kind of aside, it might be worth checking on her
pumping frequency, sometimes, when a mum has a plentiful milk supply,
they can get away with pumping less often and they think it will stay
that way always, but sadly it doesn't.

Cheers
Anne

Chomping instead of sucking
 

Leslie wrote:

A friend of mine has recently had her first baby and she emailed me
that he has never learned to latch properly. They have stumped four
lactation consultants so I thought I'd try here. Basically the
problem is as it says in the subject line, he chomps instead of sucks,

Does mama hold baby's mouth wide open when
first latching on?

Can mama pump a bit first, then nurse? This
does two things - soften the breast a bit in
case it is engorged and allows milk to flow
more easily so baby gets the idea not to chomp
or chew.

-- Anita --