Hi Ladies!

New here, with a few questions I'm hoping you can help me with!

A bit on my breastfeeding history... I nursed my first son Bodhi for 2 years, with no real issues - he latched great, and the only problem we ever had was a short lived bout of thrush.

I am hoping to go as long this time with Jett, but we are having a few issues that I never had with my first. When Jett was born, he had some breathing difficulties and was sent to the NICU for oxygen & to have his lungs cleared of fluid. I didn't even get to see him until after 2pm, which was 6+ hours after he was born. Because of this, we didn't get to nurse until well after then, not right after birth as I had hoped. Also, he was given a bottle of formula in the NICU because his blood sugar levels had dropped.

So, upon nursing when he finally got to come to my room, latch seemed good (to me and the post-partum nurses) but he would nurse for a max of 2 minutes and fall asleep. I figured it was from anesthesia and the pain meds I was on as I had a c-section. He was also 3 weeks early and was getting tired easily. So, I spent alot of time trying to keep him awake to nurse.

Fast forward to day 3. A LC came in to my room to see me before I was discharged and checked to see how he was nursing. She said he was 'shallow' in his latch, and not taking in as much areola as he should be. She showed me how to latch him on properly to get more of the areola in his mouth, okay.. no problem.

Now...he has NEVER really opened his mouth very wide from the beginning.. don't know if he was just too small, or just lazy! So, I have a hard time getting him to open wide, and have to coerce his chin down to get him to open, which is a process. He totally fights it.

Once he gets latched on, he will 'pop' off frequently. I take him off and try to re-latch him on, but he is 'milk drunk' and doesn't want to even try to re-latch. He prefers to purse his lips and 'suck in' my nipple into his mouth, like a straw almost. Once he is back 'on', I will pull his chin down to try to get more areola in to his mouth, but it is short lived as he pops off again.

So... could there be a reason he 'pops' off so frequently, or is it just because he doesn't have enough of my breast in his mouth to suck?

Also, is there any way to teach him to open his mouth wider? I have been trying to tickle his top and/or bottom lip with my nipple to get him to open wider, but he just gets frustrated and pulls away, then manages to get his hands to his mouth and would rather suck on his fingers. I try holding his head so that he can't pull away, but he just does not want to open his mouth very wide!

He has a poopy diaper EVERY time it is time to change it, EVERY time. It has never just been 'wet' since he was born. Though, he is gaining weight, rather impressively, considering our breastfeeding issues. 6lb 1oz at birth, 5lb 12oz at 4 days; 7lb .5oz at 2 weeks and 7lb 6.5oz at 18 days.

We also just got over a bout of Mastitis, where I was on the evil antibiotic Keflex for 7 days, which has caused his tummy to be extremely gassy. I think his frequent poops (diarrhea) were partly caused by the abx, and has had a severe amount of discomfort & gas, so we have both been on probiotics now for a week to try to counteract the damage. It hasn't helped that much.

So, sorry if this was long-winded... I have tried to do everything I can to get this latch issue corrected, but am at my wits end. I won't quit nursing, but want to make the experience better for both of us, because it is quite frustrating at times! I don't know what I am doing wrong this time, because I had such success nursing my first son!!!

(On a side note - I don't ever give him a pacifier .. he had one at times while we were still in the hospital, but since being home, we don't use one at all)

Thanks in advance for any help or advice you can offer! I appreciate it!

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My Boys!

Bodhi (7/14/02) and Jett (7/20/07)