How to fix a shallow latch in babies?

Question

Hello doctor,

I am having trouble with my 9-week baby having a shallow latch causing painful nipples. I gave birth with a c-section and at the beginning she would not latch without a nipple shield. We were finally able to get rid of the shield at 6 weeks but now I have the feeling that the latch is getting worse and worse. I have had 4 meetings with lactation consultants but honestly did not help much. I know the theory and what I need to do but in practice, it simply does not work because no matter what I do, she does not open her mouth wide. Is there anything that I can do to change this or is there hope that it will change with time as she grows?

Kindly help.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I understand your concern. I really appreciate your efforts to breastfeed the baby. Often, the mother has difficulty letting the baby latch to the breast properly. I suggest you to follow a few instructions mentioned below.

For a baby to latch properly, the baby should often open her mouth.
Now to let baby wide open mouth first just touch baby near the mouth area like the chin, and cheek.
Whole latching to the breast make sure the baby is not offered nipple, instead retract nipple against breast so that the baby needs to struggle and in an effort, she will wide open her mouth.
Take the help of family members to help you latch.
Make sure the baby is adequately hungry (keep a gap of 2 to 3 hours) in between feeds.
It usually improves over a period of time.

Keep it up, do not give up.

I hope this helps. Thank you.