Re:My baby has trouble latching on what should I try?
Eighty percent of good latching on is positioning of the baby. The baby must be positioned stomach to stomach with the mother so that its face is directly on the nipple. Trying to latch on to the side just won’t do much of anything. Catch your baby in a big yawn or when the mouth is wide open and stuff the nipple into the mouth.
Most of the latching on depends on having the bulk of the nipple in the baby’s mouth. The tongue and lower lip should be out and the baby will naturally suck. If the baby is tongue-tied and the tongue won’t come out to latch on, you may wish to have the tongue tied part of the tongue released in a simple procedure that involves no anesthesia. The tongue is freed up to do the proper suckling motion and you should have no trouble.
Only when you have the stomach to stomach positioning worked out should you work on other kinds of positioning, such as the football hold. Mom’s should maintain a good posture and shouldn’t bend over to have the baby suckle. Bring up the baby to the level of the breast before it latches on. Even if you have to stuff the nipple in the mouth every time, at least the latching on will work and the baby should have no trouble nursing.
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